I've never played any GTA before, but I love sandbox games. Sandbox games are games where, although there's a main storyline, you don't have to follow it and there's plenty you can do freelance. You can go all over Liberty City exploring, making money, being a hero or a villain. And freelancing is what I've mostly been doing so far. From go kart racing to rampages to taxi driving (complete 15 or so fares and you'll be ready for anything), street racing, running drugs, acting as a police officer, ambulance driver and firefighter will keep you very busy. You can return to the main mission whenever you feel like it. As you get further in the main storyline, more side missions become available to you to waste time on.
Cars are extremely well designed in this game and driving is a ton of fun. Depth-wise, you'll welcome how different cars handle differently, accelerate differently and take damage differently as you'd expect them too. Your race car won't take too many hits before it explodes (which is pretty sweet -- be sure to bail before it does though), and your big rig won't turn (or uh, do anything else) on a dime. In between you'll there are tons of different cars each handling a little differently and you'll come to favor certain ones for certain tasks. Pretty much any driving task will require you to break every driving law on the books. On the sidewalk, in-between lanes, against traffic, over pedestrians, shortcuts through yards... it's a blast. The GPS navigation is well done and allows you plenty of warning to make tight turn after tight turn at high speed. Car damage starts with you losing headlights, and as you take more hits doors and the hood fly open, the car smokes, then catches fire (which is your cue to get out) before exploding. There are various ramps throughout the city and the game will let you know your jump distance when you decide to play Dukes of Hazzard with one. When you discover certain ramps with really long straight lead-ins, you'll want to stop and hunt down just the right car to see how far you can get on it.
The reason I've described the driving in such depth is because it wasn't a no-brainer that driving would be as deep and satisfying as it is. Just because a franchise is known for quality on consoles doesn't mean its portable cousin will measure up, but this one does. Within minutes of playing this game, I knew the quality from start to finish was going to be top notch. Crappy developers don't pay that kind of attention to those kinds of details, so it was clear to me that this game was designed with care.
Story-wise I've yet to be impressed (and often, I'd rather have not read what I read -- but it is GTA, so sophomoric raunch isn't unexpected), but that's okay since you can press start and skip the dialogue and get into the action quick. The game prompts you through mission details you miss when you skip the cut scenes. This is a very big game with a lot to do. On a price per hour of gameplay basis, it's a much better entertainment value than your average DS game.Get more detail about Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars.
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