To paraphrase the well-known catechism "Rockstar giveth and Rockstar taketh away"....
A well-known gaming website gave Grand Theft Auto IV 10/10 upon its release, and awarded it 10/10 in each individual category. By contrast, almost every user review on the same site lambasted GTAIV as being 'boring', 'lame', 'overhyped', and some even went so far as to accuse professional reviewers of being bribed by Rockstar. But which is true? Is GTAIV a perfect piece of gaming magic? Or is it a boring overhyped slice of crap? Actually neither viewpoint is really accurate.
What you get out of GTAIV depends largely on what you expect from it. If you've played GTA:San Andreas to death and sat there thinking "Wow, the only thing cooler than this would be if you could like, watch TV in your safehouse and call up the other characters whenever you wanted to go out drinking!" Then you'll be in luck because those features have been added to the game. If you also thought "Wow, this game has way too many features, it would be cooler if they removed almost every side mission, customisation aspect, weapon, item, vehicle, the whole countryside thing, the ability to jack planes and trains, the diving, jetpacks and parachutes, property and business acquisition and the whole gang warfare steez, yo!" Then your luck is in, because those things have also been removed (And you also need to stop using dated hip-hop slang to append sentences).
The whole game has been stripped down to the foundations and rebuilt from scratch. The glitchy, laughable graphics, AI and physics from the last generation have been ditched in favour of sexy new looks, vastly improved enemy and pedestrian routines, and weighty ragdoll physics that make running over someone brutally satisfying (If you're into that sort of thing). The setting is the real star here, a brand spanking new Liberty City that's so well drawn and realised that you'll find even a ride in the backseat of a taxi a perfect alternative to carjacking, as you watch the neon and concrete slip by. The character models are somewhat less accomplished, with pedestrians looking like Hi-Res versions of the PS2 city dwellers.
So we've established that the game looks great and is beautifully presented. What now? Well, here's where the greatest divergence in opinion is likely to occur. On the one hand, what you have here is a very good action game that happens to have cars in it. The all new cover system makes gunfights much more skillful and satisfying than in previous games, the car physics are solid, and the story and dialogue are, for the most part, a sombre and mature counterpoint to the cartoonish antics of previous games. On the other hand, you've got a sandbox game where there isn't really have that much to do outside of the main missions. Videogame concessions like floating guns and hearts, police bribes, comedy collectibles and wacky vehicles are gone. While the police sidemissions have been revamped and made much more enjoyable, all the other R3 missions are MIA. In addition, Niko's comparative frailty means that doing crazy stuff like jumping off buildings and rampaging through the city killing cops will result in a very quick death. As a result, you tend to stay within the law wherever possible, and since there's no cool secrets to find, you don't explore much either. This in turn means that what should have been the best GTA location ever built, is in fact little more than a pretty backdrop for the action of the main missions.
The story takes a while to get going. Perhaps as a concession to the new generation of GTA fans, early missions are very basic and consist of little more than fetching and carrying, with the occasional murder thrown in to keep the tabloids frothing from their ill-informed chops. As an example, one rival sandbox game has a first mission which sees the protagonist wake up from a coma, break his way out of prison by attacking the guards and escaping over the rooftops, dodge police helicopters and ground units and then steal a motorboat to flee the scene. By contrast, GTAIV's opening mission consists of getting in a car and driving your fat cousin to his apartment. Once it does pick up though, it's inarguably the best GTA story yet, with Niko haunted by a past that's about to catch up with him, and various morality choices peppered throughout the game which can affect the ending you view on completion. While the scope of the missions is never as varied as San Andreas due to the more realistic nature of proceedings, the execution is spot on. It's obvious that a great deal of time has been spent on getting the story up to scratch and paring away the comical distractions to make the whole thing as gritty as possible. Sadly, even judged strictly as an action game, there are a few major flaws. There are still no checkpoints to missions, so you have to start from scratch every time you fail or die. A text message sent to Niko's phone allows an instant retry should he blow it, but even that's pretty useless because you have to refill your armour, health and ammo manually before you restart the mission. There's still no mission select either, so if there is an episode you particularly like, you'll have to play through the entire game again to get to it.
Once you've beaten the game you'll probably spend most of your time online in the multiplayer modes. It has to be said, the online mode blows its only close rival (Saint's Row on the XBOX360) so far out of the water that it was last seen orbiting Neptune. There's a huge range of game types from typical deathmatches to more intricate team endeavours, or if you just want to play around, free mode allows you the run of the whole city, with you and up to 15 other players raising hell wherever and however you wish. You can even have the police turned off so that there really is no limit to the carnage. The online features go some way towards making up for the lack of any real diversions from the story game, but you can't help feel that there must be a compromise possible somewhere. If Rockstar stay true to form and release a follow-up using the same game engine, perhaps the balance between balls-out fun and serious reflection can be redressed slightly. Until then we have Grand Theft Auto IV, a flawed, beautiful, serious, weighty hint of what's possible in the new generation of videogaming, and as the title states, a great action game.
