Avenging Death and Drug Dealing But Pocket Sized! (Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars (DS))

Member Name: PineappleJoe

Product:	Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars (DS)
Date:	30/03/09 (121 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great Story, Fun, Addictive.

Disadvantages: Fiddly Controls, Bit Easy.

(A quick note before we start, I have not finished this game fully, so my review is based on experience so far, if things change I will change the review but please dont buy the game then shout at me if you find something I haven't!)

And so here we are, the 13th game in the grand theft auto series heads to a handheld console, but can it carry the quality we expect based on GTA IV? Let's have a look...

I was bought this game on saturday (28th of March 2009) and am reviewing it two days later on the monday so great is the impact it has had on me. The game takes us into the role of Huang Lee, A cocky spoiled rich kid who is returning to Liberty City to avenge his fathers death and return a pricless family heirloom - A sword named 'Yu-Jian' but within minutes of arriving he is beaten, robbed and dumped in a river to die while his sword is stolen.

The game uses a top down 2D perspective similar to GTA 2 but with a more 3D perspective that allows you to flip your cars and turn realistically. The game has GTA's trademark humour in it's cutscenes, dialogue and missions "Dragon-Haul-Z" anyone? And you do warm to Huang and become involved in his quest to get the sword back.

The action all takes place on the top screen with the bottom screen used as a map while moving about, this did cause me some problems as you drive fast and glancing between the top and bottom screen to follow the GPS route to your missions / destinations can result in crashes.

The bottom screen is used for minigames using the DS's touch screen utility, from scratch cards where you can win money and items, filling your own molotovs at a petrol pump, searching bins for weapons and items and carjacking by undoing screws and hotwiring befoe the alarms go off all of these utilise the stylus in creative ways which really make the game feel special and suited to the DS.

One new feature that I am really impressed with is the 'shutdown system' This works by giving you a number of cars for the number of police attention you have, 1 star = 1 car, 2 stars = 2 cars and so forth, you can then drive creatively, ramming the chasing police cars into walls or off the track to cancel them out of the chase and lower your police rating. This makes the game much more movie like and fun, instead of just having to drive around until you find a pay and spray as in previous games. (Although that option is still there if you prefer).

Talking of pay and spray all the old nods to GTA are there, with the exception of the Alderney area all of liberty city is lovingly recreated with burger shot scratchcards available for food and a new ammunation website activated on the PDA on the bottom screen used to order new weapons and ammo to you safehouses. Safehouses can be brought around the city as well as some which are given as the story progresses.

Drugs play an intresting new role in this game, with six categories - Acid, Weed, Downers, Heroin, Coke and Ecstasy. You trade your drugs in different areas trying to make a profit between what you buy them for, their market price, and what you sell them for. There are 80 drug dealers to find across the entire city with tip offs being emailed to you when people are selling or buying at high prices, this renders regular selling a bit pointless as the big money is in just waiting for demand but ho hum. Extra drugs can be found by searching bins and hijacking enemy drug delivery trucks and driving them back to your safehouse then sold as mentioned before.

The graphics as mentioned before are impressive for a DS with a cel shaded animation being used in the cutscenes which works well. Similar to the loading screens on GTA IV if you have seen them. The cars are identifiable if you are a GTA veteran and I never had to wonder what was going on.

The combat system involves holding the right bumper to lock on to a target then tapping or holding A to fire, the game auto targets enemies and you unload your weapon (varying from pistols, double pistols, shotguns, machine guns, flamethrowers, miniguns, grenades, molotovs and that old favourite the chainsaw as well as many more) this has made the game fairly easy so far, although I am only 15-20 odd missions in so it could pick up.

The driving is simple enough, after hotwiring or stealing a car you have your accelarate, brake and handbrake while the car sticks to the road and changes lanes by tapping left and right, this can be tempremental however as knowing how hard to press it and how many lanes you change can be a bit annoying in the heat of a car chase.

The music is a good mix of oriental during the missions and cutscenes and 5 or so radio stations while driving which play out instrumentals (or if it is vocal music I haven't yet found it). Which is fun to drive to.

The plot is involving, I dont like ruining it but suffice to say twists are frequent and characters will become your favourite and least favourite during funny cutscenes that will have you smiling.

Two areas I have not yet tried are the multiplayer which I have heard is good but cannot promise and the ability to go online using the wireless DS facility and download new missions from the rockstar website.

In conclusion I am loving this game and it is a great handheld addition to the GTA series.

Summary: Fun in Chinatown!