Grand Theft Auto DS Gets Majority of GTA4 Land Mass

Most of Liberty City, and not just Chinatown, will make the jump to Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars (DS).

A feature in Nintendo Power magazine explains that four of Liberty City's five boroughs will fit in the handheld mayhem sim in the works at Rockstar Leeds. Alderney, the New Jersey-esque mafioso suburbia, is sitting out while Dukes, Bohan, Broker and Algonquin will be playable.

In addition to being land-rich, Chinatown Wars will be feature-filled as well. A cel-shaded Liberty City will be viewable through a 360-degree rotating camera, though the perspective will be primarily top-down. The world will be populated with pedestrians and vehicles, just like the game's console cousins.

Aside from being used for hotwiring and drug-dealing mini-games, the touch screen will serve as a PDA, which can be used for emails, showing the map, GPS navigation, controlling the radio, and statistics, which can be uploaded over the DS' Wi-Fi connection.

"This has the full weight and energy of a GTA production," said producer Dan Houser in an interview with the magazine.

All that scope and ambition has carried a price, as publisher Take-Two announced last week that Chinatown Wars has been

delayed until between February 1 and April 30 of next year.