By Jason Nimer
Let's be honest with each other - the first Grand Theft Auto was a terrible,
terrible game. Even on the PS1, the presentation was terrible, the controls were
inoperable and the mayhem one could commit - killing police officers, crashing
cars and killing hookers - was the game's only real draw and memorable quality.
Eventually GTA3 hit the PS2 and cemented the series in the video game history
books, but neither that game, nor the critically lauded sequels, ever managed to
win me over. The first GTA game I ever found myself actually enjoying was GTA:
Chinatown Wars on the DS. The top down view, similar to the absolutely awful
original GTA, worked much better when the goals were clear and the controls, you
know, actually CONTROLLED the game. Now that title has been polished up and
ported over to Sony's PSP, and the result is a similar, though somehow slightly
less novel, ticket to ride in the streets of Liberty City.
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If you played through the DS version of this title, there isn't much to draw
you in to play through a second time. If not, then you're in for a treat. This
spin-off of the series follows Huang Lee, a typical "tough guy" who comes to
Liberty City after his gangster father's death. At first, his only goal is to
retrieve a lost sword, one that has been in his family for some time. His
priorities quickly shift to running drugs, recruiting gang members and generally
being a gopher for Liberty City's various crime kingpins, big and small time
alike. In typical GTA fashion, you can not only complete the game's missions,
you can also take on all sorts of side responsibilities - everything from
picking up fares in taxis to driving an ambulance to practicing your skills at
giving tattoos. All this stuff comes together to make a game that, if nothing
else, gives players a TON of stuff to do.
A lot of those side tasks - the ones that are paired with mini games, anyway
- end up hurting this version's overall score, though. It becomes abundantly
clear after one or two of these that this game was designed for the touch
screen-enabled Nintendo DS, and since these little actions are liberally
peppered throughout the entire game, I often wondered if the graphical update in
this version was an even trade for some awkward moments. For example, hot wiring
cars in the DS version was accomplished by using the stylus to connect and twist
the connections below the steering wheel. Get it right and the car started. In
the PSP version, the task is the same, but it is done with the analog nub, the L
and R triggers and X button. It just doesn't hold the same magic and can often
get tedious, feeling more like a chore. A personal favorite on the DS was the
ability to use the stylus to tattoo people (at first it's part of a mission, it
can be repeated later for extra money). In this version, the tattooing is mapped
to a series of God of War-style analog inputs, and it is nowhere near as
entertaining. I'm hoping, touch screen or not, these actions find their way into
the next console GTA; I could see Rockstar getting very creative with how they
were implemented.
Don't get me wrong; the PSP does have some advantages over the DS original,
with the most noticeable being the presentation. Instead of the DS' almost cel-shaded
look, this version more closely mirrors the style of the various 3D GTA games.
For whatever reason, though, the static pictures that tell the story remain,
rather than the 3D cut scenes we've seen in other PSP GTA adventures. The
series' trademark dialogue also remains in text form, rather than being
delivered by a voiceover. Before I even got into the game, I assumed that
Rockstar would add both these things. They didn't, and it is a missed
opportunity in making this version the one to own.
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