Gang$tar: West Coast Hustle manages to bring the look, feel and fun of Grand Theft Auto to the iPhone/iPod Touch.
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is easily one of the most popular games in the controversial series, and
Gang$tar: West Coast Hustle is a nice, if truncated homage compressed into your phone. The game stars two Latino gang members, fresh from a bank robbery, who lay low in L.A. and managed to get involved with street rivals, crime lords and the cops. It isn’t politically correct and the storyline, though narrated well, really isn’t that deep. The main focus is on the action. The view is similar to
Grand Theft Auto – in 3D, situated just behind your character. Your hero runs through the metropolis via a surprisingly accurate touchscreen pad and, based on contextual buttons, can steal cars, throw fisticuffs or fire weapons. Driving is done by tilting the unit, which works well. Missions are given by different bosses and, like similar games, involve everything from assassinations to, well, grand theft auto. The visuals are outstanding: The horizon line is far, so you can see well ahead of you as you drive, and the characters are well defined. It is a graphic intensive game, so first-generation iPhones/iPod Touches run best without the iPod music playing and, for iPhones, in Airplane Mode – otherwise, it is a smooth experience.
Two gripes with Gang$tar: West Coast Hustle. First, like many Grand Theft Auto-inspired games, the Latino stereotyping is insane here. Expect to here “ese” and “homie” 20 times during the first five minutes. Second, I would have liked more mission options. Often we’re given a choice between a couple different actions compared to, say, three or four offered in other similar games. However, these problems tend to melt away the first time you outsmart the aggressive cops, win a drag race or eliminate a major boss. Gang$tar: West Coast Hustle puts the 3D Grand Theft Auto in the palm of our hand – and will definitely hold you over until the next GTA game.
Publisher: Gameloft
Genre: Adventure
Release Date: August 2009
Platform: iPhone/iPod Touch
Other Platforms: None
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
