Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars Review

By Tom Bramwell Published 16 March, 2009

The King stay the King.

Version tested: DS

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.

'Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars' Screenshot 1

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.

'Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars' Screenshot 2

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.

The new driving dynamic is also welcome because the cops have bucked their ideas up, patrolling in numbers sufficient to spot previously safe carjacks more often. Once they're on your tail, it's no longer a case of simply ditching your wanted stars or playing hide-and-seek with units in the search radius; police cruisers race alongside and must be barged into crash barriers and junctions to disable them. You can still choose to evade or re-spray, but neutralising pursuers often gives you the edge and allows you to sneak off into an alleyway to let the buzz die down.

And you will certainly want to do that when you're dealing. On a superficial level the ability to buy and sell a variety of drugs from Liberty City's gang fraternity looks like a cynical publicity stunt, but after a few hours it's obvious that it's not only vital to progression but also dangerously addictive. Apart from a stock of reliably positioned dealers (each with particular buying and selling preferences), your PDA's email regularly rattles with offers to buy and sell at special prices within a certain period, which has you barrelling around the streets to turn a profit.

With mission rewards much lower than usual, it's important and sometimes obligatory to delve into this, and while you can turn the PDA alerts off I found myself regularly killing half an hour or so buying up cheap pills or powder, stashing them and then rolling them into a hefty cash bonus when the right email landed. With Ammu-Nation now available on your PDA to deliver guns and armour to a nearby safehouse, and a hell of a lot of bad guys to tackle across the game's dozens of story missions, the drug-dealing side of Chinatown Wars fits in perfectly.

'Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars' Screenshot 3

You can flag down cabs by whistling. I'm not usually a fan of the DS microphone, but it's been worth it to wind people up in the office.

That's hardly everything, either. Series mainstays like vigilante missions (accessed from police computers in stolen cruisers), taxi missions and ambulance duties are back, but you can also hijack drug shipments from marked vans (slicing open the door panels back at your safehouse to see what you've won), raid warehouses, enter races, and dabble in all sorts. There are newsagents selling scratchcards (a great chance to flush your money away), tattoo parlours, and petrol stations where you can fill bottles and stuff them with rags to build your own Molotovs at cut price, and arcadey rampages you can replay for better medals. Speaking of which, a pin-board at your safehouse allows you to replay any mission you've completed - a first for the series.

There are also 100 hidden security cameras to find and take out, which affect local drug prices, and thanks to Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection you can alert friends to interesting locations and swap drugs, while local wireless play allows you to link up with another player for shared carnage. With only one copy of the game to hand, I've not been able to test this, but frankly it could set fire to your cat and burn holes in your arm and it wouldn't have too much impact on the score.

'Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars' Screenshot 4

The loss of voice acting reduces the drama somewhat, so the scriptwriters have gone for the funny instead, and hit the mark. Highlights include the arrogantly psychotic Zhou Ming and Huang's deluded uncle

Not that Chinatown Wars is completely without fault. Scenery sometimes hides Huang from view despite the option to centre the camera with the left shoulder button, and combat can be fiddly at times: the lock-on doesn't always cycle to the obvious target, and throwing Molotovs or grenades seems to want more fingers than I have available, although it's usually not a problem. There's also very occasional slowdown, and despite generally excellent graphics the beat-cops aren't always easy to spot when you're stealing cars, which can be frustrating. You may also get stuck very occasionally. The difficulty isn't too severe, but there are a good few occasions you only have one mission available.

On balance though, Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars is a triumph, not just in terms of bringing a difficult game to a new platform intact, but because it actually improves it in the process, and demonstrates a mastery of DS form and function. Those hoping for another gritty, complex narrative spine bound in the flesh of an openworld action-adventure may be disappointed by the rather more frivolous and silly antics of the Chinatown Wars cast, but even cynics should be converted by the huge, densely packed action playground we've been given instead. Overall this is GTA as it first was, with the inherited wisdom of GTA as it's been since, finished off with all sorts of things that would happily belong in a GTA of the future.

10 / 10

Read the Eurogamer.net scoring policy
Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

You may also like...

Comments (153) 1 year ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • GamesProgrammer Verified Games Team Programmer, Eutechnyx Ltd. #1 3 years ago

    I hope you actually played through this one before giving it 10 out of 10 unlike with GTA4.

    Dont want to be fooled twice

  • matrim83 #2 3 years ago

    Love The Wire reference. :D

  • lcmnick #3 3 years ago

    Sony will be getting really worried I bet if this goes on to sell more than the PSP versions of GTA.