GTA4 is the most hyped game of all time. It made Rockstar 500 Million dollars in its first week. On it's first day GTA4 sold 3.6 million copies of the game making Rockstar 310 Million dollars on it's first day. Let's put that into perpective. Halo 3 made $170 million on it's first day, Spiderman 3 made $60 Million on day 1 and the latest Harry Potter book made $220 million in 24 hours. GTA4 has entered the Guinness Book Of Records for the being the biggest selling entertainment of all time. Every single professional game reviewer (for both Magazines and Gaming Websites like IGN) gave GTA4 a 10/10 a week before the game was on the shelves. Was it just the hype that pressurized those reviewers to give GTA4 a perfect score?? In all honestly..yes. I can guarantee though that this will be a 100% unbiased review. I'm not going to make it sound better like what the professional reviewers have done. I'm going to be totally honest with this review based on my experience with the game. If something is bad I will tell you. I'm a massive GTA fan. I've been waiting for GTA4 for literally the last 2 years. I've been a regular poster in the Neoseeker GTA4 Forum since day one. Like many others I've been waiting patiently for Rockstars next masterpiece. However after 2 years of waiting and speculating I finished the game 100% within just over a week and starting a new game felt like a chore rather then a desire.
Don't get me wrong GTA4 is brilliant but it lacks what made previous games so great and long lasting. Fun. People keep going on about the new features that have been added such as the new Cover System, climbing ladders, greatly improved graphics, the new Wanted system, in-game internet, mobile phone etc etc however there has been an awful lot of stuff removed since San Andreas that has made the game less fun and too serious. Here are just a few things that have been removed since SA: Gambling, Casinos, Swimming Underwater, Turf Wars, R3 Missions (taxi, paramedic and firefighter), Planes, Jetpack, Country Side, Parachutes, Rampages, Flamethrower, Customization (tattoos, haircuts etc etc), customizing vehicles, Burglary, bicycles, Police Bribes and much more. The stuff that GTA4 has gained simply do not make up for what we lost. We'll take what we are given though and while GTA4 lacks a lot that makes GTA great it's still a solid game and it still belongs in every PS3 owners disc tray.
Not for the Sensitive Before I start the Review let me just say that GTA4 is an 18+ game for a very good reason. There is frequent use of the F word. There are a lot of drug and sex references in the game too. If you are a parent reading this then I strongly recommend not buying GTA4 for your child. You can visit strip clubs and get a private dance in the backroom. You can sell drugs for a friend. You can pick up a prostitute on the street and take her somewhere remote to have sex with her. In fact for the first time we actually see the prostitute having sex with Niko in the car. He can even choose what he wants. $20 for masturbation, $50 for oral and $70 to go the whole way. If you pay $70 you can watch as the girl gets on top of Niko and bounces up and down on his lap. The game makes fun of Cancer patients, Aids sufferers, fat people, midgets and even children through the Stand Up Comics at the Comedy Club. The game touches on Pedophilia on the Radio Stations and on the In game internet too. The main character Niko never uses drugs however he has no problem getting drunk and driving home. He doesn't mind having 5 girlfriends at one time and he's always up for a quickie with a hooker. There is also a lot of cursing throughout the game. Of course there is also a lot of mindless killing. I am a parent too and there's no way I'd ever let my child witness GTA4.
So now that I've got the negatives out of the way let's discuss the actual game in detail
Story
GTA3 had Claud Speed, Vice City had Tommy Vercetti and San Andreas had Carl Johnson. This time our protagonist is an Eastern European called Niko Bellic. Niko is a criminal back in his homeland for smuggling people in containers to Italy. He joins the marines in an attempt to escape his criminal past. After months at sea he starts getting Emails and letters from his cousin Roman who lives in Liberty City. In his Emails Roman brags of having a mansion, fast cars and regular orgies with sexy blond bombshells. Niko decides to quit the marines and live the highlife with his cousin in Liberty City. However as soon as Niko gets off the boat at the docks of Liberty City he realizes that Roman was lying in his letters. There are no fast cars, big mansions and sexy double D cup ladies waiting for him. Instead Roman lives in a run down apartment and runs a local Taxi firm. He is deep in debt due to his gambling habits and when Niko arrives things only get worse. Nobody knows exactly where Niko is from. He speaks with a Russian accent and on occasion he speaks Russian to Roman however throughout the story subtle hints are given that Niko is in fact not Russian. Occasionally somebody will thank him by saying 'thanks my Russian friend' and Niko will respond by saying 'I am not Russian'. We never truly find out where Niko is from. What we do know however is that he's a 30 year old who experienced the War as a child and who has a very dark past.
The Story plays out like every other GTA. When you beat a mission an icon on your radar will point you in the direction of the next mission. There is one major difference though. For the first time in a GTA game there are multiple endings. At key points throughout the story you are given a choice. The choices you make may result in a different outcome. For example you may be asked to kill a certain character but on your way to kill him you get a phone call from somebody asking you to spare his life. The choices are entirely up to you. This gives the game great replay value as the second time you play through the game you will experience a different ending.
The Story itself is top notch with many twists and turns as you'd expect. Voice acting is superb even though all the voice actors are unknowns. There are very few celebrities this time though. SA had Jenna Jameson and Samuel L Jackson however GTA4 has almost zero celebrities. Ricky Gervais makes an appearance as a Stand Up comedian in a local comedy club and Thin Lizzy is the DJ of Liberty Rock Radio but apart from that you will struggle to find any familiar names when the credits roll.
