Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars

Rockstar really could rest on their laurels these days since the GTA franchise is basically a licence to print money, yet they've proved impressively determined to keep the story running. Chinatown Wars is another spinoff of GTA IV in which you play as Huang Lee, dispatched to deliver a precious sword (of dubious lineage) to your wannabe crime boss uncle in Liberty City after your father's death, but within seconds of arriving you've been shot, robbed and left for dead. So, this being a GTA game, you know your would-be kidnappers aren't getting away with this...

The Nintendo DS hit has enjoyed a few polishes for the more powerful PSP but it still maintains the top-down perspective that characterised the original Grand Theft Auto PC games. As such it's jarringly anachronistic: a boxy cartoon compared with GTA IV's realism and grittiness. Then again, it's also a bit more fun and more in keeping with the let's-blow-shit-up spirit of the earlier games (and you don't keep getting phonecalls from your annoying cousin...). Controls are, by necessity, more simple – but that just means you can relax and enjoy tooling around with a minigun-mounted car or dropping bombs from a helicopter. Those who bought the original DS version shouldn't bother with this port, but for those new to the game it's a perfect pick-up-and-put-down affair.

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