Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories, Vice City Stories coming to PSN next week

Rockstar Games has been on a spree of making its older games available on current platforms. The latest from the company that will be making it to the PlayStation Network are the prequel games Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories. The games will be available on PSN for $9.99 each (approx. Rs 542) starting next week.

Liberty City Stories acts as an immediate prequel for Grand Theft Auto III. The streets of Liberty City are in turmoil. Warring mafiosi vie for control as the town begins to self-destruct under waves of political corruption, organised crime, drug trafficking and union strikes. No one can be trusted as Toni tries to clean up the mess of the city’s chaotic underworld. Deranged hit men, morally depraved tycoons, cynical politicians and his own mother stand in his way as Toni tries to bring the city under Leone control. You play Toni as he secures his place in the leadership of the Leone family.

Vice City Stories acts as an immediate prequel for Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. The year is 1984. Opportunity abounds in a city emerging from the swamps, its growth fuelled by the violent power struggle in a lucrative drugs trade. Construction is everywhere as a shining metropolis rises from foundations of crime and betrayal. You play Vic Vance—a disgraced soldier who gets into crime and eventually builds an empire. You may recognise Vic Vance as the guy who gets killed in the first cutscene.

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The Stories games help fill out the GTA III universe

The previous Rockstar game to make its way to PSN was Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. San Andreas puts players in the shoes of Carl “CJ” Johnson. CJ is a gangster who left the city of Los Santos, San Andreas, after his brother was killed. He is returning home after a five year stay in Liberty City to bury his murdered mother. Shortly after arriving, things quickly go south as CJ runs into corrupt cops Frank Tenpenny and Eddie Pulaski. They pick him up and force him to work for them, and if he refuses, they threaten to frame him for the murder of a cop that they have committed.

The game was a critical and commercial success and was praised by almost everybody. It enjoyed overwhelmingly positive reviews and has made millions in sales. The game was not without controversy, though, as it had the legendary Hot Coffee minigame scandal.

Back in December, Rockstar had released the prequel—both chronologically and in order of release—to San Andreas, Vice City. The game was released in celebration of the 10th anniversary for the series. It features enhancements over the original version, including updated graphics, character models and lighting effects. It also supports saving your game on iCloud and custom iTunes playlists. It is supported on iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, all iPad models and 4th and 5th generation iPod touch.