Note: To be honest, I'm pretty nervous to review this game. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, Grand Theft Auto IV is the 2nd best game of all time. But in my opinion, the second best game of all time is The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask on the N64 (Only just beaten by Shenmue 2 on the Dreamcast). So whether you agree with me or not, here goes. Enjoy the review and I look forward to discussing it with you.
Introduction:
Grand Theft Auto IV is a very difficult game to review. I have been a fan of the series since Vice City and while San Andreas was very good and added more than its predecessor, it also took away a lot of the freedom when it comes to playing in a sandbox. Grand Theft Auto IV has pretty much done the same thing. While there have been vast gameplay improvements there isn't as much destructive freedom as I would like. But some fans are okay with that and some aren't, but that's the thing about Grand Theft Auto. So many gamers hold a great respect for the series and because of the huge variety and size of the world they all have different opinions which make it a hard game to review. What do I think of it? I think it's pretty freakin sweet.
Story:
You play as Niko Bellic, an eastern European immigrant who has just got off the boat in Liberty City to live with his Cousin, Roman, who has promised a luxury life and loads of American girls with implants. It turns out that Roman is all talk. He owns a sleazy Taxi company and the “mansion" is a small apartment. As always with the series Niko must rise to the top in spectacular fashion. The story in Vice City and San Andreas were very well told, but the main characters weren't relatable or interesting. Niko Bellic is one of the greatest characters in gaming history. He is someone with tonnes of depth to them and is a lot more than just a stone cold killer. I'm trying to avoid spoilers but the further you go through the story the more you sympathise with him and you want him to win. The supporting cast is also incredibly inventive and everything is held together with a great script and amazing voice acting. There are some unexpected twists near the end and two different endings and no matter which path you choose near the end, the twist will definitely have a powerful impact on you. I would go as far to say that the story rivals those in great movie blockbusters.
Design:
As usual, you have the whole area to roam around and you can do whatever you want (to some limitation). You can jack cars, do odd jobs, take friends out, go on random rampages and much more. The amount to do in Liberty City is simply unmatched when compared to other sandbox games. While there aren't as many weapons, cars or locations as previous games, all of these features feel a lot more polished in this instalment. I won't go on to mention everything this game has to offer (mostly because I don't want to spoil of the joy of discovering the big city on your own as you go through the game) but I will mention what it hasn't got that seemed like no-brainers. The gang-war territory aspect from San Andreas has been left out, which would have added a lot more replay value to this game but some people didn't like the feature. So I guess you can't please everyone. But there are also no tanks and very few explosive weapons. Sure it makes it a bit more realistic, but it limits your rampage possibilities which kept me and my friends entertained for hours on end.
You may think I don't like this game now, but nothing could be further from the truth. Grand Theft Auto IV is a masterpiece in terms of design thanks to its huge world, large variety of things to do and the new polished features. It's just difficult to shower the game with praise because I can't really say anything that hasn't already been said, but there is one complaint that I would like to make about the game and it goes thus... The main story mode will take you about 30/40 hours depending on how “sandbox happy"¯ you are and while you definitely get your money's worth with this game I can't help but feel that by the games 20th hour it's starting to overstay its welcome. While the game always feels fun, at least a quarter of the missions could be removed because they don't do much to the story and do very little to change the gameplay formula. That's my biggest complaint with the game and while it's definitely not a game-breaker, it does stop the game from getting the most out of its story and keeping the gameplay from feeling fresh and inventive throughout.
The online mode is very fun to play. You and 16 other players have the whole city to yourself and you can choose from a variety of gameplay modes. There a cops and robbers style game, a standard death match and a few more. There is some lag, but it's pretty easy to find a game because there is always someone online.
Gameplay:
The biggest criticism with the GTA series has been that the gameplay has taken a back seat to the opportunity to live in a big gaming world. This has all been rectified here. While the shooting in San Andreas and Vice City has always been fun it has always felt a bit dated and without any ability to lock-on (effectively) or make good use of cover and what are the odds, because these are exactly the new features that have been added in this game. The shooting feels fluid and the cover system is easy to use. You can park a car into an area, jump out and use the car for cover. You can use almost anything for cover and it adds a strategic element to the combat that the series definitely needed. The lock-on system is simple to use which helps anybody get into it (let's face it, not everyone who plays this game will be over 18). Also, thank god for the automatic lock-on because the environments are so dark that it's very difficult to see the enemies even with the brightness on full (more on that in the graphics section). Shooting from a vehicle is also a lot easier, which makes the game a lot more fun. While the shooting isn't perfect it is a massive improvement for the series but unfortunately our enemy 30/40 hour campaign strikes back again. The shooting never really changes or evolves throughout the game and while that isn't a bad thing, the very long campaign makes it feel like the missions are repeating themselves. The same goes for the driving sections, but these have benefited greatly by the physics engine.
