5 ways GTA Liberty City Stories beats GTA Vice City Stories

Modified Apr 18, 2025 08:47 GMT

Things GTA Liberty City Stories does better than GTA Vice City Stories (Images via Rockstar Games)

Both GTA Liberty City Stories and GTA Vice City Stories are two highlights from Rockstar Games catalogue that were released in 2005 and 2006, respectively. These were prequels to GTA 3 (2001) and GTA Vice City (2002). While the 2002 title is considerably better than its predecessor, the case was different with their prequels.

There are many factors where GTA Liberty City Stories beats GTA Vice City Stories. We list and briefly discuss five of them.

Note: Some parts of this article are subjective and reflect the writer’s opinions.

5 things that make GTA Liberty City Stories better than GTA Vice City Stories

1) Less number of cutscenes

Liberty City Stories can be played without many interruptions (Image via Rockstar Games)

GTA Liberty City Stories has fewer cutscenes than GTA Vice City Stories or any other titles in the Grand Theft Auto series. While cutscenes are essential to set the tone or change the direction of the plot, Rockstar crafted the 2005 title with fewer cutscenes and still managed to deliver a refined gameplay experience.

GTA Vice City Stories and other games temporarily halt the gameplay flow to play cutscenes. While Liberty City Stories also does that at times, the occurrences are very low.

2) Can be played on various modern platforms

GTA Liberty City Stories can be played on more platforms than GTA Vice City Stories. Even though the latter was released after a year, Rockstar never ported it to modern gaming platforms. You can play both titles on these platforms:

GTA Liberty City Stories: PSP, PS2, PS3, iPhone, iPad, and Android devices.
GTA Vice City Stories: PSP, PS2, and PS3.

Considering the number of available platforms, the 2005 title surely has an upper hand.

3) More story missions

Rockstar added more missions in GTA Liberty City Stories compared to GTA Vice City Stories. The 2005 title has 70 story missions, whereas in the 2006 title, it was reduced to 59. This is certainly disappointing, considering players generally expect more missions in newer games.

All story missions of Liberty City Stores take place before the events of Grand Theft Auto 3, and they perfectly align with the main plot line. So, if you're a campaign mode lover, you'll surely enjoy the 2005 title.

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4) More cheat codes

Cheat codes are an essential part of the Grand Theft Auto experience, and every title in the series has them. While Rockstar Games added 43 different cheat codes in GTA Liberty City Stories, GTA Vice City Stories only has 36.

Along with the regular cheat codes, such as spawning vehicles, getting weapons, and removing wanted levels, Liberty City Stories allows you to change the character's skin, drive cars on water, change bike tires, and many more.

Also read: 5 biggest reasons fans hated GTA Trilogy Definitive Edition so much

5) More lore accurate

Vice City Stories does many things differently from GTA Vice City (Image via Rockstar Games)

GTA Liberty City Stories is more in line with GTA 3 compared to the connection between GTA Vice City Stories and GTA Vice City. The 2005 title has the same dark theme and gameplay functions related to its main counterpart.

However, the 2006 title has a more vibrant look compared to Vice City. Also, Rockstar allows Victor to swim, whereas Tommy cannot bear water damage.

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About the author

Mridul completed his post-graduation in Mass Communication, Journalism, and Media Studies. His career as a journalist began at Sportskeeda, and he has been associated with the Esports & Gaming division for over 1.5 years. He has produced 1600+ articles on Grand Theft Auto, his favorite gaming franchise of all time.

Mridul writes detailed and well-researched articles, relying solely on official sources and reputable insiders for credible information. His immense love for the GTA series shines through in his work, which resonates with readers, with five of his articles having crossed the 100,000 reads mark each. Overall, his reads count stands at close to 8 million.

GTA: Vice City served as Mridul's introduction to Rockstar Games, and he has dedicatedly made his way through the publisher's catalog since then. If given a chance, he would love to drop into the world of Bully and relive his school days. However, he would like to recommend Grand Theft Auto 4 to beginners due to the depth of its narrative and in-game mechanics.

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Edited by Angad Sharma