Just don't expect the update to hit in the immediate.
According to developer Martin Pittenauer, The Coding Monkeys haven't started work on the larger version of the game. Instead, they've focused their efforts on the iPhone and iPod Touch versions slated for release in May.
"The iPhone version will be released this month and we plan to start work on the iPad after that," developer Martin Pittenauer told us via e-mail.
"We poured a lot of love into the game already and feel the iPad version deserves the same level of attention, so it's hard to make promises for a release date right now. But we plan to have the game universal later this summer."
Universal updates allow handheld Apps to run natively on the iPad, which avoids creators from having to juggle two similar Apps on the Store at the same time.
The Carcassonne update will be free for purchasers of the App, but the price of the whole package will be raised from its initial $4.99 price point once the update goes live on iTunes.
"Once the app is universal we will end introductory pricing and sell the game for $9.99," Pittenauer told us in a later e-mail. "So, if you buy early, you essentially get a discount on the version that runs on iPhone, iPod, and iPad."
Still trying to justify the purchase of Plants vs. Zombies HD? Well, here's a nice video showing the one advantage of having a large multi-touch device - 11 points of contact.
It seems clear -- Popcap suggests that if you want to be a better parent, buy Plants vs. Zombies HD. Of course, you can stick with the iPhone version, but then you and your child are limited to only 5 points of contact - so you'll have to take turns.
Gameloft's Iron Man 2 has arrived in many other regions over the course of the day today, but likely will not appear in the US App Store until May 3rd. We've got our fingers crossed it shows up earlier, but right now, things aren't looking good.
Iron Man 2 seems to be just about everything you'd expect from a movie tie-in iPhone game made by Gameloft. The dialog isn't great, gameplay seems surprisingly linear, and while flying around as Iron Man is pretty cool, the whole thing just feels like your typical movie game.
One of the early classic iPhone games PapiJump is now available for the iPad. We first discoveredPapiJump back in August, 2008 and found it to be a surprisingly fun experience. The game later inspired Lima Sky's Doodle Jump which has also been a massive success.
While Lima Sky is still putting the final touches on their iPad version of Doodle Jump, you can play PapiJump on the iPad for free.
I can't say PapiJump for iPad is anything more than a novelty, but it plays differently than you might expect. The iPad version will play in both landscape and portrait, though I found the landscape (steering wheel hold) more natural. In contrast, the iPhone version has always been a one-handed portrait affair. Sunflat has also added swipe and touch controls to the iPad verison.
Football Manager is a brand name that extends right back to the very first concept of the round-ball management simulator in the early 80's. In recent years, Sports Interactive has grown the franchise into a title that is consistently (and arguably) the most authentic of the batch and if nothing else, certainly enjoys the most faithful following. To date the iPhone has been the subject of a number of smaller titles in the genre, but nothing has quite made a splash like the release of Football Manager Handheld 2010 [AppStore].
The hallmark of the bigger football management simulators is without a doubt the staggering extent of official licenses included in the game. Football Manager Handheld 2010 supports updated teamsheets for 34 leagues in 11 countries; an impressive amount of statistical data to hold in the palm of your hand. The Football Manager franchise is especially well known for its professional, orderly and clean layout; and we're delighted to see this has been successfully carried over to the handheld adaptation.
One would expect that in order to cram a feasible management sim onto the iPhone, a sizeable trimming down of features would have to occur. Though there has been a little slimming, the majority of content and features-- certainly much more than we anticipated-- has been retained in full. To cut down on the size, Football Manager Handheld 2010, however, does do away with player portraits and the glossy 3D game engines the last iteration of management sims have been known for. Game highlights only are portrayed in the traditional 2D full-pitch view, so that goals and set-pieces (and gruelling shots-on target that always seem to hit the woodwork) can all be visualized. The rest of the match is played out through text commentary with visual aids to assist you in keeping track of morale and momentum. Match tactics like substitutions, formations, team mentality and also specific strategies (such as the Offside Trap), can all be changed through the Tactics menu during a game, to offer that minute-by-minute control needed to overcome the best tactical minds and teams in the business.
