Review by: Brandon "Golden Binoculars" Cackowski-Schnell

Chan,

Greetings from Liberty City! Much has happened since I left for this godforsaken place, so I was glad to get your letter so that I could bring you up to speed. As you may have heard, I came here to deliver my late father's sacred sword to my Uncle Kenny so that the Triads remained in control of Liberty City, but what you may not have heard is that upon landing I was jumped, shot, dumped in the river and left to drown. Oh, and the sword was stolen too. Ever since then, I've been working for the biggest cast of degenerates, lowlifes, masochists, egomaniacs, dirty cops and slovenly detectives than you could ever imagine.

I am also having the time of my life.

Chan, there is so much to do here in Liberty City that it boggles the mind. As I look out my windows I see taxi cabs, ambulances, noodle trucks and firetrucks, all that I can hijack for odd jobs. I see vans from rival gangs that I can hijack in the hopes of finding some drugs, ammunition trucks I can take for weapons and ammo. My PDA is constantly buzzing with emails telling me of drug deals (more on that later) as well as missions I have to do for the aforementioned lowlifes. This is nothing compared to the ramps scattered throughout the city for car stunts as well as the security cameras to find and destroy, making my life as a criminal that much easier and the various citizens of this city that all need something done by yours truly.

The missions I've been on have taken me to all parts of the city's two islands (Alderney was given back to New Jersey apparently) and I have found myself doing things I have never thought possible. They started out simply enough, driving from point A to point B, and possibly taking out some rival gang members. Soon though I was protecting my employers from rival gangs, firebombing men from a helicopter, assassinating people from hotel roofs, salvaging contraband cargo from the river's bottom and dismembering men with Chinese swords. Oh sure, it sounds gruesome, but at least my employers are funny to talk to, even when they're not trying to be.

Getting around Liberty city is as easy as riding a bike. When I approach a car, I can just take it and the various models all handle differently, so it's easy to quickly find a car you enjoy riding around in. I can shoot from my car, as well as throw Molotovs and grenades; although it's kind of tough to do both while you're rocketing around a corner. You get used to it after a while, if one can get used to such a thing. Thank heavens for the emergency brake.