A bunch of Grand Theft Auto: China Town Wars have been revealed thanks to the latest issue of Nintendo Power (big thanks to Biggity for some of the details!)
– Cell-shaded graphics/polygons – black borders
– It’s a “real” GTA game – There’s sandbox gameplay, a totally open world, narrative
– Going to be rated M
– Camera angle is isometric (Phantom Hourglass?)
– good touch-screen implementation – “tasteful” minigames, streamlining interface
– UI based on a PDA – hub for email, contacts, map, music player, GPS, stat-tracking
– finger-sized icons
– missions designed for shorter periods of play, arcade quality
– Control pad = aim, R button = auto target
– subtle autosteer
– if you fail a mission, you can jump back to the action sequence
– Weapons include chain gun, flamethrower
– good portion of Liberty City is modeled in the game (different routes than console games)
– Load times aren’t an issue
– lots of pedestrians, cars, etc on screen
– Wanted system – objective is to disable police cars any way possible
– Weather effects (real-time), 24-hour day/night cycle
– A ton of radio stations – more instrumental than vocal
– Wi-Fi and multiplayer support isn’t being discussed, but can upload stats to Rockstar Social Club website through Wi-Fi