Of the features omitted, the most sorely missed is undoubtedly the customization of individual plays and the ability to create your own formations. When one factors into it the processing undoubtedly needed for the former, and that there are 17 preset formations included to satisfy the latter, it's not that big a deal though. The new touchline instructions added in the PC version of 2010 won't be found here either; though as this was a feature added ultimately to support the 3D match engine, its omission is not unexpected.
To accomodate the issue of portability and the presumably shorter play sessions, Football Manager Handheld 2010 puts more focus on squad management than overseeing staff or stadium facilities. Scouts and assistant managers perform their duties diligently but cannot be replaced. There is still a constantly nagging board to please, who vigilantly watch your performance and spending and are more than happy to replace you though. Though some may disagree, we appreciate the refocus on what's really important in the handheld addition, and the essence of Football Managerdefinitely remains -- the sheer depth of control and attention to the very finest detail.
There is potentially more gameplay to experience here than in your entire game library, particularly if you're trying to promote a lowly League club to Premiership level. Coupled with the large licensed player and team rosters that are accurate up to the latest transfer window (with minor omissions noted by readers), Football Manager Handheld 2010 is an authentic port that should have football management enthusiasts champing at the bit. For those that have never played a football sim before, we do recommend caution, as the game is ultimately designed for those who already know their way around (particularly where the football stat lingo is concerned) and already enjoy the genre. If you're eager to try it out though, SEGA have thoughtfully released a free companion application to show you the ropes.
Favorable impressions from our readers have been pouring in to our forums. It has been noted by several readers too that your own music can be played Football Manager Handheld 2010, but only after turning off the in-game sounds in the game options. 1st Generation iPod Touch users should be warned that performance is particularly sub-par on this device, with excessive load times hampering gameplay according to user, ITRocks.
Yesterday we posted a review of Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2 for the iPhone, and since then I've still been sneaking little play sessions whenever I can today. With the insanity that was the never-ending flow of iPad news in the past 24 hours, I didn't have time to shoot a gameplay video that a few people asked for, but thankfully, Activision just released the following gameplay trailer:
For more details on the game, hop over to our review. Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2 is the skateboarding game to own right now if you're at all interested in the sport and own an iPhone. As I spend more time with the game and get even better with the controls I find myself liking it more and more.
As we enter the final hours of the iPad pre-launch fiesta, more and more videos of iPad games are coming online. We likely won't have video of games on actual devices until tomorrow, but for the time being, watching these games being played in the simulator with a set of hands gives an idea of how much different they will likely feel on the iPad:
Games featured in the trailer, which are all currently available on the App Store:
For 25 years now, I've been an avid flight simulator fan. (That's longer than Flight Simulator II to X, but who's counting.) And the sim series that I spend the most time with is X-Plane from Laminar Research. When I'm looking for a bit of relaxing entertainment during my commute, I often fire up one of the iPhone versions for some accelerometer-controlled soaring. But, for "serious" virtual flight sessions, I turn to the Mac version, which enjoys a much larger screen and additional sim features. That said, it should come as little surprise that I was quite pleased to see X-Planefor iPad [link] appear in the App Store as iPad titles began going live yesterday.
Says developer Austin Meyer of the iPad version,
The large screen and powerful processors of the iPad provide a tremendous amount of power that we have NOT seen in ANY mobile device to date. As well, the huge touch-screen interface for cockpit control and accelerometer-based sensing for flight control allow an interface to the virtual cockpit that is simply amazing.
According to Meyer, X-Plane for iPad features new, high resolution scenery and aircraft data, delivering four times the detail of the iPhone version. Terrain is dotted with 3D buildings, including terminals in San Francisco, Seattle, and Innsbruk, Austria. A reworked interface features much more detailed instrument panels and an RF control that's uniquely suited to the iPad. Background Air Traffic Control radio chatter, new to this version, adds depth to the experience of real cockpit flight.