All the cars in this game have their own sense of weight which takes a while to get used to, but it makes the game more realistic and feels rewarding when you take a sharp corner perfectly. The physic engine is also put to great use when flesh meets cold hard steel at 100mph. If you hit pedestrians, they go flying. It's pretty funny to see and it is curiously satisfying it ways I will probably need to talk to my psychiatrist about. It's also great to hit something and see Niko go hurtling through the windscreen in an incredibly painful but immensely cool way. But it's a bit TOO easy to lose the police. All you have to do is drive out of a large ring on your map and make sure no more cops see you. It may be more realistic, but it seems a bit disappointing because it's tough to set up a large scale police chases which I sorely miss.
The last gameplay elements I want to talk about is the phone and the dating. During the course of the game, you will meet a lot of new friends and you will get their phone numbers so you can call them and talk to them. You can get jobs from them, call them for tips or just talk to them to develop the story. The phone helps to streamline the experience and makes the friends feature more accessible, but this streamlining is countered by the fact that they can call you a lot to ask you out for meals of dates which breaks flow quite a bit, but you won't want to reject these offers because there are quite a few rewards to be gained from being good friends with them. This does tend to break flow, but if you can overlook this then it won't bother you. Also, some of the freedom is a bit of an illusion. At one point you can go on a dating website and even though the game says there are about 30 possible people you can go out with you can only go out with about 4 or 5 of them and the game has no explanation for it. I know I'm just nitpicking but the closer a game gets to perfection the more obvious the flaws are. Like the ending boss in Bioshock. But at the end of the day, this game is the best Grand Theft Auto to date and is probably the best sandbox game in terms of its gameplay and variety.
Graphics:
Let's be honest for a second. You would never expect a sandbox game, which offers you the chance to go anywhere and do almost anything, to look as good as a linear experience which sets you down a highly detailed pre-determined path. But you wouldn't think it by looking at Liberty City. Grand Theft Auto IV is one fine looking game. The city is a joy to explore it can be breathtaking to drive on one of the bridges and see one of the greatest and most detailed skylines in gaming. The character models during cut scenes are definitely highlights, with the characters faces showing a great amount of expression and character. The explosions also look great but sometimes the ragdoll physics when characters are hit can look a bit awkward. Also, the frame rate can take a slight hit when there are a lot of police cars on screen at the same time. Niko also looks awkward when running and jumping but he looks very natural while driving and shooting. Also, the environments are really dark and if it weren't for the automatic lock-on, the gunfights would be needlessly frustrating, but it's still a bit of a problem when trying to navigate certain areas. Buts it's the attention to detail that will boggle your mind.
You can go online and browse over 100 different websites, customize your phone with wallpapers and ring tones, go to a cabaret club and watch different performances, watch different TV shows (even if they aren't very funny to watch and completely disrupt the flow to watch them) and see the different amount of traffic based on what time of day you play. Its simply one of the most immersive game worlds ever conceived.
Sound:
As usual for a Rockstar game, the voice-acting is pretty much unmatched compared to other games. The quality is great and with Michael Hollick leading the charge as the hero, Niko Bellic, the whole cast of eccentric characters is one of the most inventive and most believable in the history of gaming. (And maybe entertainment in general). But that doesn't mean that there isn't a bit of melodrama, but it never feels forced because of the sharp writing and slick script. The sound effects are well done. The guns sound powerful and the skidding of cars sound cool. But if you are like me and looked at the score before the review you must be wondering why I marked the sound quality down slightly. While the radio stations are great to listen to and the music selection is really varied and of good quality, it doesn't meet the standards of the radio stations from Vice City or San Andreas. Don't get me wrong, stations are great fun to listen to but the sketches repeat a lot and they just aren't as funny as talk shows from previous games.
Closing Comments:
While Grand Theft Auto IV might not be my second best game of all time, it is definitely a game that should be experienced by anyone that is serious about gaming. If you haven't bought it, then what the hell are you doing reading a review about it? Get it already. There hasn't been a better time, especially with the release of Episode from Liberty City. Liberty City is just waiting to be experienced.
+ Compelling Story
+ Great attention to detail
+ Fluid Shooting and driving
- Some of the “freedom"¯ can really break up the momentum
- The story mode outstays its welcome
Re: Grand Theft Auto IV 
Linear Mode