Graphics GTA games aren't known for it's graphics in the past. The reason is because there was so much crammed onto a PS2 disc that there was simply no space to add great graphics. Thankfully that has changed. The Graphics of GTA4 are outstanding. Not an par with games like Uncharted or Call Of Duty 4 but still a massive leap forward from PS2.
Characters look and act realistic. Hands are no longer a simple block attached to an arm, this time the fingers are modeled on each and every character in Liberty City. Creases on clothes and fabric act as they should and fire and explosions really show off the graphics in all its glory.
Cars have a beautiful next gen sheen and look stunning and any bulletholes from firefights remain on your car.
Unfortunately I don't have an HDTV yet so I have to make do with a normal SD telly but even so the graphics are still a lot better then SA. The great graphics do come at a price though. The Bluray disc used for the PS3 can store 10 times as much as the discs used on the PS2. However GTA4 is also on the XBox360 which unfortunately uses the same disc format as PS2...DVDs. So Rockstar were limited to the DVD. This meant that we get outstanding graphics however it also meant that much of the extra stuff like side missions had to be dropped due to space restrictions.
Gameplay A lot has changed since SA. In fact almost every aspect of the game has been overhauled. Rockstar pushes the envelope this time round and tried hard to make the game feel as realistic as possible. Some might say that it's too realistic and in some areas I tend to agree. Driving has been changed massively. It's not better, it's not worse it's simply different. Cars move and act like real cars. Fast cars are prone to over steer while bikes tend to under steer. It takes a lot of getting used to. The stopping distance has increased dramatically for all vehicles too. Movement got a look in too as Niko moves differently from CJ. He has a certain weighty feel to him. He's slightly slower and his movements feel sluggish at times. He's not fast to react either as sometimes you have to press a button twice to get Niko to respond like climbing a ladder for example.
There are a lot less gameplay elements this time round too. Parachutes are gone and so are planes. You won't be flying around in a Jet Pack either or playing Blackjack at a local casino. Rockstar told us that they wanted Niko to be as down to earth as possible. They said having a 30 year old 'Russian' flying planes and base jumping from high buildings wouldn't be realistic. They are of course correct but who cares? Fun is what is important in GTA games and they've pretty much sucked the fun right out of GTA4. How long did SA last you? A month, a year? Some people are still playing SA today...because it's so damn fun. Well you'll be lucky if you're still playing GTA4 in 3 months time (unless you’re online). Aside from doing the missions and the odd side mission there is very little incentive to just explore the city this time round. Even going on a rampage is difficult this time with the new Cop AI. Cops are lot smarter in GTA4. They cut you off, take shortcuts to catch up with you and even follow you into buildings and over fences. Sounds cool right? However if you're bored in Liberty City and decide to just cause some mayhem you will be disappointed as rampages rarely last longer then 5 minutes. The cops are everywhere too. Every street corner seems to have a cop on the beat. You can't fire off one bullet without attracting some attention.
Liberty City The city itself is as much a character as any other character in GTA4. Don't let the name fool you though. You might think it's just the same city from GTA3 and Liberty City Stories on the PSP and PS2 but with improved graphics. It's not. In fact it's 100% different from the Liberty City we know from previous games. Not a single road or junction even feels familiar to LC of the past. The name is literally the only similarity it has to LC from GTA3 and LCS. The city itself is not massive nor is it small. It is a lot smaller the San Andreas though. There are no woodland areas or desert area in LC. It's pretty much all buildings and roads. There is the odd park here and there but mostly it's a paved paradise.
It is however much higher. Some buildings can be entered and scaled to the very top (which often leaves you wishing you had a parachute). Many buildings can be entered but not all. In fact most of them can't be entered. One great thing though is the lack of loading between entering and exiting a building. If you walk into a door Niko simply pushes the door open and walks in without any loading whatsoever. Liberty City contains 3 major islands which are connected via bridges. The islands are named Bohan, Algonquin and Alderney and they represent New York City and its boroughs. Each island has its own unique feel with Bohan being the lower class place to live, Algonquin is where 'Times Square' is located which in GTA4 is called Star Junction and Alderney is where most of the industrial buildings are located. At the beginning of the story all the bridges are closed due to a Terrorist scare. As you progress each island opens up just like in past games.
The Subway system is definitely worth a mention. GTA4 features the best ever Subway system ever realized in a game. It's no longer just 1 small platform like in SA. Instead we are given a vast network of extremely realistic underground tunnels and platforms with turnstiles, buskers, homeless people and even the odd fight. All of the train stations come with their very own PA system announcing the trains arrival/departure. Unfortunately the Subway is rarely used throughout the game. So unless you go out of your way to find the entrance to the underground tunnels you'll probably never experience it in all its glory.
The inhabitants of Liberty City are worth a mention too. Liberty City feels alive thanks to the outstanding population. Pedestrians go about their business like in real life. You'll see people answering their mobile phone, carrying shopping bags, drinking a cup of coffee, listening to their MP3 player, unloading bags from the boot of their car, trying to fix their car with the bonnet open, doing yoga in the park etc etc. You'll see cops chasing criminals then catch them and escort them back to the police car. If pedestrians see you steal a car they might take out their mobile and call the cops. If there's an accident they'll call for an ambulance. It really feels like the city is alive and not revolving around you.
