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PreviousGrand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars Review
DS Review by Tom Bramwell
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Coming so soon after Grand Theft Auto IV took an imperious bow in the middle of last year, Rockstar's announcement that GTA would be heading to DS, and within a matter of months, was met with justified excitement but also surprise and scepticism. The PSP had done a fine job with Liberty City Stories - still the best-selling game on Sony's handheld - but Nintendo's innovative hardware would surely be hard-pressed to bring Grand Theft Auto to life in the way its fans have come to expect.
Well, if Chinatown Wars does nothing else, it presses the DS harder than virtually anything else you can buy for it. This is GTA on a smaller screen, but by no means a smaller scale. GTAIV's Liberty City may have been cut back to two islands (the best ones), but they're massive, diverse playgrounds, teeming with cars, pedestrians, the series' trademark missions and side-games, wonderfully rendered in surprising detail by an engine that ranks among the best on the platform. And with the addition of touch-screen gimmicks and a significant new drug-dealing component, the loss of things like the comedy voiceovers and talkshows are hardly felt.
Although this is the same Liberty City we all ripped apart last year, Rockstar has thrown out the cast in order to tell a new story. You play as Huang Lee, the spoiled son of a murdered gangster arriving back in town to pick up the pieces, quickly and conveniently thrown in at the deep end of a typical tale of turf wars, bent cops and the dark comedy of Rockstar's cock-eyed criminal underworld.
The set-up's familiar, then, but the delivery's understandably closer to the top-down GTAs of old. You target enemies with the right shoulder and fire with the A button, and whenever you get behind the wheel the camera zooms back to show you more of the road ahead (you can also adjust this, which is a nice touch). Unable to use 3D in-engine cut-scenes, the developers have gone for comic stills with text dialogue.
Thanks to the PDA, you can save anywhere, on top of being able to save and regain your health at safehouses, and on top of an auto-save. You won't be losing progress.
Despite cutbacks, however, much of what made GTAIV comprehensively playable is retained. Your new PDA, which occupies the touch-screen, includes the mini-map, which clicks through to a GPS that allows you to lay down waypoints, and plot courses to missions, drug dealers, safehouses and points of interest you've saved as favourites. You can also toggle various top-screen features that save you having to glance down all the time: GPS chevrons that point the way down the road, icons at the edges to help point out key locations, and of course your health and armour meters.
But it's the touch-screen that completes Chinatown Wars. You can use it to plot a throwing arc for Molotov cocktails and grenades, and when you get into a parked car you're given a few seconds to hotwire it. Older cars can be fired up with a screwdriver or a couple of twisted wires, while smarter rides have you sweating on rotating numbers to crack the immobiliser. It's the missions that benefit the most. An assassination involves assembling a rifle and then using the d-pad to target through the scope, bombs need to be defused in trucks, rookie bangers need to be tattooed, and there are numerous other smart little ideas, all of which are brief and pleasantly unexpected.
Whenever you open the DS from standby, the game spits out a random speech sample. Hey good-looking!
Mission design is more imaginative than before. There are still plenty of fetch-and-carry missions, and quite a few drive-here-to-shoot-these-guys affairs, but they usually play out in interesting ways. Blowing up a rival's gambling den with a tanker involves keeping up speed because a petrol leak at the rear has ignited and threatens to catch up to you, while rescuing a downed contact requires you to stay in cover and toss grenades to avoid a probing mini-gun. When a seemingly typical race mission first arrives, it turns out that you're not taking part; you're helping your contact cheat his way to victory by sabotaging the other cars and, later, interfering with the race itself by knocking people off course.
Driving takes a little while to adapt to thanks to an auto-correct that puts you on a straight course, but in time this more than earns its place in GTA's catalogue of clever features, allowing you to bypass columns of traffic without loss of speed, and swing fast into sharp turns without smashing yourself to pieces. GTA's love of screeching handbrake powerslides is diminished considerably, but the alternative is pacey and intuitive enough to compensate, and individual cars are caricatured with a likeable severity that means a plodding delivery truck is no less engaging than a sports car or one of the game's suicidally exhilarating motorbikes.
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Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars - Wi Fi [0] 21 April, 2009
GTA: Chinatown Wars - Intro [7] 16 March, 2009
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17 March, 2009 [4]
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GamesProgrammer
16/03/09 @ 17:29
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I hope you actually played through this one before giving it 10 out of 10 unlike with GTA4.
