Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars Review (DS)

Slingin' rock never felt so good.

Welcome to a world of drugs, prostitutes, murder and torture. A place where power is acquired by stabbing the backs of those who trust you most. No, Law & Order isn't being covered on this site, I'm talking about Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars for the Nintendo DS.

Following on the high benchmark set by GTA IV, Chinatown Wars is everything you've come to love about the GTA franchise. It's a filthy world with even more decrepit inhabitants. And it's also really, really fun.

As Huang Lee, you arrive in Liberty City to give a family sword to your Uncle Kenny. Your father (a high ranking Triad boss) has recently been murdered and the family sword is to be passed to the next in line patriarch. Upon arriving in Liberty City Huang a rival gang is waiting to steal Huang's precious heirloom. A gunfight ensues and Huang is shot, presumed dead and dumped in the river.

This begins Huang's quest. It's up to you to find your father's killer, retrieve the family sword, and return honor to your family's name. As the title Chinatown Wars implies, the Asian themes (and cliches) are laid on pretty thick. "You killed my father" lines aside, this is one very entertaining road to redemption.

Chinatown Wars takes its visual cues from the first two GTAs, using a top down view versus the 3rd person perspective of GTA IV. While the view is somewhat old school in GTA terms, the gameplay feels just as fresh as GTA IV.

Everything you'd expect from a GTA experience is found in Chinatown Wars. Stealing cars, intense firefights, running from cops, drive-bys, missions, races and side-quests are all crammed into one impressive DS cartridge.

A major addition to the GTA franchise is Chinatown Wars' inclusion of a drug trade system. Chinatown Wars features an addictive economic system based on buying and selling drugs to dealers across Liberty City. Say you score some heroine on the cheap ($279 a bag) and a guy in South Bohan is really needing a fix. That person will pay a substantially higher premium allowing you to triple up on your initial investment. Simply buy low and sell high.

Holding onto your goods can be a little tricky however. If you have any drugs on your person and get arrested, your narcotics are obviously confiscated. The fuzz will also setup busts at certain locations and swarm after you make a purchase. The best advice I can give is to immediately store any drugs you receive in one of your safe houses and don't bother carrying them around unless your are going straight to a sale.

To keep missions, saves, and the drug economy in check, Chinatown Wars uses a PDA system. The PDA acts like Niko's cell in GTA IV and keeps you in contact with the world. Drug dealers will let you know what commodities are hot, arms dealers will send you their daily deals, and mission specific characters will keep you in the loop. You can also use the PDA to chart paths to locations all across the city, which comes in very handy with the portable version of Liberty City's sprawling landscape.

Looking at DS focused features, Chinatown Wars does a great job of using the touch screen. Jacking cars is made a little more interesting when you have to hotwire it, force the ignition with a screwdriver, or thwart the programming of an anti-theft computer. Other touch screen tasks include bashing security padlocks, wrecking enemy vehicles, setting explosives and more. While some DS games feature touch screen concepts that seem forced, Chinatown Wars does a great job of making sure that touch inputs add to the experience.

While the descriptions so far paint a near flawless GTA outing, a few blemishes do appear. Chinatown Wars lacks voice acting beyond pedestrian snippets, which has an impact on the story sequences. Without voice acting it's hard to tell if characters are joking, sarcastic, angry, or sad. The narrative more or less falls flat as a result.

Continuing with audio issues, Chinatown Wars radio stations are greatly impaired by the DS' low quality sound output. While a variety of tunes are present, none of them stand out beyond clunky synthesizers emulating a specific music genre.

Stepping away from the single player game, if you and your friends each have a Chinatown Wars game cartridge in your DS can play a few multiplayer games. The group games include your typical death matches, capture the flags, and defend the fort type outings. Not exactly game sellers, but they're there if you're interested.

The Game
If you're a fan of the GTA series and own a DS, then this is the game for you. If you're a DS owner and are interested in playing a more mature game that's still fun, you can't go wrong with Chinatown Wars. Audio and story cliches aside, Chinatown Wars will keep you busy (and entertained) with its tried and true GTA game design and all new drug trafficking system.
8.5/10

The Time
With a story mode that takes about 15 hours to complete and a plethora of side quests and objectives there is a lot of substance to Chinatown Wars. That said, it still maintains a great pick up and play aspect that is ideal for busy gamers.
8.5/10

The Verdict
Any handheld title that allows you keep track of coke, heroine, acid, pot, and ecstasy prices in a fluctuating economy should stand out and Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars does just that. It's everything you love about GTA with everything you love about your DS in one epic package.