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It's time to head off to the nearest Coinstar machine to turn the treasures lost to your couch cushions in to iTunes credit, as this week has some sales you likely won't want to miss. As usual, all of these prices are current as of this posting and because of the nature of App Store price fluctuations it's usually not a good idea to wait very long if any of these games interest you.

The star of the show this week is Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, a game that we not only loved in our review but also awarded 5 stars in our January "Best iPhone Games" round up. For a limited time to celebrate the Chinese new year, Chinatown Wars will be available for $6.99, down from its original $9.99. If you haven't bought this game yet, this is a sale you won't want to miss.

There are also a ton of Namco games on sale:

• ACE COMBAT Xi Skies of Incursion, $6.99 → $2.99
• BurgerTime Deluxe, $1.99 → 99¢
• Dig Dug REMIX, $2.99 → 99¢
• Galaga REMIX, $2.99 → 99¢
• Garters & Ghouls, $4.99 → 99¢
• I Love Katamari, $4.99 → $2.99
• Inspector Gadget, $2.99 → 99¢
• Isaac Newton's Gravity, $3.99 → $2.99
• Mr. Driller, $1.99 → 99¢
• Ms. PAC-MAN, $4.99 → $2.99
• PAC-MAN, $4.99 → $2.99
• PAC-MAN Championship Edition, $2.99 → 99¢
• PAC-MAN REMIX, $2.99 → 99¢
• RIDGE RACER ACCELERATED, $2.99 → 99¢
• Time Crisis Strike, $4.99 → 99¢
• Star Trigon, $1.99 → 99¢

Other noteworthy game sales include:

• Airport Mania: First Flight, $2.99 → 99¢
• Angry Birds, $1.99 → 99¢
• BATTLE BEARS 1.5, $1.99 → 99¢
• Catan, $4.99 → $3.99
• Family Feud, $4.99 → $2.99
• Flower Garden, $2.99 → 99¢
• Low Grav Racer 2, $2.99 → FREE
• MonsterKill, 99¢ → FREE
• Neocell Fighters, $1.99 → 99¢
• Underground , $3.99 → 99¢
• Star Wars The Force Unleashed, $5.99 → 99¢

Of course as usual there are a ton of other games on sale, to see other games with recent price changes, AppShopper has listings of both "popular" games with recent price changes and all games with recent price changes.

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There's a bucket full of games that had their prices slashed this weekend for various reasons. As always, standard App Store disclaimer is in effect in that these prices were all current at the time of this posting. Since sales are often very limited, if you've been waiting for any of these games to see a price drop, you may not want to wait very long before picking them up.

Assassin's Creed II Discovery, $9.99 → $6.99 – A fast paced side scrolling platformer that is highly reminiscent of Prince of Persia. We thought it was cool in our review, although to really enjoy it you need to play the game on third generation hardware, as the framerate on previous-generation devices left much to be desired.

Ravensword: The Fallen King, $6.99 → $4.99 – This impressive open-world RPG was developed by a two man team and features hours of gameplay. We liked the game in our review, and since then the game has been updated to include even more content.

Chop Chopa Ninja, $1.99 → 99¢ – Play as a ninja in this side scrolling beat-em up to rescue a princess. Instead of using on-screen controls, a series of gestures that are taught in the tutorial control the movements of your ninja. For more information check out our post on the game.

Chronicles of Inotia: Legend of Feanor, $2.99 → 99¢ – The first Chronicles of Inotia holds the claim to fame of being the first touch action RPG available on the platform. Released all the way back in 2008, Inotia has since seen a sequel that we enjoyed.

Crayon Physics Deluxe, $4.99 → 99¢ – A really fun physics game released in early 2009 that asks players to solve various puzzles by drawing crayon lines with their finger to create objects in game. You need to pick this up if you like physics games.

Heavy Mach 2, $2.99 → 99¢ – A top down mech game we enjoyed in our review. The sequel is an odd departure from the original which was a side scroller, and both games are worth checking out if you're in to vehicular combat.

iZombieland, $2.99 → 99¢ – One of the few movie tie-in games on the App Store that's actually worth playing. iZombieland loosely follows the movie Zombieland with a side-scrolling Splatterhouse-style beat em up. For more information, check out our review.

Theseus, $3.99 → 99¢ – A puzzle game that places players in a maze where they must escape a minotaur. The catch? The minotaur happens to move twice as fast as you do, but has predictable movements and mastering the game involves learning how the minotaur handles your actions. This was a forum favorite when it was released, and we liked it when we took a look at it.

