When comparing GTA: Chinatown Wars vs Terraria, the Slant community recommends Terraria for most people. In the question“What are the best Android games without in-app purchases/paywalls?” Terraria is ranked 9th while GTA: Chinatown Wars is ranked 58th. The most important reason people chose Terraria is:
Terraria uses a bright color palette and an upbeat chiptune soundtrack to ease you into its world. However, once you start exploring and spend time in it you'll notice it's not as cozy as it first seemed to be. Blood Moons that rouse the dead from their graves. Goblin armies trying to destroy everything in their wake. Vast and dark cave systems, filled with odd creatures and various dangers. Ancient ruins, teeming with the restless dead and evil spirits. Pockets of decaying land, thriving with misshapen monstrosities. It's really fun to explore and discover something new about the world of Terraria.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Compelling events make the story interesting
The power struggle between gangs has resulted in the death of your father. You have flown from Hong Kong to avenge your father's death. The missions vary, and all could be plausible making it easy to get lost in the story.
Pro Local multiplayer is more fun than you'd think
The local multiplayer takes advantage of this open-world game in the best ways possible. You can challenge another player to different activities - including Death Races (last alive or first to the finish wins), Stash Dash (get to a delivery van first and make deliveries while the other player tries to stop you), Liberty City Survivor (1v1 battle against your opponent with many police around), and Defend the Base (co-operatively protect targets from incoming bad guys).
Pro Decent graphics
The graphics and lighting effects have been improved over the original version (on the Nintendo DS) to a point where they're good enough for modern mobile gaming.
Pro Controller support for improved controls
GTA: Chinatown Wars has built in controller support which means it is compatible with the Google Nexus Player as well as the Amazon Fire TV. This means you can play it on your phone/tablet with a Bluetooth controller, or on an Android console on the big-screen TV with a Bluetooth controller for an even more console-like feeling.
Note: not all Bluetooth controllers are supported
Pro Intriguing world
Terraria uses a bright color palette and an upbeat chiptune soundtrack to ease you into its world. However, once you start exploring and spend time in it you'll notice it's not as cozy as it first seemed to be. Blood Moons that rouse the dead from their graves. Goblin armies trying to destroy everything in their wake. Vast and dark cave systems, filled with odd creatures and various dangers. Ancient ruins, teeming with the restless dead and evil spirits. Pockets of decaying land, thriving with misshapen monstrosities. It's really fun to explore and discover something new about the world of Terraria.
Pro Allows for freedom of expression for all ages, all at your own pace
Terraria has all kinds of tools and materials you can use to build whatever you can imagine. From housing, to furniture, to weapons, to types of structure, the possibilities are almost endless. This is great for children who enjoy building and problem solving, and for adults who enjoy the same. It also makes for a great objective-less game, where you can do just about anything you want at your own pace.
Pro Playing with friends allows for endless scenarios
Up to 8 players can join any Terraria world. You can progress through the game normally, build a race course and compete in it, or split into factions and wage war against each other. The scenarios are endless, you just have to let loose your creativity.
Pro Lots of community servers, tutorials, and streams
Terraria has a large community of players on every platform including mobile, desktop, and console. Because of this, there are many servers to play on, as well as tutorials and Let's Plays. Finding content or help getting started is quite easy.
Pro Fun combat
It starts out simple, with you whacking away at slow moving zombies and flying eyes, gradually shifting to more fierce and fearsome enemies such as flying demons, agile lizardmen, and many more. To survive you'll have to be always on the move, dodge enemy attacks, and be accurate when you retaliate.
There are also plenty of weapons to choose from. Melee weapons such as swords, hammers, lances, and flails. Ranged weapons such as bows, crossbows, rifles, and miniguns. And various items that allow you to cast spells. Whatever you choose, it feels great to destroy hordes of enemies.
Cons
Con Controls on touchscreen are not that good
Driving can be pretty difficult with the touch screen controls, though there are two different settings, so one may work better than the other.
Con Not an original game
While not a con for everybody, this game has virtually nothing new about it. It was originally launched for the PSP (PlayStation Personal) and Nintendo DS (dual screen - new generation of GameBoy). The tutorial is borrowed from the PSP version, while it retains the mini games from the DS version.
Con Progress can feel slow
Quite often you'll have to collect tons of materials to craft the necessary tools, equipment, and boss summoning items to advance. This can take a really long time, especially if you're unlucky with the items dropped by mobs.
Con Low replay value for those who play it as an adventure game
Terraria is a sandbox platform-adventure game, so it partly hinges on beating various bosses. If you play it purely for the sake of defeating all the bosses, you might have little else to do afterwards. Restarting the game won't be as enjoyable either because you'll already know what to expect, causing continued play without a new goal feel mundane or boring.