  • sweetcheeks #4 3 years ago

    i'll echo that sentiment games programmer
    i found gta4 very accomplished but not very fun.

    SR2 ftw

  • cyacomini #5 3 years ago

    Pretty surprised at the 10/10 here - well done 'ickle DS.

    [edit]

    Wait, you gave GTA4 10/10 too? oh dear.


  • gohda #6 3 years ago

    wow

  • gohda #7 3 years ago

    i wasn't interested in this before, might pick it up now..

  • creepylizard #8 3 years ago

    it actually looks more interesting than GTA4, to be honest...

  • Physically_Insane #9 3 years ago

    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.

  • sevenforce #10 3 years ago

    better than halo :p
    sorry couldn't resist...

  • Burkey123 #11 3 years ago

    Oh my God, I cannot wait for this game!
    I agree that GTAIV was overrated but this game just looks downright fun!
    Bring on March 20th!

  • Santino #12 3 years ago

    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.
    Edited by 1 at 16/03/09 @ 17:46

  • secombe #13 3 years ago

    @ evilfoxhound RE:10/10 means it's perfect.

    Just under the score, there is a link to the scoring policy. I suggest you read it.

  • xandoodle #14 3 years ago

    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?

  • wewillselfdestruct #15 3 years ago

    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.
    Edited by 1 at 16/03/09 @ 17:51

  • alimokrane #16 3 years ago

    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.

  • TheDifficult3rdAlbum #17 3 years ago

    10/10 means it's perfect.

    /slow clap.

  • gohda #18 3 years ago

    10/10 is reserved for perfect games only like Halo 3, evilfoxhound is right

    you idiots

  • barat #19 3 years ago

    No game is perfect. Not even Halo 3.

  • Azazel #20 3 years ago

    Just like them little bitches on the chessboard man...

  • mr_ruberfon #21 3 years ago

    you'll be fooled by many things if you can't figure out the simple scoring policy

  • Lexx87 #22 3 years ago

    evilfoxhound, you're an idiot.

    Great score, have to get this now!

  • CallousB #23 3 years ago

    "Sony will be getting really worried I bet if this goes on to sell more than the PSP versions of GTA"

    I doubt it will sell that well. I have yet to see any tv ads for it in the UK.

  • Eraysor #24 3 years ago

    TO THE EMERGENCY PRE-ORDER MOBILE!

  • Triggerhappytel #25 3 years ago

    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.

  • WillyWanka #26 3 years ago

    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

  • Physically_Insane #27 3 years ago

    @Triggerhappytel

    Well stop talking about it then.

  • Burkey123 #28 3 years ago

    ''No game is perfect. Not even Halo 3.''

    The Legend of Zelda Orcarina of Time is a perfect game. Imho.

  • FaceOmeter #29 3 years ago

    Evilfoxhound: good to see there are people who aren't bored of this debate!

  • PearOfAnguish #30 3 years ago

    I won't be fooled again.

    Judging by your comments so far I find this hard to believe.
    Edited by 1 at 16/03/09 @ 18:13

  • Katsumoto #31 3 years ago

    "So the highest number isn't perfect?........... Oooooookay." But under your system they could only actually use 1-9, which is surely pretty ridiculous.

  • TheBoyChris #32 3 years ago

    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.

  • secombe #33 3 years ago

    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.

  • FooAtari #34 3 years ago

    evilfoxhound wins 'tard of the day award.

    No game is or ever will be perfect you tool.

    A 10 simply means that in the reviewers opinion this game is extremely good, one of the best in it's genre.

    It's not really that hard to grasp is it?

  • yupyup #35 3 years ago

    \o/ for the wire reference \o/

  • secombe #36 3 years ago

    @ crofto

    Wow, I pity the person who took the time to write so much about a site he dislikes so much. Must be a lonely existence.
    Edited by 1 at 16/03/09 @ 18:23

  • PearOfAnguish #37 3 years ago

    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.

  • Katsumoto #38 3 years ago

    @ crofto

    Yeah but you're a a big gamer with pretty strong but informed views on gaming, so what do you know?

    Please everyone, read his profile before taking his posts seriously! ;)
    Edited by 3 at 16/03/09 @ 18:28

  • Krelle #39 3 years ago

    Think of the scale as 1-11 (where 11 is PERFECT) instead, and it will make sense to all of you who think 10=perfect.