Underworlds, $2.99 → 99¢ – Still one of my favorite hack and slash RPG's, Underworlds has had tons of content added to it since our initial review of the game. On sale for the Super Bowl, or, apparently, for a week following the Super Bowl if the Colts win.

Car Mania, 99¢ → Free – A traffic management game we had some minor issues with in our review, but you can't really go wrong with a free game– Especially when it comes packed with full OpenFeint integration to pad your OpenFeint score.

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Assassins's Creed 2 was extremely well-received on the PS3 and X360, numbering amongst the stand-out titles of 2009. It's no surprise then that Ubisoft would want to strike while the iron is still hot, and capitalise on the popularity of the franchise. Assassin's Creed 2: Discovery [App Store] is their (somewhat late) answer to that, but does it do justice to its bigger brother?

The Assassin's Creed universe is undoubtedly one of the more unique intellectual properties to hit the gaming world, and offers a rich source of story and background to draw from. The iPhone off-shoot of Assassin's Creed 2, as in the console version, focuses on the protagonist Ezio and his battle against the Templars throughout Italy and Spain. The story operates as an aside to that of the console storyline, and follows Ezio as he tracks down another threat to the Assassins; a hunt that takes him across the seas to Spain.

Assassin's Creed 2: Discovery is essentially a 2D platformer that employs the Assassin's formula of deception, agility and deadly force. There are a few types of missions to complete in Assassin's Creed 2: Discovery; some which require stealth, where being discovered too many times will see you caught; others that throw Ezio into an acrobatic chase sequence; and those where Ezio must simply reach a predefined target. At the end of each level you are (quite ruthlessly) graded for the time you have taken and kills made, and awarded synch points which can then be used to unlock a number of "animus hacks", such as hard mode and a number of cheats.

Ezio is controlled by a left and right slider dictating his walk/run speed and a number of context-sensitive thumb-buttons to control his aerial and combat abilities. Ezio has two speeds of movement: a stealthy creep and an all-out sprint; the latter of which is responsible for some concerns with Assassin's Creed 2: Discovery.

In the first few missions the high speed at which Ezio runs simply means a few important leaps are missed, requiring you to traverse to the top of the level again, resulting in heavy hits to your time score. This would be fine if we were playing a Sonic-of-old where such speed is encouraged by the level design, but when the chase missions begin Ezio's blazing speed will see you unwittingly running into guards, falling over blind jumps into deadly pits, or scaling walls when you intend to drop down them — failing the mission time and time again until you have memorized the level in its entirety. One of our early frustrations with the game was a lack of clear goals at the start of each mission, resulting in some excessive trial and error as you learn about the different types of levels.

Despite it being a 2D platformer, the levels are crafted in 3D, and the attention to detail in both the levels themselves and the characters that populate them is outstanding. The animations, particularly the many 'kill' and counter animations that Ezio performs, are terrifically life-like and a delight to watch; easily some of the best we've seen on the platform to date. The combat mechanics are simple but effective, utilising two buttons to attack and counter in order to dispatch your foes. In fact, if the game didn't tie you so strictly to a timer in many levels, the combat itself may have presented a more enjoyable distraction, rather than something to be avoided.

Assassin's Creed 2: Discovery features 8 memory blocks (read: missions), each comprising a few different sequences. There is a solid amount of content on offer here. While there are some things in Assassin's Creed II that make the game feel like it could have been left in the oven a little bit longer, it's still easily one of the better platformers on the App Store. Be forewarned that the performance on the 3G is rather lackluster, but the game is a visual treat on the 3GS and has a few enhancements (graphics, audio, extras) over the DS version.

App Store Link: Assassin's Creed 2: Discovery, $9.99

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The entire internet seems to be in a frenzy today regarding the unannounced Apple Tablet. Between the CEO of publisher McGraw-Hill confirming its existence and Daily Finance already reporting on things they don't like about it, speculation, rumors, rants, and questions which won't be answered until Steve takes the stage tomorrow are running rampant.

This morning, Stand Alone Inc announced their intentions to bring Crosswords [$9.99] to the rumored Apple tablet device. While they may be jumping the gun a little bit, announcing a game for a device which hasn't even been officially announced, Stand Alone does have a fair amount of street cred' in tablet application development. They were a major developer for the now defunct Apple Newton and authored an impressive library of software for the Newton, which is still available online.

