I suddenly don't feel so bad about that $400 I spent...
Best Feature: Classic open ended GTA gameplay and style. Great story and characters. Long game, well worth the hefty $60 price tag. Fabulous presentation. THEY FINALLY FIXED THE GUNPLAY!
Worst Feature: The social relationships become tiresome, even with the reward of special gifts from friends. (Especially when you don't like certain people) Radio could be better (and repeat less).
Now by now, I'm sure you've all at least played a "Grand Theft Auto" game. And as such, I'm sure you know what you can generally expect from the series. A wide open city where your free to roam, general criminal murder, mayhem and high production values. (with the exception of graphics)
So "Grand Theft Auto IV" shouldn't be anything particularly new to any of you . That can be a pitfall that a series that survives for as long as GTA has, (with at least 6 major releases) can easily fall into. But Rockstar has always had the rare ability to dodge this pitfall for the most part, as every major GTA release always manages to feel fresh, new and just as fun as the previous installment. (Example: The gameplay difference between Vice City and San Andreas is staggering)
How does the incredibly hyped current generation installment Grand Theft Auto 4 possibly differentiate itself from it's predecessors? It does so in a couple of ways, the most obvious of which is the all around more realistic tone and look of the game. While the previous GTA games were in a bit of a humorous parody of a city based on real life metropolises, GTA4 goes for sheer Manhattan grit and realism with the help of the power of the current generation crop of consoles. Everything looks and feels convincing and every last visual detail is fleshed out. Paint peels from your car and bullets make holes where they impact. Perhaps best of all, the goofy looking character animations from the previous games are gone, Niko walks, runs, climbs, dives and shoots in a very convincing way. That being said, the graphics are nice and aren't the usual shoddy mess the GTA games are, but the PS3 is certainly capable of so much more, so GTA4 won't win any award for graphics. But that's okay, the game is so large that I can understand why the visuals aren't of a Metal Gear Solid 4 quality.
But back to Niko. With the exception of Grand Theft Auto 3's silent protagonist and the faceless men before him, GTA has always had entertaining lead characters. (My favorite before now, the Ray Liotta voiced "doesn't take anyones s*** "Tommy Vercetti") And Niko is no exception to this. In fact, he very well may be the best. He is the first with an actual fully fleshed out back story, which is revealed bit by bit through conversations with his cousin Roman and others. This helps you to understand your character more and more, and come to the whatever realization you want to about him. This is a good way of taking the player and drawing him into the game as the character...and not just someone playing the game. And let me say, it worked very well (perhaps too well, considering that this game depressed a few days for me) on me. When I played this game...I ceased to be "AlucardsFate." (Or whatever my real name is) I WAS NICO BELIC.
Now, with such a main character at the helm of this game, you'd better have a good story to thrust him into. There is a fantastic tale here for those who really get into it like me. It kinda drags it's feet in the middle after you kill a certain someone and really set it off, but it picks up a little later on when Nico and his companion's deeds start to show consequences. For better or worse. And by the end, depending on what path you took, you may not like those consequences. My endgame almost got some manly tears outta me, and afterwords I became a cold hearted killer...hell bent on vengeance. (Again...I WAS NICO BELIC)
Wait...I thought your always a cold hearted killer in GTA? Not quite. GTA4 offers you one option in particular that none of its predecessors never did. It gives you the option to show some of your foes mercy. This is an interesting little wrinkle to the GTA mold. If you get as into the game as I did, you can really face off with your own moral center here. I.E. "This man is a drug dealer...on his knees practically wetting himself swearing to reform...if you spare him." Potentially he could reform...or continue peddling his vile poison on the streets...but more important then that, "Who am I to decide who lives and dies?" (I think I heard "Rem Saverem's" voice in my head a few times)
Such things that provoke my own thought, I find irresistible in any game. But even more important was how my decisions affected the world around Niko. From small stuff like running into other characters you may have spared, and seeing how their life has since turned out or hearing about your exploits on the news, all the way up to huge things like finally indulging that thirst for revenge, so sure your doing the right thing...only to have one of the characters you really liked pay the price for you actions. At one point this crushed me, if only more games took you for such brilliantly written rides. Backed up with GTA's traditionally well acted and witty script, the plot is fantastic.