    I was let down by GTA4. Didnt feel as funny as the ps2-games. Looking forward to this.

  • PearOfAnguish #40 3 years ago

    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.

  • Tomo #41 3 years ago

    A ten?! Mutha-funker.

  • suicida #42 3 years ago

    I rate Crofto's post 1/10

  • Tomo #43 3 years ago

    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?

  • Krelle #44 3 years ago

    I agree that Galaxy and Okami are better than GOW and GTA tbh. (All 4 games ar great, I just like some more than others)

    But how you can write such a blurb is beyond me. And look at the picture! Oh my..
    Edited by 1 at 16/03/09 @ 18:52

  • TheComedian #45 3 years ago

    Hmmm.

    Didn't read like a ten.

  • Krelle #46 3 years ago

    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 by 1 at 16/03/09 @ 18:57

  • Krelle #47 3 years ago

    Thecomedian: Reads exactly like a ten. Learn to read lol etc

  • smelly #48 3 years ago

    I'll take this 10/10 with a pinch of salt after playing gta4.

  • phoopipe #49 3 years ago

    My local curry house make's a 10/10 Jalfrezi but my brother prefer's the one a few mile's down the road...that Jalfrezi aint got all that many chili's and the sauce to chicken ratio is less..infact i would only give it an 8/10.

    Still i would eat the 8 and love it as would he from my favourite.

    It is all opinions kiddy's...

  • Razz #50 3 years ago

    10?! Wow!

  • Krelle #51 3 years ago

    One day, Crofto will visit your shitty curry places and correct your opinions. You have not eaten enough currys to make such a desicion. You are not enough of a big curry eater. Unlike Crofto.

    (sorry for spam, its 4 in the night, should sleep)

  • phoopipe #52 3 years ago

    The Korma has some bad jaggie's i must add.

  • UncleLou #53 3 years ago

    What's with all the nincompoops complaining about the GTA IV score in here? Weird.

  • GreyBeard #54 3 years ago

    Bah yupyup beat me too it.

    Cute reference to The Wire.

  • Tetragammatron #55 3 years ago

    You cannot lose if you do not play.

  • HittenMitsurugi #56 3 years ago

    Tis great. Back to the king of views with the polish of 4 (which is a bit dark/ drab colour wise for me.

  • oerhoert #57 3 years ago

    It didn't read as a ten to me either, but I'm still intrigued by the game. What a great idea, scaling GTA back to where it begun -- hilariously silly and fun freeform adventure.

  • Rodchenko #58 3 years ago

    This thread gets 10/10 for the name-calling.

  • hiddenranbir #59 3 years ago

    Back to its DMA roots?

  • InsoFox #60 3 years ago

    @evilfoxhound

    Okay, look, think of it this way since you can't seem to get it the way other people have explained it: Imagine that instead of the score being like a line which starts at 0 and ends at 10, think of it as 10 boxes which are fairly evenly divided in terms of quality. In box 1 are all the worst games. They're not all equally bad, they're just among the worst games ever. In box 10 are all the best games. They're not equally good, they're among the best.

    Does that make sense?

  • Rodchenko #61 3 years ago

    Does that make sense?

    What about 0 / no box?

  • smurphs #62 3 years ago

    Yes, all very well, but are there any Hare Krishnas you can mow down....

  • askew #63 3 years ago

    I dissed crofto on Twitter a couple of weeks back.

  • speedjack #64 3 years ago

    10 !

    Good stuff. Got this coming from play.com (?17.99).

    Nice to see a DS game where they have actually created a whole new style to fit the game rather than just tack on pointless mini-games.

    GTA Wii next ?

  • Obiwanshinobi #65 3 years ago

    10/10 is the new 50 Hz.

  • jonbwfc #66 3 years ago


    "Sony will be getting really worried I bet if this goes on to sell more than the PSP versions of GTA"

    I doubt it will sell that well. I have yet to see any tv ads for it in the UK.

    Given there about 10 times as many DS's in people's hands in the UK compared to PSP's, it doesn't have to market all that much. Sheer word of mouth and the available population to sell it to will mean it'll sell in big numbers. That and the fact it'll be the only 18 rated DS game in existence.

    Jon

  • Ryze #67 3 years ago

    Excellent stuff. I'll keep an eye out for a cheap second hand DS.

  • Ryze #68 3 years ago

    It's probably been argued already in this thread, but I can't be arsed reading the moaning again and again.

    10/10 at EG is a 'best in class on the platform, at this point in history'. If I've interpreted it correctly.

