Don't let the rackets and bribes fool you into thinking VCS is a cakewalk. If anything, you'll need them to get through the missions, which are multi-stage affairs with difficulty levels that bounce between startlingly easy and seemingly impossible. On the upside, the action is the same fast-paced, addictive craziness that GTA has always delivered, and while the PSP's controls aren't really suited for it, it feels more fine-tuned than Liberty City Stories did. In addition to being able to swim (which makes riding a Jet Ski possible), Vic can bust out throws and low blows when he's empty-handed - and when he's not, aiming manually or switching targets is as simple as flicking the d-pad. Even the auto-aiming feels better; long an inaccurate pain in the ass, it's now far more likely to latch onto bad guys with guns than it is to target harmless old ladies.

The game does have one major flaw, though - the computer intelligence is even dumber than usual. Your enemies usually can't shoot for shit at long range, and we spent countless battles just standing around in the open, gunning them down in quick succession while one, maybe two of their bullets connected. Your allies are even worse; for what felt like the first half of the game, they were just as likely to walk around next to our car as they were to get in, resulting in lots of needless do-overs as the timer ran down or they were riddled with bullets (sometimes ours).