Now from a gameplay perspective, on foot the only real difference from San Andreas aside from the control being a little tighter, is the gunplay. Which thank God, is finally pretty solid. GTA's gunplay has always ranged from acceptable (San Andreas) to crap. (GTA3) But some real work apparently went into fixing it, and GTA4 has the best aiming system yet. While not perfect, it takes some cues from Resident Evil 4 and goes to an over the shoulder perspective, only GTA4 gives you a semi-auto aim. You can auto aim but still move your cross hair to shoot for vital areas. (Which enemies finally react to when they are hit in say the leg...) You even have a button to take cover behind the nearest object and you can blind fire or pop up from behind it to continue the fight. Again, it's not perfect, as I sometimes found that Niko would pick the worst spot to duck behind. But all in all, the shooting is dare I say...good? Bout time...
Anyone playing GTA, drives around a lot of the time. The vehicle handling in GTA4 is quite a bit different then your used to, gone is the super arcadey feel of the previous games. Instead, to go with the new realistic environments, you have new more realistic handling. While it's not Gran Turismo by any means, you now can't take a hairpin turn going full speed like you could in the past. You actually have to apply your brake and accelerator (Located on the controller's shoulder buttons now) somewhat strategically to get around at high speed. While offputting at first, I eventually got used to it and was driving like a pro like I used to in the previous games.
Now I've dumped a lot of praise on this game, richly deserved praise, but there is one thing that I found bothersome about it. The social interaction features, while novel at first, as the game goes on and you gather more and more friends, it can really start to wear thin. Imagine every time you had some serious business to take care of...a friend wanted to hang out. Imagine it happening constantly.
Every time I walk out my door on my way to a mission (the meat of the game) someone is calling me up, asking if I wanna go do something. (This can be anything from Bowling, eating to drinking...which is extra fun driving home) While some of these characters have the benefit of special abilities should they trust you enough, (Jacob gives you discounted prices on weapons...outta the back of his car) some aren't so great. (Roman lending you his car...when you can walk outside and have your pick of any car on the road...that makes sense)
Near the end of the game it gets nuts, as your friends list grows and grows. (I swear if Packie keeps calling me...) I just started ignoring everyone but Kate and Brucie. (Cause Brucie is F***ing Awesome....hanging out with him is a blast...he has the funniest conversations. And Kate has the most thought provoking conversations with Niko...and some pretty funny ones if you get her drunk...)
Aside from that little quirk, Grand Theft Auto 4 is amazing. I would recommend that everyone at least give it a shot, even if this sorta thing isn't your bag. If you don't like it fine, but if you let yourself into Niko's initially filthy shoes, you'll be grabbed by the grabbed by the tale, which when paired with classic GTA style gameplay, raises the bar one more time. The only question is where does Rockstar go now?
Worst Feature: The social relationships become tiresome, even with the reward of special gifts from friends. (Especially when you don't like certain people) Radio could be better (and repeat less).
Now by now, I'm sure you've all at least played a "Grand Theft Auto" game. And as such, I'm sure you know what you can generally expect from the series. A wide open city where your free to roam, general criminal murder, mayhem and high production values. (with the exception of graphics)
So "Grand Theft Auto IV" shouldn't be anything particularly new to any of you . That can be a pitfall that a series that survives for as long as GTA has, (with at least 6 major releases) can easily fall into. But Rockstar has always had the rare ability to dodge this pitfall for the most part, as every major GTA release always manages to feel fresh, new and just as fun as the previous installment. (Example: The gameplay difference between Vice City and San Andreas is staggering)
How does the incredibly hyped current generation installment Grand Theft Auto 4 possibly differentiate itself from it's predecessors? It does so in a couple of ways, the most obvious of which is the all around more realistic tone and look of the game. While the previous GTA games were in a bit of a humorous parody of a city based on real life metropolises, GTA4 goes for sheer Manhattan grit and realism with the help of the power of the current generation crop of consoles. Everything looks and feels convincing and every last visual detail is fleshed out. Paint peels from your car and bullets make holes where they impact. Perhaps best of all, the goofy looking character animations from the previous games are gone, Niko walks, runs, climbs, dives and shoots in a very convincing way. That being said, the graphics are nice and aren't the usual shoddy mess the GTA games are, but the PS3 is certainly capable of so much more, so GTA4 won't win any award for graphics. But that's okay, the game is so large that I can understand why the visuals aren't of a Metal Gear Solid 4 quality.
But back to Niko. With the exception of Grand Theft Auto 3's silent protagonist and the faceless men before him, GTA has always had entertaining lead characters. (My favorite before now, the Ray Liotta voiced "doesn't take anyones s*** "Tommy Vercetti") And Niko is no exception to this. In fact, he very well may be the best. He is the first with an actual fully fleshed out back story, which is revealed bit by bit through conversations with his cousin Roman and others. This helps you to understand your character more and more, and come to the whatever realization you want to about him. This is a good way of taking the player and drawing him into the game as the character...and not just someone playing the game. And let me say, it worked very well (perhaps too well, considering that this game depressed a few days for me) on me. When I played this game...I ceased to be "AlucardsFate." (Or whatever my real name is) I WAS NICO BELIC.
