Bullet Point Review: Grand Theft Auto 4 (PS3)
What I liked .
The Little Things - It's the small details (both visual and audio) in this game that ultimately draw you in.
Did you notice?:
- the flecks in your cars paint job when the sunlight hits it.
- the blood that coats the windshield when you shoot someone, and then after their head either hits the horn, or their foot hits the gas peddle and the car speeds off out of control and crashes.
- the sound the horn makes on the old junker cars.
- the amount of swearing. (not necessarily a good thing)
- after a certain character dies, you can go back to the cemetary after the funeral and find that characters name on the headstone.
- the cardboard signs on the homeless.
- when stationary, Niko cracks his knuckles, and in cold weather you can see his breath.
- the music from the other cars that pass by.
- one mission has you chasing someone into the bathroom. Did you notice the hum of the fluorescent lights.
- you can actually hear Niko applying the E-brake on some of the cars.
- the sound a damaged police car siren makes.
- when it rains, not only do people carry umbrellas, but the cops sport plastic covers on their hats.
- did you notice any two buildings that looked the same?
The Cell Phone - I thought the implementation of the cell phone was a really nice feature. It cut down on alot of footwork when going from mission to mission.
No Kids/Animals - With the exception of pigeons, animals and small children still haven't found their way into the GTA universe as hurtable fodder...and I'm fine with that. Sure some might argue that you can hurt adults, why not kids? No thank you. I'm perfectly happy with not having kids in the game.
Screwing Around - In a game that can be completed in under 30hrs, I clocked in at around the 72hr mark when I got to the final credits. So in other words I messed around for 40 some-odd hours (alot of that time was spent giving the cops and their excellent A.I. a hard time). I think that speaks volumes at how fun a good, open-world, sandbox game can be when done right.
The Missions/Story/Characters - Some have said that they grew bored of GTA4 due to the repetitive nature of the missions, etc. As in all GTAs there were some memorable characters (my favorite being Niko) and not so memorable. Sure not all the missions were equally enjoyable, but that's not really a bad thing. Mission structure highs and lows are to be expected in a game such as this. And the story, I felt, was alot more adult themed and alot more intellectual than previous outtings. I won't argue the fact that some aspects were very reminiscent of past GTAs, but never did I feel bored playing through it.
Death - Never have I enjoyed dying in a game more than I did in GTA4. Being able to control the camera while your lifeless body rag-dolled around the environment adds a nice level of enjoyment...albeit a morbid one.
Favorite Car - The GT Sabre was my car of choice. In fact it's been my favorite car in previous GTAs as well. It's fast and handles like a dream.
Pigeons - I liked the fact that the hidden packages here took the form of pigeons. I found it very fitting in a NYC inspired game.
The Physics - The Euphoria Engine offers so much fun. Don't believe me?
Try: - pushing someone into oncoming traffic.
- pushing someone off a bridge...and into traffic.
- pushing someone down a huge flight of stairs.
- pushing someone into the path of a subway train.
- hitting people with the propeller of a helicopter.
- throwing something (like a popcan, brick etc.) at someone's head.
- running into a hotdog vendor's cart and knocking it over on him and then shooting the propane tank.
- etc.
Online - I'm gonna put it here because I've always dreamed about a GTA multiplayer game, the thing is I haven't been online with it yet (yeah those 72+hrs were all singleplayer), but I plan to in a few months.
What I didn't like:
The Internet - I wasn't overly impressed with this feature. Sure it added another layer of realism to the game but, for me, I didn't want to sit there and read lines and lines of text...and as such I didn't.
The Radio/Music - I'll admit it, I enjoyed listening to the sounds of the city more than it's radio stations. As soon as I jumped in a car the radio got turned off. That said the small amount of music I did hear didn't impress me as much as the tunes found in GTA SA.
SixAxis Controls - I did a couple of the sixaxis training missions, and after that they got turned off. Analog controls, IMO, are just fine.
Car Handling - Sure after 72 plus hrs of playing I got used to the driving, but not 100%. I still found some cars handled really, really sloppy.
Least Favorite Car - Good luck getting anywhere with the Dukes car in the rain. It's a nightmare.
Saved Films - I really wish GTA4 had a saved film feature like the one in Halo 3. I'm sure we all had some pretty sweet moments while playing that we'd like to show others.
WTF? - When did the bridges open up? I must have missed the radio message that announced the bridges being re-opened. Which is weird because in past GTAs the radio would click on and let you know they were open.
Yeah I touched on alot up there, and I could go on and on. This game RockStar has made needs to be seen to be believed. Sure one can visualize just about anything that's described to them. But even the best description can only do partial justice to the world RockStar has built.
For 'attention-to-detail' whores like myself this game is a gold mine. Even after 72 hrs, there's still tons of stuff I haven't discovered.
Up until this point GTA SA was my favorite installment in the series. I loved it's wideopen countryside and it's 3 cities. There was so much going on in that game that I was worried when I first heard part 4 was going back to Libert City. Not because I didn't enjoy that city in part 3 and GTA LCS but I was afraid the game would be too limiting due to it's cities confines and lack of real estate to explore. ie the rolling hills.
Well thankfully those worries were unfounded. This game far and away exceeds everything I had hoped for in a next-gen GTA.
Gamers, both old and new to this series, need to play it. It is something to behold.
I give GTA 4 (PS3) a 5 out of 5.
