Grand Theft Auto IV

Grand Theft Auto 4 review by: Quik

I will start off by saying I really like GTA games. I have played all of them beginning with GTA2 (just a side note that both GTA classic games are available for download for free and legally from Rockstar on their website CLICK HERE to download them) then GTA3, Vice City, San Andreas, Liberty City Stories and Vice City Stories (both “stories” on PSP), Chinatown Wars and now finally GTA IV. I think this game is true to the franchise and is all you would expect from a next chapter in the GTA franchise. Killing, driving, stealing, amazing soundtrack (I could listen just to the radio stations in this game all day long) and obviously since it is a next-gen GTA game the graphics are breathtaking.

Liberty City is modeled after New York City everyone knows that by now but how close is it to the source material? I’ve lived in N.J. with my parents most of my life and it’s where I grew up so me and my parents know N.Y. pretty well. When I first got my Xbox 360 and GTA4 (THANK YOU to Fated and Monmouth Media Group, LLC for sponsoring my AMAZING gaming setup, one love!) I showed it to my parents who are not gamers and asked them to recognize where the game takes place. Of course the N.Y. landmarks although slightly altered are immediately recognized and put a smile on a face of anyone who’s ever been to N.Y.C.

Liberty City is alive all around you. The pedestrians have conversations on the streets and subway stations (in different languages to add even more realizm), you can hail a cab, grab a hot dog from a street vendor, ride the subway, you have to pay the bridge tolls, I mean this game is as close to being a gangster in N.Y.C. as you can get without getting a life sentence in prison. If you haven’t played it yet and you like “sandbox” games this is one title you definitely have to pick up. At the time I am writing this review STEAM is offering Grand Theft Auto Complete Pack (including GTA, GTA2, GTA3, GTA IV, GTA: Episodes from Liberty City, GTA: San Andreas and GTA: Vice City) for 48,99€. I am not sure if such a pack is available on any other platform outside Steam but you can always check.

O.K., enough of my fanboy drooling over this (great) game, now let me put on my evil horns and tell you what I didn’t like. I hate fast driving missions in this game. I HATE them. I hate chases. One such mission made me want to quit playing this game already. Everyone in this game is a Tokyo drift champion. Seriously. Everyone makes perfect turns, and I noticed the chases are very scripted (first mission when you use the police computer for Brucie). Even the environment is scripted in that mission. Now don’t get me wrong, I actually like driving around Liberty City, I like taking my friends and girlfriend out, listening to different radio stations and obeying traffic rules. The way the car reacts and handles is worlds above what we were introduced to in San Andreas but at the same time you can’t have the same scripted car chases as you did in San Andreas Rockstar! This is a very personal opinion however and for some of you those missions may prove to be quite fun and challenging.

I am really looking forward to comparing Grand Theft Auto IV to Saints Row soon and I am sure in my review I will judge Saints Row based on how it compares to GTA IV. Later on.

GTA 4 Review by: Fated

For my take on GTA4, I want to do something a little different than usual. Quik has given you a good overall idea of the nature, feel and quality of the game with which I completely agree. What I would like to do is talk about the special moments that embedded themselves in my memory.

The beginning of the game is, well, amazing. The credits rolling as the cargo ship pulls up to the NY Harbor and the smooth transition into the start of the game made me truly feel like an immigrant coming to a strange land. I can also tell you that immigrant brothers who exaggerate the wealth of America and their success are far more common than you might think, and that also put a smile on my face.

You know, I haven’t played the GTA games to completion in the past, enjoying Vice City mainly for its great soundtrack and trying San Andreas until about halfway through before the appeal of being a West Coast gangsta wore thin. Maybe the theme of this game spoke more closely to my soul, or maybe the overall quality has improved enough, but I had no trouble finishing this game all the way through.

The first time I stole a car I got arrested. Heh, great I thought, I actually have to pay attention while carjacking. When I finally managed to steal a car without ending my fledgling criminal career, the radio was turned onto a station playing Russian Rap. I shed a tear, how thoughtful, how in-character for Niko. That radio station stayed on a lot during my days in Liberty City, because it’s what I imagined my character would listen to. I wore track suits because all the Russian gangsters I see in movies with bad subtitles wear track suits. Everything was thought of, and the completeness of it left a lasting memory.

I remember a mission where an unruly passenger fought with you as you were kidnapping her, tugging at the steering wheel. The car would veer wildly off course and you literally wrestled with the controller as if you were really fighting over that steering wheel. I don’t know anyone who didn’t hate that woman, and even the most gentlemanly of us wished we could just knock her out for the remainder of the ride.

Blood or water, that eternal question of loyalty is well represented in a memorable choice you have to make early on, made all the more difficult by how much time you can invest into your relationships. I’m glad GTA presented you the choice, as it spoke to who you are as a person. Who knew, a game delving a little into my own psyche and holding up a mirror.

I not-so-fondly recall the last mission of the game, not because of its inclusion of every mission element possible, but for one horrendously difficult jump. Oh man, that leap, taken half-blind, unsure of what exactly you had to do to make it successful, was the epitome of frustration. But it is an epic jump and upon its eventual and successful completion, it made seeing the ending credits rolling by ever more sweet.

You know what I disliked? Looking for all the damned pigeons. Yes, as secret hunts go they’re very appropriate for New York, but I honestly and passionately hate what amounts to a fetch quest with 100 locations. The city is beautiful guys; I don’t need  100 pigeons to be encouraged into exploring it. Bottom line, this is a great game, engrossing, detailed, and with as close to a soul as a video game can get.  Another classic standing among lesser imitations (cough...Saints Row...cough)