GTA: Chinatown Wars on DS to include most of GTA IV’s map

Spanish gaming mag MarcaPlayer has previewed the upcoming Grand Theft Auto game for the Nintendo DS, and aptly-named specialist site Nintendo Everything has kindly provided a translation of the details. The main surprising news being that the gameworld on the handheld will feature most of the Liberty City recently seen in GTA IV. Dukes, Bohan, Broker and Algonquin are all present, with only the borough of Alderney missing.

Here’s a handy bullet-point list of some more details from the game:

• Camera can swivel 360 degrees
• Trains will pass overhead in the city, cars will circle, pedestrians will be walking, etc.
• GPS seen on the touch screen while you move through the city
• PDA allows you to gain access to the map with more details as well as the goals of missions
• You can mark points that you want and the GPS will always tell you the shortest legal route to the destination with yellow or blue arrows
• New discoveries (such as gas stations) are added to the map
• Top screen brings you all the action, while the lower screen will let you control elements like the PDA, GPS, the radio, access to the people on the map, or using Motolov cocktails and grenades.
• Drugs have a big importance in the game
• You have to control the stock of drugs, buy them in one neighborhood and sell them in another
• You are given a map so that you know what people demand and at what prices
• Like other GTA games, in Chinatown Wars, you can catch a taxi – whistle into the microphone so the taxi will stop

It sounds as though this DS incarnation of the Grand Theft Auto franchise will be a surpringly fully-featured experience. According to the latest info from Rockstar’s owners Take-Two, GTA: Chinatown Wars won’t be available on DS until spring 2009.