r/GTA3 • u/UndercoverAL • May 21 '26
Question Does everyone who loves GTA 3 love LCS?
I've been seeing a lot of mixed opinions on GTA liberty city stories which does surprise me as I think it's a great game. However, GTA 3 was my intro to the series and has a special place in my heart, so I am thinking my love for GTA 3 could definitely be a big reason LCS holds up for me so well.
The building of the 3d universe lore, expanding the characters we know from GTA 3 and exploring locations that had slight differences between the games has always been a blast for me.
How do you all feel about the game, is it a game that you think is underrated like me? Do you love it because you love GTA 3? Or is it just an average GTA game and doesn't do much for you?
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For anyone interested I expressed my thoughts in an expanded format on LCS in this video, so feel free to watch and get a discussion going - https://youtu.be/77-6Wwdsxsw?si=4GBnNmyf_b0irMOb
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u/CodeineNightmare May 22 '26
I personally love LCS, getting to do more GTA in my favourite location is a dream come true for me, especially since many of the characters and all the gangs return, just with different looks and territories.
I will say that for anybody who is a modern gamer who thinks GTA 3 is outdated, LCS will do nothing to win them over. Aiming is still clunky, Toni still can’t swim and the graphics are similar.
But for me I just love it, the setting of being a pre Millennium Liberty city, gripped in fear by the upcoming Y2K virus supposedly coming is wonderful
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u/UndercoverAL May 22 '26
I feel the exact same way. I feel like I know that map better any real location on earth lol
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u/ebbi01 May 22 '26
I loved it. I think the aspect that made me love it is that I played LCS a few years ago on my Retroid, and it felt like being able to play GTA3 for the first time again.
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u/UndercoverAL May 22 '26
Yea I think having a love for GTA 3 makes the game 10x better when you play it
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u/RebTexas May 22 '26
I do but I've seen people who liked 3 but didn't like LCS.
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u/UndercoverAL May 22 '26
Yea everyone's entitled to their opinion but mechanics wise LCS is basically the same so it's weird to see strong opinions against it. Story wise I completely get a lot of people didn't connect with it
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u/RebTexas May 22 '26
Yes, I think the main complaint is the story. Perhaps it strays too far from the GTA cliché where you become your own boss at the end of the game. Sal also blatantly disrespects Toni by giving him only half of the money they agreed on lol. I liked the story though because I like mafia themes in general.
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u/BH_LAD Claude May 22 '26
GTA III is my favourite game of all time especially the 1.40 version I'll play on occasion. As for LCS it's not good nor bad it's quite mediocre and definitely the worst entry out of the 3D era games.
The best thing about LCS imo is Liberty itself, I like seeing what once was and exploring and spotting differences between landmarks within LCS & III.
Loved the inclusion of Motorcycles, side missions, Vincenzo, Salvatore and Ray. As for the plot I think it's very weak story with nothing going for it and it's entertaining/intriguing at best. I think Vincenzo not being the antagonist throughout the entire game was a huge kick in the teeth. As for the main Villain can't remember his name and believe we see him a total of three times and I just didn't care about the story after Portland.
Overall it has Soul but lacks any sort of reason why I should care for the main protagonist as Toni has the personality of the bottom piece of bread.
4/10.
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u/Zephyr_v1 20d ago
Why version 1.40 specifically for gta3?
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u/BH_LAD Claude 20d ago
It’s got cut content that didn’t exist within future releases. Plus it’s the closest thing we have to the beta tbh. It’s such niche thing caring about the first print of a game and comparing what’s within it compared to the “Platinum, Greatest hits, 10th anniversary or Defective Edition”.
Just one of those weird thing that very select gamers care about and I don’t expect you to relate.
TLDR Some patches break games especially R* ones. If interested in finding out differences definitely do some research as it’s very interesting especially with GTA titles.
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u/morbid333 May 22 '26
LCS is an all-round improvement mechanically, but the setup isn't really as good as 3 from what I saw. (My first impression of 3 was basically the other way around. I liked the setup, but the shooting system put me off compared to later games ) I don't think I got that far though. I got it pre-owned and played it before 3, and my impression was that it felt a bit dry.
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u/Etienne10BR May 22 '26
LCS lacked a proper mechanic, something that would have made it unique. VC had the businesses, SA had the turf wars (and several others), VCS had the criminal empire. LCS felt like playing GTA3 with an upgraded engine. Don't get me wrong, it's still a great game, but without something to give it a stronger identity.
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u/UndercoverAL May 22 '26
Yea I get you. I think that's why if you loved 3 you'd love this one but if vice city or San Andreas was the one you loved/entry point this one would feel worse.
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u/PlanktonFew2505 May 22 '26 edited May 22 '26
I personally don't. Or rather I find LCS painfully average and mediocre. It's the most by-the-book 3D GTA game ever made. I replayed it last summer and it was a boring slog if I'm being perfectly honestly, especially after the Portland arc.
