Foxkei

Grand Theft Auto IV - The game was called the “greatest game of all time” by some reviewers. That’s mighty high expectations to live up to.

A good game it is, The greatest, it is not.
Grand Theft Auto has always been a series of innovation, and now, after number 4, it’s beginning to feel a little tiring. The storyline is similar to any other previous LC game. A guy comes. He needs money. So he works. He is seeking vengeance on someone. Sure, that was great back in 2001, but, why the hell, 7 years later, has Rockstar not came up with anything new?

What changed from GTAIII to IV?

GTAIII - Guy gets out of prison after being betrayed
GTAIV - Guy gets off boat, looking for someone who betrayed him

GTAIII - Guy does missions
GTAIV - Guy does missions

GTAIV - Story is slightly revealed

GTAIII + IV - Guy does more missions.

GTAIV - Slightly more story is revealed, again.

etc…

So what is new in the game?

You can watch TV. You can go out on dates, or just hang with friends.
Fun?

To a point, but it feels like it just drags the game out more. No doubt that having your friends, and there special abilities is pretty cool. But, it seems like such a waste of time.

So lets discuss more:

Graphics: - Now, GTAIV has some decent graphics, but they aren’t the best. What it does well, is make things look nicer, and the PS3 version is easily superior in my opinion to the 360. There are still lots of problems with the games though, which have been around since 2001……and still haven’t been fixed. You will still roll/jump/get out of the car/etc and find Niko going into walls/cars/building/objects/other people/etc. Why is this still happening?

Sound: - The game sounds good. They got a lot of actual music, that many people will know, and more importantly, Lazlow’s Back!

However, Sound is another problem with the game. Why? I can’t help but feel that the 360 really gimped what could have been an awesome soundtrack.

Now before you jump on my back, here’s why: Sure, the radio stations are great, but they only carry 1 game day’s worth of content. And really, that sucks. Who wants to hear Lazlow blab about the same damn thing day after day at the exact same time everyday? I don’t.

Take doing missions. If you ever replay missions (because you died, got busted, etc) there is often some change in dialogue. It usually switches back and forth between 2 different conversations. I like that. However, I wish there was more, or that Niko could participate in some of them.

Now, had the game been for the PS3, I do really think that they could have done more days worth of content, and added more dialogue, just for the simple fact of, more room on the disc.

Controls: - No surprise. I really, did not appreciate these new controls. There are some good things, but I hated the first layout. I stuck to the “classic” control mode at all times. My biggest complaint was that it was very had to freelance aim your gun, because, it seemed like every time i tried, I had about 5 seconds to aim, then suddenly my gun was firing, rather then letting me scope everything out.

AI + City: - Now regardless of what you may think, the AI in Liberty City is incredibly stupid. How is it, if my car is all banged up, Blood is smeared everywhere on my car, that a Cop doesn’t go “hey, look at that guy”, and suddenly try and pull me over. Now I’m not saying I want the most realistic game ever, but it seems rather stupid to go by like 20 Cop Cars (and 1 or 2 police stations), and not once would I be flagged down to be pulled over.

I can also, never, EVER, understand, how a tree can stop my car instantly, yet a well made lamp post can’t.

Nor can I understand the amazing amount of crappy, vehicles appearing out of no where in the game. I once had a bus suddenly appear right in front of me driving, and, one time, when I was being chased, I looked back, only to look forward again and ram into a cop car that wasn’t there 5 seconds ago, to increase my wanted level. Ridiculous.

Fun Factor: - As talked about previously, GTAIV does not strand far from any other previous GTA title. It is much the same.

One of the CRAZIEST parts I’ll never understand in this game, is how we can make choices in the game, yet, they have so little effect in the overall picture. Sure, they have some, but really, for the most part, it simply changes a couple of lines of dialog, instead of having characters break out in gun fights, and making things much more difficult, and changing (aka missing certain plot points) in the game.

So I give this game the score of: 84%. it’s a good game. A fun game, but there are too many things wrong, too many things not perfected, too many things not new for this game to get a higher score.