There's something cool about getting hands-on with a handheld game. For the most part we journos are invited out to publisher barracks to check out PC and console games and updates, but for handheld titles we're pretty much usually sent the final product of the game. So when a publisher invites you out to have a look at their newest handheld title, you know it's going to be something big.



A couple of things jumped out at me when Rockstar fired up Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars for DS for me a ways back (we've been under embargo for a while). For one, despite the platform's size and power, Chinatown Wars is damn impressive. You have a richly detailed 3D Liberty City fully loaded and streaming in the palm of your hand. Of course Rockstar Leeds have used some magic from the book of David Blane to make this possible, but it doesn't stop the presentation from knocking you off your feet.

It also looks like a GTA game. There's nothing here beyond a lack of power that changes the aesthetic of the franchise. Cut-scenes are presented with the trademark art style of Grand Theft Auto, while elements such as sound effects and music are as close as the system's abilities will allow. Hell, even the radio stations are back, and while we're not necessarily listening to licensed tracks, the composed variety of each station goes a long way to making you feel comfortable in a city we all know too well by now.

The last thing to jump out at me was that this is likely the first DS game to use the word "fuck". It may seem like an odd thing to point out but it represents two major punches for the game: One, GTA: Chinatown Wars is a Rockstar game through and through. It hasn't been dumbed down or lightened up for any specific type of Nintendo-bearing audience; it's a game that makes no apologies for being completely and utterly mature and the tried and tested experience of living within the seedy underbelly of Liberty City's organised crime and crooked cops is represented in full here. And two: Nintendo aren't necessarily as family-focused as their manifest of games would have you believe. Allowing Rockstar to craft the above is as much a statement from The Big N about their ability to cater to all audiences as it is them just being the cool kid for a day.

GTA: Chinatown Wars is, as its name suggests, a GTA chapter that focuses on the Asian crime contingent of Liberty City. The game begins with you, Huang Lee, landing at Francis International Airport. As the spoiled son of a Triad boss, you've been forced to come to Liberty City to attend your father's funeral and hand over a sword to the Triad syndicate's new patriarch, your uncle.

As soon as Huang lands, however, nothing goes right and you're thrust into a quest to discover the truth behind your father's demise in an attempt to take what is rightfully yours, and to restore at least some of the lost honour to the Lee name.

The game's story is told in graphic novel style panels, animating across the screen with the typically tight scripting of most GTA games. There are myriads of colourful characters to befriend and kill along the way, and as I've reiterated throughout this article, the whole feel of the GTA universe is more than intact. Missions, objectives and the sense of freedom have been brought across with verve, but if you compare actually playing Chinatown Wars to the likes of GTA IV, that's when you're finally going to notice a bit of a difference.

Clearly the DS is not on par with the likes of the PS3 or Xbox 360 - but it's in having the boundaries of development for the system Rockstar Leeds have actually managed to craft one hell of an enjoyable experience.

The game is played with a birds-eye-view camera (just like the original PC outings of GTA I and II), though the city and much of its components are all still rendered in 3D. A specific physics system was also written for the game, allowing elements such as car handling and explosions to come across in a consistent light. But ultimately, the major difference - on a gameplay level - between this and other entrants in the series is a less chaotic experience.

Car handling is fast, fun and very intuitive. Shooting is also impressively over-the-top. It's in the actual gameplay department Leeds have let their hair down, and you really get an arcade fun sense to things. It doesn't detract from the rich details of story-telling or mission styles, and makes the game feel like it could be just what the morning doctor ordered for your train or bus commute to work.

Missions typically only take a few minutes to complete, and there's some serious variety here. Leeds have also seen fit to utilise the DS touch-screen to great effect, without coming off as cheesy or gimmicky. For the most part the physical action you're performing is contextually relevant to what you're trying to achieve in-game. Things like hot-wiring a car (where you may need to remove a faceplate by unscrewing the screws), or even throwing grenades from a chopper all feel justifiable in their use of the stylus and touch-pad.

It wouldn't be a GTA game without some real-world living going on in the background, either. In Chinatown Wars you can sell drugs in various parts of Liberty City, from Bohan to Dukes (and various other recognisable locales) with a system that allows you to manage the prices at which you sell. You can manipulate your system so that prices hike in certain areas due to risk factors and what have you, and despite only being given a brief look at drug-running, it looked to have a bit of depth.

Communicating and managing your character are handled with a PDA device (much like the mobile phone of GTA IV) where you receive mission data, emails and more. It kind of marries the phone and internet cafe element of the last GTA outing, keeping it all somewhat streamlined but still fundamental. Again, all of this is handled contextually with the stylus and touch-pad showcasing the specific design philosophies of Rockstar Leeds in crafting a game that caters specifically to what the DS is all about.

Throughout my hands-on session I was constantly surprised at the comfortable juxtaposition between accessible, arcade-like play and the not-so-subtle depth of the game-world. What we get here is a game that not only offers Liberty City a new home and potential new audience, but a game that reinvents how to play GTA, without losing any of the hallmark aspects of the series. It could have been very easy for Rockstar to simply make a cash-in product on the world's most successful platform with the world's most synonymous game, but instead they seem to have crafted an entirely new product more than worth the investment.

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars is due for Australian release on March 20 2009, so stay tuned for more details as they come through and, of course, our eventual review.