Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars/Features
This page lists many of the features of Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars for the Nintendo DS:
General
- M-rating (18 in UK)
- Most of Liberty City from GTA IV (excluding Alderney)
- 800,000 lines of hand-optimized source code (more than GTA San Andreas)
- Social Club will be added for sharing stats with other players
Gameplay
- True GTA game - sandbox gameplay, open-world environment, gritty crime narrative.
- Top screen brings you all the action, while the lower screen will let you control elements like the PDA, GPS, the radio, access to the people on the map, or using Molotov Cocktails and grenades
- Stats uploaded to Rockstar Social Club website via Wi-Fi
- Missions designed for shorter periods of play, arcade quality
- If you fail a mission, you can jump back to the action sequence
- Wanted System - objective is to disable police cars any way possible
- Real-time weather effects, 24-hour day/night cycle
- Lots of radio stations to listen to (more instrumentals than vocals)
- Drugs have a big importance in the game, with a system comparable to drug wars
- You have to control the stock of drugs, buy them in one neighborhood and sell them in another. This is a good way to make money in the game.
- You are given a map so that you know what people demand and at what prices
- There are 6 drugs (Heroine, Cocaine, Acid, Ecstasy, Weed, and Downers.)
- You can replay any mission by selecting it from a menu at the safehouse. (Vice City Stories had this feature, but was limited to viewing the cutscenes and The Ballad of Gay Tony had this feature without opportunity to view cutscenes)
- One are required to play a touch-sensitive mini-game in order to pay bridge tolls
- The player can play scratch cards to earn extra money, weapons and a house.
- A trip skip feature is added when "animated cutscene" is shown during a mission.
- The player can use gas stations to assemble Molotov cocktails.
- The player can recruit gang members.
- The player can now earn money by giving people tattoos.
Multiplayer
Main article: Multiplayer in GTA Chinatown Wars
- Local co-op and other multiplayer modes
- Rockstar Social Club using internet connection, allowing the player to unlock some missions and trade item as well as recording statistics.
Graphics & Controls
- Top-down camera angle with 360 degree swivel
- Cel-shaded polygons w/ black borders
- The GPS / map system is "identical" to GTA IVs in appearance and functionality
- Good touch-screen implementation - "tasteful" minigames, streamlining interface
- UI based on a PDA - hub for email, contacts, map, music player, GPS, stat-tracking
- Finger-sized icons
- Aiming with control pad, auto targeting with R button
- No problems with load times, draw-in or frame rate
- Lots of pedestrians, cars, etc. on screen
- New discoveries (such as gas stations) are added to the map
Vehicles
Main article: Vehicles in GTA Chinatown Wars
- Subtle auto steer
- Like other GTA games, in Chinatown Wars, you can catch a taxi - whistle into the microphone so the taxi will stop
- The Rhino returns
- Trains passing overhead, as well as circling cars and pedestrians
Weapons
Main article: Weapons in GTA Chinatown Wars
- Minigun and Flamethrower are now included
- Ammu-Nation has gone online. You order weapons with your PDA and they show up at your safehouse
- Grenades and Molotovs are thrown using the touch screen - you touch one and drag it, with an indicator on the top screen (where the action is) showing you where it's going to land
- The A button is used to fire weapons
- One minigame involves assembling all of the parts of a Sniper Rifle with the touch screen, before using it to assassinate a designated target
References