What PS2 owners do get it a compelling Italian mob story set in Liberty City, with all the trimmings that have become common place for the series. Anyone familiar with 2001's GTA III will be at home in LCS.

The always-colorful cast of characters is back, and many plot twists await. The game is identical in every way to the PSP release (without the multiplayer of course) so there are side-missions to complete, hidden packages to find, and everything else from the original PSP game.

As with the original LCS, you are Tony Cipriani, part of the quintessential Italian mob family. The Leones are at war with two other families trying to take control of Liberty City. As Tony, you help Salvatore Leone, and the ample cast of characters in Liberty City. You complete missions on all three islands, just as in LCS, and GTA III before it.

Since the game was built with the PSP in mind, the missions are all short in nature. This is quite different from the other PS2 Grand Theft Auto games. Take that for what it is, but you will not be going on any deeply involved missions this time around.

The for-cash side jobs from Vice City and San Andreas are back. You can hop in a cab, or an ambulance to make a few bucks as usual. But there are many other ways to earn money, one of the better side-missions in LCS sees you in the role of a car salesman. Complete the required sales to earn cars for yourself. You will also be delivering pizzas and noodles for extra change.

The PSP and PS2 versions are graphically identical too. The PSP might have a slight edge just because of the screen size makes things look crisper, but there is very little difference. The engine has seen small improvements since GTA III, but is not on par with San Andreas. But this is to be expected, as it was once a PSP game.

Draw distance on the horizon is about the same, possibly a little better on the PS2. You still see odd pop-in happening on the PS2 version just as happened on the PSP. This is not the incremental step PS2 owners have seen in the progression from GTA III to Vice City to San Andreas.

But to be fair, Grand Theft Auto has never been about the graphics. They do the job they need to do, and nothing more.