So what's new? While there is a lot of features gone there are also some added. GTA4 is set in the present day of 2008. Therefore we get technology that we would have in real life. The Mobile Phone plays a massive part throughout the game. You use it to call girlfriends and other characters. Sometimes people will ring you directing you to the next mission and the camera function on the phone is used in a few missions too. You can even dial 911 to call the police, ambulance or fire department. If you're low on health with no health nearby simply call for an ambulance and a paramedic will come to your location to treat your wounds. You can even change the ringtone and background of the phone and you can buy more ringtones and themes from the ingame internet. Yes there is a fully functioning internet in GTA4. Obviously it's not the real internet but its content is vast. There are literally hundreds of websites you can go to in the game and every one of them contains typical GTA humor such as babiesovernight.com, craplist.com and electrictit.com which contains porn videos that have been 'flagged as inappropriate'. There is also a dating website where you can find girlfriends to date. You could literally spend an hour or 2 just browsing the internet and laughing at every site you visit.
We can now climb ladders for the first time which is used a lot throughout the game. Many buildings have ammo and health on the roof so you'll be climbing a lot of ladders. Unfortunately Niko isn't quick to climb ladders. Sometimes it takes a couple button presses before Niko will grab onto a ladder and begin his climb. We also can't jump onto a ladder so if a ladder is only a couple feet off the ground you'll have to improvise by getting a car to give you that extra height.
Ammo and health are no longer a massive bright icon hovering above the ground like in previous games. Ammo lies on the ground with a slight glow and health is a medkit attached to a wall. They are more difficult to spot but do add to the realism of the game.
R3 Missions are a thing of the past too. Firefighter, Paramedic and Taxi missions are gone leaving only Vigilante. If you steal a Police Car you can press L1 to bring up the Police Computer. Here you can choose from Vigilante, Most Wanted and Search Records. Vigilante is the same as before, simply pick from 3 crimes recently reported then go to the location and take care of the perp. Most Wanted is very similar except there is a list of 10 people on each of the 3 islands and you need to take them out. Search Records brings up an onscreen keyboard and you type in the name or upload a photo from Nikos phone and the computer will tell you where to find him. Some main missions require you to access a Police computer to find the location of certain characters.
The biggest change though is the cover system. We now have the ability to duck behind objects like walls or cars. A press of R1 makes Niko stick to the wall. You can then peek out, shoot and then return to cover. While this is a great new feature it also makes gunfights a lot easier then in past games. You can simply pick off each enemy one at a time then move forward a bit and take cover behind another object and repeat the process. It's very similar to Uncharted Drakes Fortune on the PS3. However Uncharted pulled it off a lot better and more fluid. Niko sometimes takes cover on the wrong side of a pillar which leaves him exposed and because Niko is often slow to react getting him away from cover can sometimes lead to some frustrating moments.
The targeting system has also gotten a makeover but personally I don't really see a massive improvement. You can lock on to a character by fully pressing L2 and you can change targets with the left stick. Unfortunately sometimes Niko will target a pedestrian in the distance rather then the guy holding a shotgun 10 feet away. It's not something that happens a lot but it does happen and it can be very frustrating in the heat of battle. If you half press on L2 Niko will free aim. This allows you to get headshots or perhaps shoot a guy in the leg or shoot his gun out of his hand if he's hiding behind cover.
So what else is new?
By far the best improvement from a graphical standpoint is the new Euporia Engine also known as RAGE Engine. GTA4 makes use of a new engine developed especially for GTA4 and it is extremely impressive. It controls character movement and the new ragdoll physics. View the brief video below to see it in action.
Its job is to ensure that everything moves and behaves like real life. It doesn't just effect Niko, it's in place on every single character in the game including pedestrians. For example if you're driving slowly and come within inches of hitting a pedestrian head on he'll take a step back and put his hands on your bonnet while still being slowly pushed back (then start cursing you for nearly hitting him). If you hit someone at speed their body might smash your windscreen then get thrown head over heels in the most realistic of ways. If you have your car door open while parked don't be surprised if a car speeds past taking your door clean off the hinges. You can do it yourself too by reversing into a pole with the door open. Even more enjoyable to watch is when Niko gets hit by a car. His legs collapse from underneath him and his body smacks off the bonnet of the car before coming to a sudden stop when he hits the pavement at which point he might hold his leg in agony. If you're traveling at speed and suddenly hit a wall Niko will be thrown through the windshield and catapulted 100s of meters while his body bends and buckles from the impact of the ground till he slides to a stop. Stand at a curb and Niko will put one foot on the curb. Even when inside a car you can see the effects. If you hit something Niko will shunt forward or jerk backwards if you're in reverse. The RAGE Engine might not seem like anything massive but it truly makes the game a more worthwhile and realistic experience. The RAGE Engine is also responsible for vehicle damage which is by far the best vehicle damage I have ever seen (and I've played Burnout Paradise). From a slight vendor bender that leaves a couple scratches to a major collision which leaves your bonnet buckled and the wheel bent, the crashes are a marvel to behold. The damage done seems to be always different depending on the crash too. If you hit a pole there'll be a distinct pole imprint left in your bonnet. Whether you hit the pole in the centre of the bonnet or if you hit it with the left or right side of the car the impact leaves the damage exactly where it should be. If you manage to overturn a Police Car and damage the lights on the roof you will notice that it had an effect on the police siren as suddenly the siren will sound like its batteries are dying.
