Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars

Grand Theft Auto (GTA) as a series is well known for it’s titles on
home consoles like the PS3 and Xbox 360 or the PC rather than it’s
portable offerings such as Chinatown Wars on the Nintendo DS simply
because handheld consoles don’t have the firepower to match the scale
or graphics of the home console versions. The beauty of Chinatown
Wars is that it doesn’t even try to scale up. Instead of realistic 3-D
graphics and full length music tracks we’re treated to a more
cartoonish comic feel of the franchise and a soundtrack that’s more or
less instrumental. And it does quite well.

Like all good GTA games, this one has you out for revenge and
retribution. But like all good GTA games that’s just the McGuffin. Be it selling narcotics, hot wiring cars (using the DS stylus and screens) or taking part in co-op
missions with like-minded gangster friends there’s a lot to do. What
Chinatown Wars lacks in visual appeal is adequately compensated for
by the sheer amount of content at your perusal. While it might not
look or sound anything like its home console counterparts it
definitely plays like them, if not better.

Apart from this the game features some nice touches such as whistling
into the DS mic to hail a cab, and has some of the most hilarious
dialogue in a video game to date. And for those of you who are in it for the story, fear not, it’s good. Chinatown Wars takes you into the life of Huang Lee, a spoiled, rich kid who finds himself in Liberty City to deliver a family heirloom that is
stolen from him on arrival. To add injury to insult, he’s shot at, drowned and left for dead giving him enough motive to last through the game. In addition to this each character has a distinct, almost caricature-like personality which only adds to the wackiness of developer Rockstar Games’ first portable game foray.

So if you’re looking for your fix of GTA goodness you don’t have to
look any further than Chinatown Wars. The only thing that mars the perfect score is the price, which, excuse the pun, is highway robbery. Having said that, if you can afford
it you have no reason to skip what possibly is the best game on the Nintendo DS this year.