Dont want to be fooled twice |
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sweetcheeks
16/03/09 @ 17:36
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i'll echo that sentiment games programmer
i found gta4 very accomplished but not very fun. SR2 ftw |
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Physically_Insane
16/03/09 @ 17:43
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I was kind of expecting a 10. I had a feeling it would be either a flop or a priceless game. And btw, 10/10 doesn't mean it's perfect.
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i think i'll be picking this up on friday, love the sound of things like making your rifle on the touch screen and hotwiring cars, and best of all sounds like it doesnt take itself too seriously!
with any luck it will vastly outsell the psp gta games, if only just to spite that idiotic sony pr person who doubted it and thinks ds is still for people under 12 despite clearly being wrong.
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most recently on 16/03/09 @ 17:46
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evilfoxhound...
How many days have you been reading this site for? Four, perhaps? -- The perfect ten? A score of ten reflects a game that, within the reviewer's estimation, is something you must buy: this is the message we're trying to convey. On a basic level it's almost certainly the best quality game ever seen within the context of its genre, and that's why Eurogamer doesn't dish them out very often. A score of 10 usually applies to less than a trio of games in any given year. But all 10s are not born equal. For starters, you might consider that a ten in the RPG genre still isn't as appealing as an FPS that we scored an eight, or be mystified how we could score a football management game a nine when we only gave that survival-horror game you loved an eight. The best rule is to simply rate like with like, and use your own personal taste barometer to gauge whether the genre is of interest to you. Even so, if you're new to a particular genre then something scoring a ten is a very safe bet indeed. As a starting point, the message is you can't get a better game of this type. Let us make absolutely clear that a 10 is not and probably never will be "the perfect game". There's always something criticisable about a game, however small. A 10 will inspire the reviewer because it gets so many things correct. It will be something truly groundbreaking and aesthetically successful, be consistently enjoyable, get the balance right in difficulty terms, be technically very impressive, and be polished to a shine. It will leave the player in no doubt that they're playing something special right from the word go and will continue to inspire and amaze throughout. As we've said, this doesn't mean it's perfect, and we'll be sure to say where it goes wrong too, but maybe those niggles are just so minor that you can let it off. Look at anything under a microscope for long enough and you'll see the flaws. But would you kick a supermodel out of bed for farting? |
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wewillselfdestruct
16/03/09 @ 17:49
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Seriously? The 10/10 means perfect debate again?
*facepalm* Try reading the scoring policy. It actually includes the line Let us make absolutely clear that a 10 is not and probably never will be "the perfect game". Beaten to it. Must. Type. Faster.
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most recently on 16/03/09 @ 17:51
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20charactersmax
16/03/09 @ 17:49
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Available for ?17.99 from Amazon and PLAY.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/GTA-Chinatown-Wa... http://www.play.com/Games/DS/4-/6072242/... |
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alimokrane
16/03/09 @ 17:49
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Why is it that everytime a game gets a 10, we have to have the "There is no perfect game" debate :(
Just enjoy the bloody game if you are gonna get it. |
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mr_ruberfon
16/03/09 @ 18:00
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you'll be fooled by many things if you can't figure out the simple scoring policy
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Triggerhappytel
16/03/09 @ 18:05
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Please please please shut the fuck up about the 10/10 = perfect debate. That's not what it means and if it did the score would never get used anyway, thus rendering it useless.
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WillyWanka
16/03/09 @ 18:08
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These comments make me weep (well not all of them just the obvious few...)
May pick this up, but as the first poster already said, it's probably wise to wait for some player reviews before buying, as this might end up being just another journalism jizz fest over a technically impressive, albeit DUUUULLLL game |
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FaceOmeter
16/03/09 @ 18:12
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Evilfoxhound: good to see there are people who aren't bored of this debate!
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PearOfAnguish
16/03/09 @ 18:13
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I won't be fooled again.
Judging by your comments so far I find this hard to believe.
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most recently on 16/03/09 @ 18:13
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TheBoyChris
16/03/09 @ 18:16
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Won't be fooled again? Christ, it sounds absolutely ace! And anyhow, it's all opinion based so if you don't like it, don't listen. Dicks.
