Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars Play Online 🪙 Nintendo DS

Summary

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars pushes the handheld format with full‑screen DS touch controls that let you swipe through a PDA, manage a GPS, and even whine a cab’s horn via the microphone. The game’s camera rests at an angled top‑down view that can be rotated, while cel‑shaded polygons and bold black outlines give Liberty City a comic‑book flair no other GTA entry has shown.

Beyond classic theft and shoot‑outs, a notorious drug‑dealing sub‑plot lets you buy and sell a range of substances, reacting to market demand across boroughs—a mechanic that sparked controversy yet added a gritty layer of strategy. The DS version also hides “secret packages” as CCTV cameras, which you can blast away with a Molotov or grenade, while an in‑game web shop delivers weapons straight to your safe house.

Critics adored the blend of old‑school visuals and modern depth, crowning it with a 93/100 Metacritic score—the highest for any DS title—and awards for Best Handheld Game at the Spike VGAs and DS Game of the Year from GameSpot. Its soundtrack riffs on artists like Ghostface Killah, Deadmau5, and The Alchemist, proving that a pocket‑sized console can host a full‑blown GTA experience.

Storyline

In Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, spoiled triad heir Huang Lee flies to Liberty City to deliver the family heirloom Yu Jian sword to his uncle, Wu “Kenny” Lee. Shortly after landing, his escort is murdered, the sword is stolen, and Huang is left for dead. He survives, meets Kenny, and learns the blade was meant for the aging boss Hsin Jaoming to secure Kenny’s promotion.

Huang is pulled into a web of rival ambitions as Hsin’s son Chan Jaoming and ruthless underboss Zhou Ming also vie for control. A crooked LCPD detective, Wade Heston, drags Huang into a Korean gang investigation, while Hsin suspects informants in the Midtown Koreans and the biker gang Angels of Death. After a series of betrayals—including a mafioso named Rudy D'Avanzo—Huang uncovers that both Zhou and Chan are framed.

The climax reveals Kenny as the mastermind behind the sword’s theft and the Wonsu Nodong leader. He kills Hsin, but Huang avenges his father by killing Kenny. Hsin offers Huang the triad throne, only for LCPD and the FIB to storm in; Heston arrests Hsin and lets Huang walk away, left stunned by the fallout.

Edited by Maya Carter