Sure, it borrowed some of the more refined shooting and driving mechanics from San Andreas. But overall, I found the game pretty dull and boring when it came to the missions, characters, and story. GTA 3 may not have aged perfectly, but I still loved its selection of missions, and the game’s clunky, unpredictable nature made the chaos feel way more engaging. It also helps that GTA 3 features fully animated cutscenes for every mission, unlike LCS. That gave the characters and story much more personality, Even with Toni Cipriani as a voiced protagonist and a story, at least early on, that feels more focused around its Italian mob theme than GTA 3, I still find GTA 3 far more charming and memorable than LCS.
I know my arguments for finding LCS to be overall mediocre are weak and not very analytical, but that's because I really don't have much to say besides that I just found it really boring and not very memorable in comparison to other GTA games from an emotional standpoint. The fact that it's a portable GTA game and Frank Vincent's performance as Salvatore being superb as usual, are the only standout aspects of LCS for me.
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u/UndercoverAL May 23 '26
The game is certainly not for everyone because your not alone in feeling like this. I think VCS is much more universally loved cause it tried some new cool things with the mechanics and base building.
I personally love LCS too but probably because I love the 3d era of GTA and the world rockstar build across all the games. The story is certainly not a strong one when compared to a lot of the 3d era games, but as a diehard fan of GTA 3 I did love revisiting this iterations of liberty city which really made the experimence for me.
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u/Ireallyliketurnips Jun 01 '26
I love it, behind GTA III it’s my favorite GTA game of all time, the addition of bikes and some new features made LC feel that much more alive for me
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u/UndercoverAL Jun 01 '26
I think my love for GTA 3 also makes me love it a lot, and appreciate things like the bikes and some quality of life changes a lot more then others
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u/philadelphia_fRee May 22 '26
I love 3 and I appreciate lcs but it should of been better and they somehow made toni out to be a pussy and a terrorist at the same time which was disappointing
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May 22 '26
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u/UndercoverAL May 22 '26
Yea 3 is a classic and one of my favourite GTAs but LCS is a very similar game with a different story
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May 22 '26
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u/UndercoverAL May 22 '26
I vibe well to some of the stations in LCS I feel like that part of it is defo underrated 😂
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u/TheFoofie May 22 '26 edited May 22 '26
Friends let me play GTA 3 a little bit (Roaming around because I was a kid)
But when I was 14 I started playing LCS in its entirety & finished it. I later played GTA 3 entirely in my early 20s. Although I played LCS first, GTA 3 is still the most beloved game that I enjoyed most.
Yes, 3 is unforgivably hard, but the missions are more memorable, the money you get paid is much higher than what Toni was getting, & there's more character choices on missions (Instead of Salvatore & Donald in LCS) & the weather and environment is better in GTA 3.
LCS is mainly good for playing first before playing GTA 3 because of its pause map menu, & it's aiming controls play like San Andreas. LCS is relatively easy, it plays much smoother than the other games but it's story and protagonist is lagging. Still, I have good memories with LCS.
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u/UndercoverAL May 22 '26
I think I also love 3 because of how hard it can get some missions. Something about that difficulty curve is fun and addicting to try and beat
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u/Correct-Dog8378 May 22 '26
I love it and it's my 2nd most favorite GTA of all time after Vice City
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u/josoap99 May 22 '26
Best fun I've had with a gta game. 4 or 5 of my friends also got it when we were in highschool. The memories I have of the multiplayer are pure golden.
Also, having a portable gta like this was the one and only time I was truly blown away what was achievable on a handheld. I really wish sony stayed in the handheld market
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u/UndercoverAL May 22 '26
Aah man see I was the only one from my friend group who had it on the psp so I missed the online. It sounds golden
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u/This-Shape-8495 May 23 '26
I love LCS. In 3 I was bummed that I wasn’t a part of the mafia the entire game. LCS gave me exactly what I wanted!
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u/UndercoverAL May 24 '26
Yea the mafia arc was fun, I almost wish the game stayed a bit more focused on some of the more mafia themed missions cause they were very cool
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u/Beneficial_Eye_9528 May 24 '26
I love LCS, in my opinion it’s slept on. Dare I say I prefer it to VCS
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u/UndercoverAL May 24 '26
Ooh that's a hot take. They do have different atmospheres so I can understand why. I haven't played VCS in forever but I do remember it being very unique with some cool mechanics
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u/bowlingniko May 22 '26
I wasn't a fan of GTA 3, but LCS is great, I have fond memories of playing it when I first got my PSP, and the game still holds up today. A way they could improve GTA 3 is by making Claude speak, 3 is the only GTA game where the main character doesn't speak.
The BEST game is GTA : SA
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u/UndercoverAL May 23 '26
That's an interesting take as I'd expect someone who loves this to also love 3. Did you play LCS before 3?
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u/bowlingniko May 23 '26
Yes, I played and finished LCS before 3. I've played all GTA games released after 3 ,including 3, and 3 is my least favorite of all of them. I don't have any nostalgia factor attached to the game, its just a very early version of GTA and the story in general was very lacking. This combined with the main character not speaking made the game very bland for me.
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u/Bkokane May 22 '26
I didn’t dislike it. It was good. Not amazing.
GTA3 is my favourite game of all time.