We recently had some hands on time with Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, and it’s something of a trek down memory lane. Conceding that making a full 3D experience such as those found on the PS2, Xbox 360, PS3, PC or even the PSP was never going to be possible on the DS, the game reverts to the top down perspective from GTA and GTA II. However, that doesn’t mean that the game will be in 2D, as you will be able to rotate the camera from above, and most objects within the game world are pleasantly presented with cel-shaded graphics.
Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars tells the story of Huang Lee, whose father was a leader within the Triads crime group. Upon the death of his father, Huang is heading back to Liberty City with a ‘family heirloom’ to be given to his uncle, Wu ‘Kenny’ Lee. Kenny was hoping to use the sword to gain a higher seat amongst the triads. However, as is often the case in GTA games, Huang gets ambushed, loses the sword and gets left for dead. From there, he must work his way through the numerous organisations and gang members in Liberty City to get back on top.
Carnage and violence on the DS? Who'd a thunk?
As the name implies, the story and interactions will focus on the Chinese, Korean, Japanese and other Asian crime gangs, with other factions as seen in GTAIII and GTAIV taking more of a back seat. Furthermore, the game will have a less serious story. With Chinatown Wars, the developers have gone for a more comic and light approach, so some of the things you see and do will be more outlandish and implausible than what you did in GTAIV. This applies to the dialogue that you’ll read and the characters that you’ll meet as well.
All the in-game action will take place on the top screen of the DS, while the touch screen will have cutscenes playing or will be used for the radar, menu and inventory. The mission structure of the game will be much shorter and ‘bite-sized’, so it can be played on the go. You only need to save at a safehouse when you want to keep your car. The controls will primarily have you using the d-pad and face buttons, though there will be occasions where you use the touchscreen. A couple of examples that we came across were either minigames or use of weapons. The mini-games included the manual opening of a safe, manual hotwiring of the car and assembling of a sniper rifle. With the handy prompts onscreen, none of these were too difficult or frustrating.
Driving from a top down perspective was fairly simple and was much more arcade-like than the 3D GTA titles. This helped with new wanted system, where you had to take out the police cars that were chasing you. The perspective felt a little odd once we got out of the car, though it turned out to be fairly simple after a while. Apart from running around and shooting stuff, you can also do things such as buy hotdogs, as you could in GTAIV. A side element to the game will have you doing deals on the streets. However, if you are caught by the police, you could lose a valuable stash.
Sometimes it's nice to look back.
As mentioned, the bottom screen will be used for the radar, menu and inventory. Rather than the mobile phone from GTAIV, you essentially have a PDA at your disposal. So you’ll be able to check out emails, important information, setup meetings and the like all on the go. Furthermore, Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars is the first handheld game to have connectivity to the Internet, as you’ll be able to upload your stats to the Rockstar Social Club at any wireless hotspot.
The visual style is reminiscent of the boxart that you’d see on most GTA games. This will be particularly prevalent in the cutscenes, which go for more a still animated look over trying anything excessive in 3D. However, if there is firefight in the cutscene on the bottom screen, the actual action will be played out on the top screen, which is quite a pleasant touch. While there wasn’t much voicing in the current build of the game, the quality of the music that was played was pleasantly rich.
Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars may not be going for the ambition jugular from the outset, but when you realise that two thirds of the Liberty City seen in GTAIV have been recreated, you’ll realise just how big the game is. Not to mention, it’s packed with just as many features as its console brethren, and then some when you consider the touch screen additions. So when it comes to merging the old with the new, it seems that Rockstar are on track to come out with a great game for the Nintendo DS. And one that’s not for kids either.
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