Perfect...by no means...but a superb experience nonetheless...
Grand Theft Auto 4 is the first installment on the next-gen consoles in the GTA franchise from Rockstar. It stars Eastern European Niko Bellic as the main protagonist, who is in route to Liberty City to meet up with his cousin Roman Bellic. Roman has sent numerous emails and letters to Niko and his mother about how he is living the "American Dream". He informs them that he has penthouse sweets, beautiful women, exotic fast cars and lots of money, but upon arrival in Liberty City, Niko discovers that his cousin's tales of greatness are mearly delusions of grandeur.
After inserting the game disc, you are required to perform a ten minute install. Although this will be the most agonizing ten minutes of your life, Rockstar provides a booming title track instrumental that's crazy. It will keep you entertained and adds to the anticipation of what Liberty City has in store for you the third time around. Although the game is supposed to function better with the mandatory install, the only gripe I have with this feature (in regards to all games) is why not allow the choice of performing the install to the user? Some people like the functionality and some people just want to play. I would've figured that with such a huge title Rockstar would have allowed the choice...but I digress...
Although GTA4 does not have the beautiful and realistic visuals of a COD4, Uncharted, Bioshock or Gears of War, graphically, the game looks great and is by far the best looking GTA game to date! But as we all know the Grand Theft Auto series has not been known for its graphics...it's known for its gameplay...and the gameplay does not disappoint. The game feels and handles like the traditional GTA we've grown found of on the PS2 but an evolved version that stresses realism for the next-gen consoles. Last gen, stealing cars were easy as all car doors seemed to be unlocked with keys in the ignition. Now, the majority of car doors are locked and if this is the case, the only way to get in is by smashing the window and then hotwiring the car. You can still pull off classic dashboard head smashes and kicks to the face when jackin fools, but you can also point your gun at passengers and they'll willing give up their car...unless they're packin too. Vehicles handle like their real world counterparts so no more taking 90 degree turns doing 100mph. This is initially one of the biggest areas to master, but after playing for a few hours you really get a sense of how different cars handle. Another small addition is if you're doing 100mph and you crash into a wall, Niko will fly through the windshield, which is a hilarious scene to watch. There are numerous other tweaks they made to the game to separate it from it's predecessors, but I will let you experience it for yourself.
Liberty City looks great and Rockstar created a near carbon copy of a vivrant and lively New York City. Brooklyn (Broker), Manhattan (Algonquin), the Bronx (Bohan), Queens (Dukes), Liberty Island (Happiness Island), Coney Island (Colony Island) and New Jersey (Alderney) are represented well in traditional GTA fashion with distorted but familiar knockoff names.
The audio is top notch as Rockstar pulled in a whole array of unknown voice talent to voice the millions of people within Liberty City. This fact is displayed in full at the conclusion of the game when the credits roll. The radio stations are superb and better (IMO) than the majority of radio stations available in most major cities. The music genre covers pretty much all popular music current in the industry such as: hip hop (current), hip hop (underground/classic), r&b, reggae (dancehall), reggae (dub), electronic, rock and roll, reggaeton and a number of comical talk stations.
One of the newest and probably the biggest new feature is the inclusion of multiplayer to the game. There's more to be desired from the online modes, but I will not penalize Rockstar on their first attempt. It's playable and at its best when running through the entire city causing mayhem with a group of friends. The ability to run around Liberty City with friends was a great feature and should be continued in future multiplayer modes.
Overall, Grand Theft Auto 4 makes a wonderful and memorable appearance on the next-gen consoles that everybody should play (2008 Game of the Year...cough cough) but it is not without it's faults. Although they are nearly outweighed by the greatness found within the game, the downside issues still rear their ugly heads which can deter from an enjoyable afternoon of creating havoc in the city. The biggest problem that is noticeable is game freezes or lockups. Initially this was thought to be a 60Gb PS3 exclusive issue, but this same problem is arising on multiple SKUs not only on the Playstation but Xbox 360 as well. Hopefully Rockstar will create a firmware update to correct this, but only time will tell. Aside from the freezing this game is hands down one of the best next-gen experiences to date and has alot of supporting votes as 2008 Game of the Year. Any fan of the GTA series or owners of a PS3 or Xbox 360 should definitely pick this game up. Aside from the occasional game freeze, you won't be disappointed with this sequel one bit!
