Huanging out in Liberty City on your DS

This is possibly the biggest challenge that Rockstar Leeds has had to date: transferring the Grand Theft Auto experience (with all of its 18-rated goodness) onto the Nintendo DS.

Rockstar didn’t shy away from the challenge. Instead they ran at it head first. And the result? A true GTA experience on the Nintendo DS, which if I’m honest I did not expect and is nothing short of miraculous.

Small Cartridge, BIG WORLD

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars brings a new story, with new characters, to a very familiar city, Liberty City. With the exception of Alderney Island, the entire city from GTA IV is your playground.

From screenshots Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars looks like a top down affair, much like the PC and PSOne originals. But this is not the case. Chinatown Wars is in fact isometric, so although the camera is up high, it sits at an angle behind your character. This new GTA viewpoint suits the DS perfectly. It blends the old school high based camera with the brilliantly rendered 3D city, that helps to capture the scale of Liberty City.

The story of Chinatown Wars introduces you to Huang Lee a spoiled triad member who is on his way to Liberty City after the assassination of his father. His task is to deliver the symbol of Honour - the Yu Jian sword - to the newest elder patriach; Uncle Wu ‘Kenny’ Lee. But this is GTA. Within thirty seconds of stepping off the plane Huang Lee’s bodyguards are dead, he is shot, robbed of the sword and dumped in the River. What better way to be welcomed to Liberty City! Grand Theft Auto’s story is all about revenge; for you father and for your ‘welcome’ to the city. Unlike previous incarnations of GTA, chinatown Wars uses hand drawn stills and text to tell the story, the pictures themselves are drawn in the GTA style. If there is any movement it is done on the top screen using the in game engine.

Making/Hitting your mark

The missions in Chinatown Wars are just as varied as those on the bigger console versions. One mission saw me collect a sniper rifle from a balcony, construct it, then wait for my target to appear. Another mission saw me put a hole in the side of a building then back a van into it so my colleagues could load it up; all the while defending the van from enemy gang attack. As soon as the van is full it’s simply a case of burning rubber; not only avoiding the gang but the police too.

And believe me, the Police aren’t stupid. Just like previous GTA games, as your ‘wanted’ level increases so do their methods of trying to detain you. If you’re not a fighter you can run and hide, like in previous GTA games. But where is the fun in that? Instead, Rockstar has given you a new way to lower your ‘wanted’ level … by ramming the police cars till they blow up. With every police car biting the dust, your ‘wanted’ level decreases by one star. It’s brilliant fun.

Having said that, fleeing from the police is sometimes your best option, especially when you have a cargo on board that will make you lots of money. I’m referring, of course, to Liberty City’s drug trade. In Chinatown Wars, you have the option to buy and sell drugs to make a profit. No money? Not to worry, you can always drive a taxi, police car or ambulance to help you stabilise your finances. Alternatively you can always steal the drugs. You only have to know where to look …

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars’ display is perfectly set up for the DS. In its default set up; the action is contained in the top screen. Everything else is kept to the touch screen: your HUD, weapon select, story progression and map. This gives you a much cleaner experience of GTA, as the screen isn’t cluttered.

I’m not saying that the touch screen is over used; Rockstar has only used the touch screen where it makes sense. Hotwiring a car, throwing explosives, selecting weapons and even building a sniper rifle; they’re all handled via the touch screen. None of it feels unnecessary or gimmicky.

The actual movement is handled by the D-pad, whilst running and shooting is handled by the buttons. This control set-up does make Chinatown Wars (dare I say it) more fun than GTA IV! It recaptures the fun and accessibility of the old GTA games that GTA IV lost when it evolved into a more mature and realistic game.

The cars in Chinatown Wars all handle very differently. The bigger the car the slower the acceleration and the handling. Also the cars have the same level of damage that GTA IV has, so prang one of your head lights at night and you’ll end up with one light. Take enough hits to the bonnet and the bonnet will fly off. Take enough damage in general and your car goes boom.

Bright Lights of the Big City

The level of detail doesn’t stop with the cars either. The city is also highly detailed not just visually but behind the scenes too with a day and night cycle, weather system that affects car handling when it rains and AI interaction between non-playable characters … so you’ll encounter people who’ll shop, stop to chat with each other and even argue, before returning home.