There are many minor touches in the game that on its own seems unimportant but as a whole makes the game more believable. For example, if you get a phone call when driving a car you will hear interference on the radio a couple of seconds before the phone rings. In one mission you are driving with a character that is smoking a joint in the car. If you smash your window you will see smoke bellowing from the window.
The next new feature is the way you evade the cops. If you attract attention from the cops a police radius circle appears on your radar. The more stars you have the larger the radius circle is. If you manage to escape that circle without being spotted you've lost the cops however if the cops see you the radius will re-center on your current location. It's an ingenious system and works very well, not to mention it makes sense. Once the cops loose sight of you you need to avoid being spotted till you escape the circle. Get spotted and the circle recentres on your location. Simple yet effective.
Controls The controls are different from what you are used to if you've played past games. On foot is mostly the same. Holding X is to sprint, triangle is enter/exit vehicle and climb ladders, square is jump and O is attack. However this time O is not used for shooting. Instead L2 and R2 are for gunfire. L2 is to target an enemy and R2 is to shoot. If you half-press L2 you can manual aim which is handy for getting headshots. L1 is to use certain objects and interact with the environment. For example you press L1 to buy a hotdog from a street vendor, play pool in a bar or hail a taxi. R1 is to get behind cover. To crouch is L3 and R3 is to look behind you which is awkward when you're running from the cops and you want to look behind you as you need to take your finger off the X button which is used to sprint in order to press R3. The directional buttons are used to cycle through your available weapons.
The In-car controls are different this time. X is no longer used to accelerate and square and O are no longer brake and handbrake. Instead R2 is accelerate and L2 is brake and reverse. R1 and the X button are now the handbrake. L1 is what you use to do drive-bys which this time is 360 degrees. Niko will put his hand out the window and fire in any direction the camera is facing. Square is used to change weapon as another new feature is the ability to use different weapons in your car. You can use an UZI, a pistol or you can throw grenades and Molotov cocktails out the window. To look behind you you use the R3 button and to use the cars horn you press L3.
The controls do take a lot of getting used to. They can be awkward at times and on occasion they can lead to some frustration. However after a while of playing you do adapt to the new control scheme and before you know it you will be well used to them.
The Missions This is yet another area of disappointment (don't worry there are no spoilers in this paragraph).There are over 90 missions in GTA4 yet only 2 or 3 are memorable. Rockstar are really running out of ideas as the first 20+ missions are pretty pathetic to say the least. Usually you are required to get a vehicle, drive to point B, kill X, drive back to point A. It may vary slightly in the layout but in general the majority of the missions are very repetitive. There are a couple of original missions in there but still nothing great. You won't be parachuting onto a dam, driving a motorbike onto the back of a plane, infiltrating a high security complex, stealing bikes and driving them onto a Packer, participating in gangwars, burning weed crops or any of the outstanding missions we all loved from past games. The missions in GTA4 feel very small scale compared to what we are used to. Don't get me wrong there are a few corkers in there but it's only one great mission for every 20 mediocre missions.
The sidemissions are nothing special either. Remember the Import/Export crane whereby we were shown a list of cars and whenever we brought back a car it would get stroked off the list? Well there's something similar in GTA4 but it's very badly implemented. Instead of finding cars at our leisure we are now sent a text with a brief explanation of the whereabouts of 1 certain car and a photo of the car. It doesn't matter if you have that same model car back at your safehouse. It has to be the vehicle at this location. This means you can't simply carjack a car and bring it to the garage. Instead you have to find this one certain car which is usually extremely well hidden. You won't get a text for the next car till you get this car so you can't get any cars in advance.
The Street Races are done in a similar manner. You need to call a certain character whenever you fancy competing in a race. He will tell you where a race is being held. You can't decide which race you want to do. The next race will be unlocked when you beat the current race. There is no list of races anywhere that lets you choose which one you want to do so instead you have to go through them one at a time till you beat them all. If you beat them all but want to beat your time on a certain race you have to do each of them again till you get to the one you want.
Sound & Music The sound fx in GTA4 are outstanding. Every borough of Liberty City has its own ambience background. You can almost close your eyes anywhere in LC and know exactly where you are simply by listening to the street noises. Birds chirp around the parks, trains rumble underground in Star Junction, machinery operate in the industrial zones etc etc. Every vehicle has its own distinct sound too and every surface produces a different sound when Niko runs on it. Whether it be carpet, sand, metal, pavement or tiles it all sounds just right.
The dialogue is brilliant too and the voiceovers did an excellent job of bringing the characters to life. Pedestrians have over 2000 lines of dialogue so you'll rarely hear the same sentence twice.
