Grand Theft Auto Liberty City Stories

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

The first of the two "Stories" games in the Grand Theft Auto series, which were both made for the PlayStation Portable and later ported to PlayStation 2. The story takes place in 1998, a few years before the events of III, and follows a younger, slimmer Toni Cipriani's rise to power in the Salvatore crime family. And it's not easy. Things get messy, with uncooperative mayors and families from the Old Country wanting in on the action.

Tropes used in Grand Theft Auto Liberty City Stories include:
  • Affably Evil: Massimo Torini and Salvatore's uncle.
  • All Elections Are Serious Business: The Mafia-rigged mayoral race.
  • Back for the Dead: Avery Carrington.
  • Bad Habits: The end of the Church missions, where you find out that the "priest" you spoke to is actually a reporter for the local newspaper that desperately wanted stories to cover.
  • Battle in the Rain: A thunderstorm rolls in during the final lighthouse shootout.
  • Beard of Sorrow: Donald Love has one after losing both the election and his empire.
  • Blatant Lies: Mayor Donovan promises the ferries will continue running in the future.
  • Broken Bridge: At the start of the game, the bridge to Staunton Island is still under construction (and remains so for the entire game -- eventually, enough of the bridge is completed for you to drive across it), the drawbridge to Shoreside Vale is stuck in the "up" position (as it was in III), and the ferry between the three islands is closed due to a strike.
  • Brooklyn Rage
  • Call Forward: Salvatore's safehouse is the future site of the Triad Fish market. The Triads clear the land by detonating the existing building.
    • Toni helps the Yakuza gain control of the casino, which is still mob-owned in this game.
    • Ray Machowski is still an honest cop at this point, for which his partner Leon gives him no small amount of grief.
    • Mayor Donovan assures us on the radio that his tunnel project won't put the ferry out of work.
    • Donald Love 'acquires' Fort Staunton by blowing the existing neighborhood to bits.
  • Cement Shoes
  • Clark Kenting: "Lionel", the lawyer who visits Salvatore in prison. (AKA Toni wearing glasses).
  • Confessional: The Church missions.
  • The Comically Serious: Toni.
  • Conspiracy Theorist: Salvatore Leone. It seems that the only person he doesn't distrust is Toni, and even then, he holds him at gunpoint once.
  • Deadpan Snarker: Toni has his moments.
  • Dude in Distress: Salvatore lands in more than his fair share of trouble, resulting in Toni constantly having to bail him out.
  • The Don: Salvatore Leone.
  • Elvis Impersonator: Toni himself, when wearing the "King" outfit that you win by completing the final mission. Although he doesn't imitate Elvis Presley as much as just dress like him.
  • Flanderization: Maria is really shrill and ditzy here.
    • Donald Love is effectively a completely different character from III.
  • Foreshadowing: Tons.
  • Gayngster: Kazuki Kasen, to hear his wife tell it.
  • Guide Dang It: Like most other GTA games, many of the side quests, hidden package pickups, etc. are not immediately apparent.
  • He Knows Too Much: Ned Burner's ultimate fate.
  • I'm a Humanitarian: Clarification is given of what goes on at Donald Love's 'morgue parties'. See what we mean by weird?
  • Insurmountable Waist-Height Fence: Toni can't climb, and often needs a car to give him a boost. Considering that the last GTA game averted this, it's rather annoying. Especially since many of the hidden packages are in high places, requiring you to get creative with vehicles to get them. One of them requires blowing up an entire section of the city.
  • Legitimate Businessmen's Social Club: Don't look at Toni, he's just "in the restaurant business."
  • Lighthouse Point: The final battle.
  • Mafia Princess: Maria, but stuck right in the middle of it.
  • Man of Wealth and Taste: Massimo Tori.
  • Mayor Pain: R.C. Hole.
  • Midlife Crisis Car: At one point, Salvatore Leone shows off a "fully loaded, top of the line" sports car to Toni. Maria, riding shotgun, humorously responds by claiming to "smell" Salvatore's mid-life crisis. The car is later found wrecked not far from where Salvatore showed it off.
  • The Missingno: Helicopters can be flown in LCS, they just aren't lying around. Through exhaustive effort, you can hijack one in midair during the "False Idols" mission. It can even be crammed into a garage.
  • Mission Pack Sequel: While the controls are different from those of GTA III (similar to San Andreas), Liberty City is largely unchanged.
  • Mob War: The Leones vs. The World, basically. Every rival family in the city and even their Sicilian precursors are gunning for them.
  • Momma's Boy: Toni, and he's constantly trying to get her approval.
  • My Name Is Not Durwood: As Salvatore warms to Toni, he starts calling him "Anthony" out of endearment. He never does get it right.
  • Nothing Personal: Massimo Torini's last line. Salvatore disagrees.
  • The Old Country: The Sicilian mafia.
  • Outrun the Fireball: After detonating the bombs underneath Fort Staunton, Toni's van speeds out of an exploding subway entrance.
  • Playing Both Sides: It's made clear early on that Massimo Tori is uniting the city's small-time gangs against the Leones.
  • Prequel: To Grand Theft Auto III.
  • Rags to Riches: Donald's (albeit temporary) fate after going bankrupt.
  • Refuge in Vulgarity: The other games did this, but it was most apparent in this game.
  • Rewarded as a Traitor Deserves: J.D.
  • She Who Must Not Be Seen: Ma Capriani.
  • Sleazy Politician: They don't call him R.C. Hole because he's a great communicator.
  • Suicide Is Painless: Toshiko Kasen.
  • Super Drowning Skills: Toni can't swim - this is especially annoying, after CJ could.
  • That One Level: The game ramps up the difficulty for obtaining some of the hidden packages to an almost insane level. A hidden package located on top of a gas station roof in Portland is considered particularly difficult to reach, and even Guide Dang It assistance if unhelpful.
  • Unwitting Pawn: Toni being tricked into creating news stories for Ned Burner to 'scoop'.
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