The game is being developed by Rockstar Leeds, who previously worked mainly on mobile games. However, there's no need to worry, as they are working closely with Rockstar North to ensure that the titles has everything that fans have come to expect from the series. From the beginning, they knew that they wanted to push the PSP to its limits, even though the system hasn't even been in the public's hands for a year. Not surprisingly, the team was one of the first to get a PSP, and they've been hard at work for over two years. The result is a full (that's right, full) GTA game, in both length and size. It's actually right around the same size (in terms of area and content) as GTA III. Best of all, it features plenty of new elements, from the story all the way down to the music.
The protagonist in Liberty City Stories is Toni Cipriani, who was actually one of the mafia characters in GTA III. The game takes place about 3 years before the events of the third chapter, and although the world is the same in many ways, longtime fans will notice plenty of differences. It seems that Toni was in exile for a while, but the beginning of the game finds him back in the employ of Don Salvatore, the leader of that particular mob family. While we were told much about the main storyline itself, we were assured that it will feature all of the stuff that makes the series great.
We got a chance to check out several of the missions, beginning with one called "The Trouble With Triads." It seems that Don Salvatore was expecting a delivery at one of his warehouses, and he wanted Toni to go pick it up. Like the previous games, this was all explained during an in-game cutscene, and it was evident from the beginning that team had worked hard to make sure that the game looked almost as good as (and in some cases, better than) its console-based cousins. The graphics engine was built from the ground up to look great on the PSP's wide screen, and we were amazed to see that even the framerate was locked in at a solid 30 FPS.
Once Toni got to the warehouse, we got a chance to check out the new combat system that was designed with the PSP's limited control options in mind (namely, the lack of a second analog stick and secondary shoulder buttons). You can now lock on to enemies with the right shoulder button, with the ability to switch between them by pressing left or right on the D-pad. If needed, you can push down on the D-pad to enter a free aim mode, but it was the next addition that really got us excited. Anyone who's tried to precisely aim at a target with the PSP's sole analog stick can attest to the fact that it's terribly sensitive, almost to a fault. However, holding down the left trigger (in addition to the right one) will allow you to slow the movement of the reticule, letting you take careful aim at your enemies (or the explosive barrels next to them).
