5 features that were downgraded between GTA San Andreas and Liberty City Stories

Although Liberty City Stories came out after GTA San Andreas, some notable features were downgraded or entirely omitted between the two titles.

This doesn't necessarily mean that Liberty City Stories didn't add any new features to make it a worthwhile alternative to GTA San Andreas. It simply means that there were some noticeable differences between the two titles, particularly in the way these games presented these features.

This article will mainly go over features that were notably downgraded between GTA San Andreas and Liberty City Stories. The former was released on October 26, 2004, whereas the latter was released nearly a year later on October 24, 2005.

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Five downgraded features between GTA San Andreas and Liberty City Stories

#5 - Map size

Liberty City and San Andreas are two completely different maps. Even the HD iteration of Liberty City is smaller than GTA San Andreas's world. Predictably, the 3D version is even smaller, which can make it feel less impressive when exploring the world.

Just Los Santos and its countryside feel like a whole new world to explore. The other two major islands just make a comparison between the two games seem rather unfair.

#4 - Swimming

CJ diving underwater (Image via iGrandTheftAuto)

Many GTA San Andreas players remember their first time swimming, and how impressive diving was as a feature for a GTA game. Liberty City Stories sadly returned to the old system, where players would drown if they came into contact with a deep body of water.

This meant that there would be no collectibles in the water, as well as make any activity or mission taking place near a body of water dangerous. Once a player fell into a deep body of water in Liberty City Stories, they were as good as dead.

#3 - Safehouses

One of three safehouses in Liberty City Stories (Image via GTA Wiki)

Safehouses have existed in the GTA series since GTA 3, and have undergone some notable changes throughout the series. GTA Vice City introduced some optional yet useful safehouses, which was a feature GTA San Andreas greatly expanded upon.

Liberty City Stories included safehouses, but only the three mandatory ones the player got through the storyline. There were no optional safehouses for the player to buy, which also meant that there were fewer save points in the game.

#2 - Jumping/Climbing

CJ climbing (Image via ZMOONCHILD)

Having the ability to jump and climb certain objects was an amazing quality-of-life improvement that modern GTA games still love to incorporate into their games. GTA San Andreas was the first GTA title to have this as a feature, which was predictably absent in Liberty City Stories.

The latter went back to the old-school style of jumping, where the player would do a jumping animation in whatever direction they were holding.

This meant that players wouldn't be able to climb objects barely higher than their jumps, which made traversing through Liberty City terribly inconvenient at times.

#1 - Customization

GTA San Andreas pioneered customization within the GTA series. There was so much that a player could change about CJ, such as hairstyles, tattoos, individual clothing options, and even how fat or muscular he would be.

Unfortunately, Liberty City Stories doesn't have the vast majority of these customization features. Players can only change Toni's outfit, and there are only 16 different outfits to consider. It's a massive downgrade in terms of sheer customization.

Note: This article reflects the writer's personal views.