    It doesn't mean perfect.

  • Ryze #69 3 years ago

    Here's a quick shout out to evilfoxhound:

    RETARD!!!!

  • Zomoniac #70 3 years ago

    If this is half as good as GTAIV then it's an easy ten. You lot are all wronger than a wrong thing.

  • frankfurter209 #71 3 years ago

    Too many idiots. My ignore list doubled from this comments section. The retards debating the scores; the SAME FUCKING PEOPLE who feel the need to bring up how they thought GTA4 sucked. I wish they would board a rocket so I could shoot them into the sun.

  • Kazzahdrane #72 3 years ago

    Wow, 10/10 scores really bring the douchebags out in force...

    Great review, hadn't realised this was out so soon. After the disappointing Henry Hatsworth review I might well pick this up instead!

  • YoshiMcTaggis #73 3 years ago

    So we're all agreed 10 means "perfect", and as such can never be awarded to any game. Just like 5 stars out of five for films.

    OH NO WAIT SOMETHING'S WRONG THERE

    WINK

  • GitSomE_UK #74 3 years ago

    Goes on the must buy list... bout time I had an excuse to dust off my DS

  • wankerw #75 3 years ago

    Wow hold on a second...

    The graphics aren't as good as Crysis

    Seriously???

    I'm not even going to bother



    Hope I can get some money together to buy this

    The people who think 10/10 = Perfect are so funny btw ;)

  • shotgun44 #76 3 years ago

    Dammit, knew I should have chosen the DS with my phone contract!

    Also, Croftos profile is superb!

  • wonk #77 3 years ago

    fightman9: If you love it, buy it.

  • MDL199 #78 3 years ago

    Tom Bramwell loves any big game released on a Nintendo platform I don't trust any of his reviews he's a knob!

  • Discordian_Front #79 3 years ago

    10 , Sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeit












  • Trafford #80 3 years ago

    Be nice for me summer holidays this.

  • neonxaos #81 3 years ago

    EG's reviews are some of the most well-written, thought-provoking pieces of game journalism on the web. I am constantly amazed at how its readers constantly end up in discussions such as this one. I thought we'd be smarter than that.

    Here's a thought: GTA for the DS is obviously great. How about we stop bickering and go play it for ourselves?

  • stevetuck #82 3 years ago

    seen this 10/10 coming as soon as they ran those articles about the games of 2009

  • wankerw #83 3 years ago

    Someone's gotta do it man

  • MrCrun #84 3 years ago

    All the people complaining about the GTA IV 10/10 because it's not fun: Do you think Schindler's list or any other good but not fun film should be marked down? Not comparing Shindler's List to GTA IV, only saying even in games fun isn't always the most important factor. Hardcore MMO raiding guilds don't have "fun" in that sense i.e. Saint's Row 2 fun. Peggle, Empire: Total War and any decent horror games aren't "fun" either.

  • clockworkzombie #85 3 years ago

    @ fightman9
    Wishing people dead for not liking a game you will not even pay for is wrong. Put your money where your mouth is or shut the fuck up and go away.

  • FaceOmeter #86 3 years ago

    @Discordian_Front-

    nice one ;)

  • creepylizard #87 3 years ago

    Hmm. You don't see the c-word too often on here....

  • clockworkzombie #88 3 years ago

    @ creepylizard
    I provoked him but it is all you can expect from a 12 yr old with a sense of entitlement.

  • Number1Laing #89 3 years ago

    "All the people complaining about the GTA IV 10/10 because it's not fun: Do you think Schindler's list or any other good but not fun film should be marked down? Not comparing Shindler's List to GTA IV, only saying even in games fun isn't always the most important factor. Hardcore MMO raiding guilds don't have "fun" in that sense i.e. Saint's Row 2 fun. Peggle, Empire: Total War and any decent horror games aren't "fun" either."

    Eh? Why aren't they fun? Your definition of fun seems rather strict.

  • ph101 #90 3 years ago

    cool. Looks great. Obviously an instant purchase for anyone with a DS and a brain. (who likes GTA)

  • RedSparrows #91 3 years ago

    crofto's post made me laugh. in pain.

  • Apostle #92 3 years ago

    "Hmm. You don't see the c-word too often on here....!"

    You do if you venture to the forums. Not excessive, but it's there.

    I like the look of this game, and am very tempted to buy a DS for this.

  • Xerx3s #93 3 years ago

    If it's anything like GTA4's 10/10, I'll be passing on this.

