GTA Liberty City Stories vs Vice City Stories: All major differences

The GTA series has been entertaining fans since 1997 and spans three universes (2D, 3D, and HD). The major games in the series are GTA 3, Vice City, San Andreas, Four, and Five.

While most fans have played the main titles, the series also offers a great set of spin-off stories. Vice City Stories, Liberty City Stories, and Chinatown Wars are exclusive experiences as they are not available on all platforms.

This article sheds light on the major differences between Vice City Stories and Liberty City Stories.

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What's different between GTA Vice City Stories and Liberty City Stories apart from the name?

3) Timeline

When speaking of timelines related to the GTA series, one should note there are two separate ones that need addressing: the chronological and release timelines. The first is in respect to the series' story, whereas the latter is a reference to when the game was released.

That said, chronologically, Vice City Stories is the first game of the series, but it is also the sixth and final title of the 3D universe (release timeline) as it was released in 2006.

On the other hand, Liberty City Stories is the fourth game chronologically and fifth as far as the release timeline is concerned. It was made accessible for the PlayStation Portable in 2005.

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2) Setting

The setting in the GTA series refers to when and where the events in the story take place.

Vice City Stories, being the first game (chronologically) of the series beginning in the 3D universe, is set in 1984. The title is designed to be a prequel to Vice City. As the name suggests, the story pans out in Vice City, Rockstar Games' fictional recreation of Miami.

Events in Liberty City Stories take place a lot later during the year 1998. This title was made as a prequel to GTA Three and was set in Liberty City, which is a fictional rendition of New York.

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1) Protagonist

Starting off with the protagonist of Vice City Stories, Victor 'Vic' Vance is a dishonorably discharged corporal from the US Army. He had a tough childhood, being the eldest of three brothers and having a negligent drug addict for a mother.

Vic enlisted in the army to provide for his family, mainly Pete (his youngest brother), who had asthma, since his other younger brother rarely pitched in. After getting caught up in a drug trafficking scandal, Vic loses his job and finds himself on the streets of Vice City. He then partners up with his younger brother Lance to exact his revenge on Martinez (army boss) and gets involved with the underworld.

Liberty City Stories features a young Toni Cipriani as the protagonist who was brought up in the district of Saint Marks, Liberty City. He was born into a life of crime as his father was a gangster during the 60s.

After his father's death, Toni stepped up and joined the ranks of the Leone Family under Salvatore Leone. One of his missions included taking out a major member of a rival family, and things got really heated after the assassination. He had to flee Liberty City and only returned four years later in 1998.

Toni didn't receive a grand homecoming welcome. Instead, he was replaced and forgotten. Still loyal, Toni started working for the Leone family again, but only until his new boss Vincenzo, Salvatore's new right-hand man, got on his nerve.

From there begins Toni's real story of how he climbed the ranks and managed to win the struggle for power in favor of the Leone Family that gamers see in GTA Three.

Both games are pivotal in how the story for the series pans out. They serve as excellent prequels and set up their successors in the best way possible.

Vice City Stories is available on PSP and PlayStation 2 and 3, whereas Liberty City Stories can be played on PSP, PS2, PS3, and iOS and Android devices. Sadly, they are not available on PC.

Note: This article is subjective and solely reflects the writer's opinions.