The music however is where it hurts. GTA4 has an impressive 19 radio stations covering a massive range of genres from Rock to R&B. Unfortunately though each station loops every 10-15 minutes. Many of the stations are not worth listening to either as some of them are quite simply rubbish. You'll probably experiment at first to see which station you like best and then you'll be constantly tuning to that station every time you get in a car. After a while of playing you'll have heard everything on that station 3 or 4 times already which forces you to try some of the other mediocre stations. So why are the stations so bad? Well of course this is just an opinion as everyone has different tastes in music but after 80 hours of playing the game I've only heard about 2 or 3 songs that I recognize. Past games had some big names like Phil Collins, Blondie, Foreigner, Toto, Guns n Roses and many more however GTA4 has almost zero big names. Queen is on Liberty Rock Radio which is great to sing along to and Kanya West also has a song on one of the stations but apart from that I honestly struggle to find something worth listening to. With GTA4 being set in the present day I expected to hear some big names and some songs that are in the charts today but instead we are given a load of underground songs that nobody has ever heard. The 2 talk radio stations (WKTT and LCR) are fun to listen to but you can only listen to the same skit so many times before they become boring.
Replay Value GTA4 may and may not last you a long time. It all depends on your playing habits. You can beat the main Story within 30 hours if you rush through it. The 90+ missions are relatively short and relatively easy too. However to truly get the most out of GTA4 you should aim for 2 things. Firstly try to get 100% completion. It’s a lot easier this time then in San Andreas. I got 100% completion with 83 hours playing time. Thanks to the multiple endings it is worth playing through the game a second time. Online will suck your life dry though and add many hours of playing time. Expect to be playing online months after finishing the game as online is a lot of fun. Another thing to mention is Downloadable Content. It’s inevitable that GTA4 will get more content added to it within a few months. It happens with every online game so GTA4 will be no different. Expect to get new missions, new online modes, new weapons, new vehicles etc etc within the next few months. The Rockstar Servers are handling millions of players playing the game online every single day so that many people simply can not and will not be ignored.
Other Tidbits of Info TV I mentioned the Internet in GTA4 which is outstanding however there is something else worth mentioning and that's the TV. In your Safehouse you will find a TV. You can actually sit down and watch the many programs on the ingame TV. You can change channels and adjust the volume too. Of course this being GTA you will see many programs that take the piss out of real life programs like Americas Next Top Hooker and I'm Rich (which is a piss take on Cribs) and you can even watch a Stand Up comedy with Ricky Gervais and Kate Williams. The TV is great to just waste some time after a long session of playing. Each island has different programs playing and as you advance through the game the programs change too.
Girfriends The girlfriends are back. Some may cheer and some may groan about that. It's not just girlfriends this time though as now we also make friends that we need to keep happy to unlock their special ability. During the Story you meet 2 girlfriends and 3 or 4 friends that you can take out to a restaurant, go bowling, play darts, play pool, visit a strip club or get drunk. You can also meet 3 more girlfriends on an Internet dating site. If a date goes well you may get invited in for 'coffee' just like in SA. To organize a date you simply ring them on your phone and then pick them up and take them wherever you want. None of the girlfriends are required to beat the story although it may benefit you to go on dates as they each have special abilities that you can unlock if they like you enough. For example one of your friends will offer you weapons at a discount. All you need to do is ring him and he'll show up nearby with a trunk load of weapons stashed in his car. One of the girlfriends is a lawyer and will offer to clear your wanted level whenever you need it. If dating isn't your thing then don't worry. You don't have to go on dates at all. You can completely ignore all your friends without affecting the story.
Get Drunk Getting drunk is worth mentioning as it's one of the most humorous things to do in GTA4. If you take a friend for a drink at a local bar you will be in for a shock as they both emerge from the pub pissed drunk. The screen becomes wobbly and both characters exchange some hilarious dialogue as they stumble around tripping over each other and falling flat on their face. Sometimes they both lean against each other in a vain attempt to get their balance. If you get into a car while drunk expect to be hitting every car on the way home as the screen shakes to and fro. If a cop sees you driving drunk he will give chase.
GPS as standard With Liberty City being so vast it's easy to get lost. Thankfully every vehicle in the game has a GPS built in that directs you to your destination. On your radar you will see a yellow line guiding you through the city. You can also set a waypoint on the map in the start menu and the GPS will direct you to that exact spot. Some fancy cars have a GPS with a voice. It'll actually speak to you in a typical computer voice and tell you stuff like 'In 200 yards turn left'. It's a really nice touch and thankfully it can be turned off as sometimes it's just annoying.
Taxis Another way to get from A to B fast is by Taxi. While on foot Niko can hail a cab by whistling at them. He raises his hand and then shouts for the driver to stop. The Cab pulls in at the curb and by pressing and holding triangle Niko gets into the back seat of the cab. The view changes to first person showing the inside of the cab and on the dashboard you see the meter which shows your destination. You then pick a destination from the list or you can set a waypoint on the map and the driver will take you there. If you want you can sit back and enjoy the ride or you can simply press X to skip straight to where you want to be. This feature is great and is extremely useful especially if you want to travel long distances. You won't be using it much in the beginning because taking a cab costs money and you won't have much to spend early in the game and also you'll rarely have far to go as only the first island is available in the beginning. Later in the game though you'll be loaded and you won't care about spending $50 on a cab ride.
