Line #12 VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoChinatownWars


1	!! Spoilers for all HD Universe entries of the ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'' series preceding this one, including ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV'', ''[[VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIVTheLostAndDamned The Lost and Damned]]'', and ''[[VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIVTheBalladOfGayTony The Ballad of Gay Tony]]'' will be left unmarked. Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned!
2	[[quoteright:282:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ChinatownWars_6110.jpg]]
3	[[caption-width-right:282:Forget it Huang... it's Film/{{Chinatown}}.]]
4	->''Yo, it's a manhunt, my mentality is militia\
5	If my four-fifth had lips, I'd make it French kiss ya\
6	Cuz no mission's impossible, I carry my Wu-Tang sword\
7	On my back, and attack all obstacles\
8	Burnt down buildings, avenging my father's death\
9	A store for ransom, and snatchin' crystal meth\
10	I pillage, my warpath is unpredictable\
11	Leave 'em dead on arrival, broke up or critical''
12	-->-- [[ThematicThemeTune "Chinatown Wars"]] by '''[[Music/WuTangClan Ghostface Killah]]''' and '''Music/MFDoom'''
13
14	A 2009 game originally an exclusive for the Platform/NintendoDS (though later ported to [[Platform/PlayStationPortable PSP]], [=iOS=], and Android), this is the tenth game in Rockstar's ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'' series and the first original title to appear on a Nintendo console since the release of ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoAdvance'' on the UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance.
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16	[[DeadpanSnarker Huang Lee]], the spoiled son of a recently murdered [[TheTriadsAndTheTongs Triad boss]], arrives by plane in [[VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV GTA4's]] Liberty City with Yu Jian, a sword that Huang's father won in a poker game and has decided to use as an heirloom to deliver it to the new patriarch of the family, Huang's uncle Wu "Kenny" Lee. Shortly after landing, Huang's escorts are killed by assassins and he is shot and kidnapped. The assailants steal the sword and, [[NotQuiteDead thinking Huang is dead]], dump his body in the water. Huang manages to survive and informs Kenny that Yu Jian has been taken. Kenny explains that he had intended to offer the sword to Hsin Jaoming, the aging Triad boss in Liberty City, as a means of securing a position as his replacement. Kenny is dishonored and reduced in power due to the loss of Yu Jian, leaving him and Huang working to keep their businesses afloat. What follows is a GambitPileup as Huang tries to find the sword, move up in the ranks of the Triads and keep all his body parts intact... something not always easy to do in Liberty City.
17
18	Instead of the top-down perspective or a view behind the protagonist, ''Chinatown Wars'' is unique in the series for its isometric camera perspective. As opposed to the fully rendered aspects of later entries in the series, Chinatown Wars has [[CelShading Cel-Shaded Graphics]] and comic-book style cut-scenes (though the Cel-Shading was toned down in the PSP version). It also features a number of mini-games that took advantage of the DS's touch-screen interface (replaced by PressXToNotDie in the PSP version.) Also, a large aspect of the game is the Drug-Wars style system of buying and selling various narcotics around the city to build up cash reserves.
19
20	As an installment, it was almost universally well-received, though the DS and PSP platform's sales were far below expectations. When it was released on the iPhone platform, however, the sales soared to the top of the App Store's charts.
21	----
22	!!This Work Shows Examples Of The Following Tropes:
23
24	* AdvertisedExtra: Ling Shan was a common sight within the promotional material (mostly trailers and artwork) and she's on the cover art, yet she only appears in two missions. [[spoiler: She meets her unceremonious demise in "Under the Gun" (which is ''the third mission'', by the way) at the hands of a [[GangBangers Spanish Lord]].]]
25	* AndShowItToYou: One of Zhou Ming's missions has you hijacking an ambulance carrying a Triad suspected of being a snitch and driving it to Zhou. After a short exchange, Zhou ''cuts out the man's heart with a knife''.
26	* ArsonMurderAndLifesaving: A literal example with mission of all three categories - arson missions to strengthen protection rackets, murder missions to eliminate enemies and rivals as well as lifesaving missions with stolen ambulances and fire engines.
27	* BatterUp: A baseball bat is one of the available melee weapons.
28	* BigBad: [[spoiler:Kenny turns out to be responsible for the death of Huang's father, and he's been manipulating Huang all this time so he could succeed Hsin as the leader of the Liberty City branch of the Triads.]]
29	* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Huang is now the head of the Triads, but nearly everyone he came into contact with during the course of the game is dead, [[AlasPoorVillain rightfully or otherwise]], and he learned that it was his EvilUncle Kenny that was responsible for his father's death all along.]]