  • frankfurter209 #94 3 years ago

    I want to drown this comments section in battery acid.
    Edited by 1 at 17/03/09 @ 02:30

  • Charlie_Miso #95 3 years ago

    Far too generous a fate.

  • 3william56 #96 3 years ago

    "fightman is here"
    /clicks Ignore Poster

    Oh no he isn't.

  • Reihn #97 3 years ago

    SOLD!

    I love my DS, but up until now it's been -only- for Castlevania, RPGs and turn based strategy (Age of Empires DS, Anno, Civ). In the past, all DS attempts at actiony 3-D games have left me cold. I'm ready for GTA to change that. :o)

    I loved the complex grey areas of Nico Bellic's story in GTA IV, but that wouldn't have been so effective on a handheld. This old school, GTA/GTA II style game looks rad.

    Also, sometimes I worry that EG's intelligent majority of commenting readers is become a dwindling breed..

  • Krelle #98 3 years ago

    "(fightman is here)"

    fuckers like you need to learn how it works around here

    Enjoy getting your opinions thru to about 5% of the people reading EG forums. The rest will already have ignored you.

    Well then, scream your heart out, please (:

    *poff*

  • Reihn #99 3 years ago

    I agree with frankfurter209 and I agree with Krelle.

    One thing this thread *has* been good for is populating my 'ignore' list.

    Fightman, Evilfoxhound, Crofto et al . . . I hate you, but only short-time! :o)

  • Prodigy_BE #100 3 years ago

    Hands up he who got an R4 card!

    /raises his hand

  • clockworkzombie #101 3 years ago

    Thanks all you people who ignored fightman, I ignored him earlier today and thought I was being a little harsh. I read his comments again and will re-ignore, you helped sway my decision to a good decision.

  • monkeylite #102 3 years ago

    Played this a bit yesterday on my mate's R4. Can honestly say I would not be buying. Meh.

  • MyPointIs #103 3 years ago

    Dear Eurogamer,

    Could you please restart from scratch this comment thread, so we are given an opportunity to comment this excellent game like adults?

    Kind regards,

    A reader.

  • HuggyAtHome #104 3 years ago

    Crofto does really need to get out more so he can develop 'strong views' on social skills and become a 'big' normal person. If it gets your back up so much Crofto just don't read the site and go talk to your mum about some help with your homework.

    /hits ignore

  • HuggyAtHome #105 3 years ago

    Sounds like a very good title though - the DS has been restricted to Picross and Prof Layton, it could do with a bit of non-pzzlle gaming

  • secombe #106 3 years ago

    The kids in this thread using embarrassingly colourful language are just going to download this game for free anyway (and then still bitch about it)

  • Les #107 3 years ago

    "EG - stick by your scores.
    The backtracking and backlash bandwagon-jumping you did on Halo 3 in your 50 games of the year a while back was disgraceful."

    In the games of the year articles all EG staff give their opinion on the games instead of just one person. Given that review scores are nothing more than personal opinions there's nothing wrong with showing that different reviewers value the gamer differently. I personally would love it if review scores were abolished but that will never happen because of their commercial value (simple to grasp = page hits = advertising = money). But a better approach than the current one might be to have multiple people review a game.

  • Krelle #108 3 years ago

    lord:

    how so?

  • Octoroc #109 3 years ago

    I HOPe THIS GAmE IS NOT LIKE COPS AND ROBBERS. GTA IV WAS LIKE COPS AND ROBBERS WITH DRIVING AND GUNS AND I WAs DISAPPOINTED BECAUSE IT WAS A !0 AND I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE GOOd BUT I DONT LIKE COPS AND ROBBERS AND I WAS SAD.

  • r4z0rbl4d3 #110 3 years ago

    Whine whine whine... GTA IV easily deserved a 10, started playing it again after TLND was released and it IS awesome. Saints Row 2 deserved a 10 as well (but didn't get it), but for diffrent reasons. Now this is a must buy! My DS will probably break because of this game but it will be mine! Oh yes... It will be mine!

  • Murbal #111 3 years ago

    'dispatched' \o/

  • spekkeh #112 3 years ago

    I loled at Crofto's post. Don't take yourself to seriously guys, he had some funny remarks. And there's some truth in there, the days when Eurogamer was too little to get exclusives but could therefore meticulously kill every hyped game a week after the other reviews, are long over. It's on the bandwagon and dishing out 10s more than it should. Not to say that this game doesn't deserver the score, mind.

