At Comic Con this weekend Rockstar Games was on the scene with their new and upcoming game for the DS, Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars. While there was not much I could get out of the Rockstar guys who were at the event; they did put me in a giant decked out van that was detailed by DUB for Chinatown Wars. Inside I was shown all types of cool things, especially since it was a personalized one on one demo session; where I got to play the the game with a Rockstar employee. Normally, I would not get into a random van, especially with people I do not know. However, they promised me kitty and some candy, and in all seriousness who could turn down a kitty and some candy! Anyway, be sure to hit the jump to learn more about Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars.
The basic story of Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars revolves around a young member of a triad organization Huang Lee. Huang Lee is your normal anti-hero who is all about the perks of being in a criminal life. However, not all is as it seems as shortly Huang’s father falls victim to an unfortunate assassination. Now Huang no longer has a real source of income and the only way to start making money again is to bring his families’ sword to his uncle Wu “Kenny†Lee in Liberty Ctiy.
The basic information about the Lee family Heirloom is that it is a Chinese sword known as the “Yu Jian” that represents a false vision of honor with the family and is a symbol of being the leader of the Triad. Details about the origin of the sword were pretty far and in-between. However, within the first five-ten minutes of the game you lose the sword to an unknown group of people. This mysterious group shoots the main character Huang put him in a car and have it sent careening into Humboldt River in Liberty City.
Disoriented and confused Huang manages to escape the confines of the car by breaking through the back window and ends up swimming to shore. Where he eventually makes it to his uncle’s place, where he soon informs him that the sword was lost to a group of people who almost killed him, and wasted his uncle’s men. However, if he wants to make money and live the casual life ever again he is going to have to find out what happen to the families’ sword. As well as solve the mystery about the random people who wanted to kill him, and get revenge on the organization that killed his father.
Game play wise the game uses the controls of the DS very unique way that both require touch based controls and regular button input commands. As you are sometimes prompted to use either the touch screen or the normal buttons to assemble or hack into a secure lock to complete a mission. These sequences are usually done in a mini game like setting, or when you use the games main menu that is built to look and act like a PDA device.
The various touch screen mini games include searching for guns in a dumpster, by lifting the garbage bags. Some dumpsters are loaded with weapons and ammo as triad members usually stash weapons around Liberty City. Other interactions involve hot wiring a car, rigging together a sniper rifle, and making Molotov cocktails at the gas station.
However, the overall design of the game is very similar to that of Grand Theft Auto IV, if not almost exactly like IV. As the city is modeled directly after IV’s version of Liberty City and redone in full done 3D. Just like in IV you can expect to see various locations of Liberty City that represent their real world counterparts. This list is as follows: Dukes (Queens), Bohan (Bronx), Broker (Brooklyn), Algonquin (Manhattan), and Happiness Island (Statue of Happiness).
Just like the previous Grand Theft Auto games the game features full dynamic 24 hour day and night cycles as well as various weather effects, and dynamic shadows. Also, they have also included a bunch of mini-mission type events like the previous games, ranging from firefighter, paramedic, and vigilante missions. Oh and if you ever get bored you can start selling drugs in the game using the in game economy.
Drug deals play an interesting part in making money in Grand Theft Auto, as each area of the city usually has a certain drug to sell, and a certain drug to buy. Depending on where you sell and buy drugs you can make a quick and easy profit, while you do not get busted by the cops. There are five different types of drugs ranging from weed to coke.
However, the most promising addition to Chinatown Wars is the ability to revisit any previous mission you current played. In previous games if you wanted to replay a certain mission you either had to save right before the mission and start a new game save or you had to play from the beginning all over again to get to it. In Chinatown Wars, that is consider a thing of the past as you are able to check your stats menu and choose any mission you have already completed to replay.
In all honesty, trying to explain everything I experienced in “one hands on experience†is not enough to touch every aspect of this game. This game is jam packed to the brim with tons of exciting features. As well as featuring a story worthy of the Grand Theft Auto name. You can expect almost all the game play, online, Rockstar Social club, item trading, stat comparisons, and various other things that were in previous versions of the game. And you will probably have to pay very close attention to all this in order of complete the game one hundred percent; of course, that isn’t required to enjoy the game.
