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Rating:  -
...so I feel I can properly evaluate the game in its entirety.
And it ain't no GTA 3, Vice City, or San Andreas, and thats a good thing.
Now, not to let it be said that I didnt love/hate all those games and spend far too much of my young adult life playing them, but my major gripe with the GTA series was one that carried over to ever game until IV: linear games trying to act non-linear.
Let me explain...free roam games like this should, in theory, give you the option of progressing on the path YOU choose, not bogged down by some random mission (races that are damn near impossible to beat, flying some remote control helicopter for some random task, etc) that you find yourself spending hours trying to solve. Those types of missions from the past games, while also seeming slightly ridiculous, cancelled out the fun I had with the rest of the game that seemed more or less rooted in reality.
Frankly, after playing Saints Row, I was expecting the GTA-type-game crown stolen and not returned by the SR developers. Saints Row was simply more fun, the missions seemed to make sense and have a clear payoff and impact on the game.
Saints Row also wasnt bogged down by game components that I thought were unnecessary, like having to eat and lift weights in San Andreas. I was expecting the same pointless missions, the same pointless activities in this installment of the GTA series.
But I was wrong. Rockstar chose to base this game a little more in the real world (as it goes) and focus quite a bit more on character development. Rockstar also seems to have included quite a bit more extra content, such as the internet, TV, games, etc that are probably more a result of more powerful consoles being available for their developers.
At the end of the day, these types of games are pure escapist fun. For probably the first couple hours of GTA IV, I was concerned maybe Rockstar had really slowed things down too much, but as the game went on (and the hours and hours piled up I'm sad to say), I found the trade off was a much more immersive world where you cared about things a little more than the past GTA editions.
When the game was over, I can honestly say I'll probably play it through again, if for no other reason than to focus on the parts of the story I didnt get to this time and to take the other paths and choices that the game offers you. If I went right, this time I'm going left.
And really, thats the goal of a game developer, right? To keep you coming back for more?
Great job to Rockstar, great game, and great choice of direction to take the series - you almost sank it, but I think there will now be even more GTA converts lining up to pre-order GTA V thanks to some smart decisions in development.
Rating:  -
The Time has finally come. The day I get to hold Grand Theft Auto 4 in my hands. It is a day that I have waited for. I pre ordered last year and was told it was pushed back. I didn't care really. I have other games to play. But today, none of those games matter. For today I shall review "the" game.
The game
First let me tell you some cool things in the game.
When you are given a mission, a yellow marker will show up on your map. There will also be a yellow line, going from you to the mission point. Let it be said that you do not have to flower the way of the marker. But if you chose to, it makes getting to your next goal fast and easy.
As your driving, at times 2 characters will talk. You can see them moving to the talking. This is just a little thing I noticed that made me feel that the designers didn't scimp out on anything.
There is steam coming out the the vents on the street. Again another little detail that makes you really want to thank the guys who made this game.
In one of the first missions you have to pick up two ladies. The voice acting is really bad for these girls. Well, I don't know if it is bad voice acting, or the way the girls are supposed to act. If it is not supposed to sound like that, then the voice acting for them is bad.
When you are driving around the city, you get a feeling of aww. It is so amazing to look at everything around you. Every little detail seems to have been taken care of. It is amazing
The controls... all I can say is WOW! At first I was driving a car and the controls were really good. Then I jumped out and stole an s.u.v. This was nothing at first. But after driving for a minute or so I realized just how awesome the car mechanics were. You could see the car bouncing up and down from the shocks. I just watched the car move along for a few seconds in awww. This will add an entire new part to the game. Getting different cars and seeing how they react to your driving. They drive as if you were playing a very well controlled racing game. I give the control a 5 out of 5.
You can skip through most of the cut scenes. The ones you can not, shouldn't bother you. It's really cool watching the story play out. A lot of the stuff is pretty funny if you really think about what they are saying.
The music seems pretty cool. This is one of the only things I thought they missed. It would have been great if you could add custom soundtracks. How cool would it be to fly down the highway while listening to a Willie Nelson tune?
The Game
This game gets old fast. I mean the city is HUGE. However, its not like you can go in all the buildings. Also, you can stand there and see the same cars pass over and over. Kind of like Truman on the Truman show. I mean this is just a game. I and we have seen it before. I would almost have given this a 3 out of 5 but it does have a lot of fun things and the graphics in the game are pretty good. So if you think you may want this game I say go rent it. Then if you like it buy it used and new off amazon. You can get it for a better price there.
Here is something to think about. This is also the reason I gave this game a 4 out of 5. If the graphics and controls in this game were not as good as they are, would this game be more than just average. I know that those two things add a lot to the game, but what I'm saying is, this is just like the other GTA games. Yes you can play online now, but the online part has it's flaws. This is a great game don't get me wrong. But when the time comes for the next GTA to come out, what will the team do to make it stand out from this on.
Rating:  -
This game is really fun. I think it's a great game to the series, but at the same time I do not think it's the best one overall. There are a lot of shortcomings that make me get very bored of this game that could have easily been prevented. First of all, I want to say that San Andreas was a better game. Go ahead, lash out I don't care. The things you can do in this game is more limited than the previous title. You can't fly planes, you can only fly helicopters (whoopity doo..) you can't jump out and parachute down, which to me was a lot of fun, and there are a lot of aspects like VERY limited choices of clothing, etc.. that could have been put in that would have made this game much better. You can't even own your own property, as in buying it like in previous titles! You just go through the story and end up at only like three different locations that you can save from. I also enjoyed the RPG-like way of how your character in San Andreas could be built up, in exercising and eating. Granted, the graphics are amazing, but there are flaws in the overall gameplay that have made this game collect dust on my shelf for a while now.
Rating: -
Pretty similar to the regular Grand Theft Auto games. I am the kind of person who likes to drive around and just run people over and steal cars in the game. When I actually do some of the challenges in the game it is really nice that they have something similar to GPS that leads you to where you need to go.
The vehicles are very realistic, but the recovery for turning at high rates of speed is not very good. I think in the earlier games it was a lot easier to operate your vehicle at any rate of speed.
All in all this game is pretty fun.
Rating: -
All, ALL of the older GTA were better. It is a fun game to play, with better graphics than before. It just isn't as fun as Vice City, SA, or any of the old GTAs. The game goes by a lot faster, the story line okay at best, and the best vehicles suck!!! There are also a lot of bugs with the new graphics.
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