Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars

The Grand Theft Auto series is one of the most popular and controversial video games the world has seen. Countless lawsuits from not only angry parents, but figure heads in the industry, have given GTA and its creators Rockstar a reputation. This reputation leads to hype, and hype often does weird things to us consumers, splitting us into 2 outstanding groups. Group A being the "dood if so many people are talking about it then its gotta be a good game!". Group B voicing "YO F THAT GAME MAN!". Before even getting close to reviewing the game, one of the main observations i would like to point out is that compared to the amount of time and effort thrown into GTA4's advertisement and getting the "WERD" out on the street, China Town Wars, saw none of it. Now some of you out there may be saying "Turkey you stupid pillock! of course they wouldn't put loads of money into advertising as its a DS game and we all know that its a mummy and daddy console to learn how to cook, or a kiddy console to look after pandas"... To which i say to you, your right, but hasn't the little advertising and press promised to re visit the old school GTA style which older GTA fans will appreciate.... who will now BE those mummys and daddys... God damn it ive forgotten what im here for... 
 
*inhale* 
 
Grand Theft Auto : China Town Wars is a DS game released on the 20/03/09. Its true to the series' reputation by sustaining a reason to hold that 18 certificate, and is made by those loving people at Rockstar. 
So quite like the last GTA game, you play as a newcomer to the country named "...........". You start the game on a plane making your way to the dirty streets of Liberty City to meet your uncle, everything seems to be going ok when all of a sudden.. KADOOSH your ambushed and wake up in the back of a car, blood dripping from your temple, and two doods in the front. Assuming your dead they decide to ditch the car in a lake, and guess what.. YOUR IN IT! Escaping the car and making it to your Uncles turf, the game really begins, and the classic GTA we all remember, all comes flooding back! 
Though it may sound like all the usual stuff, you return to the mission based game we all used to love. Different boss' want you to do different things, drugs to be delivered or stolen, people to be killed, and of course all this leads to progressing with different boss' and progressing the story. 
 

The first thing i thought when playing this game was "wow, this is fun!". The developers clearly took a lot of time and effort to create a  
fun but accessible experience for both veterans and newcomers. The first instance of this being smashing your way out of the car at the beginning of the game. Grabbing the stylus i repeatedly tapped harder and harder on the window shield of the car to smash through and free myself to safety. From then on, i developed a lightning quick reaction time to grabbing the stylus, which i must say you get REALLY good at. I tried using my thumb a few times, but using the stylus often gets better results so be ready to learn some quick finger skills.  
These quick finger skills are met with nothing less than beautifully crafted controls which roll off your thumbs with every instinctive button press. All the character functions are in all the right places and it hardly seems like you need to be told what stuff does via tutorials. Molotovs are a perfect example of this. The first time you encounter a mission needing Molotovs, you first go to a petrol station which opens up a small minigame. You use the stylus to pick up the petrol pump, then squirt the sporadic flow of petrol into a bottle till its full, pop in some cloth at the top and theres 1 Molotov ready to cause some destruction. To use of the Molotov is so perfectly crafted for the DS its insane, you simply click the Molotov at the bottom which opens up a small radar, you then tap on the middle of the radar, then drag in the direction you wish to throw. This shows a arched line emitting from your character as to the distance you will throw the Molotov, simply lift up your stylus, and there you go! Destruction everywhere! Other game mechanics like the GPS system lend itself perfectly to the DS allowing the first GTA's apparent rebirth to be consumed in a different, friendlier light. 
 

China Town Wars, as you can see from any screen shot, lends a lot of influence from the original games before the jump to 3D. Some people may see this as a bit of a step back, but you have to consider what format this has been released on. Once you see the game, you realize the achievement is making this style of game play fresh and new again. The art style of the game is reminiscent of past GTA games, and the cutscenes are used in a graphic novel style, as we have seen from the PSP additions to the Metal Gear Solid universe. These work perfectly to continue the story and set up missions, sporting transitions which in no way make you feel detached from the characters or the atmosphere the game intends. Some cut scenes are extremely brutal, so if your worried that you wont be able to get your fix of blood from this installment, believe me, you will NOT be disappointed. If anything, the art style adds a unique sense of beauty to the creative violence. Violence is all well and good, but where would this style be without a soundtrack to match? The music in this game is phenomenal considering the platform its on. Music changes for different cut scenes, adding to the atmosphere and overall tension to the game. It cuts right off when your walking the streets, allowing the sound of traffic and crime to be the music of Liberty City, and yes, when you steal a car you get a full list of radio stations to choose from, which i was more than impressed with when faced with an ample amount.  
The games replay value is, in my eyes, down to personal preperence. There is only 1 difficulty setting (the usual "you turned me on, NOW GO" setting), which is countered by the use of uploading scores via Nintendo WiFi. This function allows you to upload your mission times to compete with the fastest players around the world. This to me only stretches so far, and truly depends on how competetive your willing to get at a game, especially one which is based around an online experiance with no real community. Obviously you can use your time away from missions to destroy Liberty City in its vast area and glory, as well as make loads of cash finding dealers, scoring stock at low prices and selling them at a hefty profit. The various "Rampage" missions do make a comeback, and while getting any GTA game to 100% completion, the main story does offer 12 - 15 hours worth of gameplay.


So despite the format, despite its limitations, Grand Theft Auto : China Town Wars is certainly pushing the bar for the more jam packed DS game. The gameplay mechanics and style have obviously had a lot of time and effort poured into them, and although a completely different feel to its handheld counterpart on the PSP, it offers a fresh experiance of an old idea, back at the roots but a totally different flower. If your worried about this being to childish for you, dont be, the epic amounts of swearing and adult content will be more than enough to keep you engrossed. If your worried about this being to violent for your kid, but are considering it because its on the DS and Nintendo would never do that to your kid. Look at the bottom left of the box and walk away now, no matter how much they cry.'