Game Spotlight: Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars

I don’t particularly go out of my way to buy Grand Theft Auto games, in fact, I’m not much of a fan despite playing through most of the series. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a good series, nothing wrong with a bit of GTA… it’s just that with the whole rehash list they’ve come out lately which is just “bigger and better” versions of GTAIII, it can get tiring.

When Chinatown Wars was announced for the Nintendo DS, my interest was peaked when I saw images of an oldskool style top-down GTA of old. I was excited but still sceptical… after all, most people don’t remember the first and second Grand Theft Auto. Gamers who experienced the third person variants see the first two games as well as Chinatown Wars as alien entities… not “true” GTA games.

Chinatown Wars is a game that manages to bridge the old and the new in the world of Grand Theft Auto. You get that original top-down perspective that does detach the player from being up-close and personal with watching the main character, Huang, cap his enemies, slap those bitches and show off his awesome Kung Fu skills. This is probably what turns away most “newskool” GTA players, however for the rest of us who remember a time before GTAIII, the top-down view does have its advantages.

A huge example of this is that your driving ability is greatly enhanced in this view. Looking down from the sky, you have a larger field of view around you and within 20 to 30 minutes you’ll end up speeding down streets and alley ways at top speeds and power sliding around corners like you’re a pro. You’re given a level of control that’s so easy to get into that you’re a lot more eager to take on the cops and go through some awesome car chases with them… which does seem strange in a way… I mean, the fact that this game made me want to commit more crimes than in GTAIV where I found myself trying to avoid the cops and putting too much attention on myself.

Gameplay wise, Rockstar has remembered its roots but has also tied into the mix a lot of the new style that that GTA series has found over the years. Chinatown Wars does feel hard edged and gritty in terms of the way the main story is told. Huang is a likeable character, he’s the kind of asshole you want to see as the main character of a GTA game, but it doesn’t end with Huang… there are some wacky characters in the game you just have to experience. I played through quite a lot of Chinatown Wars while I was in Fiji… in fact, I played through 99% of it in Fiji and only just finished it the day I got back home to Australia.

I’m glad I did end up going to Fiji because it did force me to get this game to play on some of the boring car rides and on the plane trips. It really did come in handy, but it was also a lot of fun to play. True, GTAIV is a lot more cinematic and has the higher budget, but Chinatown Wars has a charm that the third person GTA games lack. It’s just a shame that a lot of people chose to blow off the game… though funnily enough, the day I bought it, Rockstar announced that Chinatown Wars would be heading over to the PSP. Perhaps all those who didn’t bother to pick it up for the DS will pick it up for PSP? Who knows… either way, this game should be selling more than it is at the moment.