Customization Customizing Niko in GTA4 is very basic. There are 3 clothing store chains in Liberty City (Russian, Perseus and Modo) and each have their own style. When you walk into a store you can walk up to a clothes rack and press L1 to try the item on and then press X to purchase it. Each Store has about 10 clothes racks with trousers, tops, hats, glasses and shoes to choose from. As soon as you purchase something Niko wears it so if you want to buy something but still want to wear what you were wearing beforehand you can't unless you go back to your safehouse and change your clothes. When you are trying something on you can't change the view or rotate the camera and there is no mirror behind Niko so you can't see what it looks like from behind. If you buy something but decide that you don't like it you need to go back to your Safehouse to change into something you bought another time. There are also no Tattoo Parlors or Hairdressers in LC so you can't change Nikos hair throughout the game. His clothes are the only thing you can change and there's not a lot of variety to be found. You can’t customize your cars either in Liberty City apart from changing its color to a random color at a Pay n Spray.
Collectables The Collectables return in GTA4. GTA3 and Vice City had Hidden Packages. San Andreas had Tags, Photo Ops, Horse Shoes and Oysters. Liberty City Stories had Hidden Packages and Vice City Stories had 99 Red Balloons to find. This time in GTA4 we are to find 200 Pigeons. Yes 200 Pigeons. These Pigeons are by far the most challenging collectables of all the GTA games for a few reasons. Firstly they are very hard to see. They omit a red glow but it's only visible when you are nearby. Secondly they are small and they blend in with the background. Thirdly, because they are pigeons you forget that they are collectibles. When you saw a Hidden Package in GTA3 you knew straight away that it was something you should pick up however when you see a bird sitting on a wall you are more inclined to just pass it off as scenery. Lastly, these birds are EXTREMELY well hidden. If you play normally without exploring the city too much you'd be lucky to finish the game with 10 Pigeons collected. Most of them are high up over your head or sitting on a roof which is only accessible by jumping out of a helicopter to land on the roof. Some are literally impossible to find without some sort of guide like a map. I used a map to find all 200 Pigeons and even with the map a few of the birds were very hard to find. I knew where they were located but I often couldn't see them because they were on a roof that I can't get to or on a rock in the water that I need to shoot from a boat. I love collectibles in GTA games but these Pigeons were just plain idiotic.
The Unique Jumps are present too. 50 Jumps are scattered around LC and if you find a jump but fail to complete it the game will tell you that the jump has failed. This means you need to go faster or perhaps you need to land in a certain area to complete it. Nothing else to be said about them really. There are no Rampages in GTA4 unfortunately. No idea why they were removed as they were great fun in previous games.
Mini Games There are a few mini games in GTA4. You can play Bowling, Pool, Darts and an Arcade Game similar to Tetris. All of them are nothing special though. In fact all of them are pretty poor except the arcade game which is actually very addictive. The physics in Pool, Darts and Bowling are okay but they are just so very boring. The gameplay is slow and tedious, the dialogue is just one liners being repeated over and over again and the atmosphere is dull. It's very unlikely you'll play pool outside of a date. You can't place bets on any of the games either so playing them feels like a waste of time.
MultiPlayer/Online While GTA4 doesn't have any 2 player options it does boast an outstanding Online Game. For the first time in GTA history GTA is online. In online you play with up to 15 players from around the world in 15 different modes from your usual Deathmatch to original modes like Cops and Crooks. You can even just freeroam around Liberty City with 15 other people doing whatever the hell you want.
Unfortunately I have yet to experience online as my PS3 is no longer connected to Broadband. I'll be getting connected again soon though so I will edit this section of the review when I get a chance to play online. From what I've read in the forums GTA4 is incredible online. It's said to be the best online game ever created for a console. Some people have bought GTA4 just to play online and never bother with the main story of the game. I'll give you my verdict on it when I play online in a few weeks.
Summary GTA4 is brilliant. Yes there are a lot of things that people may hate about the game but it's mostly down to the individual. It has changed a lot and it has shed a few pounds too with the many features that have been dropped. However GTA has matured. Rockstar got rid of all the mindless and pointless activities from SA and instead focused on making GTA feel as real to life as possible. Okay so we can't basejump off a tall building or take a dirtbike up the mountains. Yes there are less Jokes and Easter Eggs in GTA4 and less things to do but GTA4 still manages to deliver an incredible gaming experience. It all depends on what you want. If you want SA with better graphics and a new playing ground then you'll be disappointed. If you want to experience a new GTA with a brand new cast of characters and a spanking new city to explore then GTA4 is what you are looking for. Love it or hate it GTA4 has gotten itself into the Guinness Book Of Records for being the fastest selling media of all time.
Score This is a tough one. When I reviewed SA I gave it a 5/5. That doesn't necessarily mean that it's perfect. We all know that SA was not perfect. However SA had so much extra things added to it that they pretty much cancelled out the negatives. Rockstar didn't have to add so much stuff to SA but they did which in my eyes deserves recognition. GTA4 however does not have all that extra stuff. It has the bare necessities for a GTA game. Nothing more nothing less. All the negatives in GTA4 are going to effect it's score. The bad music, mediocre missions, lack of fun, poor customization etc etc all need to be taken into account. There is a lot to GTA4 that makes it stand head and shoulders above it's opposition however in this case San Andreas is its opposition as that is what everyone is going to compare it to and unfortunately it falls short of beating it (in my opinion).
