.::GTA: Chinatown Wars::.

Bird Perspective

I had a lot of trouble getting this to run,but i’ve made it,somehow. GTA is well known for it’s rating,sexual scenes,drugs and all the things today’s parents forbid they’re kids to do,or mostly know about. So far GTA is one of the most expected and most played games,ever. With the huge success on PC,the game got transffered over to next-gen consoles,and the handhelds. The PSP got a shot at it,twice. Worked pretty good,resembled GTA: San Andreas.

Rockstar ported the whole series onto the Nintendo DS.

You play the role of Huang Lee, a son of a Chinese triad who got killed. His main goal is to go to Liberty City and find the murrderrers of his father. Sounds easy enough? Along with his uncle Kenny Lee he get’s into a lot of trouble.

Box Art

At the beginning of the game,you see a cutscene,describing who he is and what he does. Soon after coming to Libery City,he get’s shot in the head with a flesh wound,and get’s nearly killed by unknown people. His uncle is a boss in L.C. and works for the big guys. I’m not gonna spoil the story though,at least i’ll try not to.

The whole game plays and feels like it’s GTA. Honest. You can get into vehicles by pressing X, beat up people,get chased by cops etc. There are many vehicles in the game and types like ambulance cars, sport cars and so on and on.

You find yourself in Liberty City,which looks like it’s in 1950’s but is actually in 2009. You do missions for your uncle,who get’s buggered by street punks,blackmailed etc thus earning money and respect. All of that is to find an ancient sword Huang’s father won in a card game a long time ago. That sword was supposed to be handeld to a boss,but when Huang got mugged,the sword got stolen. Meaning,throughout the game you will be searching the killers of your father and the people who stole the sword.

The one huge difference in this game is the view. You look at the city,Huang and everything else from a bird’s perspective. This might not sound good,but it works perfectly. Looks awesome,feels awesome. The game is filled with sound effects, car horns, screams and everything you could expect from a game like that.

Everything the predecessors of Chinatown Wars had,this game has it also. You can listen to the radio while in the car,you can fight,you have an email, PDA – everything is at your disposal. You can get new weapons like machine guns,guns and other weaponry. The game is filled with mini-games like assembling a sniper, jacking a car, tatooing somebody,playing lottery and among other things, opening a dumpster to take weapons.

Every now and then when a mission starts a cutscene occurs with dialog, these scenes are sometimes fun to watch. Later in the game you get missions from various people,buy/trade and sell drugs to dealers,and recruit new members.

This game is long. I’ve been playing it for about 2h and so far with non-stop play i’ve only got about 5%. I ‘m guessing there’s tons of replay value. The city is huge. There are many places to explore,stores to go into, warehouses to buy and missions to do.

Controlling Huang is extremely easy.  You can buy warehouses,store cars in garages and go on various places around the city. Throughout the game you will meet different people,crooked cops and triad bosses.

In the game you have a PDA, where you receive new emails, have an adress book, briefing, mission listings,stats,multiplayer, GPS and trade info.

You have a mini map on the touch screen,it serves as a GPS guiding system. Using it,you can mark places and get a guiding line to it.

This game has Wi-Fi, or WFC to say it more accurate. It gives you a friend code which you can exchange with other people.  Still didn’t test it, not yet. But from other sources you have the following modes:

• Survivor Mode – Your standard deathmatch (online)

• Gang Bang – Blow up your opponents base before they blow up yours

• Defend the Base – A co-op mode defending a base against waves of mobsters

• Single Race and Season – Vehicle-based multiplayer modes

• Cash and drugs can also be exchanged with friends online, as well as your “favorite” locations around the city

You also have the ability to live chat with your friends. Something like a Pictochat rip-off but it works.

Huang Lee

Finally, to wrap things up.

Chinatown Wars is an excellent game. I don’t remember having this much fun playing something. The game has a great story which you can play without getting bored. Sand-box gameplay, and open city, and tons of things to collect this is going to be a hit.
It will keep anyone entertained for a long period of time. The story is long and entertaining, sometimes filled with funny dialog,all over.
If you get a chance to buy this game,don’t hessitate. It won’t dissapoint you.

Overall Score: 9.1/10

Update:  Nowadays,to be honest i still play it. I lost interesest in the story because i got stucked on a hard mission,but still. I just play it for the free roam,chasing people,killing,and running away form cops. A game with just that offers a lot of entertainment.