  • Tiger_Walts #113 3 years ago

    This review is spot on, there's no need for 100+ retarded comments.

  • spitfire1945 #114 3 years ago

    I'm on it!!!

  • Meho #115 3 years ago

    I've been playing this for the last couple of days using my flashcard (and, yes, I will be buying it, keep your pants on, I own all GTA games starting with III (bar Advance), some of them for multiple consoles) and I can honestly say it is mad fun. Yes, a lot of it is scaled/ cut down and some of it feels clumsy and you need to get used to it etc. BUT, the game has an insanely useful interface whatwith the touch screen and this is the first time I have felt like GTA is equal parts a managerial simulation/ strategy game as it is an action (well, sandbox action-adventure) game. On top of it, it has an insanely addictive drugs trade mechanic that I feel is a really excellent addition to the general GTA blueprint. Honestly, since it got unlocked, I haven't done any of the story missions as trafficking drugs has been so much fun. I think that people who complained that in GTA IV there wasn't enough 'extracurricular' content will find that GTACW actually offers many hours of cool stuff outside of the story missions.

    As for the presentation, some of the graphics look silly or bad from time to time (like human pancakes when you run someone over with a car) but a lot of it looks really great and I haven't seen any slowdown so far. It IS amazing that the meagre DS can run this sort of 3D graphics, even with cel-shading. The music is also fantastic and while at first I missed the vocal tracks and especially the talk radio, after a while I realised that the game still feels like a proper GTA title even without them. The story, what little I have seen of it so far is, as Tom points out less on the dramatic side and more on the satirical side, with sometimes humour being a little heavy handed but GTA scripts were never really about subtlety anyway (well, GTAIV aside). The main character seems like a likeable chap and the cast I have seen so far is funny and engaging. All in all, Rockstar Leeds really invested a lot of effort in this game and it shows.

    Potentially, the biggest problem so far is the somewhat short line of sight while driving (even at the highest zoom level) and the fact the minimap is on the bottom screen. I found out that I really have to drive at slow speeds (compared to other GTAs) to ensure avoiding crashes and making proper turns. The game does accommodate this, though, with its driving correction mechanic (can be turned off) and a little more relaxed policy that the police has towards traffic accidents. Then again, as Tom points out, there are A LOT of officers in cars and on foot out there and potential to be involved in a deadly chase is never far off (especially as there are random busts during drug trafficking).

    All in all, it IS very much fun so far as it gives the player a lot to do and places to go without rushing you anywhere and having a save anywhere feature (outside the missions that is) definitely makes it a very good portable experience. I'd say that Rockstar did it again, but let's wait until I played a little more of it.

  • Lexx87 #116 3 years ago

    fightman is a gimp

  • creepylizard #117 3 years ago

    fightman has never heard of capitals, apparently..

  • lmephisto #118 3 years ago

    LOL 10!!!! to be honest it looks like gta 2 on pc version :p I think 10 is to much but well for ds why not .

  • Krelle #119 3 years ago

    fightman is a toolbox

    When your only joy in life comes from trying your best to make others hate you, something has gone horribly wrong.
    Anyone can be a provocative troll, but going as far as fightman is just sad.

    I feel sorry for you, dude. Sit back and take a good look at your life before its too late.

  • Krelle #120 3 years ago

    lmephisto
    The problem among the kommenters on EG is people like you, sir.
    Everyone has the right to have an opinion, everyone -should- have an opinion, but opinions like yours are just stupid.

    You "think" its not worth a certain score based on what? Your own bias against the DS and a few trailers? Come on dude, you'r (probably) better than that.

  • Tonka #121 3 years ago

    GTA has a new home.

  • layleeloo #122 3 years ago

    Fightman has multiple accounts hahahhaha. You mean you went and created a "b" account between last night and this morning when you found out everyone ignored you. hahah. Priceless

  • roz123 #123 3 years ago

    Just to join in with the pointless comments...


    Surely this is the greatest thing ever to come from leeds

  • wankerw #124 3 years ago

    So how about that volcano ending in re5 eh ;-) ?

  • smelly #125 3 years ago

    "Not comparing Shindler's List to GTA IV, only saying even in games fun isn't always the most important factor"


    Erm... A film and a game are two different things.

    Games by definition need to be fun. If you dont have fun playing games.. then i feel sorry for your gaming choices.

    if there's no fun, what's the point?

  • smelly #126 3 years ago

    "If this is a sales success, is GTA Wii next? And if they can make GTA a critical success on the DS, surely they can do the same on the Wii."


