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Kaiser Flaco
57,594
TA Score for this game: 3,500
Posted on 09 April 09 at 00:25, Edited on 09 April 09 at 00:29 |
This review has 23 positive votes and 9 negative votes. Please log in to vote. |
GTAIV is the first case in a long time, if ever, that a game has been met so well by critics yet been underappreciated by fans. Harvesting near-perfect 9s and 10s from most publications, user averages for GTAIV hover around the 8/10 – 8.5/10 mark. There is, of course, a reason for such a difference of opinion, and my own theory is that, while most games ‘journalists’ (a term used lightly, but that’s a debate for another day) see GTAIV as a landmark in gaming, a wonder in size and scope for people who have been playing games since pre-NES, the majority of GTA-playing gamers are, facts faced, under the age of 21. Nothing wrong with that, of course, being under 21 myself, but when the earliest open-ended game most players remember is GTAIII, you can see the trouble start to arise. The growth of the series, from III to Vice City to San Andreas, has been incredible, R* effortlessly topping themselves each time if only in the amount of stuff to do, game world size and expansive cinematic aspect unconsidered.
And with that GTAIV might immediately seem like a step back for the series. Gone are ‘R3’ missions, the memorable taxi/vigilante/paramedic oddjobs now axed. Gone also are the buyable properties and empire-building aspects, and with them, the overall sense of a rags to riches stories of a lone criminal. While these still exist in some shape or form in IV, the taxi and vigilante missions still playable though not through the classic R3 method and certainly not with the rewards they once offered, and safehouses are still to be found in Liberty City, though not with the money-accumulating functions seen in VC and SA, jumping into IV straight from its predecessors can leave you with a bad taste in your mouth.
But what is a game that doesn’t expand on what we’ve seen before? Would we really have been content with a new GTAIII-style game with better graphics for a new generation? Even now, the idea of Vice City recreated in GTAIV’s engine seems like the greatest idea for a game one can imagine, but R* knows that risks must be taken. If the change hadn’t happened, they’d feed us a new GTA every fourth quarter with new technical advancements and the consumer would lap it up.
It’s immensely brave of R* to take such a huge risk with a franchise as valuable as GTA, and surely, the transition to this new era of GTA games is far from over, but it has paid off for them unbelievably well. The critics were right – R* is a technical marvel, a testament to what games as a medium can accomplish. The sheer size of the game coupled with the level of detail is unrivalled. R*’s insistence to stay in Liberty City for future instalments (likely this means past the two announced DLC packages) proves this. They’ve created the single greatest game world ever seen, and likely ever to be seen for the rest of this generation and much of the next, where it’s likely to be overshadowed only by GTAV itself.
Even the plot for GTAIV has been overhauled in comparison to past efforts. Playing as a Serbian brings a very unique aspect to Liberty City, opening up areas that would surely have been missed had we been playing a typical Italian-American mafia henchman. And while it could be argued that there’s a multitude of aspects to Liberty City we didn’t get much of a peek at in terms of crime within cultural groups, the upcoming DLC proves to change that. The Lost and Damned is set to show the biker underworld in Liberty City, and future instalments no doubt ready to unveil new crime groups. Perhaps the most promising thing about the announced DLC is they way it times into the plot of the game experienced by Niko Bellic – playable character Johnny Klebitz involved in kidnapping hints that he’s the one who snatches Roman part-way through GTAIV’s story. The intertwining stories seen in the GTAIII-era of games appears to have successfully made the transition over to this generation untouched, though instead of sprawling apart over a two-decade timeframe and three cities, confined to a single city as a modern day experience.
There are, of course, truly valid criticisms of GTAIV out there. The rather primitive online modes, for instance, already outdone by the Multi Theft Auto mods for VC and SA on the PC. Or the constant nagging from friends wanting to do activities, an (unnecessary) overhaul of the girlfriend system in San Andreas. There’s also no huge sense of reward in GTAIV, either – weapons are now only sold from shops and not delivered to a safehouse as they were in past games, money is much harder to come by, and when you do find it, it’s usually taken away swiftly. Hospitals in GTAIV are now extremely costly compared to the simple $100 charge of past games, and it’s too easy to unload your wallet simply stocking up on weapons and ammo. Luckily, the exclusion of buyable properties means the game has one less money sink. While not failings that hold them game from being perfection, they are certainly valid, and can often seem a bit silly when viewed next to how the same systems were pulled off almost perfectly in past games. There’s no real reason for these sorts of changes.
When the game you’re playing is as truly massive as GTAIV, these sorts of criticisms simply don’t matter. The entire experience is refined to be truly amazing, even the in-mission set pieces treated with a cinematic fine-tuning in addition to every other overhaul seen in the game. However, the GTAIV experience is far from over, much in the same way that, back in 2001, the GTAIII experience wasn’t finished with Vice City and San Andreas just around the corner. If R* can do the unthinkable and expand on GTAIV as they did with GTAIII, they might, impossible as it may seem, turn all of those unappreciative past fans around.