Crosswords is among the better crossword games available on the App Store, and is one of the few games which has lived on my phone since its initial release in 2008. If the Apple tablet does run the iPhone OS as many are speculating, and it has either its own associated App Store or operates off the existing App Store, we expect this will be the first of an avalanche of announcements of software coming to the device.

Apple's keynote begins tomorrow at 10:00 AM Pacific, and will be covered live by nearly every tech-related web site. We will be providing live updates with anything that pertains to gaming, regardless of what is announced, and if Apple's tablet does end up serving as a gaming device, expect tablet game coverage to supplement our existing iPhone and iPod touch coverage.

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TouchArcade forum member Ozzytheking has been on a roll lately discovering cheats inside of Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars [App Store]. Each of these cheats are entered by moving the magnetic letters around on the mission replay board to spell out the various cheats. These mission replay boards can be found inside of any safe house.

Entering any of these codes will change your weapon load out:

LOADOA – Grenade, nightstick, pistol, minigun, assault rifle, micro SMG, and stubby shotgun.
LOADOB – Molotov, tazer, dual pistols, flamethrower, carbine, SMG, and dual-barrel shotgun.
LOADOC – Mine, chainsaw, revolver, flamethrower, carbine, SMG, and dual-barrel shotgun.
LOADOD – Flashbang, bat, pistol, RPG, carbine, micro SMB and stubby shotgun.

Entering these codes have other effects:

CASHIN – Grants $10,000 extra cash.
LIFEUP – Refills your life to full.
SHELLY – Refills your armor to full.
TRIPPY – Unknown
COPIN – Raises your wanted level by 1 star.
COPOUT – Lowers your wanted level by 1 star.

A cheat is successfully entered when the letters return to their original position and a message is displayed at the bottom of the screen. Other cheats are actively being searched for in this thread on our forums and for more information on Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, check out our review.

App Store Link: Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, $9.99

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Three lite versions of games we enjoyed were all released recently. If you don't yet own these games, you really should at least give the lite a spin.

Labyrinth 2 Lite (Full: $4.99) – Quite possibly the best ball rolling game on the iPhone, we really enjoyed Labyrinth 2 in our review.

Like the original game, the goal of Labyrinth 2 is to get the silver ball from the starting point to the goal while navigating walls and avoiding the holes. In the first version, that was pretty much all there was to it. Labyrinth 2, however, adds a number of new elements that graduate the game from simple wooden toy simulator to arcade game.

These elements include cannons, bumpers, doors/switches, magnets, fans, resizers, merry-go-round, duplicators, lasers and more. Navigating the levels still require careful tilt control to avoid falling to your death, but are also more puzzle/goal driven as you must also figure out how to make it to the exit. Levels are timed as before so beating your individual high scores remains the motivator to play a level again. This time, however, they've added a ghost ball representation of your best time for you to directly compete against.

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Heavy Mach 2 Lite (Full: $2.99) – A great sequel of the original Heavy Mach that we liked in our review, Heavy Mach 2 shifts the perspective to an overhead view and adds all kinds of new goodies.

Gameplay in Heavy Mach 2 consists of taking various missions that seem to either have you killing things or collecting things, going out in to the battlefield to fight with your tank and returning with your spoils. As you earn credits and experience by defeating other tanks and completing missions, you can eventually buy tons of weaponry and different upgrades to your tank as you level up.

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Call of Duty: World at War: Zombies Lite (Full: $9.99) – The zombie survival mode from Call of Duty: World at War compacted on to the iPhone. We thought the game was really cool when we got our first look at it.

The game begins with you in a house with boarded up windows. Waves of zombies slowly start attacking and you need to defend against their attacks. Windows are repaired with the press of a button, though having your attention split across the different entrances is a challenge. The ramp up is rather slow, but soon you'll have trouble surviving the oncoming hoard of zombies. As you kill zombies, you earn coins which can be used to buy better weapons which are found throughout the structure.

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Following the unexpected release and somewhat confusing removal of Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed II: Discovery, we managed to get producer Ben Mattes on the phone to discuss the game, but more importantly, the future of Ubisoft's involvement in the App Store.

We were able to clarify what most people have been wondering about, and found out that an updated version of the game will be re-released on February 1st for $9.99, a price that Mattes described as "more than a good value". If you were lucky enough to purchase the game when it was available for a few hours, it appears the updated version shares the same iTunes app ID, and you should be able to download the update following the re-release without issue.

Prior to Assassin's Creed II, Ubisoft utilized their partnership with sister company Gameloft, allowing them to take Ubisoft properties and run with them on the App Store. H.A.W.X. was the most recent product of this partnership, and Discovery represents Ubisoft's first foray in to serious iPhone development.

