Grand Theft Auto IV

GTA4 may have been one of the most anticipated games of this decade, I however believe it failed to meet the public's hopes.

Now don't get me wrong, Grand Theft Auto 4 is a very good game, it just doesn't really bring anything new to the Grand Theft Auto series. The missions are structured very similarly to the previous iterations, in that you take missions for a specific person, for a set time, before you're 'fobbed off' onto another character, to do mission's for him, until he gets bored, or you meet someone else, and you get the point, it hasn't changed at all from the previous versions. Another problem is that there is very little variation in the mission objectives, making the game very repetitive, very quickly.

The game, to me feels very much like Rockstar (Creators of the Grand Theft Auto series, as well as Rockstar's Table Tennis) took Grand Theft Auto 3, improved the graphics a lot (this is without a doubt, a very beautiful game), improved the driving and sent it out for packing. They removed almost all of the features from previous games, no longer can you eat to change your weight, or customize your car, fly a plane, buy property. All of this makes for a very boring game once you have completed the story mode.

Where Rockstar has improved however, is in the city. Liberty City feels very much 'alive' this time round, with people going about their day-to-day routines, police arresting people other than yourself and the general public having much more to say about you this time around. The story is also a lot better than any of the previous games, really pulling you into the life of Niko Bellic and giving you a really emotional connection with him as you travel along the roller coaster that is Niko's new life in Liberty City.

Grand Theft Auto 4 is the first game in the series to feature a fully fledged multiplayer mode. Giving you and 15 friends access to various game modes, from Team Mafia, which has teams racing to complete objectives before the other, to Free Mode, which gives players access to the city to do as they please and make their own fun.

Although this may sound like quite a negative review of Grand Theft Auto 4, I do believe anyone who has played any of the series should play this game, if only for the story and the experience. I believe if Rockstar spent more time putting new features into the game, or improving older ones instead of removing them, than this could be a very good game.



John Rowley