Rockstar will remind us where the Grand Theft Auto franchise came from next month with their brand new Nintendo DS exclusive GTA: Chinatown Wars, and the best part is, they're bringing some great new stuff to the series in the process.
Set in Liberty City once again you play the role of a young man who's father has just been murdered. As you set off to deliver some prized family heirlooms to your uncle, you are attacked and they are stolen by the same Triads who murdered your kin. Driven to take back what's yours and to avenge your father's fate in the process, you set off to make things right once again.
Many seem want to forget it sometimes, but the first two GTA games were exclusively top-down affairs (if no less controversial), and some may even remember the occasionally pinball-like nature of the scoring system. Though the later does not return, the former does, and you control young Huang Lee (the protagonist) from the sky once again, this time with the debatable benefit of cel-shaded graphics. Much of the action is still true to the nature of the series in that you'll be beating down defenseless prostitutes and skidding over crippled pedestrians to your heart's content, but there are some key changes meant to breathe new life into the series and that should be noted.
First, stealing cars is no longer a button-musher's affair, as you must now use the DS stylus to acquire your new wheels like a carjacker might with a screwdriver. Not all vehicles will unlock using the same tools so there should even be some variety in how you do this. There are also tools you will need to shut the damn things up once the alarm goes off.
Then there is the manner in which you evade the police. It's about time they put some work into this system as while it's been functional, the "drive until you're out of range" system is incredibly wanting and often times less thrilling than you'd hope. For Chinatown Wars you now must disable a certain number of police vehicles before you are freed of their otherwise endless pursuits. It's that much more motivation to cause chaos and I am sure it will be an appreciable gameplay element.
Finally there's the Drugwars-style mini-game that has you carteling illegal narcotics about the city, which is somewhat of a surprise for a Nintendo title. You must buy your product low and sell it high while keeping a constant eye on market adjustments and patterns, otherwise you'll be taken to the cleaners by the realities of a free-if-not-as-moral market. The dual-screens should be especially useful during your business hours so this is sure to expand the fun of the experience quite a bit. I hope though that it does not detract from the real appeal of GTA, and that quite frankly is murdering people.
Rockstar's gotten these things down to a science, but at least they're still trying new ideas every once in a while. You can pick up GTA: Chinatown Wars for the Nintendo DS on March 17th for the North American market and March 20th for the rest of our PALs. Check out the trailer below, courtesy of Kotaku:
Try not to stomp out too many helpless ladies of the night when this hits store shelves, you sick bastards.
-Unfather
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