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and of course, if 9 became the new 10, people would moan that 9 is used too much and should only be used for 'near perfect' games, rendering that useless as well.
Before you know it, it would be impossible to score games... ...on second thoughts, sign evilfoxhound up EG, maybe then we can get rid of scores altogether. |
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Funny you guys should bring up the scoring policy actually as I found myself looking at the ''Eurogamer scoring policy' that sits alongside the incorrect scores given to games. I remember reading it in the past, but have noticed that it has recently been updated, which explains an awful lot. Instead of forcing you lazy baboons to click the mentioned page, I have pasted the entire revamped article here for your reading pleasure. Have fun!
--------------------------- Wondering how we pin a number on a game's worth? Here's our scoring criteria laid bare... The perfect ten? A score of ten should reflect a game that achieves the absolute pinnacle of gaming design, in every aspect available. Since perfection is obviously impossible, applying a 10/10 to a game means that it is, essentially, absolutely superb and an example of astonishing gaming design. However, we here at Eurogamer prefer to apply 10/10 scores more leniently, and, as such, will overlook huge flaws in games if it means giving it a 10! Furthermore, if the game has been hyped beyond belief, and has a huge following, we are inclined to give it 10/10 since we don't contain the knowledge within our minds to be objective and balanced when reviewing highly anticipated games. And sometimes, we may just slap a 10/10 on a game for the sheer heck of it... we're cool like that! Since no game is perfect, a 10/10 game may indeed have some minor flaws, but we look at minor flaws as if they amount to nothing, therefore any huge gaping flaws have no affect on our reviews! (Unless we dislike the game, in which case we will conveniently highlight flaws we otherwise wouldn't) To get into the 10/10 category, all a game need do is be hyped, full of novelty, have a publisher willing to advertise on our website, and be something which we can enjoy as uninformative idiots who get paid for not doing our jobs properly. For an example of an excellent 10/10 Eurogamer review, check out our World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King review, or read this quick summary: "Wrath of the Lich King is awesome, it has no flaws I will list since it deserves 10/10. I don't know how to review games. I think Age of Conan is good also." Or check our Fable II review! "Fable II is essentially the original game in High-Def. It has the same flaws as the original game, and as an RPG doesn't push any boundaries nor challenge what is already on offer in the best RPGs out there. But does that matter? Of course not! I thought the game was excellent even though it crashes a few times, the graphics were messy, the content was too short, and the co-op mode is absolutely useless! I'm completely contradicting myself and gaming design by saying this game deserves 10/10, but since I'm a complete moron that doesn't apply! Or, finally, our Grand Theft Auto IV review! "This game is made by Rockstar, therefore it is 10/10. I didn't even play the game, because if I did, and if I knew how to review games properly, I would see that both the visuals and the combat in GTAIV are heavily flawed. The combat is still stuck in the days when the original Playstation was running the show, while the visuals are something which could feasibly run on that same console since they are of such a poor standard. But Rockstar are cool to geeks, therefore cool to me, therefore I will overlook flaws and rate this overrated above-average action game 10/10." Nine will do just fine The 9/10 category is easy to get into on Eurogamer. A game can be filled with errors, broken features, unpolished design, and push absolutely no boundaries in gaming at all, but as long as we enjoy the novelty in a game we can apply this score without any issues. The reason why the game may get a 9/10 instead of 10/10 is purely because we rate far too many games 10/10, and so need to relegate some games into this category. Sorry about that! For an example of an excellent 9/10 Eurogamer review, check out our Gears of War PC review, or read this quick summary: "The story is shit, the characters are shit, the setting is shit, and the game does absolutely nothing that is above moderately entertaining. But heck, there are enough guns and explosions in this game to make me - an uninformed little cretin - think that this game is superb. There plenty of other games out there that deserve a 9/10 review more than this over-hyped brainless shooter, but I'm too stupid to realise that!" Or check out our Killzone 2 review! "I know fine well this game isn't 9/10; the game doesn't do anything new or exciting beyond pretty visuals, and the offline single-player aspect is adequate at best. Furthermore the story is virtually non-existent, while the level design is about as unimaginative as a very bad 1960s Sci-fi flick. The multi-player is solid, but as a whole package the game just really isn't pushing the boundaries. But still, the peer pressure of acne-ridden virgins is too