Liberty City is a fictional city in Rockstar Games' video games series Grand Theft Auto, based primarily on New York City. Three different incarnations of the city have appeared in various generations of the series.
The Grand Theft Auto rendition is portrayed as a city geographically similar to New York City, composed of two mainland islands. The Grand Theft Auto III rendition (also featured in Grand Theft Auto (GBA version), Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories, and briefly in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas) is portrayed as a more generic metropolitan city that is loosely based on New York City, but consists of elements of other American cities.[1] The Grand Theft Auto IV rendition is portrayed as a caricature of New York City, with Liberty City's landmarks and geography based heavily on New York City's. Liberty City's four boroughs, as well as the adjacent state of Alderney correspond to four of New York City's five boroughs and New Jersey, respectively.
In every rendition of the city, Liberty City is primarily depicted as a large city with a sizable population (4 million in the Grand Theft Auto III rendition,[2] with double the amount in Grand Theft Auto IV), featuring a complete transportation infrastructure of roads and railways, and is located on a geographical configuration of shorelines and islands, similar to that of New York City. The city has been described as one suffering from crime and corruption, with the presence of organized crime, feuding street gangs, petty criminals, and rampant misconduct among city officials and law enforcement. Parts of Liberty City have also suffered major damage and loss from bombings, which are depicted as being orchestrated by local criminals. Some of these damages, however, have been repaired or resulted in complete redevelopment of an entire area.
Liberty City is also located in the same fictional universe as Vice City, Carcer City, and San Andreas, other locations portrayed in games throughout the series. Liberty City is the most used fictional setting in the series: it is prominently featured in six of the ten stand-alone Grand Theft Auto games, with a cameo appearance in a further two.
- ^ IGN Feature GTA IV: Building a Brave New World. Retrieved May 03, 2008.
- ^ Rockstar Games, Rockstar North (2001). Grand Theft Auto III instruction manual.