I've long been impressed with just how enjoyable a flight experience the iPhone version [App Store] provides, despite the small screen. The notion of sitting on the couch and enjoying a much enhanced version of this experience is a nice one. (One doesn't always want to belly-up to a desk and grab a flight-stick when the wild blue yonder calls.) This is likely to be an obvious buy for any iPad-owning flight sim fan.
Those more interested in hardcore aerial combat games and unfamiliar with the X-Plane series should be aware that this is definitely more of a true simulation than a Ace Combat-type affair.
Originally released for the PlayStation all the way back in the year 2000, Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2 [App Store] was the definitive skateboarding game of its day. Since then, the Tony Hawk Pro Skater series has spawned a ton of sequels, but, at least in my opinion, no skateboarding game has come close to the same level of fun. I played Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2 so much that I quite literally wore out controllers. I really can't think of another game I can say the same for.
I'm not alone in absolutely loving the original Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2 either, as it's currently the #2 top rated game on all of MetaCritic, second only to The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. In its day, THPS2 received flawless reviews from nearly everyone who touched it, and believe it or not, even the Gameboy Advance port was great... An accomplishment not to be taken lightly given how terribly mediocre even the best Gameboy ports of "full" 3D games were.
Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2 stikes a perfect balance between an in-depth career mode with multiple skaters you can slowly improve by buying additional stat points, skateboards, and tricks while also sporting an extremely open game world that seems to never run out of things for you to do. Once you do finally beat the game, there's always topping you and your friends' scores which begin to become a test of endurance for how long you can keep an infinite combo going before falling.
Progressing through career mode involves selecting a skate location and completing goals to earn in-game money. Initially only the warehouse is open, and goals range from finding gaps (two ramps you can jump between), picking up the S K A T E letters, knocking over barrels, reaching several different point totals, and others. Once you make enough money the second skate location opens, and the rest of the game continues like that. Of course, you can always visit old locations, which is vital if you hope to fully tweak out your skater as each stat point you buy is incrementally more expensive than the last.
Sadly, even though Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2 is based on source material that is pure gaming gold, there are the usual console game to iPhone issues. First off, the necessary evil of the virtual D-Pad and set of four buttons to handle all your jumping, flipping, grabbing and grinding really doesn't do the game any favors. They're slowly growing on me and work as well as to be expected, but I'm not entirely sure I'll ever be able to pull the insane infinite combos I could on a real controller just because of how hard it is to rock your thumb between two virtual buttons on the iPhone screen.
Secondly, and potentially worse is that Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2 flat out hasn't been adapted to be a very good mobile phone game. It still utilizes a similar save system to the now ancient console game where your progress is only saved after each level, so any phone calls will result in you restarting from your last save. This probably isn't as big of a deal as it sounds, since each skate session is only a couple minutes long, but it still seems worth mentioning.
Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2 is also a game that would benefit greatly from some kind of online leaderboard integration. The sheer potential this game has to be the most amazing thing I've ever seen by implementing leaderboards, push challenges, and replay sharing is out of this world. I can't even imagine how much fun sending challenges to all my friends I used to play THPS2 with back in the day would be, and I really really hope they consider adding this.
In the graphics and sound departments, it's all there. In fact, the game looks even better on the iPhone than I remember it. It has a soundtrack of real music, although the original game music by Anthrax, Rage Against the Machine, and Bad Religion are nowhere to be found. Currently the game's availability is severely limited, but according to Tony Hawk's Twitter should be available internationally fairly soon.
Despite these issues, if you have any nostalgia at all from playing the original game ten years ago, you're going to need this game. From the familiar menus to all the skate locations filled with secrets you slowly begin to remember, there's nothing that compares to Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2. There is no way you won't be smiling ear to ear the first time you drop in to the warehouse, and chances are, you won't even care that the controls aren't ideal because you're playing Tony Hawk on your phone.
