Challenge No. 1 Update / GTA: Chinatown Wars Post Mortem

If GTA IV impregnated GTA 1, the offspring would probably look a lot like Chinatown Wars. Although this may sound incestuous, I assure you that this baby comes from good stock. In fact, I can say without hesitation that it was one of the best handheld games I’ve ever played. It proves that you can’t judge a game by the size of its pixels

I have to admit that I wasn’t always sold on this game. When I first saw the screen shots and pre-release trailers, I dismissed it as a cheap back step for the franchise. It was originally released for the Nintendo DS for God’s sake! Why would I want to play a GTA game for kids? After a few months, it made its way to the PSP, and the reviews were good. It peeked my interest a little, but not enough for me to jump in. A few months later during Game of The Year awards season, this little game that could got a lot of coverage. Gamespot named it the handheld game of the year, and it was even nominated in non-handheld categories. Enough was enough. I had to see what all the fuss was about, and I’m glad I did.

You play as Huang, son of a Liberty City Triad leader. The game starts after Huang’s father is murdered. Some thugs jump you shortly after you arrive from Hong Kong and steal a very special sword you were supposed to deliver to your Uncle. In true GTA fashion, you have to steal, kill, and drive your ass off to get it back and find your father’s killer. The narrative is the one weak spot here, but it does its job well enough to tie the action together.

The gameplay is where this one really shines. Its no secret GTA games have a tendency to be repetitive and sometimes stale, but CTW takes a fresh approach. Since it was originally designed for the Nintendo DS, the developers took a great deal of creativity in designing the missions, and thankfully, this translated very well to the PSP. For the record, CTW taught me three different ways to hotwire a car.

So that’s two awesome games in a row. I fear the worst is yet to come. Wish me luck!

Here’s the updated list:

Grand Theft Auto (PS1)
Grand Theft Auto: London (PS1)
Grand Theft Auto 2 (PS1)
Grand Theft Auto 3 (PS2)
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (PS2)
Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (PSP)
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories (PSP)
Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City (PS3)