GTA DS Unveiled in the Latest NP: First Details

The latest edition of Nintendo Power has spilled the beans on Rockstar's GTA installment for Nintendo's DS.

Entitled Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, the game ventures into familiar crime territory with players doing their business in a familiar town but with an all-new visual style.

Follows recent GTA-styled gameplay – open world, crime narrative, sandbox.

Visually uses an isometric camera angle, with cells-shaded polys, black borders.

Touch screen use – "tasteful" minigames.

Interfaced based on a PDA – uses a hub for email, contacts, map, GPS, stats etc.

Stats can be transferred to the Rockstar Social Club using Wi-Fi.

Missions developed for shorter play times, arcade-feel. If players fail, can jump back into the action sequences.

Aiming using the control pad, auto-targetting using the R shoulder button.

Good portion of Liberty City is modelled in the game, though has different routes.

No load time or frame-rate issues – despite having a load of pedestrians and vehicles on screen.

Wanted system: disable police cars any way possible.

Real-time weather effects, 24-hour day/night cycle.

Radio enabled background-tunes, more instrumental than vocals.

No details yet on multiplayer/Wi-Fi features

Thanks to NeoGAF for the lowdown.