I’ve spent about an hour and a half in the iPhone version of Liberty City now and have come to some conclusions.


1) This is the same game as the DS version, with the mini games, the strangely addictive scratch cards, the drug dealing, the rampages etc. all seemingly intact.

2) The DS version was brilliant and by far and away the best game on the DS last year.

3) The iPhone version is, therefore, also brilliant.

It’s not all perfect, of course. This being a GTA game, the shooting controls are… imprecise. There’s no way to choose to lock on to a target – you shoot where you’re facing – but there does seem to be some semi-random auto-targetting thing going on. It’s been more of a help than a hinderance so far, but it’s a bit weird. Still, I tried a machine gun-based rampage and got a bronze medal without breaking a sweat, despite cop interference, so the shooting is definitely workable. (The other controls are perfectly fine, by the way.)

Also, in the tattoo mini game I have no idea why sometimes I get a perfect rating and why sometimes I fail. I don’t understand what’s going on there at all. Still, it’s completely optional now I’ve unlocked it. I don’t remember ever bothering with it in the DS version.


If you’ve never played Chinatown Wars on the PSP or DS you’re in for a treat. If you have played it before then, well, it’s up to you. It’s long enough since I last started the DS version to be good fun for me, but your mileage my vary.