Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars Review
Released earlier in the year for the Nintendo DS, Rockstar Leeds' latest title, Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, makes its way to another portable platform, the PlayStation Portable. Now featuring improved graphics, amongst other things, this iteration of the Grand Theft Auto franchise reverts back to its roots, while also incorporating some of the newer elements.
Huang Lee is a spoiled rich kid who finds himself in a rather awkward situation. Following the death of his father, a Triad boss, he arrives in Liberty City to deliver Yu Jian, his family's heirloom, to his uncle Wu "Kenny" Lee. However, shortly after landing, he is ambushed, has the heirloom stolen and is left for dead by the assailants. He miraculously manages to survive and starts off on a quest to bring his father's killer to justice, while also trying to regain Yu Jian.
The story is typically gritty, and Huang Lee makes for a great lead character due to his sharp tongue. There's no voice acting, but the dialogue, accompanied by an artistic storyboard, makes this a relatively minor issue. It helps to develop the story successfully and overall, players will feel rather satisfied with how things pan out. It's not the typical rags to riches story, and this really works in the game's favour because there is a real impetus behind why Huang is doing what he is, something which allows players to become more connected with him as a character. The rest of the cast really help with this through their supporting roles, and even though some of them are only around for a short period of time, their involvement seems crucial.
The gameplay in Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars has more in comparison with the first few games in the series, sporting a pseudo top-down look. It makes for an interesting experience, especially when compared to the newer 3D games. For the most part, it feels perfectly natural and it shouldn't take players long to get used to the new perspective. However, there are some distinct problems. Driving, in particular, just feels really awkward. Due to the perspective, it's very difficult to see what's approaching and in fast cars, players will often find themselves crashing unless they drive down the middle of the road. When having to look at the GPS is added to the equation, it just makes things worse, although it does highlight that drivers should never take their eyes off the road. Having said that, actually gliding around corners, and getting from A to B unscathed does promote a sense of satisfaction.
The combat also feels slightly awkward as the targeting system, which has been adopted from Grand Theft Auto IV, doesn't seem to work half the time. Upon selecting a firearm, players have the option to either blind fire, which will attempt to lock-on to the closest enemy in the players peripheral, or they can lock-on and cycle through targets. The problem is that the game seems very temperamental about when it wishes to lock-on, and when it doesn't. Cycling through the enemies also poses a slight control nightmare, as it's performed using the d-pad, which causes issues since the analogue stick is used for movement. It's generally easiest to use the blind fire option, but sometimes this will cause Lee to target objects, such as cars.
