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GTA Liberty City Stories and Vice City Stories are both important additions to the Grand Theft Auto franchise. While they are standalone titles, Rockstar Games released them as prequels to 2001’s Grand Theft Auto 3 and 2002’s Vice City. These are the only games that act as prequels and add context to their original titles. However, fans have a longstanding debate over which title is better as a prequel, and most of them lean towards Vice City Stories.
While it is typical for later-released games to have improved gameplay and stories, GTA Liberty City Stories has many remarkable features that set it apart from Vice City Stories. This article lists five reasons why Liberty City Stories is a noteworthy prequel in the franchise.
Note: This article is subjective and only reflects the writer's opinions.
5 things GTA Liberty City Stories does better as a prequel
1) Continuing the lore of Liberty City
Liberty City Stories, being set in the fictional city of Liberty, continues with the lore of the location. Many fans also claim that the game has a close resemblance to GTA 4’s features and aesthetics.
Players can take on the role of a badass Italian-American gangster who has no fear. The game's narrative is also appealing, as it tells players about the events that shaped the 2001 game.
However, Vice City Stories' gameplay is more akin to San Andreas, which is a completely different game. Considering the chronological order of the events, the gameplay of LCS makes more sense than that of VCS with regard to their original games.
2) LCS is a small yet fulfilling game
Being a prequel, Liberty City Stories has the perfect story length when compared to Vice City Stories. The gaming community expects spin-offs to be brief and packed with important details, and Rockstar Games nails that aspect with GTA Liberty City Stories gameplay.
Although the game has around 70 missions, players can complete them quickly due to the fast-paced gameplay. The number of side missions and activities is also limited.
However, GTA Vice City Stories frequently forces players to participate in gang wars, defending areas, and other activities that can be tedious and distracting at times.
3) Limited cutscenes
Cutscenes have long been a feature of the Grand Theft Auto series, and Rockstar Games primarily employs them to narrate current events in the game. However, gamers have a natural tendency to skip cutscenes and continue playing.
Keeping this in mind, the developers added fewer cutscenes in LCS than in Vice City Stories. The characters in GTA Liberty City Stories simply stand and talk throughout the event, with no complex camera movements or special effects. This is greatly appreciated by players who dislike long cutscenes in games.
4) Improved the graphics of Liberty City
Many OG players frequently complain that Grand Theft Auto 3's Liberty City is very dark and gloomy. Rockstar Games addressed this issue in Liberty City Stories by making Liberty City more vibrant and lifelike. This later became a prominent feature in GTA 4, where Liberty is more beautiful than ever.
Graphics improvements can also be seen in Vice City Stories, but they are minimal in comparison to LCS. Vice City appears almost identically colorful and vibrant in both games, with only a few minor improvements here and there in the prequel.
5) Liberty City Stories is a driving-centric game
Rockstar Games reduced the number of flying vehicles in GTA 3 due to a variety of real-world factors. Liberty City Stories also followed suit, making it a driving-focused game. However, the developers added many new flyable vehicles in Vice City Stories, some of which were not present in the original game.
This is a departure from the original lore that hardcore players did not like. Whether you play GTA Liberty City Stories on Android or another platform, you must drive to each location and mission, just like any real-life gangster. However, Vice City Stories allows players to swim, which makes no sense as a prequel to Vice City.
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Poll : Which one do you think is the better prequel?
GTA LCS
GTA VCS
64 votes
