GTA: China Town Wars...

[Reddaye]

When I first heard they were bringing Grand Theft Auto to the DS, I just laughed and expected it to suck. Didn't bother paying anymore attention to it until recently. Watching some previews and reading the reviews it actually seemed to be pretty promising. So I went in to EB Games and used some of my credit to pick it up...

...and HOLY FUCK THIS GAME ROCKS!

I'm not all that far into it, but I'm already LOVING IT! The comic book-esque visuals are excellent, and easy to see. Controls are tight and well designed, touch screen is used in creative and fun ways. Pretty sharp writing, with the comic book type presentation during the cut scenes. Really, I'm in shock at how enjoyable this sucker is. It's actually pulling me away from the kick ass Retro Game Challenge for DS I bought earlier in the month.

Anyone else playing this? Or thinking of picking it up?

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

I would buy it to play on the wife's DS on the way to work.....but her DS is pink so that's a no-no as far as I'm concerned.

[King Ellis]

I would be playing it but some thoughtless soul decided they didn't want people stealing their game.

[Scott McFly]

It's out in the UK on Friday and I'm definitely considering it. Was gonna look and see what the general opinion was before deciding but it seems all the usual websites are absolutely creaming themselves over it. 9.5 from Gamespot and IGN, 10 from Eurogamer, 10 from Pocket Gamer and so on. Seems people are hailing it as the best game on the DS.

I'd be interested in hearing some more EWB opinions though, but it's sounding pretty good right now.

[King Ellis]

Holy shit I got it working, not really a good time for me to try it though. I will get my thoughts up at some point though.

[Reddaye]

I've played through a bit more of it, probably four or five missions into it right now. I think the total number of missions is seventy or so.

Hot wiring cars using the stylus is absolutely awesome. It seems like such a small thing but it really adds a new dimension to the experience, giving you something extra that the console and PSP versions can't. So far there seems to be three different ways to do it, each of them being completely different and offering their own challenges.

The different models of cars/bikes all handle and react differently when they hit things/people. The doors fly open when you hit things, the hood can come flying off. Surprising how much they've managed to cram into this sucker.

[King Ellis]

Played a few missions now, I think I like it. It feels nice, though it does give me a weird feeling to be playing GTA IV's world in mini. It's kinda hard to recognise landmarks and such (maybe cause I haven't played IV in a while too) though I have passed the arc that I always loved jumping through in my car. At some point I plan to pay a visit to the safe house from IV.

I love the idea of the drug dealing, reminds me of that PC game a few years ago. It has potential to be interesting and probably a lot better than freaking bowling. Little things like the scratch cards are nice too, I could sit and scratch away at them all day. I will win that freaking house yet!

[WrightStuff]

I'm still fairly in the game but it definitely deserves the praise that it's received. It feels like an updated version of GTA and GTA2 and that's just fine with me. (Y) It won't take long for me to start considering this as my favorite DS game.

I do miss the cut-scenes and voice acting of the console games but luckily the effective writing helps ease some of that.

[Scott McFly]

Okay so I caved and popped into Tesco at about half 1 to get it after work (lovely 5-1 shifts...), I was expecting to be lucky to get one but there was still loads there. I'll be cracking it open sometime today, I've read a few reviews and it sounds like it'll be great.

[King Ellis]

How does the Auto Merchant odd job work? The only thing I can do there is buy a car which doesn't seem much like a 'job' to me.

[apsham]

Seems that it's just further you go, better cars you'll buy.

[gunnar hendershow]

I've been playing this pretty regularly since I got it on Wednesday. It's been very fun.

[Reddaye]

According to the game I'm around 20% finished now, and I'm still having a blast. Honestly I'd like to see them add more depth to the drug dealing activity and use it for the next console GTA. Hopefully with more things to spend your money on (like business, gang upgrades, etc).

Nice to see rampages make a return too. Nothing beats running through the streets with a chainsaw, hacking gang members up while the clock runs down. This is what always made GTA the most fun for me: over the top antics. Chinatown Wars seems to blend that together with a bit of semi-realism like in IV. Hits a good balance IMO.

[apsham]

Really, really fun game.. picked it up this morning and damn, what else is there to say? I scoffed at the idea in the first place, but it looks better on the system than it does in screenshots and the driving is probably the best I've ever seen in a GTA game to date.