The Unmatched Leader in Open-World Sandbox Games Does It Again!
Grand Theft Auto 4 is a definite benchmark in the series. It has not only moved up from the last generation of consoles to the current but has also done an equally important move up in the maturity of it's content. Now do not get me wrong, Grand Theft Auto has always been a very M for Mature ESRB Rated game (even went AO one but let's not talk about that). This time though the story is much more mature and at a much better quality (one could make a decent gangster movie out of this).
The great thing about Grand Theft Auto 4 is that the player could have a blast without ever really paying attention to the story. I find just going postal in the game sometimes to be incredible and therapeutic. The missions are the most interesting and varied in the franchise. Rockstar also cut most of those weird out-of-world missions that I never enjoyed in the first place (like the RC missions in San Andreas). The game keeps you for the most part focused on what makes the game great: the driving, the shooting, the searching.
The graphics in Grand Theft Auto 4 is not a new benchmark in the industry but they are still impressive in their own right. To give a game such an open-world and to have the scale and draw distance (for the world, not the characters and cars) can leave one jaw-dropped at times. The right cars look shiny and the other cars look dirty. There is a varied collection of character models that fill out the city. Everything looks right and that helps the player immerse themself fully into Liberty City and feel like they are Niko or atleast a connection to that character.
A feature that truly helps present Grand Theft Auto 4 as a benchmark in the franchise is the much overlooked online multiplayer mode. This is not some tacted on fragfest experience like in many other single-player focused games. The multiplayer is varied with your usual deathmatch, to a cops vs. robbers exxperence, to racing, to multiplayer missions. The game also gives the player the ability to join with three of his friends in Liberty City with the online co-op mode. There is definitly something for everyone in the multiplayer mode of Grand Theft Auto 4.
Grand Theft Auto 4 is the total package. The game contains an amazing story mode that lets you complete the game at your own pace with great graphics, world, characters, controls and gameplay. The multiplayer is surprisingly varied and fun with a feel you cannot find replicated on any other game on shelves today. All of these reasons are why I give Grand Theft Auto 4 a five out of five.