If you're only familiar with more modern Tony Hawk games, you might be annoyed that it's lacking (and I use that word loosely) things like a story mode, a more structured career mode, greater depth of customization, and other things that have since become common place in recent skateboarding games. But, honestly, none of that even matters, because the actual skating in Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2 has an absolutely timeless feel to it.
This is a game I will never delete from my iPhone.
Apple has started to reveal the iPad apps in the App Store. While we have reported on many of the upcoming releases, one surprise release from Activision is an official Geometry Wars title called Geometry Wars: Touch.
Geometry Warsâ„¢: Touch utilizes higher graphics and faster processing to enhance the game experience and immerse players deeper into non-stop shooter pandemonium. This is sure to be the must have game for the iPad.
In addition to the six original Geometry Wars gameplay modes: Deadline, King, Evolved, Pacifism, Waves and Sequence, Geometry Wars: Touch has a brand new mode called Titans! which is exclusive to iPad.
While you can purchase iPad apps now, they won't do you any good until the iPad launches. The iPad launches on Sat, April 3rd.
In the wake of a sea of iPad announcements, Activision has finally released Tony Hawk' Pro Skater 2 for the iPhone. Tony Hawk himself announced the coming of the game earlier this month.
The new iPhone version carries both traditional control configurations as well as iPhone-specific accelerometer controls. Features include:
Ride as Tony Hawk, one of the greatest skateboarding icons of all time.
Skate as one of 12 other featured pros.
Master signature pro moves and hundreds of tricks including nose/tailslides, nose/bluntslides, lip tricks, nollies, manuals and more.
Earn virtual cash to purchase dozens of additional in-game moves and alternate boards.
Over 13 epic environments to skate.
We haven't had time to spend any time with the game ourselves, so will report back later today. The first forum impression from debtOFskittles is quite positive:
so I've played through the first skate park, and I'm finding the controls very responsive, and the framerate is buttery smooth (on my 2g itouch)... graphics are, shall i say, familiar, as in nothing special (i wish they'd reworked the colors a bit, like gameloft did in Rayman) but it's obviously the gameplay that's the most important here, and it's really good. I personally think the buttons look ugly. I'd say that the onscreen buttons is a much better control method than the accelerometer, since I encountered some weird kinks in that... the game wasn't made for that kind of input. But anyhow, the game's all here, and I like it!
TouchArcade forum member Ozzytheking has been on a roll lately discovering cheats inside of Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars [App Store]. Each of these cheats are entered by moving the magnetic letters around on the mission replay board to spell out the various cheats. These mission replay boards can be found inside of any safe house.
Entering any of these codes will change your weapon load out:
LOADOA - Grenade, nightstick, pistol, minigun, assault rifle, micro SMG, and stubby shotgun. LOADOB - Molotov, tazer, dual pistols, flamethrower, carbine, SMG, and dual-barrel shotgun. LOADOC - Mine, chainsaw, revolver, flamethrower, carbine, SMG, and dual-barrel shotgun. LOADOD - Flashbang, bat, pistol, RPG, carbine, micro SMB and stubby shotgun.
Entering these codes have other effects:
CASHIN - Grants $10,000 extra cash. LIFEUP - Refills your life to full. SHELLY - Refills your armor to full. TRIPPY - Unknown COPIN - Raises your wanted level by 1 star. COPOUT - Lowers your wanted level by 1 star.
A cheat is successfully entered when the letters return to their original position and a message is displayed at the bottom of the screen. Other cheats are actively being searched for in this thread on our forums and for more information on Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, check out our review.
In the wake of Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars [App Store] our forums have been host to a great discussion surrounding the game, and something that has been popping up quite a bit of debating the merits of each of the different platforms that Chinatown Wars is available for. The iPhone currently holds the advantage when it comes to pricing, but without real physical controls or good targeting system for fighting, both the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP versions hold their own in this battle.