All I can say is that if you are looking for a game to get on the DS this spring; this is the game you should get. As it should cater to all your hard core hand held needs, while being sublimely awesome at the same time. Also, speaking of sublime, the game has an amazing Mp3 quality background track with multiple radio stations. Although the stations do not have lyrics to most of the songs, they do have an amazing beat and are very well done.
With that all said and done, I am looking forward to this game, are you guys looking forward to it too?
Great article! While I’ve never played a GTA game (and never will for moral reasons), this does look like a good game.
P.S. Not to nitpick with spelling, but you were typing about Huang’s family “word”, instead of his family *s*word.
Wow – words cannot describe how much i’m looking forward to this game.
I’ve heard rumours of multiplayer – did they mention anything to you?
I should also commend you on your preview – it’s more detailed than any i’ve seen on any other gaming sites.
@Hyperphazon
You should really think about giving one a try – almost all the really horrible stuff you hear about GTA games isn’t true. They’re really no more violent than your average brawler or FPS and the lowbrow humour behind the game ensures things don’t get too dark. They do some really great pop culture references (Vice city was pretty much the plot from Scarface for instance)
All in all I think they get a much worse rap in the media than they deserve.
The GTA series has given me some of the best gaming I’ve had on any system – after all how many games allow you to fly a passenger jet upside down through a city?
like hyperphazon I’ll never play a gta game simply because of moral reasons, but I can’t help but admit at the amazing quality each of these games have
Moral Reasons? Seriously? It’s just a game people.
I must say that I agree with both HyperPhazon and Garilee. It does look good though.
@Damien
True, but it’s a game where you shoot hookers, engage in drug dealing, and mug people. I won’t condemn those who play it, (and I am sure that they are great games), I would just rather not play them myself.
I respect the moral questioning, but I don’t think this game will make me do something like it on normal life.
I do a lot of things in video games that I would never do in real life. By skipping GTA you are missing out on an amazing open-world gaming experience. Loosen up!
@HyperPhazon and others,
You guys are the reason I enjoy reading the comments on the posts at Infendo. I don’t know of any other blog or site where (A) someone would say they’re not going to play a game for moral reasons, and (B) would not get torn to shreds by other commentors for that stance.
For the record, I’m in the same boat. It looks like a high quality game, lots of effort put forth. And while I’m not going to get on a high horse and condemn anybody for playing it, I choose not to play it myself.
And to the staff @ Infendo:Thank you for providing a site that encourages an atmosphere of respect.
looks great.
@ moral reasons people
is the concern that playing the game in immoral, a concern that playing the game may make you act immorally, that playing the game somehow condones immoral behavior (but may be amoral itself), or something else?
i think the moral issue is not that they are affraid that suddenly they will start doing bad things in real life, it’s more along the lines of they don’t want those things in society to begin with, so why would they play something they don’t condone (like drug dealing, prostitution, killing, etc). it’s more of a social issue when games reflect the darker side of life and people are ok with it some could argue that this is moral decay of society, we are accepting bad things as fun and good its contradictory to most belief systems. i personally have played a couple and passed on some. i don’t beleive that it’s the downfall of society, but i can see where people are coming from. to each their own.
@ deepthought
Since you asked, here’s my 2 cents. First, a little background. Goldeneye was the first fps I ever played. The first time I pulled out the pp7 and shot that Russian, it kinda bothered me. A year later, I’m using the slo-mo cheat and capping scientists in the knees til they pull a grenade, then sniping the grenade in their hand. I was hooked on fps’s thinking about different tactics I could use, and interesting ways to kill people.
Time goes by and I see news from war torn countries. I see an internet clip of a mans brains being sprayed by a snipers bullet. A close friend commits suicide by putting a gun in his mouth and pulling the trigger (I was playing COD when I got the call).
All these things, but especially my friends death, made me question my values. Why did I find these things horrible and disgusting in real life, and entertaining in fantasy? I consider myself a kind and loving person, yet the things I entertained myself with and fantasized about went against all my principles. So I stopped playing those games. At first it was difficult. I couldn’t find any other genre that brought the adrenaline rush of an fps. But in time it became easier. I had to untrain my brain.
