Chinatown Wars is Maybe Racist?

After playing some Resident Evil 5 this weekend I’ve begun seeing racism everywhere.

As such, I’m not sure how accurate it would be to call “Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars” a racist video game, but it does involve you playing a Chinese person who obviously knows kung fu right from the start and the game’s story begins with you trying to deliver an ancient sword to someone for your uncle’s honor. Plus I can’t seem to drive straight. When will Rockstar learn that Asian gangs are just as capable of knocking of convenience stores and tagging freeway signs like black people? I want equality in my games.

hat said, GTA DS is an oddly impressive little title. It goes back to the top down view of GTA 1 and 2, but the world is still fully 3D. The tank controls (up makes your character go forward no matter the camera angle) has been completely removed from this old fashioned setup. The game feels remarkably fresh and alive. Getting air off ramps, ramming into cars, or hopping over fences does not feel any less thrilling because of the camera angle thanks to the animation and thorough physics of Liberty City. They even added in random rain, which I don’t think any one would have missed if it wasn’t there. Civilians will use umbrellas so they don’t get wet. The detail here is nice.

’ve only done a few missions so far. Using the touch screen to hot wire cars or break a window if I drive into the ocean is more intuitive than I expected. So far my only complaint is that the mini map being on the bottom screen means you take your eyes completely off the road to make sure you’re headed in the right direction and a split second is just long enough for you to careen right into a police car. But the important thing here is that the game hasn’t lost any fun by pulling the camera back. In fact, for those who were a little upset at GTAIV’s darker story, you may enjoy the old fashioned light-hearted-ness of this GTA, which doesn’t make you feel guilty by making those hit and runs so brutally realistic. I like it when games don’t force me to question my own morality when I get someone killed due to my own cowardice.