Review: Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars was first announced at E3 in 2008. But shockingly it was announced for the DS. What? One of the most controversial video game series ever will be released on a handheld better known for brain training and child-oriented games? Along with that comes the limitation of the hardware. Unbelievable.

But as the final product was released, it was a full-value GTA, that is in no way inferior to all other GTA games and perfectly designed for the functions of the little handheld. Though it gets a mass of good criticism the game sold badly. Finally it made sense to convert the game to PSP, even so GTA: Liberty City stories and GTA: Vice City stories have achieved a huge success on PSP. But is the newest handheld GTA any good? To not put you redundant on the rack - 'Yes, it is.'

The first improvement is really eye-catching. The Cell-Shading-Look was discarded and the whole environment looks more realistic. Only the figures are presented in the same comic-look, whereby those set apart from the background and are recognized easier. The aerial perspective was certainly retained and in combination with the bigger screen of the PSP it gives you a better overview.

The story wasn't changed much. Again you play the spoilt Huang Lee, who should carry the sword of his dead father to his uncle in Liberty City. Of course something went wrong, so that Huang was shot and has almost been drowned. The sword has been stolen and Huang definitly wants it back. Like in all other GTA's this is just the beginning of Huangs rise in the underworld of Liberty City, that is paved with many chaotic characters. Also the PSP-version is upgraded with some more story missions. Unfortunately there is no voice output also in this version.

The only real bad thing that occurred at the porting are the mini-games. Those were directly taken over from the DS version and controlled via the buttons and the analog stick. Everytime you steal a car, you need either to turn a wrench in the ignition or to loosen the screws on the shutter to connect the wires that are behind. Using the stylus on DS for those mini-games seems to be really funny. But turning the analog stick around and around is really nerve-racking.

Also the mistakes from the previous version are added to the newer one. The drug dealing works fine, but it is too easy and allows you to accumulate a lot of money that can't really be used for anything, because there isn't much to buy. The last negative thing that I would like to mention is the gunfight. Actually it is the lock-on system that has never operated well. Mostly Huang aims at the wrong person or even at cars that you probably never want to shoot at.

Those were all the negative points that I can list. And all these were overshadowed by a varied gameplay, funny characters and the neat controlling. Especially the new missions are worth mentioning.