They've taken the Nintendo DS version of Assassin's Creed II: Discovery and revamped it in nearly every way imaginable from higher resolution graphics, higher bitrate audio, additional game modes, and other goodies such a story designed to supplement the "full" version of the game on home consoles while creating an experience strong enough to stand on its own if you've never played Assassin's Creed II on the XBOX 360 or PS3.

Going forward, Ubisoft plans to treat the iPhone and iPod touch as a serious gaming platform, with games that draw from their extensive library of popular gaming franchises with the same gameplay quality that you would expect from a big-name game studio. Ben Mattes was reluctant to go in to any more detail, but did say to expect some "super-cool content" coming in the following weeks and months, with some of it announced sooner than later.

Mattes foresees multiple iPhone development teams working at Ubisoft for many different games that will spread the gamut of gaming experiences and price points– With everything from cheap and simple casual titles to "premium" games like Discovery.

He assured me that Ubisoft is committed to coming to the App Store in a "big way", but admitted that they have a lot to learn, and quite a bit of information to digest before determining how to best utilize the massive pool of game development resources that Ubisoft has on hand. Ben explained that they're interesting in exploring as many opportunities as possible with the iPhone and iPod touch, which should excite any App Store gamer.

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In the wake of Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars [App Store] our forums have been host to a great discussion surrounding the game, and something that has been popping up quite a bit of debating the merits of each of the different platforms that Chinatown Wars is available for. The iPhone currently holds the advantage when it comes to pricing, but without real physical controls or good targeting system for fighting, both the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP versions hold their own in this battle.

The DS obviously lags behind in the graphical department, but makes up for it with the second dedicated screen for navigation and stylus mini-games– All of which feel much more immersive than the button mashing alternative on the PSP. In regards to whether the PSP or iPhone is host to better graphics, it really seems to be a toss up. The textures in the PSP version appear more crisp and detailed, especially when looking at any signs and the PSP features better shadows, lighting, and reflections. The higher resolution (and seemingly higher quality) iPhone screen combined with the softening of textures and edges of in-game objects makes the iPhone a worthy competitor in visual quality, especially when combined with the high frame rate the game runs at.

Something that isn't immediately apparent until you're comparing the games side by side is how quiet Liberty City is without the pedestrian chatter. You can go rampaging through the streets and it seems everyone is yelling at you on the DS and PSP. It creates a noticeable lack of atmosphere on the iPhone when switching back from the other two versions.

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Which version is the "best" is really a matter of personal taste. The PSP's higher quality textures can often look gritty at times, and while some may prefer the softer look of the iPhone textures, others could see them as blurry. It's hard to compare the DS, especially because of how different the game feels with two screens and how obvious it is that the touchscreen mini-games were designed for a stylus, not buttons or fingers. Also, neither the PSP or iPhone can compete with the requisite DS microphone gimmick of actually whistling to hail a cab.

So which version do we recommend purchasing? Really, you should buy Chinatown Wars for whatever platform you have with you the most when you want to play games. For many people this will be the iPhone, but if you prefer to conserve your battery and play 3D games on a dedicated gaming device, both the DS and PSP versions are totally worth having. Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars is a great game, and it doesn't really matter what platform you're playing it on, as long as you're playing it. You really shouldn't miss this game.

App Store Link: Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, $9.99

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Back in 1997 when the first Grand Theft Auto hit the PC, I doubt anyone at Rockstar (known as DMA Design at the time) expected it to spawn a series that would span ten different games and four expansions over the next thirteen years. Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars [App Store] for the iPhone is an excellent adaptation of a game previously only available on the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP. These prior versions of the game were met with universal acclaim, and according to Metacritic.com Chinatown Wars for the DS holds the title of the highest rated game available for the platform. On the PSP, Chinatown Wars is a close second, beaten only by God of War: Chains of Olympus by a single point.

The recently released iPhone Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars seems to be a hybrid of both the DS and PSP versions, with graphical quality that lies somewhere in between the two games, tutorial elements that reference PSP buttons, as well as some of the cell shaded graphics and all the stylus mini games from the DS. The main difference is how the controls have been adapted to the on-screen virtual joystick and buttons of the iPhone. Like other games that use a similar control scheme, there is always an inherent lack of precision without physical buttons that take a little getting used to, but this didn't hamper my enjoyment of Chinatown Wars in the least bit.

