Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars Hands-On

The most detailed hands-on playtest of the hottest DS game this year, complete with HUD diagrams and new screens.

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You won't get a sense of the Liberty City detail from the screenshots. In Chinatown Wars, there isn't the sense of verticality on an interactive level as there was in IV, but due to the high perspective, there's still plenty of visual detail - rooftops, detailed skyscrapers and bridges, trains rattling past right in front of your eyes, trees that are really detailed and not fake 2D sprites, telephone cables, street lights, busy and happening streets, all the recognisable joints and brands from IV, and best of all, gorgeous real time lighting and shadows in a full 24 hour day and night system. Even the pedestrians have shadows, and at night the hazy city is phased into cooler blue tones. On top of that there's a full weather system including light rain, heavy rain and thunder storms, and throughout the game you'll notice a variety of 'particle effects' like sewage steam, explosion fire and fog, all with a cute sort of cell shaded look. It looks impressive, for sure.

In terms of controls, things have been kept very similar to the console layout, so if you want to jack a car, it's the Y button. Handbrake is the R trigger. Anyone who's played IV will have no problem getting to grips with the controls in Chinatown Wars, although the 'new thing' is that holding down B is basically 'go forwards' - whether on foot or driving. The best addition to the controls is the left trigger, which resets your view to behind, or better yet, if you keep it held down the camera locks into position to follow the character, which might feel more fluid. Basically there's some choice on offer, but you'll soon find your preference. Control and manoeuvrability of Huang in general is impressive, and in no time you'll be vaulting over walls and using smart positioning to take out the enemies. In terms of shooting it's auto lock-on, but if you want to specifically target anyone you just hit the left trigger.

Driving through traffic is usually a case of sticking in the middle of the road to avoid the traffic, and once again, the variety of cars and bikes on offer will result in more than one type of driving experience. Rockstar has also compensated for the non-analogue nature of driving with the D-pad with what it calls a subtle 'driving assist' mechanic, to help you 'auto-align' - although if you don't like it, it's also an option that can be turned off. In terms of using the DS's other features, you can whistle into the mic to hail a cab. Or you can, er, press a button instead. Rockstar told us there aren't any features that take advantage of the upcoming DSi features, like the camera functionality.

So the ambushers who shafted Huang at the start have him in the back of a car, and presuming he's already dead, dump the car in the river to get rid of the 'evidence'. The game begins right there and then, with a mini-game that will ensue any time your car ends up in the water - you have to smash the windows accordingly to get out before drowning. We stop off at the Sum Yung Gai restaurant, owned by Uncle Wu, to give the bad news about the stolen sword - something that'll affect his reputation not only with Hsin Jaoming but also the Triad gangs throughout the city.

The game's actually crammed full of side activities, including the return of favourites like the stunt jump, but moreover there's really a load of other DS style mini-games besides that watery car escape. There are brief, time-sensitive mini-games each time you want to steal a car, varying in difficulty depending on the class of vehicle you want to steal - for the more low-end vehicle, a screwdriver based mini-game will hastily do the job, other times for example you'll need to unscrew individual screws to hotwire. Another mini-game is when you're at the gas station - after you've chosen how much gas you want to buy, you actually make as many Molotov cocktails as you can by keeping the petrol flowing smoothly into the bottles without spilling too much. One of our favourite mini-games is when you assemble the parts of a more hefty piece of weaponry, with the parts satisfyingly 'clicking' into place ready for a sniping session.

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