By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close

A major gripe I have with this game so far is that it's very linear. There is a notable lack of choice with regard to completing missions and advancing the story. I'm only 16% of the way through so far, but by now, I'd expect to be working for several different crime bosses simultaneously. Instead, jobs offers tend to arrive from one crime boss at a time.

The drug selling aspect is a decent diversion to the main missions at first, but like the economy system in Fable 2, it gets old pretty fast.

Contrary to what many previews have suggested, touchscreen and microphone implementation is quite gimmicky. Unless they're applied to fundamental gameplay aspects, such as the shooting and driving mechanics, then it's a gimmick in my book. This is not to say that the touchscreen aspects detract from the game, far from it. But I find it ironic that games such as Phantom Hourglass are labelled gimmicky, while Chinatown wars seems to have evaded similar criticism thus far.

Overall, this game is definitely as good as any other GTA game, and those who claim otherwise are not likely to have played it anyway. If my evaluation seems negative, it's only because I'm not a great fan of the GTA series in general. In this respect, the game still suffers from the same repetitiveness and shallowness that has tainted previous games in the series.