I’m now 32. I don’t think playing this game will cause me to sell drugs, kill prostitutes, ect. But I know myself a little better then I used to, and I would rather obsess over how to get the most for my turnips in animal crossing, then how to get the most for my cocaine in china town.
My experiences are unique to me. I, like everyone else, am a free moral agent. I respect the skills and the people who make or excel at these games. I also respect people who choose not to play them. For me, there is enough crime, violence, and murder in the real world, I choose not to have it in my fantasy world. Others feel differently than I do. I just ask they show me the same respect I show them.
thanks guys- so what i understand in both cases is that either there is a social value or a personal preference relating to taste in entertainment, and that the choice to play or not is largely amoral. let me know if i’ve got that wrong.
def still interested in hearing more perspectives, especially if anyone feels the choice to play is immoral.
also, bbelt are you a black belt or does your name mean something else?
cheers
No, I’m not a black belt. That would be very interesting if someone with a black belt in karate felt the same way I do. There was a movie called Black Belt Jones starring Jim Kelly that I had on tape and made all my friends watch. Most variations of it were already used on battlenet when I first played starcraft online. It just kinda stuck after that.
Back to the issue. Do I feel the choice to play is immoral? One definition of moral is:sanctioned by or operative on one’s conscience or ethical judgment. By that definition, for ME to play it would be immoral. It would go against MY conscience. Another persons conscience would not be bothered at all. And I certainly don’t think its my place to pass judgment on anyone else. So for me to play, yes, I would find that immoral. Anyone else, no.
ah- are you deliberately avoiding moral judgement of others, by using your own conscience, or do you think moral judgement is not allowed per that cited definition?
I’m not sure I completely understand the question, but, regardless of what my conscience allows or doesn’t allow me to do, I don’t think its my place to sit in judgment of other humans. Nor do I feel my conscience should be the barometer by which all of society should be measured.
We’re still talking about video games right? Just kidding, I’m enjoying this discussion. I hope others chime in with their opinions.
cool man- thanks for answering!
i should answer it myself,
i guess, in general, i don’t judge behavior morally unless it affects others in a non-incidental fashion. not suggesting that i have some perfectly consistent inner sense of morality, but that i think actions which are not directed towards others and cannot be reasonably expected to have an effect on others, combined with some low standard of duty towards those others, would be an incidental action….
yeah, that’s convoluted… drat.
so i think playing gta, in and of itself, is an amoral action.
@deepthought – do you mean is not an amoral action? after all the people effected by the action are not real…
I think it’s important to point out that like in real life – killing innocents and drug dealing are optional activities in GTA. That being said I think i appreciate the opposing point of view a little better now – and i respect your opinion.
I’ve never really encountered any obsession with violent games myself but like any creative medium I think that violent games and the effect they have are very dependent on the individual. I consider myself a pretty moral person, I’m very much a pacifist in real life and the thought of actual violence tbh turns my stomach. I’ve never been able to watch boxing for instance – I just don’t see the appeal.
Despite this I really really enjoy GTA and similar games that do permit a bit of a rampage every now and then, it just seems different to me I guess.
What a great discussion – gotta love infendo.
@deepthought
ahhhh. amoral – meaning outside morality. I understand now
@deepthought
I do not fear that this will affect my actions in real life at all. I am just avoiding it for the same reason I avoid most, if not all (The Matrix being the one exception) R rated movies. I simply do not wish to be exposed to morally questionable content in those games. I’ll play games with violence (Unreal Tournament, Quake III, Halo, Doom, etc.), I would just rather not play GTA because I would rather not play a game involving drug dealing, mugging, carjacking, and the like.
I don’t believe games affect the avarage person very much. In fact I hold this guy’s (I forgot his name) opinion:
“If Pacman had affected us as kids we’d be running around in dark rooms, munching pills and listening to repetitive music.” Games may affect some people, but I don’t think that the average gamer is affected by them.
