Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars

Updated 28 October 2026 · Fan site. Not affiliated with Rockstar Games or Take-Two Interactive.

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars is a 2009 action-adventure game by Rockstar Leeds with Rockstar North. It launched on Nintendo DS on 17 March 2009 in North America, then came to PSP, iOS and Android. Set in modern Liberty City, it follows young Triad member Huang Lee, who comes to deliver a family sword and gets pulled into a gang power struggle.

What is GTA Chinatown Wars?

Chinatown Wars is a handheld GTA made first for the Nintendo DS. It was announced at a Nintendo press conference on 15 July 2008. Instead of the behind-the-back camera of the console games, it looks down on the action from above, with a camera you can rotate. The DS and iOS versions use a cel-shaded art style with black outlines. The PSP version drops that look.

The game uses the Liberty City of Grand Theft Auto IV, shrunk to fit and without Alderney. Dan Houser and David Bland wrote it.

Who is the main character in Chinatown Wars?

The lead is Huang Lee, a young Triad member. His father was recently murdered in Kowloon, and Huang travels to Liberty City to hand over the family heirloom, a sword called the Yu Jian, to his uncle Wu "Kenny" Lee. Our sources do not name a voice actor for him.

Story

Huang is ambushed on arrival. His escort is killed, the sword is stolen and he is left for dead. Kenny had planned to give the sword to Hsin Jaoming, head of the Liberty City Triads, to win his favour in the race to succeed him. Two rivals want that role too: Hsin's son Chan Jaoming and underboss Zhou Ming.

Huang works for all of them while he hunts for the traitor. He gets help from Wade Heston, a corrupt police detective who is being watched by internal affairs. The trail leads back to Kenny himself. Kenny secretly runs a Korean splinter gang, had Huang's father killed for the sword, arranged its theft and framed Zhou and Chan. In the finale Kenny stabs Hsin with the sword, and Huang kills Kenny. Heston arrests Hsin, who offers Huang the leadership. Huang says nothing.

How does drug dealing work in Chinatown Wars?

The best-known system is the drug trade. Huang buys six kinds of drugs from dealers around the city and sells them to others for a profit. Profit depends on reading the market in different parts of the city, so it works like a small trading game on the side. The feature drew criticism. Darren Gold of the charity Drugsline said it glamorised dealing. Dan Houser defended it in Edge as a way to add another layer to the game.

Gameplay

Many actions use the DS touchscreen. You use it for Huang's PDA, the GPS, the radio and throwing Molotovs and grenades. Some cars also need to be hotwired. You can whistle for a taxi with the microphone or a button. The wanted system also changed. To lose a wanted level you destroy police cars, one per star, instead of just escaping a search area. Hidden packages are replaced by CCTV cameras to destroy. The DS supports local wireless multiplayer, and the PSP version supports two players.

When did Chinatown Wars come out on PSP and phones?

Reception and sales

Critics rated it very highly. Metacritic scores are 93 out of 100 for DS, 90 for PSP and 91 for iOS. Eurogamer gave it 10 out of 10, and IGN and GameSpot both gave the DS version 9.5. It won Best Handheld Game at the 2009 Spike Video Game Awards.

Sales were weaker. Wikipedia reports that the DS version sold just under 90,000 copies in the US in its first two weeks. In the UK its first week was below expectations, though it reached number 5 on the chart. The PSP version did not reach the UK top 40.

Its mission scoring, which rates each run, was later reused in The Ballad of Gay Tony. It was also the first handheld GTA since Vice City Stories in 2006.