Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars

Did You Know?

• The DS version features music by Deadmau5, Ticklah, The Alchemist, The Prairie Cartel, and Truth and Soul Records.
• The PSP version adds music by Anvil, Tortoise, DFA Records, Turntables on the Hudson, and DJ Khalil.
• The game contains over 900,000 lines of 'hand-optimized' code.

Gameplay

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars is an action-adventure game set in an open world environment. Its presentation differs from previous series entries, partially resembling the first Grand Theft Auto titles with a fully rotatable camera angled down at the action, rather than a ground-level or top-down perspective. The game uses cel-shaded polygons with black outlines for a comic book-like aesthetic, a first for the series. The setting is a scaled-down rendition of Grand Theft Auto IV's Liberty City, excluding Alderney. Unlike Grand Theft Auto IV, the player can lose wanted stars by destroying police cars instead of leaving a wanted zone; the number of police cars to eliminate increases with each star level. A drug dealing subplot allows players to peddle heroin, acid, ecstasy, marijuana, cocaine, and depressants, profiting by recognizing market conditions and geographic demand. CCTV cameras function as secret packages; destroying them with a Molotov cocktail or grenade reduces the chance of being caught during drug deals and provides discounts. The game applies many Grand Theft Auto IV features, including the next-gen HUD. Ammu-Nation returns as an in-game website where players order weapons through their PDA for delivery to their safehouse. Players receive emails readable on the PDA or a laptop in the safehouse. Stealing moving vehicles is similar to previous games, but parked vehicles require different methods: older cars need a screwdriver, others require hotwiring, and newer expensive cars (except a bulletproof van) require hacking the computerised immobiliser. Players cannot pilot aircraft, though a code on the Nintendo DS using Action Replay DS can grant a helicopter.

Plot

In 2009, Triad member Huang Lee travels to Liberty City to deliver the Yu Jian sword, a family heirloom won by his murdered father, to his uncle Wu 'Kenny' Lee. Upon arrival, Huang's escort is killed by unknown assailants who steal the sword and leave Huang for dead. Surviving, he reaches Kenny's restaurant and reports the theft. Kenny, outraged, reveals he intended to give the sword to Hsin Jaoming, head of the Liberty City Triads, to secure his position as successor. Feeling dishonored, Kenny instructs Huang to help keep his business afloat, drawing him into the drug trade. Huang learns that two others compete to succeed Hsin: Hsin's son Chan Jaoming and underboss Zhou Ming, and he works for both men. During a job, Huang is intercepted by Wade Heston, a corrupt LCPD detective under internal affairs observation, who offers to help find Yu Jian, believing apprehending the thieves will clear his reputation. Huang helps Heston investigate a Korean gang allied with the Triads, suspected of the theft. After bugging the Koreans' headquarters, they learn of a splinter group called the Wonsu Nodong, whose leader causes problems for the Triads with an informant. Hsin, concerned about an informant, orders Huang to investigate two former Triad allies: the Korean Midtown Gangsters and the Angels of Death motorcycle club. The investigation is briefly thrown off by Triad-hating mafioso Rudy D'Avanzo, who tricks Huang into suspecting the Messina crime family. Hsin exposes Rudy's deception, leading to Huang killing him.

Release

A GameStop pre-order commercial for Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars referenced the real-life corporate bailout of 2008. A new gameplay trailer released on 6 March 2009 showed sniper rifle use and keypad interaction with the Nintendo DS stylus. GameStop sent a van for pre-release demos. Other stores offered a 'credit card' activating $10,000 in-game money and earlier access to better weapons. Amazon provided a code for an exclusive bulletproof Infernus with preorders. The game received widespread critical acclaim. On GameRankings, it was the highest rated Nintendo DS game ever with an average score of 93%. Metacritic gave a 93/100 aggregate, the highest for a DS game. GameSpot rated it 9.5/10, the highest for the DS. Official Nintendo Magazine rated it 94%, praising visuals and variety. IGN UK gave 9.2, calling it 'a masterpiece of handheld gaming'; IGN US gave 9.5/10. Eurogamer gave 10/10. 1UP.com gave an A−. Chinatown Wars generated lower than expected first-week sales in the United Kingdom, selling fewer copies than Vice City Stories' debut. In the United States, it sold under 90,000 units in its first two weeks. Best Buy responded by selling the game at a reduced price for a limited time, with a very positive response.

Controversy

Chinatown Wars continued the series' tradition of controversy due to a drug dealing minigame involving heroin and ecstasy. Darren Gold of the anti-drug abuse charity Drugsline protested, stating that using drug-dealing as entertainment sends the wrong message and glamorisation hinders education about substance misuse. In an interview with Edge magazine, Dan Houser said the developers had wanted a drug-dealing mini-game in many GTA games, having experimented with it in Vice City Stories. He explained that it works well with the game's driving and map exploration, adding another layer to keep players motivated, and intersects with the main story while mostly running independently.