30	* BrokenBridge: The first game in the entire franchise to avert this, before ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoV''.
31	* CassandraTruth: Both Zhao and Chan [[spoiler:try to convince Huang they're not traitors]] when he comes for them. He doesn't believe them. [[spoiler:After disposing of them, Wade emails him and confirms that they were telling the truth. However, the former is a sociopath who cut the heart out of a man over a dispute, and the latter is a pedophile who films underage girls in the locker rooms so neither death is a tragedy.]]
32	* CharactersDroppingLikeFlies: [[spoiler: By the end of the game, the only named characters left alive are Huang, Wade, Hsin (who is severely wounded), and Lester (who split before things got real bad).]]
33	* TheChainsOfCommanding: It's implied Hsin isn't happy about [[spoiler:being forced to order the death of his son.]] Especially after he learns it was based on fabricated info.
34	* CoolCar: Although the top-down perspective and the lack of good camera angles make it difficult to appreciate them.
35	* CosmeticAward: ''Chinatown Wars'' has eight trophies to be unlocked. All but one of them are related to the drug dealing activity in some capacity.[[note]]Earn enough cash in a single deal, [[ViolationOfCommonSense lose enough cash in a single deal]], sell enough drugs from a specific tier (depressants, hallucinogens, powders), find 40 dealers, find all 80 of them, and get all safehouses.[[/note]]
36	* CrapsaccharineWorld: It's not as vivid as the 3D Universe's [[VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoViceCity Vice City]] or HD Universe's [[VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoV San Andreas]], but ''Chinatown Wars'' portrays Liberty City in vivid colors like ''[[VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIvTheBalladOfGayTony The Ballad of Gay Tony]]'' before it. Yet like every other city in the GTA series, Liberty City is still a WretchedHive.
37	* DarkerAndEdgier:
38	** While previous titles condemn drugs (III, San Andreas) or make drugs trade conducted by the protagonists implied (Vice City, through the boat checkpoint and "ice cream" selling), Chinatown Wars is the first game that made drug trade explicitly possible for the player, and also the quickest source of easy money for Huang.
39	** The story itself returns to the darker tones established by ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV'' after ''[[VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIVTheBalladOfGayTony The Ballad of Gay Tony]]'' went LighterAndSofter.
40	* DeadpanSnarker: Huang Lee's dialogue is peppered with rude and sarcastic remarks, even to his current employers. A lot of the cast members have shades of this though.
41	* DemotedToExtra: The [[TheMafiya Russian Mafia]], [[TheYardies Yardies]], Lost MC and [[GangBangers Hustlers]] return, but are far less important to the story. The Lost appear in a few of Lester's missions solely to get killed by Huang, the Yardies appear primarily to be gunned down by Zhou Ming (and have their business disrupted by Huang on behalf of Melanie Mallard in various PSP-exclusive missions), the Russians only appear in a PSP-exclusive mission, and the Hustlers have no bearing on the plot at all.
42	* DenserAndWackier: While the story maintains the gritty tone established by ''IV'', the game does bring back some of the more outlandish elements from the 3D-era games, like [[GatlingGood a usable minigun]] and [[TankGoodness drivable tanks]].
43	* DirtyCop: Wade Heston. His only motivation for doing actual police work is InternalAffairs breathing down his neck. Amusingly enough, he's less of a prick than most of the cast.
44	* DiscOneNuke:
45	** Drug trading can build up huge reserves of cash early on.
46	** The Chinese Sword. While more powerful weapons can be bought from Ammu-Nation later in this game, this melee weapon can be found very early in the game in a dumpster. It deals extreme damage, able to nuke NPCs and demolish vehicles quickly and doesn't draw as much police attention as one may expect ''right in front of them'').
47	* DisposableSexWorker: Unlike other games in the series this doesn't have the "hire a hooker to regain health then kill her to get your money back" trick. However, there's one random encounter in which a hooker you stumble upon assumes this exact thing will happen and (with the assistance of some other hookers) preemptively attacks Huang. He can either [[KillingInSelfDefense fight]] [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential back]] or [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere cut and run]].
48	* DumbassHasAPoint: [[spoiler:Chan's attempts to convince Huang that he's not the rat]] are all laughably incompetent, especially when Huang is already tired of his shenanigans, but he very briefly touches upon the fact that he's convinced [[spoiler:he'll surely become the next Triad boss, and has no motivation to sell the Triads out to the FIB.]] The smarter Zhou, who ends up in a similar situation, uses the exact same argument.