An outstanding game in its own right but unless you're online it lacks the fun to make it go the distance. GTA4: 9/10
Rockstar if you are reading this I'll gladly change the score to the perfect 5/5 if you pay me.
THE GOOD: - Graphics - Vehicles - Gameplay - Combat w/Guns and Hand-to-Hand - Map - Online Play - Everything
THE BAD: - No planes - Music
SUMMARY: GTA IV, the official 4th main game in the franchise, not counting the side-games such as Vice City, San Andreas etc. This game follows a character named Niko Bellic who travels to Liberty City from Europe and meets his cousin, Roman Bellic to start his new life and look for someone he's been chasing.
Graphics
Since I only recently bought my PS3, not having seen one being played with my own eyes either, it was a shock to see the brilliant graphics of some of the games. But it wasn't until I saw GTA IV gameplay and I was speechless. When plugged into an HD TV with an HDMI cable, it's like watching a movie. I was blown away by the water, sky, buildings, explosions and everything else in the game at first glimpse. The cut-scene graphics aren't up to standards to the gameplay, which applies to many other games but they're not a let down either, they're just as pleasing to the eye.
Vehicles
The Vehicles in this game are gorgeous. There are the sport like cars that everyone loves to speed around the city in and there are the basic styled cars to cruise around slowly in. Of course, the dumpsters, lorries, vans, helicopters and boats are back also. Since the city skyscrapers are such eye candy, it's a dream flying across the sea and buildings in a helicopter, at your own pace and taking in the scenery. Unfortunatly to say, there are no planes in which you can take control of in this game. Many players were disappointed with this, especially with the freedom and choice of planes in GTA: San Andreas. There's still an airport where you can watch jets come in and take off into the distance, but that's no fun when you could fly a fighter jet in the previous big title. There a many different radio stations in this game, some of which are really not that good. Of course, there are still humorous commercials that keep you happy and give you a laugh while cruising around, but the music, to me is a let down. There are only about 3 or 4 stations I can bare listening to, the others are a waste of time.
Gameplay
The gameplay is very fluent, including endless amounts of fun. There's just, so much you can do. Of course, the basic moves are still included from the previous titles such as Sprinting, Jumping, Climbing over ledges or fences and combat. However, you can climb up ladders in this title which opens up so many options and allows you to climb higher than you could in previous games, wherever there is a ladder of course. The combat is very different. It's a lot more realistic and it's all a bit slower. With every punch you take or give, blood sprays across a nearby wall or into the air which gives a hint of realism. The way in which you aim with guns has slightly changed. You can still lock onto enemies with the auto-aim function and shooting is a lot more realistic from look and sound. A wonderful feature which was introduced into this title was the ability to hide from gunshots behind walls, cars, or anything that can cover your body. This is very useful on missions which you need lots of cover from a lot of enemies which are shooting at you constantly.
Map
The map in this game may not be as big as GTA: San Andreas, but I personally prefer it any day. There's no countryside or mountains in this game, unlike GTA: San Andreas as it's all city. The city being Liberty City, where GTA III was set, is a lot different in comparison. There are New York landmarks scattered over the second island including the Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty. For those who have been to New York, it's a pleasure to see some buildings you've seen in real life, and being able to climb them or just stand and stare.
Online Play
One of the most anticipated features to some fans is the ability to play online against your friends or complete strangers from around the world. It's every GTA's fan to play their favourite game online and it's here. In online play, all weapons are available to pick up along with cars, access to buildings are available and you're able to travel anywhere on the map, even where the action is not happening. The online features supports up to 16 players which is enough, in my own opinion. There are many different online modes such as:
Deathmatch - if you're familiar with the term 'Deathmatch' from other games, you'll know what this is. It's simply an all-out fight between everyone in the room and whoever kills the most, wins.
Team Deathmatch - much like regular deathmatches, apart from.. you guessed it, you're in teams and you fight to take down the other team, to win the game.
Team Mafiya Work - is where teams of people compete to complete contract work for the Mafiya by killing targets, retrieving goods and many other things.
Cops n' Crooks - is where a team of cops compete against a team of crooks. The classic cops and robbers comes into play here as one side is bad and the other is good - but who will prevail?
Turf War - is where teams of players compete to take over each others turf by simply standing in the opposite sides area until the area is theirs then defend it for as long as possible.
Race - where players are in a traditional race to the end by driving through checkpoints.
Free Mode - containing the most freedom where players have the entire map to explore with no end or no goal to complete, where not only do you have other players to kills but the cops are around too.
Party Mode - is where a group of you and your friends are on your own to explore the city, fighting against each other or simply socialising by cruising around.
These are only a few of the fantastic multiplayer modes available online, but some of the more popular for now.
Final Comments
There's not much more I can say about this game. It's amazing in the fact, it's very detailed the point where pedestrians put their umbrellas up when it rains or throws rubbish out of their car window onto the floor. If you're a fan of the GTA franchise, or even if you're not, this game really is a must and won't be a let down.
forums
4.33/5.0
3.5
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