While on foot, a virtual joystick controls character movement, with a button for using whatever weapon you have selected (or your fists) as well as buttons to kick and leap over short fences. When you approach a car, a button appears on the bottom of the screen that you can touch to get in. If you're stealing a parked car, this will often trigger a timed touchscreen mini game where you need to turn a screwdriver in the ignition, twist some wires together, or even insert a PDA and crack the car's security system in order to get the car running without triggering its alarm.

These sequences are pretty neat the first few times you do them, and do an excellent job at adding suspense to police chases as you hastily hotwire a car before the cops converge on your location. Once you're in a car, one of five in-game radio stations start playing and the on-screen controls switch to buttons for accelerating, braking, firing your gun, and by default two buttons to steer right or left. Also available is an analog stick for steering, configurable in the game's options.

The biggest control hurdle new players will come across is learning how to cope with Chinatown Wars' driving assist system, which will automatically keep your car going straight down a road. This can be disabled, but without it perfectly lane splitting on a motorcycle seems to be nearly impossible. I've found myself preferring the default steering buttons over the optional joystick because very little control is required when driving. You really only need to hold a direction to turn, or just tap a direction to make minor adjustments to your position on a road. It feels a little strange at first, but after you make it through the tutorial missions you will be flying through Liberty City without issue.

The plot of the game is classic Grand Theft Auto, with an asian spin, made obvious by the game's title. You play as Huang Lee, the son of a recently murdered Triad boss who comes to Liberty City and unsurprisingly enough winds up knee deep in gang drama. Initially you complete tasks assigned by your Uncle, but it doesn't take long for you to meet other contacts who also require your services. The game continues like any GTA game with missions that involve killing people, stealing cars, driving people around, and other often illegal activities.

Of course, like other games in the series, once you complete the short array of tutorial missions you can disregard the main storyline entirely and instead spend your time roaming around the city, completing the various submissions, seeing how long you can survive with a high wanted level, and dealing drugs to increase your net worth.

Chinatown Wars is packed with a surprisingly fun and full featured drug economy that is highly reminiscent of the Texas Instruments calculator game Dope Wars (Originally a DOS game released in the mid-80's.) that I spent an embarrassing amount of my teenage life playing. As you drive around the city you will meet drug dealers, who are all selling or buying various drugs at different prices. Prices change depending on whose turf you're in, but you have to exercise caution because if you get busted with a car load of coke, you lose it all.

Drug dealing is just one of the many other activites that exist inside the game. Of course Chinatown Wars also has the standard taxi, ambulance, firefighter, and other driving games along with tons of secret items and locations to find. There are scratch off lottery tickets you can try your luck on, and random encounters with pedestrians who will also have various things to ask of you. The amount of depth in Chinatown Wars is unbelievable.

Since the inception of the App Store, quite a few developers have tried their hand at making an open-world crime game. Without much serious competition, most of these games seemed quite good– But even the best pre-Chinatown Wars iPhone games pale in comparison to a real Rockstar Grand Theft Auto. The level of depth is completely unmatched, but most importantly, Liberty City feels alive.

Games like Gangstar are far too sterile, with spotless city streets, stereotypical characters with no personality, and very little to make the environment the game takes place in feel like anything more than a basic sandbox. The streets of Liberty City are filthy, filles with cars, pedestrians, trains, people fighting, and emergency vehicles racing through the streets responding to randomly spawned traffic accidents. The mood and lighting of the city changes with the clock in-game, and even though the story and characters you come across aren't really anything revolutionary compared to other Grand Theft Auto games, the people you meet are usually amusing and of course the game is absolutely loaded with expletives and other racy material that the GTA clones haven't dared come close to.

There are a few issues with Chinatown Wars, the most serious being the lack of a solid targeting system. When you hold down the attack button to shoot or punch, you simply attack whoever you're facing. There isn't a way to cycle through targets, and the only way to stay locked on one target is by holding the attack button which often results in quite a few wasted bullets. It seems like there is a lot of lost potential in not having a touch-based targeting mode.

Chinatown Wars also doesn't have any kind of save state system to save your progress if you get a call or need to answer a SMS when you're in the middle of a mission. Instead the game just quits, and the next time you launch it you're back at your apartment. This can be annoying, but thankfully Chinatown Wars was designed to be a portable game, and as such the missions are usually never more than a few minutes long so the amount of progress you lose is fairly minimal.

One of my favorite things about Grand Theft Auto games is the soundtracks, but the radio stations in Chinatown Wars are fairly limited and it seems that all the pedestrian chatter was also cut. However, once you get sucked in to the game these problems fade away as you immerse yourself in Liberty City.

