I've never played a Grand Theft Auto game before Chinatown Wars. I suppose this is largely because the theme didn't particularly appeal to me, though I enjoyed taking the controller off a cousin once to beat up some random old ladies in a subway. But then, a perfect storm started to roll in. Friends were getting into GTA IV, rather enjoying it, and telling me why. Chinatown arrived on DS, which made it both easy to hide from kids and cheaper to get into. It was garnering high and rarely-qualified praise, and not just from the usual Exclusive First Review crowd, but from average people whose opinions I could believe. I decided I found its comic-book style rather appealing. I had made up my mind I'd try it out next time I needed a new game to play... and then, suddenly, it was $20 at Best Buy. I jumped in.
And so, for the following few weeks, I found myself constantly firing up the DSi for a quick mission (while Dean may not have cared much for them and GTA missions in general tend to not garner much praise, I enjoyed them quite a bit—in particular for the amusing characters involved), or follow a few drug trade tips to either buy low or sell high. I was so hooked it wasn't funny. Chinatown's primary method of evading wanted stars—getting cop cars to crash, which I'm told is unique in the series—made it fun to get busted.
I loved nearly everything about the game for the weeks I was into it, with the possible exception of the awkward-to-use projectile-throwing controls. I didn't really "get to know the town" like some tend to like to do; I turned on the feature to draw GPS arrows on the street and just went careening around as fast as I could. I'd still find random distractions on the way, like new drug dealers, stunt jumps, random missions, or rampages (this game really shines when there's tons of carnage going on at once); tracking these down always paid off.
I can honestly say that I feel this game deserves its high review scores, and doesn't deserve its rumored low sales. It doesn't try to be overwrought in the slightest; it doesn't take itself seriously at all. It's just pure, unadulterated fun and definitely one of the best titles in the DS' already pretty unquestionably awesome library.
I loved nearly everything about the game for the weeks I was into it, with the possible exception of the awkward-to-use projectile-throwing controls. I didn't really "get to know the town" like some tend to like to do; I turned on the feature to draw GPS arrows on the street and just went careening around as fast as I could. I'd still find random distractions on the way, like new drug dealers, stunt jumps, random missions, or rampages (this game really shines when there's tons of carnage going on at once); tracking these down always paid off.
I can honestly say that I feel this game deserves its high review scores, and doesn't deserve its rumored low sales. It doesn't try to be overwrought in the slightest; it doesn't take itself seriously at all. It's just pure, unadulterated fun and definitely one of the best titles in the DS' already pretty unquestionably awesome library.