The game won't adopt a third-person perspective like the recent games in the series, nor will it be top down. Instead, Chinatown Wars will be presented from an isometric angle. The graphics will be cel-shaded. The action will still take place in Liberty City, but with 'different routes' from the one we know.
As you would expect from a purpose built DS game, the touchscreen will play a large role in Chinatown Wars, with its primary job being to handle character movement. The right shoulder button will lock onto enemies, while the d-pad will be used for aiming.
The phone seen in GTA IV will be taken to another level in Chinatown Wars, in the form of a PDA. Here players can check their email, the map, play some tunes, check their positioning and get in contact with people. The PDA will also track in-game statistics, which can be then uploaded to the Rockstar Social Club website. There's no other details on the multiplayer component as of yet, though.
Rockstar has designed the game's missions around the handheld hardware, making them shorter more suitable for playing on the fly. If a player fails a mission, they won't have to go back to the start either, with the game allowing players to pick up where they left off.
The wanted system has also seen an interesting change, forcing players to disable as many police vehicles as they can. We're not exactly sure how that will work, but it sounds interesting, to say the least. There are also various weather effects in the game, as well as a day/night time cycle.
So far, early impressions are believed to be good, with lots of pedestrians and vehicles on screen and no frame rate drops.
As we reported earlier this month, Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars is expected to be released before February next year.
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