Chinatown Wars is a massive game, so much so that the few things I've mentioned in this review barely even scratch the surface of what there is to do and all the different features that help you to do them. An excellent in-game GPS system guides you around the city, periodic email messages tip you off to new missions and other things to do, safehouses scattered around Liberty City can be purchased once you're wealthy enough, and there's even multiple save slots so more than one person can play the game on a single device.

Performance on my iPhone 3GS is absolutely outstanding, and according to forum members, Chinatown Wars also runs without issue on the entire iPhone and iPod touch product line. The game is restricted and won't install on the first generation iPod touch, but apparently with a little tinkering can be played just fine. Something worth mentioning is while the download itself is only 188MB, Chinatown Wars requires a little over 600MB free on your device to install.

There is so much to do in Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars that completing the whole thing will likely necessitate a trip to GameFAQs to consult the various guides and maps to find every hidden object and complete every mission– A task that will likely take days of concurrent playtime. For $9.99 App Store gamers can get their hands on a game that sells for two to three times as much on other platforms, representing a substantial value even at a price point reserved for "premium" games on the platform.

Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America's vice president of sales and marketing described Chinatown Wars' sales on the DS as "frustrating", and sadly the PSP version didn't perform any better. In less than 24 hours following its release on the App Store, Chinatown Wars is already the #1 top-grossing app– Something that hopefully other giants of the gaming industry are noticing, as I doubt I'm alone in hoping even more of these "full" console games make their way to the iPhone.

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If you're at all interested in open-world crime games, Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars is by far the best available on the platform and simply cannot be passed up. The sheer amount of content, the amazing graphics, and gameplay that will keep you coming back for more whether you choose to follow the story or rampage through Liberty City on your own is absolutely fantastic.

Now, if you'd excuse me, I've got $50,000 worth of heroin to unload.

App Store Link: Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, $9.99

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Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars [App Store] was quietly released into the App Store this evening. Chinatown Wars for the iPhone seems to lie somewhere in between the DS and PSP versions in regards to graphical quality, but as far as pure GTA gameplay, everything so far seems intact. (Complete with an awful lot of swearing.)

Much like other versions of the game, screenshots barely do it justice. Liberty City in motion on the iPhone is amazing, and all the jagged edges in the screenshots quickly fade away when you're racing down a street, under elevated train tracks, and through alleys as you escape the police. The realtime clock in-game also changes the lighting of the city, shifting from the orange glow of a sunset to the street lights turning on at night. It really looks awesome.

The basic premise of the game involves a man named Huang Lee, the son of a Triad gang boss who was recently sent to sleep with the fishes. He flies in to Liberty City with a heirloom sword his father won in a poker game, deciding to deliver it to his uncle. Of course things never go as planned, and not long after landing Huang finds himself in the middle of a gunfight and winds up getting kidnapped. After stealing the sword, the assailants assume Huang is dead, and looking to dispose of the body drive the car he's in off the side of a pier. In the same vein of other GTA games, story isn't really anything revolutionary, but it gets the job done.

Chinatown Wars is controlled very similar to Gameloft's Gangstar, with virtual buttons and a joystick that handle all the driving, running, shooting, and other activities in game. The iPhone port of Chinatown Wars retains the stylus minigames that filled the DS version, appearing in a little popups where you do things like tap to smash the window of the car you were trapped in at the beginning of the game, slide your finger around to turn a screwdriver to start a car you're stealing, etc.

When the Nintendo DS version was first released, I devoted hours to playing through the game. So far the iPhone port seems like a faithful reproduction with quite a few expletives. I obviously don't have the full text scripts of both games to compare, but everything I've come across so far has fit with what you would expect out of a GTA game, and it would appear that very little if anything was actually censored for the App Store release.

Chinatown Wars seems to be a complete GTA experience. You have your apartment that serves as your character's hub with a "Fruit" computer you can check emails on, a garage you can stash a car in, and when you're on the road there is a full GPS system with a map of Liberty City that you can plot your destination on to easily get from one side of the city to the other. There's all kinds of stat tracking that will tell you everything from how many bullets you've fired to how many fish you've fed and in-game options that offer all kinds of different tweaks to the interface and gameplay.

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We weren't initially sure if this release was intentional, as we expected some amount of pre-release fanfare from Rockstar, but we are going to be working on a full review of this version of the game.

App Store Link: Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, $9.99

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