Mike Bantick
Thursday, 26 March 2009 17:32
Entertainment
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Once out on the streets of Liberty City, some minor problems creep into the game design.
There is plenty to do, and Lee will soon be involved in drug deals, gang fights, car stealing, helicopter bombing runs and much, much more. It is like one of those horrible TV adverts, “but wait there is more”.
The game harkens back to the original GTA and its sequel, before they went all 3D. The top-down view, including transparent overhead railway system, only occasional suffers from “blocked camera” syndrome due to the fact that it actually is a 3D world.
Lee does get a little lost in the crow, when on foot, the well populated streets, are well populated with similar looking models. Not a big issue, unless Lee is in a fist-fight without the help of a green ringed ‘lock-on’ indicator showing enemies.
Like any good GTA, life is a bustle of street talk (actual voiced dialogue), the rattle of trains, the chocked traffic snarls, trade-mark LC radio stations, whine of law enforcement sirens and seemingly unrelated random events, such as car crashes and more. All these events and more add to bringing an urban jungle to life on the smallest of screens.
It is a joy to jump into a colourful, yet just as gritty Liberty City on the DS which is as familiar as that presented to us on the “grown-up” consoles. But Chinatown Wars does indeed differ from its larger cousins.
First up, it uses the DS capabilities, sometimes a little gimmicky, as is the case in some of the car stealing mini games – undo the screws, connect the wires and start the car. Sometimes with fun, such as using the DS microphone to whistle for a cab.
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