Chinatown Wars is a Hardcore game on a console, that at the moment, favours casual gamers. Rockstar Leeds have managed to create the GTA experience on the DS. Far from ’squashing’ the game, which is what you might expect to happen on a handheld, Grand Theft Auto: China Town Wars on DS actually does the opposite. The city feels alive, which is exactly how you will feel as you carjack your way through the levels, restoring honour and creating mayhem along the way.

GAME's Verdict

• The amount of life contained in such a small cartridge
• The touch screen intergration feels necessary, not forced
• It is GTA, pure and Simple

• Lost opportunity for DSi specific features eg Music
• At a whopping 20hrs, it could have been longer!
• Having to wait so damn long for it!

Review by: Tom "Gangsta" Daly
Version Tested: Nintendo DS
Review Published: 17.03.09

Big Trouble in Little China

While the PSP installments of the Grand Theft Auto saga worked brilliantly, we never really expected to see a Nintendo DS version. But here it is, Chinatown Wars, a brand new stand-alone adventure based around the murky goings-on in a Triad crime syndicate. You play Huang Lee, the son of a gang boss whose brutal murder you must avenge. From here, you get the familiar mix of thrilling car chases, onfoot exploration and tense shoot-outs, all fuelled by cool characters and head-spinning plot twists.

Street style

Developed by Rockstar Leeds, the team behind Vice City Stories and Liberty City Stories, GTA Chinatown Wars brings a unique visual style to the series. Instead of the familiar behind-the-shoulder 3D view, we get an overhead chase camera, which rotates whenever necessary to give you the best view of the action within the crowded city streets. It's a sensible compromise for the smaller DS displays, providing a good overview of the action.

Meanwhile, the graphical realism of the console titles is replaced by a comic book-esque, cell-shaded look. It brilliantly suits the bustling streets of GTA Chinatown Wars, where pedestrians rush about chatting, chomping on fast food and generally living their lives in a hyper-accelerated frenzy of primary colours and zooming cars.

There's plenty of authentic detail too. Grand Theft Auto Chinatown Wars takes place in the Liberty City of GTA IV, seemingly missing just one of its boroughs, Alderney. Newsstands and lamp posts can be smashed through in any of the game's many vehicles. And in the background a day/night cycle and a dynamic weather system add a tinge of authenticity to this manga-like universe.

A touch of violence

Naturally, the interface has been re-worked for the DS set-up. Most of GTA Chinatown Wars will be controlled via the D-pad, but there are also regular mini-game challenges that use the stylus and touchscreen interface. You may need to hotwire a vehicle, or push out the windscreen out of a sinking car - it's even possible to draw tattoos onto your fellow gang members.

While you're in a shoot-out, the touchscreen provides a quick and easy way to swap weapons. It'll also show your ammo count so you'll know when to abandon the shotgun in favour of that backup pistol. For the rest of the time in GTA Chinatown Wars, the lower display operates as a useful PDA showing a map of Liberty City complete with waypoints to mission objectives.

Ah yes, missions. As in all GTA titles, you'll be pulling jobs for various lowlife crimelords, stealing cars and causing the usual bullet-blasted mayhem. In GTA Chinatown Wars, however, it also looks like you'll be able to steal police cars and emergency service vehicles in order to complete exciting side-quests. Driving on these comparatively narrow roads is assisted by an auto-pilot feature that ensures you stay on track and don't bump into oncoming traffic or mount the pavement - unless you really want to of course.

Cruise control

Those afraid that Rockstar would present a watered down GTA experience for the DS can relax. GTA Chinatown Wars is a full-bodied gangsta shooter, complete with bloody street massacres, Molotov cocktail attacks and endless pedestrian victims. It seems that an important element of the game is drug-dealing, with several gangs controlling different areas of the city. You'll need to infiltrate this nefarious business and work out which narcotics are in demand and where to make serious cash as you go along. Nintendo wanted a serious GTA title and, boy, it looks like they've got it. Naturally, we can't wait.

Preview by: Keith 'Chinatown' Stuart
Version Tested: DS
Review Published: 23.02.09