One of the better GTA games and it’s handheld.
Chinatown Wars tells a whole new story from Liberty City and it has been developed for the DS from the ground up. It’s a full GTA game at the palm of your hand. If you’re old enough I strongly recommend you to play it.
FRESH, YET FAMILIAR STORY
You take the role of a young guy who arrives from China to Liberty City. Unfortunately you are almost assassinated and before long it’s all about crime and getting a lot of money and respect. It’s a typical GTA thing, but the story is told well and as always: if you’re not interested in story you can just do side missions.
BLAST FROM THE PAST
Gameplay reminds the first two GTA games in a sense that you watch the action from the sky. Controls take a little time to get used to, but they work. Touch screen is used in many clever ways and this helps to keep the gameplay fresh and fun.
Side missions are again a big part of your experience. You can still drive a taxi, buy some real estate and so on, but the thing here is dealing drugs. Someone sells coke cheap and someone wants to buy it for a high price. It’s a high chance that you forget what you were doing and just make one deal after another for hours. I suppose this dealing will be a part of future GTA games too.
GRAPHICS AND AUDIO
Music has a Chinese feel to it, but unfortunately it can get a little irritating. Nothing you can’t get used to though. There’s very little voice acting, because it’s been reserved to different sounds of the pedestrians when moving around town. On the other hand this helps to make you feel like you’re walking around a real city.
Graphics are colorful and actually quite good in DS standards. Of course there are better looking games out there, but it’s the scope and size of the city that makes Chinatown Wars impressive.
TRY IT
Chinatown Wars is fine example on how a mature rated game should be made for the DS. If you like the GTA series or are prepared to try something new on your DS I strongly recommend you to check it out.