49	* EarlyBirdCameo: Many of the characters can be found in the ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV'' police database, released a year earlier.
50	* EvilAllAlong: [[spoiler:[[EvilUncle Uncle Kenny]]]] was the man who ordered Huang's father's death. While possessing the family's sword, he manipulated Huang to do his dirty work so that he could become the new head of the Liberty City Triads.
51	* EvilUncle: [[spoiler:Even putting aside the fact that he killed Huang's father]], Kenny's a rather massive prick to Huang and uses him to do his dirty work as much as everyone else.
52	* FatIdiot: Chan Jaoming is noticeably pudgy and unbelievably incompetent.
53	* FireBreathingWeapon: The flamethrower is one of the heavy weapons available. You get it in the mission "Cash and Burn" to torch a construction site belonging to [[TheIrishMob Irish gangsters]].
54	* FriendlyLocalChinatown: Not so much with the friendly, but it's a large part of the setting. You even do a dragon-dance mini-game in one of Zhou Ming's missions.
55	* GambitPileup: Chan and Zhou are plotting against each other to become head of the Triads, the enemy gangs are plotting against the Triads, the actual head of the Triads is plotting against everybody, and the FIB is trying to arrest everybody. [[spoiler: Huang Lee is the one to come out on top and become the head of the Triads - all because he hadn't been plotting against anybody and was generally just doing what was asked of him.]]
56	* GatlingGood: One of the options for the heavy weapon slots is a man-portable minigun. Zhou wields it in one mission, an enemy NPC uses it against Heston and Huang uses it during the last mission.
57	* GayCruising: Referenced in one StalkingMission that has the player following a mook with a pink umbrella. Upon meeting an another mook, he gets asked if he's [[PinkMeansFeminine cruising for company]].
58	* GenreThrowback: ''Chinatown Wars'' brings back the top-down view from the first two ''GTA'' games. This is likely to accommodate the limitations of the Nintendo DS.
59	* GreaterScopeVillain: If we take the BigBad's comments in the finale at face value - and Huang does, as seen in the replay menu notes - [[spoiler:Hsin qualifies as that, since it was his order to get the Yu Jian delivered to him.]]
60	* GunsAkimbo: The Dual Pistols lets you do this.
61	* JadeColoredGlasses: Huang develops these.
62	* {{Jerkass}}: Almost every member of the cast is an unsympathetic jerk to some extent, but Chan Jaoming (the oblivious kind) and Zhou Ming (the [[SmugSnake arrogant and narcissistic]] kind) stand out. The two exceptions are Wade Heston and Lester, who both treat Huang with a modicum of respect.
63	* JerkassHasAPoint: Huang makes a lot of comments about Mel's complete lack of ethics and how some of the crimes of his she recorded were done at her request. [[spoiler:They hit too close to home, and she betrays Chan and Huang, before they kill her.]]
64	* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Despite his abrasive demeanor, Wade Heston eventually ends up being Huang's strongest ally, helping him find the truth behind his father's death and [[spoiler:bring Kenny down to end his own career on a good note]].
65	* LadyNotAppearingInThisGame: See that chick in the purple dress up there? She doesn't last long and never wears that dress.
66	* {{Manchild}}: Chan Jaomin is 40 years old, but acts like an irresponsible teenager.
67	* MedalOfDishonor: The [[CosmeticAward Wooden Spoon]] is "awarded" for making a $500 loss in a single drug deal. It's harder than it sounds, since it requires you to either get lucky with a drug dealer's inventory (so that you can buy enough expensive stuff from him and sell it back) or to travel between a dealer that sells high and one that buys low.
68	* MoneyForNothing: The Drug-Wars inspired minigame lets you build up huge reserves of cash with a little investment of time.
69	* NameTron: The Hobotron minigame.
70	* {{Nepotism}}: The only reason Chan stayed alive for as long as he did. Everyone knows this.
71	* NeverMyFault: Chan is the most prominent example. He bosses Huang around just because of his father's influence and blames Huang when things go wrong.
72	** Chan wants Huang to steal three vehicles for a street race. Then he cheats by asking Huang to sabotage one of them and hindering his competition without crediting Huang. When this gets Chan kidnapped in the next mission, Huang rescues him, but is blatantly accused of just following his orders.
73	** Another mission from Chan has him agree to meet with known enemies of the Triads. Shockingly, it turns out to be a trap. Huang pulls him out of this mess, yet Hsin falls for Chan's narrative and believes Huang is responsible.