Now, with such a main character at the helm of this game, you'd better have a good story to thrust him into. There is a fantastic tale here for those who really get into it like me. It kinda drags it's feet in the middle after you kill a certain someone and really set it off, but it picks up a little later on when Nico and his companion's deeds start to show consequences. For better or worse. And by the end, depending on what path you took, you may not like those consequences. My endgame almost got some manly tears outta me, and afterwords I became a cold hearted killer...hell bent on vengeance. (Again...I WAS NICO BELIC)
Wait...I thought your always a cold hearted killer in GTA? Not quite. GTA4 offers you one option in particular that none of its predecessors never did. It gives you the option to show some of your foes mercy. This is an interesting little wrinkle to the GTA mold. If you get as into the game as I did, you can really face off with your own moral center here. I.E. "This man is a drug dealer...on his knees practically wetting himself swearing to reform...if you spare him." Potentially he could reform...or continue peddling his vile poison on the streets...but more important then that, "Who am I to decide who lives and dies?" (I think I heard "Rem Saverem's" voice in my head a few times)
Such things that provoke my own thought, I find irresistible in any game. But even more important was how my decisions affected the world around Niko. From small stuff like running into other characters you may have spared, and seeing how their life has since turned out or hearing about your exploits on the news, all the way up to huge things like finally indulging that thirst for revenge, so sure your doing the right thing...only to have one of the characters you really liked pay the price for you actions. At one point this crushed me, if only more games took you for such brilliantly written rides. Backed up with GTA's traditionally well acted and witty script, the plot is fantastic.
Now from a gameplay perspective, on foot the only real difference from San Andreas aside from the control being a little tighter, is the gunplay. Which thank God, is finally pretty solid. GTA's gunplay has always ranged from acceptable (San Andreas) to crap. (GTA3) But some real work apparently went into fixing it, and GTA4 has the best aiming system yet. While not perfect, it takes some cues from Resident Evil 4 and goes to an over the shoulder perspective, only GTA4 gives you a semi-auto aim. You can auto aim but still move your cross hair to shoot for vital areas. (Which enemies finally react to when they are hit in say the leg...) You even have a button to take cover behind the nearest object and you can blind fire or pop up from behind it to continue the fight. Again, it's not perfect, as I sometimes found that Niko would pick the worst spot to duck behind. But all in all, the shooting is dare I say...good? Bout time...
Anyone playing GTA, drives around a lot of the time. The vehicle handling in GTA4 is quite a bit different then your used to, gone is the super arcadey feel of the previous games. Instead, to go with the new realistic environments, you have new more realistic handling. While it's not Gran Turismo by any means, you now can't take a hairpin turn going full speed like you could in the past. You actually have to apply your brake and accelerator (Located on the controller's shoulder buttons now) somewhat strategically to get around at high speed. While offputting at first, I eventually got used to it and was driving like a pro like I used to in the previous games.
Now I've dumped a lot of praise on this game, richly deserved praise, but there is one thing that I found bothersome about it. The social interaction features, while novel at first, as the game goes on and you gather more and more friends, it can really start to wear thin. Imagine every time you had some serious business to take care of...a friend wanted to hang out. Imagine it happening constantly.
Every time I walk out my door on my way to a mission (the meat of the game) someone is calling me up, asking if I wanna go do something. (This can be anything from Bowling, eating to drinking...which is extra fun driving home) While some of these characters have the benefit of special abilities should they trust you enough, (Jacob gives you discounted prices on weapons...outta the back of his car) some aren't so great. (Roman lending you his car...when you can walk outside and have your pick of any car on the road...that makes sense)
Near the end of the game it gets nuts, as your friends list grows and grows. (I swear if Packie keeps calling me...) I just started ignoring everyone but Kate and Brucie. (Cause Brucie is F***ing Awesome....hanging out with him is a blast...he has the funniest conversations. And Kate has the most thought provoking conversations with Niko...and some pretty funny ones if you get her drunk...)
Aside from that little quirk, Grand Theft Auto 4 is amazing. I would recommend that everyone at least give it a shot, even if this sorta thing isn't your bag. If you don't like it fine, but if you let yourself into Niko's initially filthy shoes, you'll be grabbed by the grabbed by the tale, which when paired with classic GTA style gameplay, raises the bar one more time. The only question is where does Rockstar go now?
