DRUGS, GUNS, & STEALIN' CARS

The latest installment in Rockstar's carjacking genocide series; Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars takes the franchise to a whole new dimension – 2D! I know it is shocking to those of you under the age of 16 who don't remember that there was a Grand Theft Auto before 3.This time you play as a Chinese Triad named Huang Lee instead of the Italian mobster, black thug,  or Slavic hitman that were main characters in the other GTA games. Lee loses his father's “ancestral” sword and must retrieve it. Hilarious death, mayhem, and theft follow soon thereafter.

There are a few innovations in Chinatown Wars that simply demand attention. Innovations such as the “Pharmaceutical Trade” where you can now buy and drugs on the virtual streets back alleys of Liberty City for fun and lots of profit. This crash course in basic economics proves that even GTA can teach kids valuable life lessons, but the main thing is it allows for the garnering of massive amounts of cash without cheating. I'll admit it I've never made it through a GTA game without cheating until now. I played through every story mission and didn't cheat once, and there's really no need since you have so much cash you can buy all the weapons you need. Another nice thing about the game was the ability to order guns and armor at anytime during the game through your in-game PDA and have them delivered to your safe house. Rockstar also added a new way of reducing the wanted level by allowing you to force cop cars off the road; one car for level one, two for level two and so on. I also liked how you can pour your own molotov cocktails at gas stations as well as having to kick out the window of a sinking car before you drive it off the end of a dock.

As for a few things I don't like about the game: there is one, count it one,   interesting character in this game besides the main character and she dies the mission after you meet her. All the other characters in the game are completely worthless characters that couldn’t act their way out of a paper bag.. Here is an example: there is a character you meet who is a spoiled rich kid, loves snorting cocaine and having sex with transvestite hookers. On top of all this,  he thinks he is god's gift to street racers when he can only win a race when you destroy all the other racers. It seems like Rockstar wants me to hate all their supporting characters.  At least I don’t have a problem with killing them. This game is incredibly short. I achieved a completion percentage of 66.25% in 13.5 hours, which seems a little short for a GTA game.

	System:	Nintendo DS
	Genre:	Action
	Experience:	Finished the game in 13.5 hours with a completion percentage of 66.25%

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