Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars for iPhone

Despite the dialogue, controls, and save issues, this is still a titan of a game. The iPhone rarely has games as well designed or as long as Chinatown Wars. You’ll spend hours completing the single-player storyline even without exploring the city to its fullest. There are minigames and side distractions that help flush out the experience, and these help push the replay value into the stratosphere. Chinatown Wars is also brutally hard, both likely to frustrate casual gamers and keep experienced players coming back for more.

Rockstar Games doesn’t anything half-way, and the violent, gritty, and epic Chinatown Wars is no exception. It’s a big, ugly, raw title. It’s huge in scale and depth—something iPhone players aren’t used to. If many games play like thin leaflets, consider Chinatown Wars your copy of War and Peace. Minus the Peace.

[The only thing standing between Chris Holt and a life of crime is his gig as an associate editor for Macworld.]