why would i even want a ds-looking game on my psp...

why haven't they made a normal gta for the psp like gta:lcs or gta:vcs??

this is prolly the first gta i will not buy...

I don't know, the graphics looked good to me, plus it will be my first experence with the GTA 4 Liberty City.

quote Epsilon Freak

I don't know, the graphics looked good to me, plus it will be my first experence with the GTA 4 Liberty City.

please spend your money on gta4 then :s

Dunt got no ps3 tree wez ta poor fa dat!

Okay, I don't get it. The game is out and the reviewers are all rating this top down game with huge scores. What the hell am I missing here? It looks like a 2D, top-down utter crap-fest to me. I mean if this game came out in 1995, I would definitely say it deserves the high scores, but in 2009? Top Down? Really?

Again, I don't get it.

I am going to go read it right now, Mach.

Sorry for the double post but my last post was yesterday.

Anyway, good review, Machienzo. I didn't play it, so I don't know about all those details, but it honestly looks to me like it is probably an amazing game, if and only if, you grade it on a steep 2D curve. In other words, if you were to grade this game side by side with, say GTA II or London, it would probably grade a lot higher. But put it up against ANY of the 3 PS2 games or even the 2 PSP games, and I am sure the full 3D games would blow its doors off. It is sobering, though, when you consider that a top down GTA game got nearly perfect scores from pretty much ALL the pro reviewers.

I don't understand the reviews, to be honest. These so called Pro-reviewers are grading it on average between 9.5 and 10.0. I don't get how a top down sandbox game can be "so much fun" and immersive when the PSP has already seen to absolultely excellent and FULL BLOWN 3D GTA games. It boggles the imagination.

But the thing is, it makes me wonder (and I am not a conspiracy theorist!) if the reviewers are either in the pockets of Rockstar or I am just so completely out of touch with what gaming is all about. Because I also don't get the straight 10's across the board that GTA IV got either. I thought it was a technically excellent game with a minimal fun value, and yet the reviewers raved about it.

Like I said, there is either something fishy going on or I am just absolutely out of touch with what makes a good game.

I had this game and i completed it and wanted more i got used to the birds-eye view camera i think it might of been better than vice city stories but thats my opinion

quote ChiroVette

I don't get how a top down sandbox game can be "so much fun" and immersive when the PSP has already seen to absolultely excellent and FULL BLOWN 3D GTA games. It boggles the imagination.
[...]
Like I said, there is either something fishy going on or I am just absolutely out of touch with what makes a good game.

from what i can tell, it seems like you think full 3d and a third-person camera view makes a good game, seeing as you seem to have such a big problem with top down 2&1/2D.

i prefer 2D games to 3D, and chinatown wars is a great modern imagining of the oldschool GTA style.

I agree on both points, Bandito. To be honest, in this modern age, I just cannot imagine why Rockstar didn't bother to convert it to 3D for release on the PSP, which can obviously handle it. Obviously that isn't a problem for you, and I am glad you enjoyed the game.

I also agree that it is very reminiscent of the original top-down GTA games but looks a lot better than them. Like I said, I am not suggesting that my bias against 2D sandbox games means you guys who are enjoying the game are wrong. Only that its not my thing.

I think the game look more entertaining then any GTA I've seen, especially on the PSP. I'm not basing that on HD graphics or a four star storyline, I think this game will bring us back to the roots of the series and prove that GTA can be extremely fun without being a technical masterpiece.