Chinatown Wars is by far the most enjoyable and entertaining GTA experience on a portable console.

User Rating: 9 | Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars DS
The best games that make it to my top 5 list is always the one I pay the least attention to during its release. First, I hate Grand Theft Auto series. GTA 4 only impressed me through its amazing city which really felt alive. But other than that the storyline was predictable and I'm sick of doing the same missions and working along low-life criminals.

HOWEVER, GTA Chinatown Wars improves on the GTA series in every way except for the graphics. No-****, what do you expect from a five year old handheld console?

The gameplay is addictive and exhilarating! The new camera angle really works in a unique and stunning way. I really can't believe how they manage to add every single feature from the console GTAs onto a 128mb card. The gameplay is faster paced. Jacking cars are a lot faster as well as the speed. If you hit the accelerate button chances are you won't get busted by a cop trying to open the door. I really love the new fast paced action since many of the GTA games frustration comes from getting busted while trying to escape.

The storyline was stunning, I liked it a lot more than GTA 4 though the dialogues are a bit cheesy but that doesn't matter. It's actually quite predictable though considering how many games with a betrayal theme.

The new odd jobs; paramedics, vigilante, noodle delivery...etc are now actually fun to play. Just admit it; in the other GTAs you only did those for the rewards such as fire retardant, infinite sprint and double armor. GTA Chinatown Wars' odd jobs are really easy to complete and gain the reward however it no longer becomes a chore to procure such rewards.

The new police invasion is amazing with Huang Lee's aggressive approach. Though this makes even losing 6 stars fairly easy. But it's fun and isn't that all what's important in a game? Once again I can't believe I'm saying this but some of the music in the game is awesome! Most notably Hsin's theme music.


Chinatown Wars offers so many innovating gameplay moments. One of my favorite new elements is the proximity mine which you can drop one while you're driving and the cop car chasing behind you goes flying! Also the new melee weapons are a lot more effective than before. In CTWs you can actually take down a group of people firing AKs at you with melee weapons like the chainsaw and katana, thanks to the new fast paced gameplay! The way the stylus is used in CTW is also very nice. I never use grenades whatsoever but the way CTW offers, I have probably thrown more than 500!

Another thing that impressed me was the diversity of missions. Although it's still kill this kill that it is presented in a more diverse way of doing it. It's just amazing.

Overall Chinatown is one of the BEST handheld game out there and if you own a DS or PSP you really need to pick up this title.