Grand Theft Auto 4, I tried to play it when it first came out and couldn't understand all the hype. Here I am trying to play it again and I just don't get it. I really liked San Andreas and I love Red Dead but GTA4 is just not good, I'm trying to force myself to like it because admittedly the writing and characterisations are great but the gameplay is just.....ugh. The controls seem sluggish to the point where its just frustrating to play for me, while the controls in SA were not the best in the world they wer at least capable and I felt I was in control of everything I was doing. GTA4's controls just seem so unresponsive and the cover system is gawd awful. Anyone else have a problem with GTA4 or am I just a bad person?

I agree about the controls somewhat. I don't mind the driving so much but I really dislike the shooting. I just started using the auto-aim which is even as annoying.

I personally really loved that game. But I see where you're coming from. I never really used the cover system all that much if I remember correctly so it never Impacted my enjoyment to any notable level. In regards to your other issue concerning character movement, perhaps try and view it as an extension of Nicos character and use it to empathise with him more. I always saw the very deliberate movement was to show how beaten down nico was and how tired he'd become after all the years of fighting, but at the same time when he's able to spry into action and kill people like crazy it showed that he could still muster up that skill set. Even the way he would fade against walls and hustlemdown stairs gave off a very disciplined vibe to me like even when hes not trying he cant fully push past that training. There was a very real weight, I felt, in that game which really helped sell the story to me and make me really invest in the character. That might just be me though

I loved the game beating it over five times. However I agree, there is something about Niko movment on foot that drove me crazy also the cover system could be ass at times.

The shooting/cover system is the weakest part of the game. Felt very clunky to me. Drove me a little nuts in RDR, too, tbh. So, you are not a bad person.

My problem wasn't the shooting/cover systems. I fucking hated the story and the way it's stretched to fill a 30-hour game. It starts great, but space between interesting stuff is usually too long and boring.

I had the same mentality, I really didn't like GTA for 4 years, then a few months ago I gave it another chance and decided I am going to play it just for the story. And although thats what I set out to do, about a few hours in I got used to the shooting and driving and all was well.

In my opinion you need a mouse in order for the shooting and moving to turn from sluggish to SUPER FANTASTIC. 
 
I love GTA IV so much it makes me sick. When I tried playing it with my Dualshock 3 it truly turned into a shitty controlling game in my eyes. Then I held my mouse once again and boom, popped heads, shot limbs off and sprinted/maneuvered with total accuracy.

Everybody knows my feelings, so I'll just shut up.

Yeah, the controls are bad just as they are in RDR.  The cars handle like a sponge and seem to just bounce.... just like the horses in RDR.  Nothing like getting air on a horse. 
 
Anyway, I'm the opposite of you, I found GTA4 well worth playing while RDR as awful but I did power thru it.

@Napalm said:

Everybody knows my feelings, so I'll just shut up.

I don't. It's been years since I played GTA 4 but I can't remember it being that bad. Maybe I should pop it in and check it out again.

@laserbolts said:

@Napalm said:

Everybody knows my feelings, so I'll just shut up.

I don't. It's been years since I played GTA 4 but I can't remember it being that bad. Maybe I should pop it in and check it out again.

Grand Theft Auto IV is a mechanical messy nightmare. Everything about the driving, cover system, aiming and movement is either slow, frustrating, clunky, or downright messy. That pretty much sums up my feelings about it.

@Napalm said:

@laserbolts said:

@Napalm said:

Everybody knows my feelings, so I'll just shut up.

I don't. It's been years since I played GTA 4 but I can't remember it being that bad. Maybe I should pop it in and check it out again.

Grand Theft Auto IV a mechanical messy nightmare. Everything about the driving, cover system, aiming and movement is either slow, frustrating, clunky, or downright messy. That pretty much sums up my feelings about it.

Well now I know. Maybe playing it now after a few years i'll get where you're coming from. Just have to try and pry myself off of this computer chair and away from Diablo for a bit.

I don't understand people disliking the controls of GTA 4 compared to the other GTA games. GTA 4 is the most playable GTA game to me.

@sins_of_mosin: Well I think you're wrong!! :) RDR completely fixed the cover system and made the combat very fun imo, and the horse controls comparatively felt better, although both are obviously not very easy to compare. The one thing I hate in Rockstar games in general is the hours of tutorials that in each of them 50% are looking at a box at the top if the screen telling you something then not putting control back into your hands just long enough for me to lose my mind.

@JasonR86 said:

I don't understand people disliking the controls of GTA 4 compared to the other GTA games. GTA 4 is the most playable GTA game to me.

GTAIII's shotgun spam-ability > everything else.

I really enjoyed to slow-burn feel to the game, if you try to get immersed into the game and get into the mindset of Nico you'll enjoy it a lot, at least they're the parameters in which I enjoyed the game most. Might be a bit harder to do that now, what with the graphics looking old by now and such.

I thought GTA IV played very well, shooting felt satisfying, and the driving was great. The other GTA games played like utter shit in comparison.

I don't get all the hate this game gets. I loved every minute of it and never had a problem with the controls.

@AhmadMetallic said:

In my opinion you need a mouse in order for the shooting and moving to turn from sluggish to SUPER FANTASTIC.

Nah, it's still shitty and unsatisfying shooting with bullet-sponge enemies.

The gunplay is definitely the weakest part of the game, and it will only get worse as times goes on. Which is why many people looked past it when it was first released.

@JasonR86: The controls may be the best but they are very different to SA which I just played for an hour. The actual control layout is better in GTA4 but the snappiness of SA really made it fun, I get that they were going for a more serious tone with 4, but SA just felt more lively and entertaining, having never played a Saints Row game I'm wondering if I'd enjoy them more than the GTA series as the parts of previous games that I enjoyed the most were the relatively insane parts

I don't understand people disliking the controls of GTA 4 compared to the other GTA games. GTA 4 is the most playable GTA game to me.

@mercutio123 said:

@JasonR86: The controls may be the best but they are very different to SA which I just played for an hour. The actual control layout is better in GTA4 but the snappiness of SA really made it fun, I get that they were going for a more serious tone with 4, but SA just felt more lively and entertaining, having never played a Saints Row game I'm wondering if I'd enjoy them more than the GTA series as the parts of previous games that I enjoyed the most were the relatively insane parts

Well, you're talking about two things here; tone and controls. If you don't like the tone of GTA 4 that's that. It is what it is. I played SA after GTA 4 and I hated the controls. It felt like the opposite end of GTA 4. Yeah, the aiming in 4 can be a little sluggish but the aiming in SA was too loose. Something in between would have been nice. But just in terms of aiming and shooting GTA 4 was easier to handle for me. I would understand the driving complaints more. I get why people wouldn't like the driving in GTA 4 but it just worked for me. But the shooting felt just so much simpler and easier in 4.

@AhmadMetallic said:

In my opinion you need a mouse in order for the shooting and moving to turn from sluggish to SUPER FANTASTIC.

Nah, it's still shitty and unsatisfying shooting with bullet-sponge enemies.

The gunplay is definitely the weakest part of the game, and it will only get worse as times goes on. Which is why many people looked past it when it was first released.

That game needs mission checkpoints badly. There is nothing more frustrating to me than having to start a twenty or thirty minute mission over. I found the gunplay to be solid, but Niko's movement is a little weird.

You're a bad person, yes

I have a confession to make: I still play GTA IV online, but only free mode. In fact I just played free mode 20 minutes ago and I think I might just go for another round. Free mode is like the ultimate just chill out and do what ever the fuck you want mode, and sometimes that is all I need.

Auto aim is shit and i never used it, cars feel great and shooting is equally awesome. I hope they don't change the driving physics to appease the people who couldn't get it in IV. The other games control like shit in comparison.

@JasonR86 said:

I don't understand people disliking the controls of GTA 4 compared to the other GTA games. GTA 4 is the most playable GTA game to me.

Yup I love the driving and the shooting in IV is just so fluid , is harder for me to go back to SA after playing IV the lack of cover system in previous GTAs make the gunplay feel so dated and "arcade-y" like I don't know is not as natural , is kinda weird that we're all playing the same game yet the opinions about the gameplay are so different when people say the controls are bad I just think "are we playing the same game?"

@AhmadMetallic How do you feel about MP3's action then? The euphoria engine I thought really shined in MP3.

There's a bit of a learning curve to how GTA IV controls. After spening enough time with it I was able to play it just fine, though I do agree with you about the cover system. It's very bad.

I agree that the action in GTA IV is very clunky, but the game overall is fantastic. I think it's a great sign for GTA V to see the advances Rockstar has made in shooting mechanics in the years since, with Red Dead and Max Payne.

The world, the characters, the story was all brilliant, it was merely dumbed down slightly because of the sluggish gameplay. I got used to it, but at first it was irritating.

It's a very good game but over praised. Personally I thought the writing and characters got annoying after about 10 hours. The gameplay itself was fine, tolerable at best. I think after playing SR:T recently that I much prefer that type of GTA game over a story focused GTA game.

I thought the shooting was fine (Hell, I actually really enjoyed it) when it was first released. It got worse as the years went by of course, but by the time BoGT was released, the shooting was still more than adequate. Though viewed from a 2012 perspective, sure, the shooting is pretty messy (RDR's shooting I still really enjoy mind you). The driving in GTAIV on the other hand I still think is great.

I found GTA 4 very boring it just wasn't very fun.

The controls are a wonky to be sure, but you start to get the hang of it after awhile. For me, I don't really get why people hate the driving controls so much. I think the physics on them are great to this day, with complex handling models for each car. Sure, you can't do 90 degree turns at full speed but that's not really the point.

The driving is the best in any open world game ever. The feel and responsiveness of the on foot parts are some of the worst in any game, open or otherwise. It has to do with the movement animation for transitioning from stopped to walking or running, as well as the fact that you don't have full speed while aiming unless you hold the sprint button, which is very difficult to do on a controller.
 
But the real problem with GTA4 was the lack of freedom in the world and the variety of things to do and the ultra slow story.

@Getz: Admittedly my dislike of them is more to do with me than the game, as Burnout Paradise is probably the game I've played the most of this generation if not ever

Honestly if you don't adjust to the driving or shooting mechanics in GTA4 after an hour or so you're just a terrible gamer, go home noob.

GTA4 is still an amazing game to play or look at.

@mercutio123 said:

@Getz: Admittedly my dislike of them is more to do with me than the game, as Burnout Paradise is probably the game I've played the most of this generation if not ever

Yes, well Burnout Paradise it ain't. I mean, the shooting controls in Burnout are even worse than GTA!

I agree with the gameplay being not fun, but I also didn't think the story was very good either.

I actually enjoyed the controls on PC. The shooting felt pretty good with a mouse for an open world 3rd person game (which I find tend to have shitty shooting.) I really loved the driving as well. I thought the controls with a gamepad were totally alright too, but I can see why someone might not like it.

Even if I really didn't like the gameplay, I would have played it through because it had such good characters/story.

I personally loved GTA, although I do agree the on foot controls weren't that great. I never use the cover system unless you spawn in cover after a cutscene or something. The driving is fantastic, though.

@triviaman09 said:

That game needs mission checkpoints badly. There is nothing more frustrating to me than having to start a twenty or thirty minute mission over...

This. Driving back to the start of a mission is annoying as fuck.

So I picked up GTA4 via the Steam sales, and so far, I am digging it. When I played it the first time, I didn't get very far b/c the start of GTA games, since 3, is just soooooooooooooooooooooooooooo slow.

But I really like the feel, compared to Saints Row 3, I like that everything had a weight to it. Driving the fast cars and whipping around, just... the feeling of being a hair away from spinning out and just fucking yourself over. Whereas, any car you get in SR3 has that feeling. I just like going from off the rails crazy, to the mellowed tone of GTA4.

I've only ever gotten half way through the game. I don't like it at all. I love RDR and I loved San Andreas but this game is not for me.

Yeah it was pretty awful.