Probably one of the biggest gaming franchises of the modern era, Grand Theft Auto has grown from a local project by Scottish video game developer, Dave Jones to a world wide phenomenon that sells millions of copies every year.
Today we look at the latest game to come from the series, Grand Theft Auto China Town Wars for the Playstation Portable. The game can be seen as a simple port of the DS version with slightly better graphics that the PSP can clearly handle. The lighting in the PSP version of the game seems to be a lot better making the city seem more life like and not straight out of a comic book as opposed to the Nintendo DS version.
The game play is simple, you use your directional buttons to move but this can be changed to analogue stick depending on what you prefer. Circle fires your weapon while Triangle gets you in and out of cars and X provides you with a running boost. Driving works well as it does in other games of the franchise but there seems to be a real flaw in using the motor cycle. It is far to fast and you lose control almost instantly. That being said, the different vehicles in the game is what you’d expect from any Grand Theft Auto instalment and it continues to impress.
The game is clearly a throwback to the original overhead view Grand Theft Auto’s from the Playstation and Windows era that was released just over ten years ago. Despite being a step back in that aspect there are many new things the game brings to the table such as the mini games like collecting gas from the pumps to make your Molotov cocktails or turning the screws in the dashboard of a car to hotwire it. Clearly these mini games were designed for the Nintendo DS version of the game and don’t work as well on the Playstation Portable where the analogue stick is required. That being said there is an impressive drug dealing system being used where you can buy and sell a large variety of different illegal substances to make a real nice profit, allowing you to buy many things such as new properties to use as safe houses and weapons from the world famous Ammo-Nation.
The soundtrack of the game features mainly rap music, not a personal favourite of mine but works for the games layout. The tunes all seem to be remixes of what was used on the DS version of the game and at times, the best part of getting in to a car was checking the different stations on the radio. That being said, if you’re like me and mainly use your PSP when you’re out of the house, on public transport or visiting older relatives then you have the volume turned off anyway so no matter what music you’re interested in, this shouldn’t be a turn off for getting the game.
To me, the most important part of the Grand Theft Auto games is the story. GTA Vice City had a fantastic story as Tommy Vercetti, a mafia hit man released from prison. The game had fantastic characters in Kent Paul, Ken Rosenberg and Lance Vance as well as popular in game heavy metal band, Love Fist. San Andreas had you controlling the games first African American main character in Carl Johnson better known as CJ where he interacted with his brother Sweet, Big Smoke and Ryder. China Town Wars instalment wasn’t the greatest story I’ve seen out of the franchise but I can’t be too critical as I was maybe expecting something like it’s next generation counterparts. You are in control of the first Asian main character of the GTA series, Huang Lee, the spoiled son of a murdered Triad boss. You arrive by plane to Liberty City with the intention of delivering your fathers most prized procession, a sword to your uncle Wu Lee but on arrival, you are ambushed and your bodyguards are killed. Huang is kidnapped, shot and left for dead as the sword is stolen. Once you end up at your uncles store, he explains that the sword was to be given to a Triad leader to revive their families name which has sense been lowered on the food chain. The game then sees you working for not only your uncle but higher up members of the Triads as you attempt to reclaim the sword and once again give honour to your families name.
All in all, the game was super fun and kept me occupied all weekend while I was away from the house. Can’t say it’s a game I can play for hours at end but if you’ve got a an hour or two too kill before doing something then this is a great way to pass the time. If you can get this game on offer or even second hand then you’ll see this great value for money. Myself, I think I expected too much out of the game to be like it’s next generation cousins and was probably sadden to not get this, my own fault though and I’d fully recommend you getting your hands on this game.
Presentation: B-
The Presentation as said is a throwback to the original Grand Theft Auto games. I’ve always followed the two steps forwards no steps back rule and it’s clearly obvious, Rock Star went several steps back with their presentation of this game.
Visuals: B-
Once again, I have to lower the grade because of the old school graphics with the game. It has already been seen with Vice City Stories that the game can handle a GTA IV like environment so why not just stick with it? For what it’s worth the game is really colourful and the local sites are still noticeable from the X Box 360/Playstation 3 versions of Liberty City.
Game Play: A
You can’t hate on a GTA game play if you know what you’re buying. It gave me everything I was expecting when it comes to Grand Theft Auto game play and even more with fancy mini games and a new drug dealing system.
Sound: C
The music used in the game wasn’t for me so maybe I am being selfish by faulting it for those reasons. It does earn some points by having that GTA feeling when going around the humanoid filled city. No complaints here apart from the rap based soundtrack.
Lasting Appeal: A
As long as you don’t try to complete the game in two days flat straight after purchase, I see no reason why this game shouldn’t last you several months of fun, even after completing it. I still have great fun with Grand Theft Auto IV and it’s been out for a few years now, I can only expect the same thing with China Town Wars. I know anytime I’m out of the house and I bring the PSP with me this game will be in my pocket.
Overall Grade: B-
Really fun game overall, just don’t spoil it by having super high hopes like I did. Take your time with the game and it’ll last you a good while, you’ll definitely get your moneys worth out of the latest GTA instalment.
