GTA: Chinatown Wars is Rockstar's first appearance, (and hopefully not their last) on the Nintendo DS. Finally, Nintendo can proudly join the big boys of the current gaming era, who have so shamefully spat in the poor company's face. Although that isn't to say that Nintendo is doing horribly. I mean, since launch, they've sold 49,109,255 Wiis and 101,154,845 DSs. But back to GTA.You find yourself controlling Huang Lee. An asian fellow who finds himself in a sticky situation when his family sword, "Yu-Jian", is lost because he was mugged at the start of the game. A little basic, but shut up, it works. The game then follows the usual sort of GTA gameplay. Drive here, do this, drive back, get another mission, drive here, cutscene, drive here, fight in epic battle, die, restart mission, yaddah, yaddah, yaddah. It may sound a bit boring when you are just reading about it, but trust me, it's a seriously good game. What Rockstar has done, is take all of the most important bits in a GTA game, and get rid of all the unnecessary dribble.
Unfortunately, getting rid of unnecessary dribble means that the pre-recorded radio is gone. What you get instead is a set of six radio stations all specializing in a different genre of music. Other staples of the GTA series are missing as well. The strip clubs are gone, and so are the hydraulics, but that is easily forgotten when you realize how much of a technical marvel this game is. Rockstar has somehow found a way to cram the entire GTA IV map, (minus one island) onto a DS cartridge. That's simply amazing. The visuals are top notch, with only some lag in big gun fights, and driving around the streets at a million miles an hour doesn't seem to strain the handheld at all.
The police can be a pain in the nether regions, as they are in all GTA games. But when there are no police in view, don't think that you can steal cars and kill people willy-nilly. Any police officers within a 200 mile radius will most likely come after you, with their sirens and guns blazing. It can be pretty annoying when you're in the middle of a mission, time's just about to run out, your car is just about to explode, and they're ramming you up the ass. The gameplay mechanic that allows you to run police cars off the road is a pain. It involves you to ram police cars into buildings or shop corners while they chase after you. If your car is just about to explode, you have a high chance of the police dodging your attack which then sends your car hurtling to its death.
The touch screen's capabilities have been used to some extent. Car-jacking means an entirely new thing. In GTA IV, you probably looked on in amazement, as a well animated Niko Bellic smashed a window and opened the door from the inside. In Chinatown Wars, all the doors are unlocked, but the keys aren't in the vehicle. To start a car, you have to use various items to hotwire a car within a certain time limit. Depending on whether the car is a newer or older one, you can use a screwdriver, your fingers, or a hacking computer.
Overall, Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars is one of the best games I've ever played. Period. It was all the aspects of the bigger GTA games, but doesn't sacrifice the fun. It will take you hours to complete entirely, there are lots of different missions to finish and it's just a rollicking good time.
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