Also, these discussions are one of the reasons I love Infendo so much. You can have honest, serious discussions in the comments without being ripped on by people who think differently than you.
@ deepthought
wouldn’t the morality of playing the game depend on the context of the playing itself? i.e. it could be immoral if you’re a columbine-esque crazy kid who’s getting inspired to pull a massacre; moral if you have some issues with modern life and find it a theraputic release contributing to the prevention of becoming a real life Tommy Versetti; amoral if you’re like me and just love driving around doing stunts and running stuff/people over while listening to the radio stations? The reason for my really long-winded jabbering is that I think it shows that the subject is what needs examining in every case, not the object that they are playing. This is why we need politicians who are more in favour of helping kids out in real ways rather than delude themselves into the illusion of being helpful by endorsing censorship.
p.s. to all the people who (are probably better human beings than me and) find GTA morally objectionable; I hope you just skip over all the Madworld articles ;D.
sorry for DP but i feel silly for using a semicolon in my last sentence and there is no edit feature ;P goodnight everyone.
@ tylor
my instinct is no, the context changes do not matter. suppose you are actually training to murder. there are two things going on: game playing and training. i would separate them in moral judgment. the training is immoral, but the game playing is not. what we have then is a moral judgment about intent (the training), and not the game playing.
however, i’d say an action can be morally judged WITHOUT intent as well. suppose a drunk drives home from a bar. it’s moral luck (or bad luck, as it were) whether he hits a pedestrian. I would morally judge him the same in either case. however, i think it’s right that he’s legally more culpable for causing actual damage.
I really appreciate the level headedness of this discussion. I agree that GTA looks technically awesome and have thought seriously about buying it, but couldn’t due to the moral implications. May I bring another perspective to the table that might challenge the peace of the conversation thusfar?
As a Christian, I believe that God holds us accountable for what we do in our hearts. For example, Jesus called lusting after a woman in your heart adultery (Matthew 5:27-28). Based on this, I have a hard time with ‘virtual sin’ such as visiting prostitutes and assinating innocent people. Am I going to play God and condemn everyone who chooses to play GTA, no. Who am I to judge another man’s servant? However, this is why I choose not to play games in which murder and the like are required. For example, I had a great time with Oblivion until it asked me to kill people in their sleep. I couldn’t get past that and had to put the game on eBay.
Thank you Infendo for creating a place where we can discuss a dearly loved hobby in an adult manner.
@egag21
“For example, I had a great time with Oblivion until it asked me to kill people in their sleep. I couldn’t get past that and had to put the game on eBay.”
Couldn’t you have just, you know, rejected the assassin quests? More and more games nowadays emulate life, so to speak, by giving you choices, some of them immoral. If the very _possibility_ of doing something immoral makes you queasy, then with all due respect, something ain’t right.You _can_ theoretically murder someone in their sleep in real life too. You just don’t. Same with games like Oblivion, where your character can be an angel or an evil SOB. It’s up to the player. Free will and all. If that’s not in line with Christian teachings, I don’t know what is.
Interesting discussion this one but I have to say I agree with tylor, the game content is irrelevant, it is all to do with the state of mind of the individual playing it.
As far as I can see it, so long as you can determine between real life and fantasy, then there really is no dilemma about playing anything, age ratings aside.
In terms of the religious argument, if there’s one way to discredit any argument, it’s quoting scripture.
Oh and for those that are interested, I am a black belt in Shotokan Karate.
I do not play any of the GTA games, but my reasons are neither moral or religious-based: I just don’t “get them”…
I live in Chicago, and in these games it seems like the activities are an exaggerated version of what happens in the city all the time! Sure, GTA has become the poster-boy of how amazing story telling can be in video games, but the story seems to me too rooted in reality. Where are the dungeons? Where are the dragons? Where are the buxomy princess-warriors??
Yes I am very much looking forward to this game.
@Nergin
You’ve made a good point, but I didn’t quit playing the second it asked me to kill someone in their sleep. Rather, I felt I had exhausted other avenues in the game, and that I couldn’t progress unless I persued the assassin quests. I tried for a month to get around this seeming roadblock until I came to the decision the game just wasn’t worth it anymore.