Video Games : Grand Theft Auto IV (PS3)

Rating: - Just pure fun
This game is just pure fun. I haven't got any problems with bugs
or any freezing...
The multiplayer is the best ever and the map is so big!
this is the game of the year (maybe game of the century)

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Rating: - It's a grower
Looking at the other reviews it seems unfair that many people have judged the game after a very small amount of play time in comparison to the size and length of the game. Having said this, if I had written a review after a similar amount of time with the game, I may have held some of the same opinions.
Upon first playing it, I was not immediately struck by it being the most awesome creation of all time packaged up in game form as all the hype had suggested. I had been following the preview coverage and it seemed by their words that Rockstar had plucked dreams and miracles from the heavens and shaped them into a game. But when you start the game it is something of an anti-climax. It is night when you arrive which by no means shows off the graphics of the game in the slightest. You get in a car with apparantly horrible handling and set off across a district with nothing particular to look at, feeling like you're in a new version of GTA III with slightly better graphics and mysteriously worse handling. And so the game begins in a manner entirely lacking in spectacle. You begin with no weapons and it is a while before you get one. The 18 radio stations are the only thing which initially left me overwhelmed, everything else leaving me distinctly under.
I was thinking at the back of my mind, but trying not to consider it as true, that perhaps it wasn't, after all this time, all that it was cracked up to be.
However I have now invested a significant amount of time in the game and am somewhere over 50% completion and can say with absolute confidence that it is a magnificent game. And it does take a certain amount of time to realise that to a full extent.

It is particular features and places along with "GTA moments" that make the game. And it does take a while to be able to experience these. It is only once the game is fully opened up that you will be able to fully enjoy it.

Star junction. First time I went there I just stood for a while, looking around. And often have to stop and do so again when I drive through there.
The new combat system. I feel powerful and capable now of clearing a room full of angry enemies, with whom I am battling with rather than the controls.
Flying a helicopter over the city at night. Who needs planes?
Explosions. Oh such beatiful destruction. Also, the RPG launcher.

As for joyous, unique moments here's two from the past two days:

Taking a moped, and having an NPC standing next to me grab onto the handle as I drove off making for an amusing and difficult escape with them hanging off the handle and pulling me in one direction until they fell off.

A hectic police chase through Middle Park, then suddenly seeing a large taxi had joined in on the chase and was ramming me, and realising that four police officers had acquired a taxi to chase me in.

It does not need all of the features of San Andreas, those which it has are entirely sufficent to make it a wonderful game. Rockstar has kept in the ones that really matter to the experience. They have kept the core experience of GTA and ramped it up many notches. It is GTA but the things I loved to do in the past are even more fun now that they have better mechanics and look beautiful. Although on the subject of visuals I did put the contrast up to maximum to make it look more vibrant.
Now that they have the foundation there, perhaps they will expand on the boundaries again in future GTA's. As it is, I'm quite happy with GTA IV the way it is.
Perhaps if it had a more spectacular beginning more people would appreciate it, and play through to the point where it all comes together beautifully. I guess Rockstar were using it to portray the fact that an immigrant coming into the country will not have a spectacular start, which is all very well for the story but may have lost it a few fans.

On the subject of it having so many "perfect" scores, 10/10 doesn't mean perfect as some people seem to think. As gamesTM magazine says on its reviews page:

"The elusive ten is reserved for games of irrefutable quality, but please be aware that a score of ten in no way professes to mean perfection. Perfection is an unattainable goal, and on a ten point scale nothing should be unattainable."

With this in mind GTA IV definately deserves 10/10.

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Rating: - Honest review
Hype is hype, people get drawn in and then are dissapointed as soon as they play the game because it's not the "simply perfect" in every way game they were promised. Of course the game isn't perfect. But if you love GTA then there's no question you will love this game.

The positives?

Well the map is great. Graphics are fantastic, I did find the city a little dark for me and my tv so I simply changed the in game brightness to a level my eyes liked.

If you have played GTA before you will know the mission layouts. Go somewhere and kill a guy or two. We all know that. But Rockstar have tweaked things a little this time. The missions can overlap, some take time to complete. In that time you can choose to go off and do a different mission. Also at times in the game you are given personal choices to make on who lives and who dies, sometimes that choice can be a pretty tough one too! There is also an alternate ending to this game, depending on what choice you make in the last mission.

The main thing I have enjoyed so far is the storyline itself. The common theme of GTA games is to start from the bottom and finish at the top. This is still the same but it's not so easy this time to get from one to the other. You will suffer setbacks along the way and at one point you are actually in a worse position than when you started. I liked that.

The social aspect of the game has been hugely improved. You can still take your girl out on a date like San Andreas. But this time round you can take your friends out. As you progress you pick up a fair few friends and taking them out for a drinking session or perhaps a game of darts can really benefit you. Get your friends to like you enough and you will unlock their special talent. One friend will sell you guns at cheap prices, another will provide you with a few goons for back up if you need it.

