Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars Preview
By Gaetano Prestia
GTA: Chinatown Wars on the DS was met with thunderous applause. Critics loved it, gamers adored it and many praised the game's pick-up-and-play simplicity and accessibility, something that the previous GTA PSP titles just didn’t have. What was especially great about CTW was that it was able to offer a full GTA experience on the size-limited DS, while also giving gamers plenty of new reasons to get excited about it.
So when a port was announced for the PSP, the reaction was mixed. Why release a game developed specifically for the DS on a handheld with a completely different hardware structure? Why bring a somewhat visually downgraded title to a system that already has two PS2-like GTA titles available on it?
Well, the answer is actually pretty simple. CTW was a fresh and thoroughly enjoyable experience on the DS, and not all that much needed to be done in order to bring it to the PSP. The fact is that every gamer should experience CTW, and that includes the typical Sony/PSP fanboy who would rather die than pick up a DS. It might not be as narrative driven or violent as previous GTA titles, but it’s definitely just as fun. Kudos definitely has to be given to developer Rockstar Leeds, who went in a completely different direction with an already established franchise and came out with one of the best titles in the series.
Those of you unfamiliar with CTW, here’s a quick summary of what it’s all about. Huang Lee, who is a member of the Chinese Triad’s, has just returned to Liberty City to solve the mystery surrounding the assassination of his father and to retrieve the ‘Yu Jian’ sword for his Uncle Wu ‘Kenny’ Lee. Thought to be a sacred family heirloom, the Yu Jian was actually won by Huang’s father during a card game. Although aware of his father’s less-than-honorable actions and how the so-called “family heirloom” actually came into his father’s possession, Huang still feels he must find his father’s murderers and bring the sword back to his Uncle to restore honour and respect, as well as to receive a more-than-generous inheritance.
Any diehard GTA fan will look at that as a typical story for the franchise, and while it is, it definitely brought a new level of maturity to the DS. The story isn’t told through cutscenes or voice-acting, but rather through comic-book style drawings and subtitles, all of which have been given a touch-up and more detail for the PSP. If you’re familiar with the DS version, it’ll be obvious from the moment the first screen pops up that plenty of attention has been given to the drawings, and they actually look really great on the PSP’s lush LCD screen.
The graphics have also been improved. Lighting and shadow effects have been improved, as are more evident at night, and many things in the environment react more accordingly to the lighting and action taking place around them. The position of a shadow from a tree for example is actually determined by the location of the sun, as opposed to being in a pre-determined position. The city glows at night with the improved lighting effects, and explosions look exceptionally better on the PSP with fantastic fire effects.
The audio has been given a significant boost, with improved sound effects and new additions to the soundtrack. Rockstar Leeds have taken a big step from the DS version in this regard, and it’s obvious right from the start that every aspect of the audio as been improved. The game sounds really crisp through the PSP speakers.
The touch-screen aspects from the DS version have simply been replaced by button mapping, such as the analogue nub being used to unscrew a covering or twist together some wires. The touch-screen mini-games in the DS version were great, but nothing spectacular or overly memorable. The PSP seems to handle most of those aspects pretty well, which is great considering how the lack of a touch-screen was probably the one thing people were worried about in the porting of this title.
The only thing probably holding this title back is its undeniable identicalness to the DS version. The improvements in the audio and graphical presentation are great, especial with the audio, and the developer has done a great job of bringing over and changing the touch-screen mini-games onto the PSP. If you own a PSP and haven’t experienced Chinatown Wars yet, this will be an absolute must-have. It’s something every handheld gamer must experience to appreciate. It’s a marvel of handheld gaming and it’s great that it’s coming to the PSP.
08/09/2009
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