Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars Review
Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars
DS Nintendo game reviews
“fantastic game that advances the series”
Pros : Massive Liberty City, great use of touch screen, Lengthy story and loads of optional activities
Cons : Camera doesn’t always afford you a clear view of action.
Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars is a GTA game specifically tailored for the Nintendo DS platform, and while the Nintendo DS may be the weakest current generation system in terms of hardware power, Rockstar doesn’t let that get in the way of producing one of the deepest and extremely fulfilling chapters in the Grand Theft Auto saga. Chinatown Wars actually has more in common with GTAs III and IV than it does with earlier games, and, remarkably, it even adds to and improves on the formula that made those games so successful. That’s a bold statement for sure, but Chinatown Wars really is that good.
Chinatown Wars opens with Huang Lee on his way to Liberty City to deliver a symbolic sword to his Uncle Kenny. Huang’s father, a Triad boss, was mysteriously slain and this sword must pass from his possession to his brother. Unfortunately for Huang, he’s ambushed upon arrival, his sword stolen, and he’s tossed for dead into the harbor. That’s where the player begins their Liberty City underworld career on the Nintendo DS. The story takes some bobs, weaves, twists and turns in the single-player campaign, and we’ll leave the surprises for you to discover on your own. No spoilers here.
What isn’t a spoiler is the gameplay: Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars is tried-and-true GTA design. Rockstar Leeds took nearly every aspect of the console design and jammed it into a Nintendo DS cartridge, tweaking the presentation to fit the restrictions and limitations of the Nintendo hardware. The camera returns to a top-down perspective in similar fashion to the classic Grand Theft Auto and Grand Theft Auto 2. It’s similar but it’s not the same: though the viewpoint is above the action, the visuals down below are nearly entirely 3D: buildings, cars, obstacles are fully rendered in 3D, and this is important to note because objects interact and react in the same way as they would in the latest renditions of the series: cars flip, jump and tumble if you’re a little wild on the gas pedal; light poles topple over into traffic. So while the game may take a different direction in the way it’s presented, the gameplay is entirely current-generation GTA.
it doesn’t feel like a scaled-down handheld version of a GTA game. Rather, it feels like a logical and somewhat experimental progression for the series, introducing a handful of great new features that seem destined to become standard in future iterations. And don’t let the art style or the presence of simple minigames fool you; Chinatown Wars is every bit as deserving of its mature rating as previous games. It’s also one of the best GTA games yet.
Gamespot Score : 9.5
IGN Score : 9.5
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