Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars (PSP) Review

A BrutalGamer.com review.

When Rockstar Leeds announced last year the a whole new GTA story was being laid out on the DS many a PSP owner felt hard done by. Sony’s platforms had traditionally been the home of the GTA console series and it looked like it was all slipping away. Flash forward (cultural references FTW!) a year and we have a shiny new UMD (unless you downloaded the game from the PSN!) in our hands with GTA Chinatown Wars on it.

This time out we follow the story of young Chinese rich kid Huang Lee. After the death of his Triad boss father Huang is sent to Liberty City to deliver a family heirloom, a ritual sword, to his Uncle. After being attacked at the airport the sword is stolen and Huang must learn humility and go to work with his Uncle to retrieve the sword and repair his Uncle’s now tarnished reputation. OK no more plot – one of the biggies with GTA titles are the plots and the myriad of twists and turns they take. This might not be Mr Houser’s best script but it certainly is constructed well enough to be compelling. Just know that plot wise the game is exactly the same as the DS version released a year ago.

Graphically this title has been stepped up from the DS version – of course it has. What you are left with seems a little jarring at first. The large cartoon like heavy line outlines of the DS version have been toned down in this up-scaling of the resolution. These lines are still evident on the stills frames used to relay the story and seem to fit in well at this point. What you are left with in the main game is an updated version of the top down view used in the original Grand Theft Auto titles that shipped for the PC and Amiga. That said the top down is at a slight angle giving a better depth of field – this is no watered down Liberty City. The character animations are well done in an exaggerated cartoon way. Please don’t take any of this as a negative because GTA: CW looks fantastic. The fluid animations, the various car models (all taken from the original GTA Liberty City universe), the cartoon inspired art style and the nippy frame rate all make this one of the PSP’s best visually realised titles. Graphically you really feel like you have a miniaturised Liberty City in your hands – more so than any of the previous hand held GTA games.

GTA: Chinatown Wars on the DS

Compare the above to GTA Chinatown Wars on the PSP

Sound has always been a major player in the GTA series – imagine GTA: Vice City without those 80′s grooves or GTA: San Andreas without that  banging hip-hop. The tracks are as ever a mixed bag and although the number of tunes is more limited than the bigger GTA titles this still does a good job in bringing the functionality of the radio stations to the hand held device. A few new tracks have been added to the track list from the DS days and the whole thing sounds better making use of the extra storage for better quality samples and tracks. A down side? Well the radio channels always thrived on the adverts. Remember those LoveFist commercials from GTA: Vice City? Well GTA: CW has no commercials or DJs at all which is a real shame. I understand for the DS edition but surely the UMB affords enough room to add these in. There is no voice work at all which might seem strange for these titles to start with but the static comic like cut scenes soon take on a charm of their won and do a good job of conveying the story. Spot effects, car engines, tyre squeals and all the rest are in place and sound crisp and well sampled.

GTA: CW on the PSP has very little added to it from the DS days. The main things really are access to the Rockstar Social Club (via wireless) and a new series of side missions involving a female news reporter called Melanie. These missions take the form of escort missions as you protect Mel while she makes her story or films a piece. The before mentioned new music tracks and the much improved graphics really round out the extras for PSP users. So if you are a DS GTA: CW player looking for your next fix this is probably not for you – it is mostly the same title. Longevity wise this game will steal a substantial chunk of your time depending on how many side missions you want to take on. The whole game uses the same structure as the bigger GTA titles. Meet people, get jobs from them via your PDA, which is a great addition btw, and progress through the story taking on side missions as you feel like it. There are plenty of mini-games in the package to keep you going and the drug trading game is, pardon the pun, fairly addictive. This runs along the main story and you move from area to area in Liberty City meeting traders and buying and selling your stash in a sort of hard core coke version of Elite.

The hand to hand and gun based combat in this title is much more satisfying than that of the bigger titles. There are plenty of weapons in dumpsters around the city and even when you are out of ammo you feel in control enough to take a group out using punches and spin kicks.

Final Thoughts:
This is the best hand held Grand Theft Auto title you can buy ( unless you pick up GTA IV & one of those Xbox 360′s mounted into a case with a 15″ HD screen!).   This is the definitive Chinatown Wars version and Rockstar Leeds should be proud of what they have achieved with the title. They took the best of old GTA and new GTA and made something new from it. If you have a PSP, are over 18 (some very strong violence and drugs here kids!) and ever liked a GTA title then grab this now. Sure a few more PSP specific items would of been nice and utilising the extra UMD room would of made sense but what you have hear is one of the top PSP releases of 2009.

Related posts:

1. Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City (X360) A Princess Robot Bubblegum trailer....
2. GTA: Chinatown Wars PSP Trailer Released Some portable Sony GTA action for you. A trailer has...
3. Star Wars The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes demo now on Live Contender for longest game name of the year? If you’re...
4. Star Wars: Jedi Knight titles now on Steam Oh Steam, you never fail to impress. LucasArt’s kept to...

News

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars (PSP) Review

A BrutalGamer.com review. When Rockstar Leeds announced last year the a whole new GTA story was being laid out on the DS many a PSP owner felt hard done by. Sony’s platforms had traditionally been the home of the GTA console series and it looked like it was all slipping…

Posted 10 Nov 2009 | News, PSP, PSP Reviews, Reviews | 2 Comments