Cooking crack with a stylus
So I’m getting back into my DS (and by “my DS”, I mean “the DS that is on indefinite loan to me”). I figure that it’s probably just as easy maintaining balance on public transport with a DSLite in my hands as it is with a giant ass book.
At the moment, I’m passing the hours on my commute with GTA: Chinatown Wars. As expected, I’m enjoying my train trips a whole lot more nowadays, possibly due to the sole fact that I can trade drugs in game.
For a minigame based on supply / demand, it’s amazingly addictive. Receiving notifications on bargain prices for the flavour of the week will see you taking trips out of town to seal the deal, then head on over to the area where demand is high (thanks to the Turf Map) where you can sell for a tidy profit. Random drug trade busts break the monotony of deals, and it hurts when you lose a satchel full of powder.
After a few good deals you’re suddenly hitting 5 figures, which makes your story mission rewards look like peanuts. Then you can go around looking for apartments, get tooled up from Ammunation, and all the good things that come with having too much money.
Oh, and everything else about the game is great too. Especially the additional touch screen interactions.
I remember being sceptical when I heard about the drug dealing mechanic. Generally I find such systems in games to be a little tedious - for example, I have no interest in travelling the length and breadth of Fable II’s Albion to find the trader that offers me the best deal for a toy doll or gravel chocolate.
The key is those trade tips. They don’t force you to deal drugs, but they tease you. They reek of quick, easy money - something no GTA players can ever afford to turn down - and the fact that they have a time limit means they instantly distract you from whatever you were doing.
I lost count of the number of times I would completely change course and head to my nearest stash rather than pursuing the next mission. It’s such a great dip-in-and-out mechanic, and I hope it appears in the next console-bound GTA title.
[ 11 Jun 09 ] @ 02:40