The DS obviously lags behind in the graphical department, but makes up for it with the second dedicated screen for navigation and stylus mini-games-- All of which feel much more immersive than the button mashing alternative on the PSP. In regards to whether the PSP or iPhone is host to better graphics, it really seems to be a toss up. The textures in the PSP version appear more crisp and detailed, especially when looking at any signs and the PSP features better shadows, lighting, and reflections. The higher resolution (and seemingly higher quality) iPhone screen combined with the softening of textures and edges of in-game objects makes the iPhone a worthy competitor in visual quality, especially when combined with the high frame rate the game runs at.
Something that isn't immediately apparent until you're comparing the games side by side is how quiet Liberty City is without the pedestrian chatter. You can go rampaging through the streets and it seems everyone is yelling at you on the DS and PSP. It creates a noticeable lack of atmosphere on the iPhone when switching back from the other two versions.
Which version is the "best" is really a matter of personal taste. The PSP's higher quality textures can often look gritty at times, and while some may prefer the softer look of the iPhone textures, others could see them as blurry. It's hard to compare the DS, especially because of how different the game feels with two screens and how obvious it is that the touchscreen mini-games were designed for a stylus, not buttons or fingers. Also, neither the PSP or iPhone can compete with the requisite DS microphone gimmick of actually whistling to hail a cab.
So which version do we recommend purchasing? Really, you should buy Chinatown Wars for whatever platform you have with you the most when you want to play games. For many people this will be the iPhone, but if you prefer to conserve your battery and play 3D games on a dedicated gaming device, both the DS and PSP versions are totally worth having. Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars is a great game, and it doesn't really matter what platform you're playing it on, as long as you're playing it. You really shouldn't miss this game.
Back in 1997 when the first Grand Theft Auto hit the PC, I doubt anyone at Rockstar (known as DMA Design at the time) expected it to spawn a series that would span ten different games and four expansions over the next thirteen years. Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars [App Store] for the iPhone is an excellent adaptation of a game previously only available on the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP. These prior versions of the game were met with universal acclaim, and according to Metacritic.comChinatown Wars for the DS holds the title of the highest rated game available for the platform. On the PSP, Chinatown Wars is a close second, beaten only by God of War: Chains of Olympus by a single point.
The recently released iPhone Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars seems to be a hybrid of both the DS and PSP versions, with graphical quality that lies somewhere in between the two games, tutorial elements that reference PSP buttons, as well as some of the cell shaded graphics and all the stylus mini games from the DS. The main difference is how the controls have been adapted to the on-screen virtual joystick and buttons of the iPhone. Like other games that use a similar control scheme, there is always an inherent lack of precision without physical buttons that take a little getting used to, but this didn't hamper my enjoyment of Chinatown Wars in the least bit.
While on foot, a virtual joystick controls character movement, with a button for using whatever weapon you have selected (or your fists) as well as buttons to kick and leap over short fences. When you approach a car, a button appears on the bottom of the screen that you can touch to get in. If you're stealing a parked car, this will often trigger a timed touchscreen mini game where you need to turn a screwdriver in the ignition, twist some wires together, or even insert a PDA and crack the car's security system in order to get the car running without triggering its alarm.
These sequences are pretty neat the first few times you do them, and do an excellent job at adding suspense to police chases as you hastily hotwire a car before the cops converge on your location. Once you're in a car, one of five in-game radio stations start playing and the on-screen controls switch to buttons for accelerating, braking, firing your gun, and by default two buttons to steer right or left. Also available is an analog stick for steering, configurable in the game's options.
The biggest control hurdle new players will come across is learning how to cope with Chinatown Wars' driving assist system, which will automatically keep your car going straight down a road. This can be disabled, but without it perfectly lane splitting on a motorcycle seems to be nearly impossible. I've found myself preferring the default steering buttons over the optional joystick because very little control is required when driving. You really only need to hold a direction to turn, or just tap a direction to make minor adjustments to your position on a road. It feels a little strange at first, but after you make it through the tutorial missions you will be flying through Liberty City without issue.