NB: I copied this from a write-up I did for another site, sorry for the length/if some parts aren't very relevant.
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AdamRawrr
32,214
TA Score for this game: 537
Posted on 28 June 09 at 01:10 |
This review has 10 positive votes and 3 negative votes. Please log in to vote. |
Let me start out by saying i'm in no way shape or form against this game. It's an awesome game, i just feel things could have been made better in certain places. You'll see where if you read on.
Right, let me jump right in and tell you what i think. If you rent the game, you'll love it to bits and not wanna send it back.
But the longer you have it, the story mode part will get excessivly boring.
Story:
The story is alittle (i wouldn't say stranger) but it's.. different that the previous games' story lines. And with the phone calls and texts every 3 minutes, that will definitly push your buttons if you have a low patience. However, the graphics on this game are by far one of the best ive seen, the buildings, the sea's, the sky.. all the way down to the park's are all very well designed, and as for the cars.. They practically look like the real thing, especially when you damage them, They're so realistic (if you hold break and accellerate, soon enough your tires will blow) which is rather excellent, and if you accidently crash into something you go flying through the windscreen.
Multiplayer:
The multiplayer is abit of both. It's got great varies game modes (see below) for you to show off your skills, be it driving or shooting. And ofcourse the always ever so popular Free Roam, where you can play with randomers you find online or friends by setting up a private session to explore round the city in company. The multiplayer can be very entertaining however a slight thing i've noticed is that if your playing a mode which isn't necessarily supposed to be shooting eachother (eg: GTA Race or Free Roam) then having auto-aim allowed can be extremely annoying if your trying to play fairly or don't want to be shot for no reason.
Sounds:
The sounds for this game are very unique to Grand Theft Auto. The most noticible sounds would be the various radio stations played in every car, bike and boat, i believe?
They're clever, funny and very original.
Overall i really like this game and still play it despite having it for more than a year.
Here are the 15 multiplayer game modes:
Team Games:
Team Deathmatch
Team Mafia Work
Team Car Jack City
Turf War
Cops N' Crooks
Competative Games:
Deathmatch
Mafia Work
Car Jack City
Race Games:
Race
GTA Race
Co-operative Games:
Deal Breaker
Hangman's NOOSE
Bomb Da Base II
All Rounder:
Free Roam
Single player: 6.7/10
Multiplayer: 8.3/10
Sounds 8.6/10
If you don't like my review, please feel free to comment and i'll get back to you.
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mudE13
35,952
TA Score for this game: 509
Posted on 18 June 09 at 17:01 |
This review has 9 positive votes and 3 negative votes. Please log in to vote. |
The Smokin' Gamer here with my first quick review. Now with all my game reviews, I will be scaling them in six areas; STORY, GAMEPLAY, GRAPHICS, SOUND/MUSIC, REPLAY VALUE, and whats important to most of us PRICE VALUE. So here I go wtih GRAND THEFT AUTO 4.
Story: The story in GTA4 is by far the best in the series. You play as a Russian immigrant known as Niko Bellic looking for someone who betrayed him while he was in the army. Along the way you get to meet a shitload of different characters, each one of them helping to develop the storyline. This was my favorite part of the entire game. (Story: 10/10)
Gameplay: OK this is the part where most people are going to want to burn me alive. Although it is ridiculous fun running over people, shooting hookers, and blowing the living fuck out of everything, almost every mission felt like a chore. Let's be honest, most games are repetitive, but it has to be the right kind of repetitiveness(im not sure if i spelled that right). All I kept hearing before the game came out was, "OH they have changed the combat up so much in this game. It's going to kick ass!!!". While the new cover system was a welcome addition, the lock on system sucks major ass!!! And that fucking physics system...I mean...I know it's pretty accurate, but...FUCK...I hate being thrown from a car and tearing up my ass for about a mile down the road . I know I might be nit picking, but the same people that will defend this game will bitch about how you can't run and gun in RE5. Besides that, the game does offer many things to do and keep a person busy for a very long time. (Gameplay:7/10)
Graphics: This game does look amazing!!! You can tell that it was carefully detailed in every inch. The cars, the lighting, the people (strippers ) are all gorgeous. (Graphics: 10/10)
Sound/Music: Once again the sound is great. Listening to all the people on the street and just hearing the noises from the city to do make it feel like you are actually in a city. And with a shitload of different radio stations, it has by far has some of the best music in a game. (Sound/Music: 10/10)
Replay Value: You can play this game over and over again without doing any of the missions. Of course we all know this already. BONUS: Multiplayer is pretty fucking fun...if you can find anybody to play with. (Replay Value: 9/10)
Price Value: You can find this game used for about $20-$30 or you can spend $40 to get a new copy. IS it worth it, well...yeah it is. There is always plenty to do and with the Lost and the Damned DLC and the soon to be released the Ballad of Gay Tony DLC it is money well paid for. (Price Value: 9/10)
Overall Score: 9/10
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