NY Comic Con 09: Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars Hands-on Preview
Filed Under New York Comic Con 2009 & Previews
Anyone even vaguely familiar with its games knows that Rockstar has a flair for the theatrical. But even we were surprised when a shadowy PR man from the company knocked us out and threw us into the trunk of a van that swiftly sped off into the night.
Alright, so maybe we’re the ones being dramatic. Instead of being dragged off, we were willing, nay eager, to check out what will surely be one of the year’s most talked about Nintendo DS titles. And the van was a cleverly appointed (and thankfully stationary) fixture of the developer’s booth at the 2009 New York Comic Con, where we went hands-on with Rockstar Leed’s forthcoming Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars.
Don’t be fooled into thinking that, based on the title, this DS-exclusive takes place in just a small fraction of the franchise’s hallmark metropolis. In fact, Rockstar Leeds has faithfully recreated the Liberty City of Grand Theft Auto IV practically block-by-block (save for the borough of Alderney, which is entirely absent from the game). Those individuals who spent weeks exploring the town as Niko Bellic will be pleasantly surprised, as were we, to recognize familiar intersections and notable landmarks, even from the bird’s eye view afforded by Chinatown Wars. Fans concerned with the new camera angle should rest assured; during our time playing the game, the camera intelligently rotated to provide the best view of the action onscreen and did not become a nuisance at any point.
The player assumes the role of Huang Lee, who arrives during the game’s opening cinematic at Francis International Airport to deliver an ancestral heirloom to his family’s new patriarch, Uncle Wu. Once he steps foot in Liberty City however, things quickly go awry for Huang, who is ambushed, kidnapped, and thrown into the Humboldt River by a mysterious group of gunmen. Badly wounded, Huang barely escapes with his life. He emerges from the water with a new determination to avenge both himself and his murdered father.
Contained within the game’s tiny plastic cartridge are over 70 full-length missions that comprise Chinatown War’s main storyline. Do not think that because this is a DS game Rockstar has cut any corners: one mission had us picking up a van with a fellow thug and driving it to a bank, which we robbed after blowing a hole in its outside wall with explosives that we had planted. In true Grand Theft Auto fashion, we then had to fight off a rival gang and evade the police with a wanted-level of two stars before we could return to our safe house. These are the kind of full-length, multistep missions that players have grown to expect from modern Grand Theft Auto games.
Beyond the main story missions, players will find both familiar and original alternative activities to do. Series favorites, like street races, stunt jumps, taxi escorts, and food deliveries, are all present. Longtime fans should be excited to know that rampages (quests in which the directive is simply to cause as much loss of life and property as possible in the time allotted) make a triumphant return after sitting out from Grand Theft Auto IV. Fresh assignments include shooting out one hundred surveillance cameras (think hidden packages) and what Rockstar calls an “in-game economy,” where the hot commodities are six different drugs to deal, each with multiple tiers of fluctuating value. Huang can purchase drugs like marijuana, coke, or heroin, watch their street price rise and fall, and sell them when the profit-margin is at its highest. We only hope that this type of economy will be more prosperous for Huang than our real one has been for the American public over the last six months.
Police evasion, something that evolved in Grand Theft Auto IV, has changed further still in Chinatown Wars. Instead of merely escaping the cop’s radius, players must disable a specific number of police cruisers or SWAT hummers by smashing them or forcing them into walls, cars, trees, or other obstacles. Because the camera and small-screen is less conducive to the radar-evasion featured in GTA IV, Rockstar Leeds recognized the need to revamp the system once again for the handheld experience. The result provides the player with a more active role during chases, in which determined control and clever use of the environment are necessities; simply hightailing it from the crime scene will never succeed at lowering your wanted level.
From a technical standpoint, Chinatown Wars pushes the Nintendo DS to its limit, and the game demonstrates incredible polish and planning. The player will run amuck in an eye-catching Liberty City that’s subject to full 24-hour day/night cycles and dynamic weather. Each object, from buildings to cars, fire hydrants to stop signs, people to trees, are all skinned with distinct and crisp textures and rendered in full 3D. Vehicles, people, and roadside objects are all subject to a hand-optimized physics engine that will send them flying should you collide headfirst with them. Pedestrians are programmed to go to and from work, talk and argue with one another, and head in and out of shops. Indoor environments for the player to explore, however, are few and far between.
The lower touch screen not only displays the mini-map and menus, but must also be used to complete amusing gameplay-contextual minigames, during which players must use the stylus to assemble sniper rifles, rummage through dumpsters for weapons, hotwire cars, crack safes, or set explosives (to name a few). A PDA will serve as the menu organizer, much like the cell phone in Grand Theft Auto IV. With it, players can connect with one another via WiFi to send text messages or trade weapons. In a series first, Chinatown Wars gives the player the option to revisit any completed mission for pure enjoyment or competitive speed trials. These can be accessed via a whiteboard located in Huang’s safehouses.
Our biggest fear for Chinatown Wars can’t be pinned on the development team at all, but instead on the medium itself. Those who feel that the magic of Grand Theft Auto IV lies not with its gameplay mechanics, but instead with its immersive storytelling, may find playing in public on two small screens to be a stifling experience. Rockstar’s signature writing, dark humor, and character development are all immediately evident in Chinatown Wars, even in the short period of time during which we played. But it’s hard to determine whether or not Rockstar can convey its rich narrative and keep the player actively engaged with its characters through the Nintendo DS as a platform.
We’ll know for sure soon enough, as Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars is released on March 17 in North America and March 20 in Europe. Look for our final verdict then.
