So the story, for me, is this: I was done with
GTA. While I did really enjoy
GTAIV for a good number of beefy hours, eventually the story fell off and I was just... done. And, like so many times before, I felt I was really just done with
GTA. What more did I need? I'd seen and done it all, and without some drastic innovation, what was left to do that was still compelling? So I happily set the game aside for other stuff.
When
Chinatown Wars was announced, I didn't care. I couldn't make heads or tails of what it was supposed to play like based on early screens and promo material, it didn't look all that interesting, and again, I was done with
GTA, right? Right!
Then Pyro comes on to IRC the other night, and tells us that
Chinatown Wars hasn't been selling well at all, to the natural disappointment of Rockstar. So I wonder what it's all about, and decide to go check a few reviews.
Well. For context,
Grand Theft Auto IV received 38 A+/100 pt. reviews according to Metacritic. Out of 64 reviews, not one is below 87. That's pretty damned good. Turns out
Chinatown Wars's metascore is only 4 points below its big brother's, and out of 74 reviews, 19 are A+/100 pt. reviews. Of the others, there's nothing below an 80.
Granted, critical acclaim is always relative. As big a stink as everybody made over
GTAIV's story and cinematic elements, I did eventually get very bored with it toward the end as the story totally fell apart and became typical mafioso nonsense, which is a shame considering how amazingly well crafted the opening segments were. However, the game was most definitely fantastic, and to see a DS game of all things get such a high score... that's crazy. So I watched a couple video reviews, marveled at the great art and mix of old school and new school gameplay, and promptly had to go buy the damned thing.
Nobody here has said a word about it, and I myself didn't even know it was out until Pyro said something. While I've never been the biggest
GTA fan in the world, I've always loved the series and enjoyed each installment, even when I thought I was "done" with playing such silly games. For me, the fun of it is having this huge world to explore. I love cities. There's something fascinating to me about the city dynamic, and I've studied it here and there from the angles that interest me over the years (mostly in relation to historic time periods, such as London during the 1800s, American cities at the turn of the century, etc.). So while I can really take or leave the actual crime parts, they interest me because of their close ties to the modern city itself. The dynamic is enjoyable enough to me just because of that social tie-in, made better because it isn't completely realistic and also has so much comic book/film influence, which also interests me. This is made even better because the games go out of their way to mock so many real-world concepts, and I really enjoy that mild social commentary. And then, of course, you've got the core thing that brings me to the games over and over again: I get a huge city to explore.
The biggest shortcomings the games have, for me, is that the cities aren't more detailed. The more shops I can go into, the more unique locations that don't look like anywhere else, and the more hidden stuff I can find in them, the better.
GTAIV, while still not as much as I dream of, was closer to this than any previous title, and henceforth had really become my favorite (though I have to say I did miss the sprawling countrysides and small towns of
San Andreas). Now,
Chinatown Wars isn't really upping the ante in this sense, which is partly why I had no real interest at the outset. But as it turns out, it's actually the same Liberty City from
IV, just in portable form! It isn't exactly the same, and there are details that are different, but I've already recognized some major locations which are extremely similar. And instead of that being lame, it's actually quite cool! It's a different take on the same thing, but different enough that it doesn't feel like the same game.
In the end, I'm having a great time. The story isn't voiced, and it definitely doesn't have the same BANG! as the other titles, but it's biggest strength is just how... slick it is. The interface is slick. It's a PDA, sort of an evolution of
IV's cell phone, which you operate with the touch screen. You operate your GPS and get your email and all that good stuff with it, and it feels really nice to use. The look of hte game is also slick. Initially I was disconcerted by the celshaded appearance, and the actual models of people still look funny (they look too big with the black outline because the game is so miniature), but it really works when you see it in motion. It reminds you of the original games in a pleasing, modern kind of way. The rest of the game's art resembles the stuff we've been seeing on
GTA covers since
III, so it works well and is consistent. Too, the sound is great. There's no voice acting during cutscenes since that would be ridiculous for a DS title, but the street people still talk, and the cars, gunshots, explosions, crashes, etc. are all very reminiscent of past games. Best of all, the game has the radio system intact, so you can still play all the music from different stations as you drive around. There aren't any voice acted segments, of course, so no funny business with commercials and the like, but the music is surprisingly good. They've always focused on delivering a solid soundtrack, and they didn't pull any punches even with the DS versions. Impressive.
Anyway, if you never considered looking at it, give it a try. It's quite compelling. Even the DS-specific features are kinda' fun. There are a bunch of touchscreen minigames, like jamming a screwdriver into a car's ignition to start it, or making your own molotov cocktails at a gas station, and they're actually quite fun. They're too quick and simple to really get annoying, and they make you feel slightly more grounded in a world where you're basically flying 30 feet in the air over the protagonist at all times. I'm having a good time with it, and it's been a nice surprise.
See the
GameTrailers.com review for a good rundown and more gameplay footage than you can shake a stick at.
