Its Bright, Its Flashy, Its Witty, ChinaTown Wars is everything you can expect from a GTA game.
gameplay and that it's not just a money-making spin-off of the console versions makes this game easily one of the best game on the psp and of the series already so great!
The game takes place inthe easily recognisable Liberty City(based on NYC) of GTA IV,albeit excluding Alderny(which took too long to unlock anyway).The city is presented beautifully from top to bottom and is wonderfully detailed. Every part of the city has its own unique features which makes it fun to explore the city just to take in some of the sights.
The story of the game is very fun and original, and whilst the ending may be a little dissapointing, it's certainly a blast getting there. You'll find yourself working with over nine different people, including a noisy reporter, a drug addled cop and an arrogant street-thug. You play as Huang Li, The spoilt son of a traid boss who, after finding out has been murdered, is sent to Liberty City to deliver an ancient sword to his uncle. Of-course he is ambushed and has to start his life again from scratch.
The gameplay of ChinaTown Wars is Fun and easy to master. The control mapping is similar to the console versions so you wouldn't have any problems if you've played one of them. This game also adds a new feature to the GTA series, the drug-trade. Its simple to explain, buy when cheap and sell when high. The drug trade allows to to sell and buy drugs from any of the 80 dealers in the city. Each gang buys and sells different drugs so its easy to earn money from. Cops are also much easier to escape from. Now rather than simply escaping from them or ducking into a pay n' spray shop, you can ram the police cars into submission. For example, if you have a 3 star wanted level,you could ram 3 cop cars off the road to turn your wanted level into a 2 star rating and so on. This makes for some excellent chases troughout the game.
This game does have some problems but the most major has to be the aoto-aim feature. As with all GTA games, the auto aim is a little shoddy as it is very difficult to actually aim to your specific target. For instance, at one point I attempted to aim at a hoodlum right next to but found myself firing at a civilian behind a wall on the opposite side of the road. Also the camera can be a source of annoyance as it is sometimes doesnt point the way you want it to.
Still,even with these problems, ChinaTown wars is a top-notch game that feels right at home on the psp.