ManlyBeast

For a long time, gamers and critics alike have debated the age-old question: Are video games art? In 2007, many of those discussions were put to rest with the release of epic games like Bioshock and Mass Effect. But the arrival of the once delayed, next-gen Grand Theft Auto game should end the debate. If you’ve seen my score already, then you know what I’m going to say, but here it goes anyway: Grand Theft Auto IV is the masterpiece of this gaming generation.

Before GTA became this big, however, the violent franchise was still finding its own, trying to survive the jump between 2-D and 3-D. The original GTA was exclusively played from a top-down perspective, encouraging players to steal cars, run from the police, and take out criminals. When that concept was dropped into a fully fleshed out world in GTA III, Liberty City made its first appearance in 3-D. It was the first open world (any game where you can explore and complete missions in a non-linear manner) and one of the biggest breakthroughs in gaming history. In the mainstream press, Rockstar and its franchise became synonymous with controversy when a modder was able to “unlock” a sexually explicit scene in GTA: San Andreas dubbed “Hot Coffee.” Now, years after the incident, Rockstar has recovered brilliantly and recreated Liberty City into a living, breathing satire of New York City.

While GTA III stars a character with no personality or dialogue, GTA IV features a fully fleshed out, non-traditional character named Niko Bellic. The opening sequence (which is one of the coolest openings in any movie or video game) shows Niko sailing in on a ship from his home in Eastern Europe to meet his cousin Roman. His cousin convinces Niko to come to America, telling Niko that he is living the American dream. Of course, Roman is overstating things a bit. As soon as Niko lands in America, however, you can begin exploring the most realistic virtual city to date.

The detail of the buildings is also unbelievable. While in previous games, especially San Andreas, Rockstar used many of the same textures to depict buildings. But not here. Rarely have I seen a building duplicated anywhere. Nearly every building is unique and features a distinguishing feature, whether you’re looking at a crummy convenience store on the corner or a penthouse in Algonquin.

The biggest improvement in the latest installment of the series is the gameplay. It is simply much more fun than in previous games. Take for example fleeing from the police, you can actually get away from them without going to a Pay’n’spray (which are still in the game if you need a quick fix). The cops are persistant and around every corner so you will spend a lot of time perfecting your escape route. There are several locations you can spend killing time at with friends or on your own. The cars' controls responive so you can pull off “Hollywood style” stunts fairly easily but be carefull weaving through traffic as you can fly through the window of your car. Other than those nuances all the old features return from previous games such as pop-able tires. One of the biggest notable changes are the physics that have been put in place. Man is it satisfying to see the way a person bounce off your windows in a spray of blood (which will graphically stick to your car sometimes). Lastly there is the implementation of a simple cell phone which helps heaps in managing your contacts and getting jobs calling spoof phone numbers or excreta. The one small problem I noticed is when you find a car you’ve spent a long time searching for and then all of a sudden that car seems to be everywhere, it’s nothing too big to worry about and it's hardly noticeable in the mix of things, yet it still is annoying.

The sound is beautiful as always and features some big title tracks and well written comedy shows. Every genre is here and if you want to find out the track's name you can call up a number on your cell phone that will tell you what it is. Characters sound awesome, each with an appropriate accent and lifestyle, each loveable or hate-able in their own way. I have no problem with the sound besides the over abundance of swear words, but it fits the style of game that it is.

The Multiplayer features a standard deathmatch (but in all of the city or select area depending on hos), a catchy cops and robbers type mode and my favorite three co-op missions. Each of these supports up to 16 players minus co-op mode which is 4 people. Each is fun and exciting, it’s the same old GTA, but with real people, can’t wait to see the lawsuit on this one… haha. Admittedly I haven’t spent all that much time in multiplayer but Grand Theft Auto has never be n about the multiplay so I will reserve some judgment.

Overall, Grand Theft Auto IV is a must have for any 360 owner. Not only it is fun and top notch in regards to production value, it’s a shoe in for Game of the Year. Stunning visuals combined with awesome acting and sound design with a much needed improvement in gameplay, it brings everything to the table and I’m sure there some things even I have missed because of the pure size of the environment.