Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories review

In terms gameplay, if you take the quality of action from Vice City, take out the helicopters and then place it in the GTA 3 world, that's Liberty City Stories. The missions are kept varied - the major ones comprising of several stages of driving and shooting, and all requiring some experimentation and tactical thinking.

The plot is of the standard you'd expect and strings the action together effectively. But there's something vital that's lacking from the game, something that's vital for enjoying GTA: the sense of surprise.

Part of the appeal of GTA is the anticipation, believing that there's always something incredible to discover or witness. With Vice City it was '80s references, helicopters and owning property; with San Andreas it was the sky diving, jet packs and riots. With LCS, however, you've seen it all before - the environments, the vehicles and most of the characters. There are no surprises round the corner, so GTA has lost some of its wow factor.

Above: Using the bike to get round Liberty City opens up loads of new short cuts