Grand Theft Auto IV

I have never given anything a 10 out of 10. In my 33 years of life, I've thought a perfect rating was unachievable. . . until I played GTA IV.

The craftsmanship in this title is simply stunning. It is clear that it was designed and implemented by people who really wanted to produce something that was revolutionary, and without skimping on the details.

I'm not much of a gamer, so I can't compare this to other titles. But what I can say is that I have been, and continue to be surprised with what the game is offering.

It seems almost limitless. From AI cars flashing their high beams when you're driving on the wrong side of the road on a collision course with them, to the seamless integration of the radio stations with the world you influence, to . . . well, a dozen pages could be written on the details alone.

And then there's the characters. Niko is great. He's likable, despite being a murderer. As the story progresses, you find yourself empathizing with him more and more, which is something I'd never expect from a video game.

Some of the other characters are annoying, but they ultimately lend themselves to a plot that is just fantastic. I would recommend to anyone playing the game to not seek out spoilers; the story is compelling and full of surprises, to the point where a plot turn will have you sitting in your easy chair, holding your controller, dropping your jaw saying "wow", with a little bit of drool rolling down your face.

Yes. It's that good.

Players of previous iterations of the GTA franchise will be happy to know that Niko is not some dopey guy who does whatever anyone tells him without reason. Whereas CJ from GTA:SA was unquestioning in his desire to just make everyone happy, Niko is far more complex. There are times when you think he's doing things out of dumb sense of "I guess I have to do this", but then you discover it's something else. Something more believable.

It's rare that a title has this much hype surrounding it. It's even more rare when it actually delivers on that hype.

And what were seeing with this game is history. Video games are a new genre of entertainment. Until recently, they've been resigned to the domains of hard-core gamers, with developers seeing how far graphics or sound can be pushed. But it's never been seen as a legitimate art form, like cinema.

GTA IV changes that. It suggests that a video game can be, in essence, a beautiful work of art. With this as a starting point, it's likely that in another 20 years interactive entertainment will be considered just as worthy of critical praise as film, or painting, or music.

GTA III on the 6th generation of consoles was a breakthrough in Gaming in 2001. back then 3-D free-roaming had not been accomplished like Rockstar and take-two interactive had done it. Pretty soon, Rockstar improved on their franchise greatly with Vice city in 2002, and then San Andreas in 2004, proving that they could push the capabilities of their game twice as far as they'd done before.

And then 2008 arrived on the calendar. Rockstar finished working on what is now a classic, Grand Theft Auto IV. Remember what I wrote before how Rockstar could push their franchise twice as hard as before? Well, GTA IV goes beyond twice. There is just So much to do. as Always, you don't even need to follow the story to have fun. You can just hotwire a 69 Charger (known in the game as a dukes) or steal a late-80's, Early 90's era Camaro (known as a Ruiner) and just go bombing through the city running people over, getting in trouble with the law, and hiring Sleazy women for their dirty services (you get to pick which one you want, and the game actually shows it happening this time! Yay!) Sure, you could do that before. but you can also play darts, pool, and go bowling with your girlfriend.

Another addition is online multiplayer, A first for the GTA series. You can gather up to 16 friends (or enemies) and go bombing around liberty city looking to kill each other. I just experienced it for the first time today, and man is it ever fun.

Now to the story. It's modern day, 2008. Niko Bellic is an immigrant from Europe (it's not clear where he's from, he could be from Bosnia, Serbia, or Russia, but the most reliable sources say he's from Serbia) and he's come to Liberty City, U.S.A. The initial Idea is that he's coming in search of the American Dream, but really, there are 2 reasons; 1, To escape the horrors of home, which include witnessing slaughtered children during a war 10 years before, and evading bad men to which he owes money. 2, During the war, He was on a mission with 14 other men. someone in his group betrayed the whole team for money. 12 men died. Niko is not guilty of betrayal, but he knows the other 2 are. and he knows one of them lives in Liberty City.

If you're over 17, and you have 20$ to spare, this game needs (that's right, Needs) to be in your game library. I'm serious. if you aren't playing GTA IV, You're not doing yourself any good.

Rated M for mature.

10/10

Oh, finally a real gaming experience that allows you to be a mafia member. The setting, music, situations, and even graphics really make you a part of the whole experience.

You get to explore the sandbox world of the game while getting into dangerous missions that include mobsters, criminal missions, and you even have time for your personal life.

This is a great experience that demonstrates that new millennium systems capacity to recreate a parallel universe that will transport you in a parallel life to say something...

Maybe I'm over praising this video game but believe me, until you play it, you will understand the whole experience...

Since some time now I have bought GTA 4 for my XBox 360 and its is far better then I expected, but before I begin my review lets look back on the previous GTA-games and what I personally think about them.

I really enjoyed GTA 1 and 2, and even though many people have mostly forgotten about those 2D-classics, in my opinion they were still the best incarnation of GTA. GTA 3 wasn't a bad game in my opinion, but it was really over-hyped at the time. Even though it was the first true 3D-installment it never really appealed to me. The graphics were too cartoonish, you couldn't even shoot through the front window of a car, and it was just getting boring too quickly I think. Vice City I have to admit I never really played thoroughly so I can't say too much about that. When San Andreas came out it really annoyed me since it was yet another stand-alone modification of GTA 3 in disguise. The graphics were still practically the same, the characters still looked like cartoon-characters and the overall story and gameplay wasn't good enough to keep me playing.

Since San Andreas I never really thought about GTA anymore, until GTA 4 came out. It was kinda funny as well since at the time of San Andreas I read in a interview with developer Rockstar that San Andreas was going to be their last GTA-game. I guess popular demand forced them to make another GTA-game, and I have to say I'm glad they did. This game has worked out a lot of mistakes from the previous GTA-games. For the first time if a car is locked, your character will automatically smash the window in to enter the car. Weapons feel a lot more realistic this time, and the overall atmosphere is more realistic as well which was a great plus for me. Speaking of realism; the game also features ragdoll-physics for the very first time which is very cool.

The story is in my opinion the best in GTA, along with the various places you can visit to hang out with NPC's to play some darts, pool, or bowling. Even though the voice-acting gets a bit corny here and there, it still manages to impress. Overall cruising around the city is more fun as well, and where the people on the streets in previous GTA-games had only a few animations and lines, the people in GTA all react different. Sometimes somebody walks on the street with a ice-cream, or a box and if you happen to bump into him/her he/she drops it on the floor. These small details add to the overall realistic feel. The details on the cars are insane. For example if you smash your car against a road-sign, you will see a significant hole in your car. You also again have a wide selection of radio-channels available.

It goes without saying that every GTA-fan will most probably love this game. To me, the game is even better since the last GTA-games just didn't impress me that much and overall weren't really my cup of tea. Its not just the graphics that are worked out better in part 4, but the overall atmosphere and gameplay are a lot better as well. Highly recommended!

Grand theft Auto IV Is an Amazing game all around The story is the best out of all the GTA Games The Characters are good The Antialiagst is amazing there is so much of them throughout the story the only real issue I have is the driving physics but that can be fixed my modding that Multiplayer not so good Does not really infect the review to me My fav part about this game is the weapon physics 100% that RPG all Around this game is my fav game out of the story