Since I was little, I remember GTA being a major selling platform for the Gameboy way before Sony was able to get its hands on it. The new GTA: Chinatown Wars is making its way to the DS and I’m actually really interested to see what it’s going to offer. I’m curious as to how the touch screen is going to work for it and how hands-on this game will be.

It’s based in Liberty City (SURPRISE) and includes locations with which we’re all too familiar viewed from the classic top down camera angle. From what I’ve seen, the environments are a bit flat but the graphics look fairly decent. The good news is, from what I’ve gathered on it, that as enormous as the city is, you’ll never bump into one of those pesky load screens. Thanks, progressive game streaming! I’ve also read pedestrians have their own individual AI routines and when following them around you’ll be able observe them heading to and from work, eating hotdogs, and getting into fist fights with total strangers on the road. Sounds pretty cool but I’m still not thoroughly impressed.

As hinted by the title, it’s about Asian crime in Liberty City. Rival gangs fighting for turf control and all that good stuff.  Your character is Huang Lee, the son of a syndicate boss who dies during a Triad power struggle. As Huang,  you will navigate your way through the streets and uncover the truth behind an epic tale of crime and corruption within the Triad crime syndicate. Controls are handled using the face buttons. X will let you enter or exit vehicles, B accelerates, Y reverses, and the right shoulder button locks up the handbrake to perform tight turns. The D pad is used to steer. When you’re on foot, the A button shoots your selected weapon (chosen by opening a submenu on the touch screen), which can also be fired while inside cars for drive-bys. The right shoulder button locks onto targets.

All in all, I can’t really base any opinions on the game until I’ve tried a demo or seen more videos on it. I’m very excited to hear more news on it and may just reserve it since I love my DS so much.

That’s all I have for now! Thanks for reading!

-Mina Rose