much, plus my editor said I'd get fired if I didn't overrate this hyped product, therefore I give a 9/10 to this magnificent and cutting-edge First Person Shooter!" Eight can be great Since we here at Eurogamer are so unbalanced with our reviews, an 8/10 could mean anything from "a good game" right down to "absolute rubbish". Because we overrate and improperly review 90% of games with the 10/10 tag, it is difficult for you, the reader, to gauge just what an 8/10 means for a game. You'll just have to guess! For an example of an excellent 8/10 Eurogamer review, check out our Mirror's Edge review, or read this quick summary: "Damn, I knew I should have delayed this review until everyone else posted their's. Now we're the only ones who think this jumped-up tech demo is any good!" Or check out our original Age of Conan review from the same genius who wrote our Wrath of the Lich King review! "I am not a gaming reviewer, I am just some guy who posts none-sense on MMO based forums. I think Age of Conan is class because you can cut people up and stuff. My opinion is completely and utterly pointless to anyone with an ounce of intelligence. I listen to Kings of Leon and use an I-Phone." Seven not as much heaven In the old days, when we were young and seeking attention (but weirdly writing more reliable reviews), a 7/10 from Eurogamer could still mean a game that is certainly worth playing. But now that we give 9/10s and 10/10s to any Tom, Dick or Harry, a 7/10 is completely useless! Even if we like a game that we give 7/10 it doesn't matter, since our number rating system has been completely messed up with the vast amount of hideous reviews we've written! A 7/10 game now means that the game isn't worth your time, and that you should now be purchasing our 9/10 and 10/10 rated games instead (sponsored by EA). For an example of an excellent 7/10 Eurogamer review, check out our Lost the Videogame review, or read this quick summary: "I am an idiot. I am an idiot. I am an idiot. I shouldn't be getting paid to review games. Ubi-Soft gave me pocket-money to say this ridiculously crap game is good. I am an idiot." Or check our our Assassin's Creed review! "I have so little female interaction that by giving this game 7/10 I hope that it will somehow win me brownie points with Jade Raymond, a person who has the same job as thousands of other game developers, yet gets absurd attention because of her tits. Oh, the game itself? Well, it's shit... just some crappy action game with semi-decent visuals, but that doesn't matter; go buy it so Jade will add me on Facebook!" Six - get your kicks? (And below) Basically, since our 10/10-7/10 range is so messed up, anything that goes in 6/10 or below is considered cack. Just don't bother. Seriously. No matter how rubbish we are at reviewing big games, we pride ourselves on knowing that we can - at the very least - point out really really bad games. So even though we're not earning our pay as informative reviewers, we're still earning it by pointing out crap games, even though we're fully aware a mere "reader" can spot crap games for themselves! -------------------------- We here at Eurogamer hope that you now have a better understanding of our review scoring system. However, for those whom cower in fear at the sight of so much text, here's a brief summary: We are shit at reviewing games, so don't ever take any notice of us. Ever. Thanks!
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most recently on 21/06/09 @ 19:58
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PearOfAnguish
16/03/09 @ 18:24
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It's slightly bewildering someone cares so much that one person's opinion of a game may not match their own that they'd go to all that effort.
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PearOfAnguish
16/03/09 @ 18:28
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I assumed Crofto was a sock because of his hilarious profile, but then I remembered this is the internet. He's just deranged enough to be for real.
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Crofto's Blurb
"Yeah, a big gamer with pretty strong but informed views on gaming, which often leads to me looking down on most gaming reviewers since they talk complete nonsense. I know what makes a good game, and what makes a bad game... I've been wasting my free time playing the bloody things long enough to tell the difference (unlike most gamers out there). You'll not often find me lavishing unfounded praise upon the likes of Grand Theft Auto or Gears of War, but rather on actual high quality games such as Okami and Super Mario Galaxy, which really are examples of excellent and polished gaming design." ROFL! Pure genius. Tard of the day award instantly stripped from evilfoxhound and reallocated to Crofto. Gotta be a joke account, surely? |
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And Crofto, for fucks sake, a review is just an opinion you idiot. EG may hand out alot of odd scores, I give you that, but a review can never be right or wrong. You can simply agree or disagree. This is pretty basic stuff and something you should learn before voicing your shit over the internet.
mouuuuuuuuuuuuuuu >.
Edited 1 times,
most recently on 16/03/09 @ 18:57
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