The mobile phone! I love this new way of connecting with the GTA world. You can do everything via your phone. Call your friends for nights out, call them for jobs, call them for guns or back up like I said above. You may also use the internet. You can apparently date girls off networking sites (haven't dabbled too much into the net myself). But I love the way I can prepare for a mission by calling my man Jacob up and requesting him to meet me somewhere so I can buy a collection of guns and grenades off him.

An if you haven't got a car to go meet Jacob with? hail down a taxi. This is actually something I find myself using alot more than I would have thought. They really are a great way of getting around. You can skip the taxi journey by pressing X. Also in the early days when your bank balance is not so large you can call your cousin Roman up and ask him to send you one of his cabs to pick you up and take you to your destination for free, as he owns a taxi company.

The cover system is a great addition too. It takes getting used to. But give yourself time and you will be using it very effectively. Shooting itself has been improved too. Also if in a gunfight or just beating up a poor bystander you can leave them half dead. What I mean by this is you can beat them up until they have only one bar of health left and then sit back watch them as they stagger this way and that and then fall over in a heap. They don't die until you finish them off but it can be a great feeling playing out a mission, chasing a guy all over the city, killing all his goons and then have him half dead in an alleyway, unable to move and just begging to be shot one last time. Maybe I'm just cruel.

Multiplayer!!!! Finally GTA has the ability to go online and it's pretty damn good on first impressions. You can choose different gametypes etc. You've got deathmatch, team deathmatch, cops and robbers just to name a few. I went straight into a team deathmatch and loved it. We were able to go anywhere on the map and cause as much chaos as we liked. You generally start off with an uzi gun and have to search for other types. But don't worry about that as there are plenty of weapons around every corner. The team deathmatch can be summed up by the vision of a team mate pulling up his car to pick you up, you get in and go commit a drive by shooting on the nearest enemy on the map. Great stuff. Also I got a thrill out of playing "cops and robbers" and the racing was interesting lol

Positives? man I feel like I've forgotten some. Oh yea, the games are quite good. Darts, bowling and pool all serve as nice additions.

OK negatives.

Business owning. I always loved having a business make money for me in the past GTA game. It's not been put into this one so I'm a little dissapointed with that and I'm kind of left thinking there is less to do after completing the missions, compared to previous GTA's where I never felt bored of the game even after completion. There is a feeling of "well what do I do now?" once you have completed the game.

Safehouses - Now I've done all the missions I'm a little confused as to why I don't have more safehouses than I do. After San Andreas where you have houses all over the map. That's not the case here and you never really achieve that mansion style house we all want.

Driving? This to me isn't a negative. But I'm going to put it in the negative pile because I think most people won't enjoy the driving on this one (until they get used to it). It's basically more realistic. You can't fly round a corner so easily. You have to slow down and turn with caution. The cars themselves are fantastic. They take damage brilliantly and the "flying through the windscreen" is a nice touch. Also people will get killed in car crashes now, just tonight I hit a car side on at full speed. I was ok but the other driver slumped out of his car door and died on the pavement.

Review long enough? lol overall a great game. Definately worth buying and I have had no problems with bugs at all. I think after completing the missions there may be an issue with if there's enough in the game to keep you playing. But it seems Rockstar have sacrificed that for a very good online multiplayer. So if you do play your console online that's where the longetivity will come from I believe.

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Rating: - To the unlucky few
It's a shame to hear of some people experiencing bugs with the game. I'm playing it on a 60gb PS3 and haven't had a single problem (don't know if it's a problem with the different PS3s?).
What I will say is that it seems Rockstar are soon to release a patch in order to fix these problems.

The game itself is nothing short of magnificent, I always know a game is special when I can't get the girlfriend to let me have a go! Don't listen to those who reviewed without playing beyond the first few missions, the experience goes rapidly from strength to strength. The large scale shoot-outs are a particular highlight.

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Rating: - Simply an incredible 3d virtual world...
I've been playing it for 2 days now in 'free roam' mode, and wow! this game IS the most detailed and interactive 3d environment ever. I'm gobsmacked by some of the sights Ive seen. Driving the speedboat around the dock areas is very realistic, and the water and wave effects are top notch. Also, flying the helicopter over the city is amazingly realistic and detailed, and copter crashes are crazy and lifelike. GTA 1V is far more immersive than the previous GTA, there's no comparison.

All that amazing detail must come at a price tho, and that price is occasional low fps for a lot of people (mainly during car chases involving lots of cop cars). Also, there are annoying glitches - such as when Niko's head and body partially disappears into walls etc if you bump him into stuff.
But I can forgive all of that in exchange for having the privelage of exploring this awesome new computer-generated world that RockStar have created.

PS: I dont particularly like the sleazy/sex/drugs and prostitution theme of this game, and so I havent bothered with any of the missions, only the first part so I could get the mobile phone to key in the cheats:)