Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories is an action-adventure game set in Liberty City in 1998, serving as a prequel to Grand Theft Auto III. Players assume the role of Toni Cipriani, a member of the Leone crime family, as he returns from hiding to reestablish his position within the organization. The game features open-world exploration, mission-based progression, and various side activities, maintaining the series' hallmark gameplay elements.

Toni Cipriani, having been forced into living abroad after killing a made man on the orders of Salvatore Leone, decides to return to Liberty City. Upon arrival, Toni is greeted by Salvatore and a member of the Leone family, Vincenzo "Lucky Vinnie" Cilli, who rose to prominence during Toni's absence. Vincenzo is instructed by Salvatore to set Toni up with an apartment and job in Liberty City. Not long after, Toni quits upon the realization that Vincenzo had set up a job designed to ensure Toni would be caught by the police. Toni then begins working with a former member of the rival Sindacco crime family, now loyal to Leone, J.D. O'Toole, but this is short-lived as another member of the Leone crime family is ordered to kill O'Toole on the same day he was intended to become a made man within the family.