Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories
The ROMANOV Archive continues its exploration of Russian influence in Western video games—this time diving into Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (2005), a prequel that reimagines Rockstar’s gritty Liberty City in 1998.
Despite the game’s setting—clearly modeled after New York City—it again avoids including any explicit Russian or post-Soviet mafia presence. However, echoes of the Cold War live on through the weapons available to the player. The AK-47 and RPG-7, both iconic symbols of Soviet military power, are not only featured but can be openly purchased at Ammu-Nation and Phil Cassidy’s gun shop, respectively. These weapons serve as powerful signifiers of a global arms trade mythos that GTA has long embraced.
In a detailed new piece, we dissect the visual models, in-game mechanics, legal context, and symbolic weight of these Soviet weapons—offering a grounded, culturally aware reading of their presence in the Liberty City underworld.