Chinatown Wars "Bigger" Than PSP Games, Says Dev

Kris Erickson • Dec 23, 2008 • Comments ()

The Grand Theft Auto games on PSP were incredible in their detail and scope, but Rockstar says that the upcoming DS game will be even bigger. Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars on the Nintendo DS is a top-down action game similar in style to the early PC titles. It definitely won't compete in terms of graphics, but it sounds like the game manages to cram in a ton of content. Here is Rockstar Leeds president Gordon Hall talking about the differences between the handheld versions of the game:

“Chinatown Wars is much bigger than anything we have ever done before: more odd jobs, deeper missions, and more moments of over-the-top action. We have a huge interaction with the Rockstar Social Club, a massive game that would stand alone on its own. The list goes on and on; this thing is huge. We are very proud of all of the PSP games we have made, especially the two GTA games, but this game is far bigger.”

Chinatown Wars is an original story set in Liberty City, but focusing on warfare between Asian gangs. Graphically, the game uses a 3D engine and a top-down camera. The camera is angled slightly and can be rotated to get a better view of the action. All of the characters and objects in the game are rendered with dark black outlines to give the game a hand-drawn comic book style. So far what we have seen looks attractive enough to be playable, although we would like to see more of the game in motion.

The stylus will feature heavily in gameplay, as players will be prompted to use the touch screen to hotwire cars, break windshields, and even tattoo their acquaintances. The game will also support multiplayer gameplay, but we don’t know much about these modes yet.