Yesterday at the New York Comic Con I stopped by the Rockstar booth to check out Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, played the game for a bit on their numerous stations and managed to snag a hour-long look at the game with one of their reps. It was conducted in a huge Rockstar Van on the premises that I was a little skeptical of entering, especially when the Rockstar rep gestured for us to come in and said that he had candy and puppies inside. But our bathing suit areas remained untouched, and it turned out to easily be the most revelatory time spent at the whole day of the con. This ain’t no skimpy throwaway game- this is a full-featured Grand Theft Auto title, with everything you could want from a new installment- and more.

When screens appeared from Chinatown Wars, the first GTA
ever made for the Nintendo DS, people assumed it would be a return
to the first two titles in the series. The camera is what seems to be
throwing people off. It’s high up in the air, close to the bird’s eye
view of Grand Theft Autos 1 and 2,
but what’s not immediately obvious is that this is a fully 3D world,
epic on the scale of nothing before seen on the Nintendo DS.

The game features an almost complete recreation of Liberty City from GTA IV. Dukes, Bohan, Broker, Algonquin, Happiness Island- they’ve all been recreated for the little system, and while not every street is here it’s astonishingly close. The only thing missing is Alderney, but who cares about Jersey anyway?

You play as Huang Lee, a spoiled brat of a Triad boss. He’s flying back from Hong Kong after his father was assassinated, heading to meet his Uncle Kenny and deliver a sword called the “Yu Jian” that is somewhat of the family’s symbol. Huang fancies himself a playboy and loves drugs and booze, but all he’s coming back for is money. He wants his father’s inheritance and he can’t wait to get it.

Of course, things don’t go as planned, and as soon as they touch down at Francis International Airport Huang and his men are ambushed by a group of gunman. They kill off everyone he’s with, steal his sword, and shoot him in the head. The bullet only grazes him, so he’s half conscious as they kidnap him, throw him in a car, and then push him off into the Humboldy River like Flight 1549.

You escape by breaking the rear window by tapping the touchscreen, and swim to shore. First things first- it’s time to meet up with your Uncle at his restaurant front and tell him what happened. One tense conversation later and you’re ready to start making your mark on Librerty City. Your Uncle Kenny gives you a nearby apartment for use as a safehouse and contacts to start up your missions. And you’re off.

One thing that’s immediately clear is how fantastic the controls are. The cars handle just like you’d expect from a GTA and it’s incredibly easy to pull off 180s, quick turns, and even drivebys. Each car handles differently- from cars to trucks to motorcycles to limos… even boats and helicopters. The overhead perspective works perfectly to show you the world around you, something that could have been really tricky on the small DS screen. The stylized graphics may look a little strange- pedestrians appear huge next to cars- but it’s all there to make things easier to see.

When they say the world is 3D, they mean the world is 3D. Every car, every pedestrian… mailboxes and street lights and even the lettering on buildings stand out and are part of the world, with everything utilizing a physics engine and able to be knocked around realistically. Pedestrians have sophisticated AI which means means that each person has their own routine. For example, some will leave their house to go around town in cars and come back home again. You’ll see people stop at hot dog stands, get into arguments, break the law and get chased by the cops- exactly as you’d expect from a GTA game. Random events are standard here.

There’s even a 24 hour day/night cycle and a weather system- if it rains, expect to see people open their umbrellas and the cars to slide around more. It was enough to make me look over the DS I was playing the game on carefully to make sure some trickery wasn’t involved.

Head to page two for details on missions and the touch screen controls!