Turning Points.

Yeah, I was pretty sure that was going to be it. Guitar Hero was gonna be the last video game I was really gonna mess with, everyone would move on to the next-gen consoles, the only games released for the PS2 would be games for kids and tards, and I'd be done. Video gaming, I shun thee!

Then GTA: Liberty City Stories came out for the PS2.

I'd managed to dodge a bullet about a year ago when I almost convinced myself that buying a PSP would be great for my honeymoon. (I know, I know. It's like a crack addict convincing themselves the best way to redecorate the house would be to go buy some crack. "New curtains? Hmmmm. Hey, I know! How about some crack?") The idea of my new wife leaving me as soon as we got back from our honeymoon kinda put the kibosh on that plane. I also knew having a portable video game console would kill my commute time which is one of the few times I still read books and stuff. And finally, I told myself, "Ehhh, GTA. I'm pretty much over it. I've completed all three games--what more do I need?" (And by completed, I mean finished 89-92% of any given game...) When I read a few months ago that financially buggered Take Two would be releasing the PSP game for the PS2, I said exactly the same thing.

[Cut to Jeff dashing into a Best Buy on Wednesday so he can pick up the game and hurry, hurry, hurry!]

So. GTA:Liberty City Stories is a real turning point for the GTA series on the PS2. Not matter what you might say about the two games after GTA III, each one tried to radically expand and deepen the game environment, creating a larger and more specific sense of place for each game. Each game introduced more RPGish elements to each series to give you a greater sense of connection to your character. And each game excelled in giving you name actors and a surprisingly sophisticated critique of American culture through its storyline and radio stations.

From what I've played of the game so far, GTA:Liberty City Stories gives you a generic GTA game on a PS2, the first in five years. And while there are things I love about that (I missed GTA III's ersatz pop songs, as well as its classic musical station--and it's arguably just as much fun trying to find the damn hidden packages as it is to complete your missions), it's the first time where the radio spots have felt rough, the jokes have fallen flat, the game has looked genuinely ugly, and where the lead character feels like a spitballing of previous game characters. In GTA III, Tony Cipriani, voiced by Michael Madsen, was a minor character, a Tony Soprano parody who perpetuated horrific violence to please his never-shown Mother. In GTA:Liberty City Stories, Tony is voiced by a new non-famous actor (which is good because Madsen's line readings were for shit in the original) and given a character model that looks like Tommy Vercetti with 20% more five o'clock shadow. In fact, because of the voice and the character model, I've taken to calling the character "Fred Flintstone," which is somehow much more satisfying (in a way that would take at least one Harvey Birdman, D.A. episode to explain).

So, really, GTA:Liberty City Stories is a possible turning point in the franchise's history. If this game is a hit on the PS2 at its budget price, will Take Two and Rockstar go back to the well and revisit Vice City and parts of San Andreas with similarly generic sequels? If it makes them a lot of easy money, why wouldn't they?

It probably sounds like I don't like GTA:Liberty City Stories but really, that's not the case. I've waited five years for a GTA game with a Bollywood soundtrack--us PS2 owners have to live with the soundtrack Rockstar gives us--and I've had great fun driving around looking for hidden packages, appalled at how much of the cityscape is still burned into my brain from hundreds of hours of play years ago. Being able to go through Liberty City on a motorcyle which cuts down on all the time spent hopping in-and-out of your vehicle to get power-ups, packages or what have you, is also keen. And the missions are, currently, blessedly short, annoying rather than truly ball-breaking (although I don't know if I'd say the same thing if I hadn't found the bullet-proof vest early on).

Also, remember that new wife I mentioned? Well, when I first started playing GTA III, I hadn't met her yet. So there's something odd and snaky and neat about revisiting Liberty City in the home we've made together, alll these years later. Motorcycles aside, life in Liberty City hasn't changed much, but my life has. And I can't even begin to tell you how much I'd rather it was that way than vice-versa.