The plot of the game is classic Grand Theft Auto, with an asian spin, made obvious by the game's title. You play as Huang Lee, the son of a recently murdered Triad boss who comes to Liberty City and unsurprisingly enough winds up knee deep in gang drama. Initially you complete tasks assigned by your Uncle, but it doesn't take long for you to meet other contacts who also require your services. The game continues like any GTA game with missions that involve killing people, stealing cars, driving people around, and other often illegal activities.
Of course, like other games in the series, once you complete the short array of tutorial missions you can disregard the main storyline entirely and instead spend your time roaming around the city, completing the various submissions, seeing how long you can survive with a high wanted level, and dealing drugs to increase your net worth.
Chinatown Wars is packed with a surprisingly fun and full featured drug economy that is highly reminiscent of the Texas Instruments calculator game Dope Wars (Originally a DOS game released in the mid-80's.) that I spent an embarrassing amount of my teenage life playing. As you drive around the city you will meet drug dealers, who are all selling or buying various drugs at different prices. Prices change depending on whose turf you're in, but you have to exercise caution because if you get busted with a car load of coke, you lose it all.
Drug dealing is just one of the many other activites that exist inside the game. Of course Chinatown Wars also has the standard taxi, ambulance, firefighter, and other driving games along with tons of secret items and locations to find. There are scratch off lottery tickets you can try your luck on, and random encounters with pedestrians who will also have various things to ask of you. The amount of depth in Chinatown Wars is unbelievable.
Since the inception of the App Store, quite a few developers have tried their hand at making an open-world crime game. Without much serious competition, most of these games seemed quite good-- But even the best pre-Chinatown Wars iPhone games pale in comparison to a real Rockstar Grand Theft Auto. The level of depth is completely unmatched, but most importantly, Liberty City feels alive.
Games like Gangstar are far too sterile, with spotless city streets, stereotypical characters with no personality, and very little to make the environment the game takes place in feel like anything more than a basic sandbox. The streets of Liberty City are filthy, filles with cars, pedestrians, trains, people fighting, and emergency vehicles racing through the streets responding to randomly spawned traffic accidents. The mood and lighting of the city changes with the clock in-game, and even though the story and characters you come across aren't really anything revolutionary compared to other Grand Theft Auto games, the people you meet are usually amusing and of course the game is absolutely loaded with expletives and other racy material that the GTA clones haven't dared come close to.
There are a few issues with Chinatown Wars, the most serious being the lack of a solid targeting system. When you hold down the attack button to shoot or punch, you simply attack whoever you're facing. There isn't a way to cycle through targets, and the only way to stay locked on one target is by holding the attack button which often results in quite a few wasted bullets. It seems like there is a lot of lost potential in not having a touch-based targeting mode.
Chinatown Wars also doesn't have any kind of save state system to save your progress if you get a call or need to answer a SMS when you're in the middle of a mission. Instead the game just quits, and the next time you launch it you're back at your apartment. This can be annoying, but thankfully Chinatown Wars was designed to be a portable game, and as such the missions are usually never more than a few minutes long so the amount of progress you lose is fairly minimal.
One of my favorite things about Grand Theft Auto games is the soundtracks, but the radio stations in Chinatown Wars are fairly limited and it seems that all the pedestrian chatter was also cut. However, once you get sucked in to the game these problems fade away as you immerse yourself in Liberty City.
Chinatown Wars is a massive game, so much so that the few things I've mentioned in this review barely even scratch the surface of what there is to do and all the different features that help you to do them. An excellent in-game GPS system guides you around the city, periodic email messages tip you off to new missions and other things to do, safehouses scattered around Liberty City can be purchased once you're wealthy enough, and there's even multiple save slots so more than one person can play the game on a single device.
Performance on my iPhone 3GS is absolutely outstanding, and according to forum members, Chinatown Wars also runs without issue on the entire iPhone and iPod touch product line. The game is restricted and won't install on the first generation iPod touch, but apparently with a little tinkering can be played just fine. Something worth mentioning is while the download itself is only 188MB, Chinatown Wars requires a little over 600MB free on your device to install.
