Leave it to Rockstar to sully the Nintendo DS's family friendly vibe with an M-rated Grand Theft Auto game, in this case GTA: Chinatown Wars. Of course, that's what we love about GTA games so much – a no-holds barred glorification of thug life -- jacking cars, stockpiling weapons and climbing the criminal corporate ladder. So, we're warning you now – be prepared to see all sorts of naughty words and acts of violence splashed across the same DS screen that you also use to lovingly care for your Nintendogs. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Chinatown Wars starts out like all Grand Theft Auto games -- with a dramatic introduction of the game's main character and a banging soundtrack in the background. Enter Huang Lee – a trust fund baby and a member of the Chinese Triads who arrives in Liberty City with the mission to deliver a sword called "Yu Juin" to his seedy uncle, Wu 'Kenny' Lee. Just when you think it's starting to sound like a generic kung fu movie plot – it gets worse. Huang's ambushed by thugs and the sword goes missing.


Like every other GTA game, the story evolves into Huang running errands for his uncle to make cash and climb the local crime ladder by delivering packages, breaking into safes and dealing a little dope on the side. Yes, Huang can spend his spare time dealing drugs in a mini-game that's reminiscent of the text-based Dope Wars strategy game that was popular in the early aughts (and is making a comeback on Facebook and iPhone), where you would travel from hood to hood selling acid, pot and coke -- making sure you get the most cash based on supply and demand in each area. The drug economy in Chinatown Wars depends on surveillance cameras -- if you want to sell more drugs at a lower price, then take out the cameras. If not, then you make more cash at the risk of getting busted by Five-O. Best of all, spend as much time as you want playing this mini-game; we can see this killing lots of time during the weekday commute.

The game gives a top-down third-person view of Liberty City with a cartoony, old-school vibe and the game, from what we saw, uses the touch screen sparingly. That means that instead of using the DS touch screen to drive, shoot, walk and basically perform every function in the game, it's mostly reserved for some simple puzzle solving. For instance, we went to a gas station and used the touch screen to fill up bottles with petrol to make Molotov cocktails. We also used it to dumpster dive outside of Uncle Kenny's pad to find weapons or other "crazy, crazy stuff like severed hands."

Other changes in the DS version – all of your data (including your drug dealing) is tracked on a virtual PDA (instead of a cell phone in GTA IV), dodging the police involves disabling squad cars -- without killing the police inside -- instead of simply driving fast to escape (this is difficult), you'll finally be able to replay your favorite missions and you can decorate the safe house with trophies your earn by completing tasks in the game. As for online – there's an in-game chat using Instant Messenger and the ability to trade weapons and other items after exchanging DS friend codes – and you can upload your stats to the Rockstar Social Club Web site for bragging rights.

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars Screens

    Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars is an entirely original entry into the critically acclaimed Grand Theft Auto series, and brings a new level of interactivity to its sprawling open environments. With the use of the DS touch screen, players will navigate their way through the streets as they uncover the truth behind an epic tale of crime and corruption within the Triad crime syndicate, delivering the unprecedented amount of depth that has become a true trademark of the franchise. (Screenshot 1 of 19)

    Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars is an entirely original entry into the critically acclaimed Grand Theft Auto series, and brings a new level of interactivity to its sprawling open environments. With the use of the DS touch screen, players will navigate their way through the streets as they uncover the truth behind an epic tale of crime and corruption within the Triad crime syndicate, delivering the unprecedented amount of depth that has become a true trademark of the franchise. (Screenshot 2 of 19)

    Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars is an entirely original entry into the critically acclaimed Grand Theft Auto series, and brings a new level of interactivity to its sprawling open environments. With the use of the DS touch screen, players will navigate their way through the streets as they uncover the truth behind an epic tale of crime and corruption within the Triad crime syndicate, delivering the unprecedented amount of depth that has become a true trademark of the franchise. (Screenshot 3 of 19)

    Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars is an entirely original entry into the critically acclaimed Grand Theft Auto series, and brings a new level of interactivity to its sprawling open environments. With the use of the DS touch screen, players will navigate their way through the streets as they uncover the truth behind an epic tale of crime and corruption within the Triad crime syndicate, delivering the unprecedented amount of depth that has become a true trademark of the franchise. (Screenshot 4 of 19)

    Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars is an entirely original entry into the critically acclaimed Grand Theft Auto series, and brings a new level of interactivity to its sprawling open environments. With the use of the DS touch screen, players will navigate their way through the streets as they uncover the truth behind an epic tale of crime and corruption within the Triad crime syndicate, delivering the unprecedented amount of depth that has become a true trademark of the franchise. (Screenshot 5 of 19)

    Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars is an entirely original entry into the critically acclaimed Grand Theft Auto series, and brings a new level of interactivity to its sprawling open environments. With the use of the DS touch screen, players will navigate their way through the streets as they uncover the truth behind an epic tale of crime and corruption within the Triad crime syndicate, delivering the unprecedented amount of depth that has become a true trademark of the franchise. (Screenshot 6 of 19)

    Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars is an entirely original entry into the critically acclaimed Grand Theft Auto series, and brings a new level of interactivity to its sprawling open environments. With the use of the DS touch screen, players will navigate their way through the streets as they uncover the truth behind an epic tale of crime and corruption within the Triad crime syndicate, delivering the unprecedented amount of depth that has become a true trademark of the franchise. (Screenshot 7 of 19)

    Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars is an entirely original entry into the critically acclaimed Grand Theft Auto series, and brings a new level of interactivity to its sprawling open environments. With the use of the DS touch screen, players will navigate their way through the streets as they uncover the truth behind an epic tale of crime and corruption within the Triad crime syndicate, delivering the unprecedented amount of depth that has become a true trademark of the franchise. (Screenshot 8 of 19)

    Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars is an entirely original entry into the critically acclaimed Grand Theft Auto series, and brings a new level of interactivity to its sprawling open environments. With the use of the DS touch screen, players will navigate their way through the streets as they uncover the truth behind an epic tale of crime and corruption within the Triad crime syndicate, delivering the unprecedented amount of depth that has become a true trademark of the franchise. (Screenshot 9 of 19)

    Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars is an entirely original entry into the critically acclaimed Grand Theft Auto series, and brings a new level of interactivity to its sprawling open environments. With the use of the DS touch screen, players will navigate their way through the streets as they uncover the truth behind an epic tale of crime and corruption within the Triad crime syndicate, delivering the unprecedented amount of depth that has become a true trademark of the franchise. (Screenshot 10 of 19)

During the few minutes we spent with the game, it was fairly easy to maneuver cars through the streets using the system's D-Pad and a very generous automatic aiming system made killing enemies a breeze. In "Friend or Foe?" we shot a bunch of bad guys, picked up a safe and used a touch-pad mini-game to open it and snag the contents inside. In "Slaying with Fire," Huang goes airborne and uses his weapons to take out another chopper.

The thought and energy that has gone into creating an experience that's unlike any other DS game is instantly noticeable, though we have to say a little of its GTAness seems lost in the translation. The game experience almost perfectly mimics that of its big bro, GTA IV, but there's something missing without the fully realized 3-D version of Liberty City pimped out with special lighting effects and other visual details. Of course, it's totally unfair to compare a DS game to a full-blown 360/PS3 game, and if you've been dying to play a well-crafted M-rated game on your DS, Chinatown Wars is shaping up to be the answer to your socially unacceptable prayers. Look for the game on shelves (and let the protests begin) March 17.