74	** Mel Mallard ends up blaming [[spoiler:her betrayal of Chan]] on Huang's JerkassHasAPoint comments. In a rare moment of competence, Chan doesn't buy it.
75	** A downloadable post-game mission has [[spoiler:Ling's brother]] blame Huang for her death early on in the game. Huang responds by claiming it was the guy's fault for not being there to protect her.
76	** One where the blame doesn't get shifted on [[NoRespectGuy Huang]] for once: Hsin blames [[TooDumbToLive his son Chan]] being such a failure on his mother's upbringing. For the record, Hsin was too much of a nepotist to some extent.
77	* NotWithTheSafetyOnYouWont: One of the characters in a random encounter complains the guns Huang got him don't work. Huang asks if he's tried releasing the safety. He didn't, and that was the only thing stopping him from going on a rampage.
78	* OnlySaneMan: Huang starts off with shades of HonorBeforeReason, but quickly becomes jaded enough that he becomes this.
79	* PerpetualFrowner: A number of the characters in the game always seem pissed off. Special honors go to Huang's uncle Kenny who frowns all the time, even when he's pleased with the results of your missions.
80	* RealStitchesForFakeSnitches: [[spoiler:Huang is eventually ordered to eliminate Chan and Zhao after they're revealed to be informants for the FIB. After killing them, Heston reveals that Kenny made it all up to get them out of the way so that he would be the one to succeed Hsin.]]
81	* RevolversAreJustBetter: [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]]. The Revolver packs a punch, but the low capacity, slow fire-rate, and inability to move while firing considerably hampers its effectiveness.
82	* SarcasmBlind: Chan takes every bit of Huang's scathing sarcasm as genuine compliments.
83	* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: When [[spoiler:being forced to order the death of his own son for his alleged betrayal,]] Hsin decides to retire, leave the city, [[spoiler:and give the leadership to Kenny]]. [[spoiler:He never got away and was busted by Heston]].
84	* SkintoneSclerae: All the characters during cutscenes in the DS version seemly have this, due to the console's graphical limitations and limited color pallet. Averted in the PSP and mobile versions since they're able to display all artwork in their intended full color.
85	* SniperRifle: Unlike past ''Grand Theft Auto'' games, sniper rifles are only usable in select missions, and its design is [[DependingOnTheArtist different in every version]]:
86	** In promotional material, it's either a H&K [=SR9T=] or an SR-25.
87	** In the DS version, it's a Sako TRG.
88	** In every other version, it's an odd AWM/[=M82A1=] hybrid.
89	** The HUD icon resembles the Carbine Rifle, which is a SuperDeformed [=M16A2=]/AR-10 hybrid in ''Chinatown Wars''.
90	* TakeYourTime: Later in the game, [[spoiler:The Triads are ratted out to the FIB and Hsin believes Huang to be the culprit. Thanks to Kenny intervening, Hsin gives Huang time to prove his innocence.]] Of course you can explore Liberty City and do side quests as long as you please and [[spoiler: Hsin won't place a hit on Huang until the plot demands it (though, storywise, he does give him more time at one point)]]
91	* TakingYouWithMe: [[spoiler:After Huang catches Kenny red-handed, the latter knows he doesn't have much time left, so he runs off to kill Hsin, blaming his orders on this whole mess.]]
92	* TankGoodness: The Rhino tank makes a comeback after being absent from ''GTA IV''. One of Xin's missions involves Huang stealing one and going on a rampage through the city to keep the cops occupied.
93	* TooDumbToLive: Chan. He is always either drunk or on drugs (or both), which leads to him making poor decisions throughout the game. [[spoiler:He ends up getting [[FrameUp framed for treason]] by Kenny, resulting in [[OffingTheOffspring his own father]] ordering Huang to kill him.]]
94	** The reporter Melanie Mallard decides to betray the ruthless gangsters she was working with by revealing their faces on TV because she was angry Huang insulted her and called out her hypocrisy. [[spoiler: Chan kills her in return.]]
95	* TheTriadsAndTheTongs: More focused on their style of organized crime than any other GTA game.
96	* VehicularSabotage: "Pimp His Ride" has Huang doing this to the car of a famous street racer that Chan is set to compete against.
97	* YouKilledMyFather: Huang's one and only motivation throughout the game, beyond not wanting to die.
98	* YouNeedToGetLaid: RunningGag. [[spoiler: Huang never does and brings it up on two occasions - once after Lester Leroc's done with investigating the AOD, and the other at the end of the storyline.]]

Context VideoGame / GrandTheftAutoChinatownWars