    Not particularly arsed myself.

    After feeling totally ripped off after buying "10/10" game gta4.. I wont be buying another gta game again in a hurry - regardless of platform

  • Ninja_Tino #127 3 years ago

    Wow. I feel embarrassed to be a Eurogamer reader if it puts in the same category as some of you psychos. Everyone moaning haven't even played the game. People take Eurogamer far too seriously. They give games scores out of 10. There's no conspiracy or anything. Ordered this off play today. ?18??? Where's the logic?!

  • Ninja_Tino #128 3 years ago

    Also, wow, Crofto. More like Cunto? AmIRight? I rarely say 'cunt' but you are in every sense a cunt. You're very witty, all that talk about how those popular games with metacritic scores of 90+ are actually really rubbish and Eurogamer are, like, so the only website that rate them highly and therefore are a crap website. Yes, very clever. Also, where do you stand that Eurogamer gave Gears 1 an 8, lower than virtually every website and Glaxy and Okami 10 a piece? THAT'S RIGHT, you dumb cunt. Cunt.

  • gieltjegitaar #129 3 years ago

    This comments thread needs more The Wire references.

  • Ninja_Tino #130 3 years ago

    When you walk through the garden, you better watch your back!

  • DivideAndCombo #131 3 years ago

    Agree with that, it didn't read like a 10. Not really much detail abotu the actual missiosn either, i was expecting some more info about the nature of it being chinatown wars.

  • sir_tripod #132 3 years ago

    I've pre-ordered on Play and I've also got in my R4. It's well-worth 10/10. If it's not, no game is. GTA4 was over-rated. I didn't like it because of the constant interruptions ("Hey, cuzzin! Let's gor borlink!";)

    GTA: CW is superb because it's back to the GTA where you do what you like and the missions are there when you're ready. Yeah, the e-mails are there but that's your route to money, safehouses and weapons. I can spend hours just dealing drugs!

    This, ladies and gentlemen, deserves the hard-earned cash to be spent on it. Look into your heart, you know it to be true.

  • Greebo #133 3 years ago


    As the R4 has come up a couple of times, I wanted to ask a question.

    Is it legal to have a copy of the game on an R4 cart if you own an original copy too?

    I quite fancy the convenience of having all my games on the one cart...

    Ahh, I'd forgotten all about Fightman. Lower your defences and try being nice to people, you'll have a better time of it, honest.

  • roz123 #134 3 years ago

    yeh thats legal

  • doragor #135 3 years ago

    @ evilfoxhound

    You are a dildo, sir. You never disappoint.

  • roz123 #136 3 years ago

    it is legal to backup a game you already own. Just like putting all your cds on your i-pod is legal.
    obviously downloading and distributing copyright material is not but thats not what he asked.
    Edited by 1 at 18/03/09 @ 19:52

  • cawley1 #137 3 years ago

    >Hope you enjoy your time playing games of this scale, as we will probably be the last generation who will be able to.

    What a fucking stupid comment, like there was no piracy on the Spectrum, C64, Amiga, Playstation etc, etc.
    It has been here as long as media that can be copied, and it has not been the end of the videogame industry.

    Let's not forget the current gen has a system in PS3 that has thus far proved to be totally un-hackable, if Sony manage this for PSP2 and PS4, then I guess it will make everyone happy (and they will sell less consoles as a result!)

    Yes, I own a flash card, and mainly use if for ZXDS and LemmingsDS, but when something like this comes along I will give it a try to see if the Hype and 10/10 scores are true - in this case it is and I will be buying this (like the other 21 games sitting in boxes I thought it worth spending my hard earned on).

    If people pirate and then go on to regularly use that piece of software without paying, that is the real problem, but assuming that everyone who owns a flashcard or puts a custom firmware on their PSP is doing so to rip off games is a massive mistake!

  • Meho #138 3 years ago

    Bah... I guess that me turning impressionable youngsters to piracy was inevitable because I mentioned I have a... flashcard!! And that I use it to... play retail games early (in addition to emulators and homebrew, yes) !!! The youngsters in question were, however sure to not miss the part of my post where I mention I have bought all GTA games since III (bar Advance because I never owned a GBA). Which makes for six games. Eight if you count that I have LCS and San Andreas for two different formats. I also own Manhunt 2 and Warriors. Which makes for ten Rockstar games I have shelled money for over some years even though I have played all these games some days/ weeks early via pirate copies. The youngsters now see the wisdom of my ways and will surely do as I do because they are... impressionable.

