Games Of Spring 2009

Platforms: Nintendo DS

Genre: Action

Release Date: March 17

Rating: M

Though technically it arrives three days before the start of Spring, GTA: Chinatown Wars just might rule the entire season. The first game in the controversial action series to hit Nintendo's smash DS system features a brand new tale of vengeance, startling cel-shaded graphics and controls built specifically for the handheld.

Why It's Hot:

Duh, it's GTA. The developers are Rockstar Games do not take their flagship series lightly, infusing every entry with care and polish. In this case, that includes a fresh comic-book look that breathes new life into the series. Older DS owners -- and there are a LOT of them -- finally get a triple-A mature game for their aging system.

Why It's Not:

Someone once said that a game was only as good as its camera. Chinatown Wars' new rotational camera is somewhere in between the third-person cam most gamers are familiar with and the old top-down view from the first two GTA games. Will it help or hinder the mayhem? And can the DS really process the complexity of Liberty City without suffering some serious slowdown?

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