Reviews// GTA: Chinatown Wars

Sort that one out Meta-people!

Posted 18 Mar 2009 19:32 by
Sorry, the cops. Yes, brutal, dumb, ubiquitous. The way you deal with them has changed from the bigger machine versions though.

Rather than outrunning the LCPD in order to drop your Wanted status, this time around you have to actively deal with them. By this I mean that you have to out-drive them to the extent that they prang themselves with a very satisfying winding down of the siren and a little red 'X' appearing over their crushed motors. This method certainly teaches you more about vehicle handling than anything else – and quickly. You can play the old 'accelerate before a bend then brake' trick to throw them into a wall; you can angle into them; you can handbrake turn back at them... you can have all sorts of fun. That fun does not entail running away. This is a good thing.

Plot: It didn't offend me. It involves Chinese Americans. It involves the buying and selling of drugs in order to make money and exert influence. Ideally, the plan is to make so much money and gain so much influence that your family can boss the city's Triads. There are, of course, twists and turns (and more drugs), there are relationships to forge (and drugs), there are policemen to look out for or maybe even befriend (and drugs).

However, I wouldn't tell you the entire plot of a book or movie I was reviewing, so why the hell would I do that for a game. It's Grand Theft Auto for goodness' sake, not Grand Guignol. Actually, it probably is Grand Guignol, but you'll have to look that one up.

Given SPOnG's recent policy of not writing 16-page reviews that talk more about the writer than they do the game, I shall come to a jarring halt here with a check-list:

Driving fast: Check.
Shooting stuff: Check.
Selling drugs: Check.
Superb use of medium: Check.
Plot that doesn't suck: Check.
Fun game-play: Check.
System seller: Yes, I actually think so.

Disregarding the occasional glitch and negating the fact that I played it on a Dsi and a DS Lite and neither spoke of much difference, I've got to say that had I played this around at a pal's house, I would actually have seriously considered buying a DS of some flavour to call my own.

SPOnG Score: 99.91,999,99,112,122 (Sort that one out Meta-people!)
SPOnG Recommends: Buy this game. Buy a DS if you need to.
Conclusion
Liberty City rises again – albeit in a small way. But that small way is a big way when it comes to playability. The DS's limitations merely show how good Rockstar can be in turning out true paragons of gaming near perfection when the chaps there forget all the 'We want to be Martin Scorcese and Chris Rock at the same time please' nonsense and concentrate on what they are excellent at.
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