    In all seriousness, I fully understand that industry needs to be supported if it is to survive and I understand people being very sensitive when someone comes up and mentions playing off an illicit copy of the game, but, since I can not speak for others, in my case, what Gabe Newell said about pirates being just unconverted customers and piracy being a case of wanting to sample the product on time/ early rather than with many weeks or months of delay, all that is true. For me. I have money to buy games. I buy games. End of.

  • CitizenGeek #139 3 years ago

    EG's 10/10 scores are largely meaningless these days anyway.

  • The Old Bill #140 3 years ago

    Cawley, you can't compare the piracy of the Spectrum age to Curren gen. The internet's changed the game completely.

    Also, has anyone heard the song DOOM and ghostface did for this? It's pretty good, as is the remix.

  • prolific8 #141 3 years ago

    "Crofto (aka Darth Ultimo on Xbox Live) has most recently played RESIDENT EVIL 5, Fable II, Gears of War 2, and The Orange Box on Xbox Live and has a gamerscore of 17410."

    Crofto on Fable 2: "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"

    Crofto on GoW: "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."

    Pretention fail.

  • BBIAJ #142 3 years ago

    Why does Crofto look like a Hobbit?

    A constipated Hobbit at that...

  • smelly #143 3 years ago

    "Crofto on Fable 2: "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" "



    Erm.. but it is.. it even has the same story/same twists as the original.. Remember in the original where you go to the prison camp? In fable to you sail to one...

    It's easy, short, and ultimately boring...

  • Greebo #144 3 years ago


    Given that the DS is less powerful than your average smartphone these days, I'm geniunely impressed with what they achieved with ChinaTown Wars!

    No dust left on my DS now!

  • suicida #145 3 years ago

    My copy of the game has turned up but I can't play it until my preordered DSi turns up in a couple of weeks :( I hate waiting!

  • DFawkes #146 3 years ago

    I'm not 100% convinced this is what would be regarded as a 10/10 and worth of such praise, but it IS a game every single DS owner should own, and if that can't get a 10, I suppose nothing can :)

    Excellent game that pushed the DS about as far is it can go, with some of the best online integration I've seen. Bravo Rockstar \o/

  • Farzlepot #147 3 years ago

    Kinda wish I hadn't sold my DS now. I never usually sell consoles in case this happens!

  • tinners #148 3 years ago

    If anything Crofto got the attention he was begging for, well done fucktard!

    As for his GOW review
    "But heck, there are enough guns and explosions in this game to make me an uninformed little cretin" - yes you certaintly are!

    People hanging onto scores who can't read.... please get a life, there are pleanty more sites who know fuck all about games, Resi 5's score dissapointed me a little tbh but oh well won't stop me playing it on Pro mode and maxing out all my weapons.

  • Vandit96 #149 3 years ago

    cool game, but i don't have a DS :-S
    grrrr

  • Bremenacht #150 3 years ago

    Just finished the main storyline on this. It's a great little game - I'm amazed they fitted something like this on a DS. They could scale it up - with just the same content- for the Wii and it would still look fairly good. It's good re-reading this review, as so many things described chime with the way I ended up playing it - especially the bit about the drug-dealing becoming a addictive. I didn't expect that. Given that my GTAIV experience on 360 *always* ends up as a big pile of burning cars (I can't help it) and bugger-all mission progress, I think this is the better, more balanced game.

    If you've got £9 to spare and are chewing over something for you DS, you really won't be making a mistake buying this.

  • Filofun #151 3 years ago

    I'd give it 9.5, just like Zelda TP, Mario Galaxy, Okami, GTA IV.
    Only game, which deserve for a 10, is The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

  • My1stLoveJak #152 2 years ago

    Gotta say: unless you just finished Ocarina of Time yesterday for the first time and still think it a ten, please, stop lavishing praise. The Zelda series has a lot of fans, myself included! We get it!

    Now that I can get this game for $20, I don't think I can stop myself...I haven't played a single other GTA game, despite having access to a few of them. But I love my DS and can't deny myself this one! Although, I could just get Saints Row 2 for ten bucks more...hmm...

    I'm going to have to think on this

  • Reihn #153 1 year ago

    Just picked this up, new and sealed, from Canadian ebay for $21 aussie dollars. It's ace, and at that price, best value I've had for my DS probably ever. Screw playing $80 for the same game at my local high street store!!