Chinatown Wars: Preview

When Nintendo sales and marketing VP Cammie Dunaway unveiled it to the public at last year's E3, the gaming world was excited to see how Rockstar would adapt their best-selling franchise to fit on the dual screens of Nintendo's DS. Now that it's right around the corner, Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars is shaping up to be one of the best outings in Liberty City yet.

As soon as you pop the cartridge in, you'll realize that this iteration of Grand Theft Auto is unlike any you've played before.

After fighting against the Triads for so long, it's finally time for them to star. You play as Huang Lee, the 25-year-old son of a Triad boss. Your mission is to bring a family heirloom to your uncle, but not before you seek revenge for what has happened to your family. What happens next is entirely up to you.

Obviously due to technical limitations of the hardware, Rockstar Leeds decided against a fully 3D world as seen since GTA III. But what we get is a gorgeous cel-shaded version of GTA IV's Liberty City. The overhead camera angle is reminiscent of classic GTA games, but the cel-shaded look is making its debut in the series.

You will encounter many things in Chinatown Wars that will utilize the touch screen. Before you steal a car, you first must hotwire it with the stylus. Other stylus-intensive actions include making and throwing Molotov cocktails and assembling a sniper rifle.

Of course, it couldn't be Grand Theft Auto without some sort of controversy, this time in the form of a drug-dealing minigame. Players are given six street drugs to sell, taking into account the markets in different areas of the city and which drug they prefer in that end of town. This minigame is a necessary way of making money and will surely fire up some controversy in the mainstream media.

The fun doesn't stop at the single-player story, either. Players will be able to use the Rockstar Games Social Club, first introduced with GTA IV, to upload stats as well as play co-operatively and head-to-head through the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection.

Players eager to get their hands on a copy won't be waiting much longer. Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars will be released next week, exclusively for the Nintendo DS.

Ian Mailloux, NoobFeed