Final Score: 9.2 (~4.5 stars)
After inserting the game disc, you are required to perform a ten minute install. Although this will be the most agonizing ten minutes of your life, Rockstar provides a booming title track instrumental that's crazy. It will keep you entertained and adds to the anticipation of what Liberty City has in store for you the third time around. Although the game is supposed to function better with the mandatory install, the only gripe I have with this feature (in regards to all games) is why not allow the choice of performing the install to the user? Some people like the functionality and some people just want to play. I would've figured that with such a huge title Rockstar would have allowed the choice...but I digress...
Although GTA4 does not have the beautiful and realistic visuals of a COD4, Uncharted, Bioshock or Gears of War, graphically, the game looks great and is by far the best looking GTA game to date! But as we all know the Grand Theft Auto series has not been known for its graphics...it's known for its gameplay...and the gameplay does not disappoint. The game feels and handles like the traditional GTA we've grown found of on the PS2 but an evolved version that stresses realism for the next-gen consoles. Last gen, stealing cars were easy as all car doors seemed to be unlocked with keys in the ignition. Now, the majority of car doors are locked and if this is the case, the only way to get in is by smashing the window and then hotwiring the car. You can still pull off classic dashboard head smashes and kicks to the face when jackin fools, but you can also point your gun at passengers and they'll willing give up their car...unless they're packin too. Vehicles handle like their real world counterparts so no more taking 90 degree turns doing 100mph. This is initially one of the biggest areas to master, but after playing for a few hours you really get a sense of how different cars handle. Another small addition is if you're doing 100mph and you crash into a wall, Niko will fly through the windshield, which is a hilarious scene to watch. There are numerous other tweaks they made to the game to separate it from it's predecessors, but I will let you experience it for yourself.
Liberty City looks great and Rockstar created a near carbon copy of a vivrant and lively New York City. Brooklyn (Broker), Manhattan (Algonquin), the Bronx (Bohan), Queens (Dukes), Liberty Island (Happiness Island), Coney Island (Colony Island) and New Jersey (Alderney) are represented well in traditional GTA fashion with distorted but familiar knockoff names.
The audio is top notch as Rockstar pulled in a whole array of unknown voice talent to voice the millions of people within Liberty City. This fact is displayed in full at the conclusion of the game when the credits roll. The radio stations are superb and better (IMO) than the majority of radio stations available in most major cities. The music genre covers pretty much all popular music current in the industry such as: hip hop (current), hip hop (underground/classic), r&b, reggae (dancehall), reggae (dub), electronic, rock and roll, reggaeton and a number of comical talk stations.
One of the newest and probably the biggest new feature is the inclusion of multiplayer to the game. There's more to be desired from the online modes, but I will not penalize Rockstar on their first attempt. It's playable and at its best when running through the entire city causing mayhem with a group of friends. The ability to run around Liberty City with friends was a great feature and should be continued in future multiplayer modes.
Overall, Grand Theft Auto 4 makes a wonderful and memorable appearance on the next-gen consoles that everybody should play (2008 Game of the Year...cough cough) but it is not without it's faults. Although they are nearly outweighed by the greatness found within the game, the downside issues still rear their ugly heads which can deter from an enjoyable afternoon of creating havoc in the city. The biggest problem that is noticeable is game freezes or lockups. Initially this was thought to be a 60Gb PS3 exclusive issue, but this same problem is arising on multiple SKUs not only on the Playstation but Xbox 360 as well. Hopefully Rockstar will create a firmware update to correct this, but only time will tell. Aside from the freezing this game is hands down one of the best next-gen experiences to date and has alot of supporting votes as 2008 Game of the Year. Any fan of the GTA series or owners of a PS3 or Xbox 360 should definitely pick this game up. Aside from the occasional game freeze, you won't be disappointed with this sequel one bit!
Final Score: 9.2 (~4.5 stars)
