18
Feb
2009
Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars
At first glance, Chinatown Wars could be mistaken for a return to the Grand Theft Auto series’ humble 2D beginnings. The action is viewed from a more or less top-down perspective, and of course you still spend much of your time driving stolen cars and causing trouble with firearms. But the similarities between this superb Nintendo DS game and its ’90s progenitors pretty much end there. Chinatown Wars actually has more in common with GTAs III and IV than it does with earlier games, and, remarkably, it even adds to and improves on the formula that made those games so successful. That’s a bold statement for sure, but Chinatown Wars really is that good.
Set in the same instantly recognizable Liberty City as GTAIV (minus one island), Chinatown Wars tells the story of a power struggle within the Triad gangs from the perspective of Huang Lee, whose crime-boss father has recently been murdered. Huang flies to Liberty from Hong Kong to avenge his father, and predictably becomes embroiled in the war between those hoping to step into the dead man’s shoes. As Huang, you advance the story–which should take you about nine hours to play through–by undertaking missions for a number of different characters within the Triad organization, as well as for one or two people outside of it. Many of these missions involve the usual mix of driving fast, killing people, and not getting caught by the cops, but there are plenty of varied and memorable missions as well, a number of which put the touch screen to great use. Read the rest of this entry »
