GTA: Chinatown Wars marks the first (and possibly the last) time the mature franchise hits the family-friendly DS market.
Fresh off the great success of GTAIV, Rockstar released another Grand Theft Auto game this past March. GTA: Chinatown Wars was the first GTA offering ever to hit Nintendo’s family friendly DS, and analysts predicted that people would buy it in droves. Unfortunately for Nintendo and Rockstar, the analysts were wrong, though the game has received high praise, the fact of the matter is, nobody is buying it (only a little over 100,000 copies have sold in 2 months which is way below expectations).
I wasn’t planning on picking up a copy, but a friend of mine lent me his. I’ve put a few hours in the game so figured I’d write up a quick retail impressions.
The Good
GTA Lite
The best thing that can be said about Chinatown Wars is that it offers the classic GTA experience to go. I never played the top down GTAs, but supposedly Chinatown Wars feels a lot like that. Liberty City is represented here in its fullest (minus Alderney I think), and the city feels as alive and vibrant as it did in GTA IV. The missions are very accessible and although there are no mid-mission checkpoints, you can finish each mission in about 5 minutes, keeping everything bite sized. Another welcome addition is the fact that you don’t have to drive super far in each mission, keeping everything short.
Drug Wars
The main part of the game’s economy revolves around selling drugs. You get e-mails on your PDA about who is selling at low prices and who will buy high, and you just kind of drive around trading drugs to make money. It is kind of addicting, and sometimes cops or rival gangs try to stop you to keep the action going. It’s classic buy low sell high strategy, but it’s nice to just drive around and make money.
Presentation
Even from the top down perspective, Chinatown Wars is a great looking game. It has good sound effects, the radio soundtrack is decent, and everything looks crystal clear. The story is told through panel cutscenes which are well drawn (but not animated). There is a lot of polish to the game, which is a huge plus. Rockstar obviously didn’t cut any corners.
The Not so Good
Menu Navigation
I find the menus clunky and difficult to use. It took me a long time to figure out how to activate GPS on the bottom screen, and menus don’t really load smoothly. The game looks great but the menu really slows me down.
Stylus or Classic Controls?
Chinatown Wars has a lot of sections where you need to use the stylus (like when you are jacking a car). I hate when games use both the stylus and the regular control pad, and Chinatown Wars does it to a fault. My hand cramps because I need to hold the stylus with my pinky and ring finger while I am playing. It’s not like the stylus works better for some sections, you literally HAVE to use both control styles. Just because the DS has a touch screen doesn’t mean you have to force us to use it!
Lame Storyline
The storyline is beyond lame. Something about your father or uncle being killed? Or something? And you end up working with random mob bosses who are trying to take over the family business? Anyway, the story is a complete throwaway, which is kind of disappointing coming off of the deep storyline (at least the first half) of GTA IV. It doesn’t help that all the characters are egotistical, self serving jerks either. Which leads me to…
The Horrible
Worst. Protagonist. Ever.
I absolutely hate, hate, hate, HATE the main character in this game. He is super arrogant, he tries to be funny by being sarcastic (but he’s not), and all in all he is probably the most unlikeable protagonist I’ve ever seen in a game. The dialogue in this game is horrible, I don’t know if it’s trying to be intentionally bad but it’s to the point where I just want to skip it all. Being a huge story-driven gamer, this really is a major turnoff for me, and the reason why I find myself grabbing Broken Sword instead of Chinatown Wars a lot of the time.
Final Thoughts
I’m going out of town this weekend so I’m going to give Chinatown Wars more time to grow on me. The gameplay is excellent, but the terrible story/dialogue is a real turnoff for me. From reviews I read, the story is universally panned, but most people enjoy the gameplay so much that it doesn’t matter. If gameplay is king for you, the game is probably worth picking up. It has all the classic trappings of a game that I’ll never finish though, so I’m glad I borrowed it instead of bought it.