There is so much to do in Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars that completing the whole thing will likely necessitate a trip to GameFAQs to consult the various guides and maps to find every hidden object and complete every mission-- A task that will likely take days of concurrent playtime. For $9.99 App Store gamers can get their hands on a game that sells for two to three times as much on other platforms, representing a substantial value even at a price point reserved for "premium" games on the platform.
Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America's vice president of sales and marketing described Chinatown Wars' sales on the DS as "frustrating", and sadly the PSP version didn't perform any better. In less than 24 hours following its release on the App Store, Chinatown Wars is already the #1 top-grossing app-- Something that hopefully other giants of the gaming industry are noticing, as I doubt I'm alone in hoping even more of these "full" console games make their way to the iPhone.
If you're at all interested in open-world crime games, Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars is by far the best available on the platform and simply cannot be passed up. The sheer amount of content, the amazing graphics, and gameplay that will keep you coming back for more whether you choose to follow the story or rampage through Liberty City on your own is absolutely fantastic.
Now, if you'd excuse me, I've got $50,000 worth of heroin to unload.
Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars [App Store] was quietly released into the App Store this evening. Chinatown Wars for the iPhone seems to lie somewhere in between the DS and PSP versions in regards to graphical quality, but as far as pure GTA gameplay, everything so far seems intact. (Complete with an awful lot of swearing.)
Much like other versions of the game, screenshots barely do it justice. Liberty City in motion on the iPhone is amazing, and all the jagged edges in the screenshots quickly fade away when you're racing down a street, under elevated train tracks, and through alleys as you escape the police. The realtime clock in-game also changes the lighting of the city, shifting from the orange glow of a sunset to the street lights turning on at night. It really looks awesome.
The basic premise of the game involves a man named Huang Lee, the son of a Triad gang boss who was recently sent to sleep with the fishes. He flies in to Liberty City with a heirloom sword his father won in a poker game, deciding to deliver it to his uncle. Of course things never go as planned, and not long after landing Huang finds himself in the middle of a gunfight and winds up getting kidnapped. After stealing the sword, the assailants assume Huang is dead, and looking to dispose of the body drive the car he's in off the side of a pier. In the same vein of other GTA games, story isn't really anything revolutionary, but it gets the job done.
Chinatown Wars is controlled very similar to Gameloft's Gangstar, with virtual buttons and a joystick that handle all the driving, running, shooting, and other activities in game. The iPhone port of Chinatown Wars retains the stylus minigames that filled the DS version, appearing in a little popups where you do things like tap to smash the window of the car you were trapped in at the beginning of the game, slide your finger around to turn a screwdriver to start a car you're stealing, etc.
When the Nintendo DS version was first released, I devoted hours to playing through the game. So far the iPhone port seems like a faithful reproduction with quite a few expletives. I obviously don't have the full text scripts of both games to compare, but everything I've come across so far has fit with what you would expect out of a GTA game, and it would appear that very little if anything was actually censored for the App Store release.
Chinatown Wars seems to be a complete GTA experience. You have your apartment that serves as your character's hub with a "Fruit" computer you can check emails on, a garage you can stash a car in, and when you're on the road there is a full GPS system with a map of Liberty City that you can plot your destination on to easily get from one side of the city to the other. There's all kinds of stat tracking that will tell you everything from how many bullets you've fired to how many fish you've fed and in-game options that offer all kinds of different tweaks to the interface and gameplay.
We weren't initially sure if this release was intentional, as we expected some amount of pre-release fanfare from Rockstar, but we are going to be working on a full review of this version of the game.
Carcassonne developer The Coding Monkeys has confirmed with us that the iPad version of the upcoming Apple handheld title will be a universal update to the initial App Store release this summer.
Originally released for the PlayStation all the way back in the year 2000, Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2 [
In the wake of Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars [
Back in 1997 when the first Grand Theft Auto hit the PC, I doubt anyone at Rockstar (known as DMA Design at the time) expected it to spawn a series that would span ten different games and four expansions over the next thirteen years. Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars [
