Grand Theft Auto IV

GTA IV has been the most anticipated game ever over the last few years. Mass amount of hype was generated over the course of 2 years after a series of trailers and information was drip fed to fans and press everywhere. And after playing the game for more than 20 hours, let’s see whether it’s been worth the wait.

First of all, let me please apologize for taking some time to review the game, I just couldn’t bring myself around to stop playing the game in order to review it - it’s simply that good! Anyway, onto the review. Back in April 07′, Rockstar announced they were heading in a totally new direction for Grand Theft Auto; realism and after spending time with the game, it’s clear to see why. But let’s begin with the story and setting of the game.

Players control the character Niko Bellic, an Eastern European immigrant who fled his war-torn country to come to America’s Liberty City after his dreamy cousin Roman promised fortune, women, cars and a good life. Little did Niko know what a lyer Roman was; in an attempt to get Niko to help him with his debts with high-rolling gangsters. Unlike previous GTA’s, this is no rags to riches story, but something much more realistic in this day and age, it is more of a rags to better rags scenario. Niko is easily the best character Rockstar has created, he is the most deepest and realistic to date and they did a brilliant job at making players feel for him - as if you actually want him to succeed in his struggle against the big guys. A new addition to the story are choices. At various points in the game, players will need to make decisions which will genuinely affect the outcome of the game, and the choices are actually pretty difficult to make, so that just shows how well Rockstar implemented them. GTA IV essentially plays like a top quality hollywood action film.

The single player aspect will take most gamers around 25-35 hours to complete but for those who wish to get that 100% achievement, will find themselves looking at around 60-80 hours to fully do the task set by Rockstar. So this means that even after completing the game, there are endless amount of stuff to do; steal nice cars, race, tour around in an helicopter, rob a bank, play darts, get a private dance at a strip club, go on a killing spree or just cruise about listening to the awesome soundtrack. The list could easily go on.

Let’s take a look at one of the most important aspects of the game; the city itself. GTA IV is not the first time we’ve visited Liberty City, but it’s the first next-gen GTA which gave Rockstar a chance to make something special out of it. Although Liberty City is not as ‘big’ as the previous San Andreas map, it’s 1000% more packed with attention and detail. Rockstar must have spent ages perfecting detail to it, each street is carefully named and contains tons of little bits which make it so real. You’ll see pedestrians walking by talking to people on their mobile phones, people carrying shopping or reading newspapers and teenagers or street corners hanging around in a gang of them. I can honestly say that Liberty City is as realistic and breathing as you can get in a game to date.

Another thing Rockstar updated thanks to the new next-gen hardware is the graphics. Past GTA’s were more cartoony than life-like but this time, Rockstar decided to change… and wow! The graphics are brilliant - not the very best around but seeing as though it’s an entire city, you could say it is a masterpiece. Skyscrapers reflecting off the murky water, expensive cars with blood stains over them, bridges lit up in the background - simply breathtaking. Character models are also more realistic this time around. But it should be mentioned that there are occasional texture pop ups and a few rare frame rate issues every now and again, but it doesn’t stop you loving the game one bit! The sound & music is also top quality too, sounds of cars and guns sound great and the busting streets sound almost realistic, with surround sound it  would sound bloody jaw-dropping. GTA IV also features a really cool soundtrack and as usual, Rockstar did a fantastic job at picking songs for each radio station, there is so much selection. You’ve got Electro/Dance, Jazz, Classic Rock, Funk, Punk and even talk shows - there’s something for everybody. A personal favourite is driving through the Star Junction listening to Queen’s One Vision is class!

Now onto the next major aspect of the game, multiplayer - which is so fleshed out it could easily be sold as a separate game. Rockstar managed to pull of a whopping 16 player online feature with 15 different game modes. Yeah, there’s standard deathmatch and races but whats special is the more unique modes such as Cops N Crooks, GTA Race and Mafiya Work. I’m not gonna go through each one as that would take quite some time but just know that the mulitplayer part is so fun, I reckon it will be very popular after people start moving from the single player part. Oh, and there is also free roam for up to 16 players. Awesome!

So has the wait been worth it? I can honestly say that yes, it has. The jump from San Andreas to IV is just as big as GTA 2 to III, if not bigger. Rockstar managed to not only talk the talk but walk the walk, a feat that most developers now are plagued by. So what’s next for Grand Theft Auto? No one knows just yet, but whatever Rockstar does, you can be sure it will nothing short of legendary.