Since I got some positive feedback from my COD4 review, I'll review GTA 4.
[HEADING=1]Grand Theft Auto 4[/HEADING]
A large criminal driven city, an infinite amount of cars to steal, squishy pedestrians filled raspberry jam, f-bomb dropping protagonists and allies? Yup sounds like another Grand Theft Auto title, first one for the seventh generation of consoles.
[HEADING=2]Story[/HEADING]
You step off the boat as Niko Bellic, an eastern European immigrant that moves to Liberty City to live the so-called American dream. His cousin promised him a mansion, fast cars, and hot women with "big American titties" when Niko would move in with him, but instead he gets a crappy apartment, a cab along with a cab depot a.k.a your cousin's business, and a fiasco with a few loan sharks that your cousin didn?t pay back. Niko himself is a bit more likable than previous protagonists, since he doesn't want to kill but feels like he has to kill to survive. Beneath his cold exterior is a tortured soul that came to Liberty City to look for someone who has betrayed him many years ago in a war. There are quite a number of personalities you meet; they are entertaining but most feel replaceable and not very interesting. Most are just thugs, gangs and stereotypical mafia. Along with these characters comes a well done script and some nice voice acting. When you get to the second safe house, the story is completely abandoned that you are just acting as a hitman or delivery-man for random criminals so you could... Actually what am I doing this for?! For money to help my cousin? Even if I have 250 grand in my pocket, he still acts as if we're dirt poor! There is no good explanation as to what any of the things I am doing for these people is doing to progress the story. Sorry, I'm going on a rant here... The story starts out fairly interesting and while it lasts, it has proper pacing and really brings out Niko?s personality. Unfortunately that plot becomes virtually non-existent until a select few missions randomly placed across the middle of the game middle of the game. The majority of the missions (like 85%) seem to do nothing in progressing the story line and you start wondering what is the point of these.
"I left war-torn Eastern Europe for this?!
[HEADING=2]Design and Progression[/HEADING]
Liberty City is smaller than San Andreas and less varied. With San Andreas there was a variety of environments, not just urban all the time. There was a forested region along with a mountain, a military base, and some rural towns and villages. In GTA 4, Liberty City is divided into 5 boroughs spread amongst 4 islands. The environments are:
Broker: lower-middle class urban industrial vomit
Dukes: middle class urban vomit
Algonquin: Upper-middle class metropolis vomit
Alderney: Middle-class suburban industrial vomit
Bohan: mixed vomit
I say vomit with all these because of the unappealing graphical color of the game, and the fact that the people of Liberty City are jerks. With those said, its good that the people are jerks because it shows that the city is alive and shows a satirical view of American life and really brings you into this self-proclaimed ?worst place to live in America?. You can overhear small-talk between people on the street and when you perform reckless acts of driving they yell some very funny lines like my favourite ?My son can drive better than you and he?s four?. So Liberty city has the sound and feel working for it but the sight leaves something to be desired. That?s not to say the graphics look like crap, the game looks great but it seems to conform to the grey and brown filter paper fad that I don?t think is the best route to go. One major sight I was impressed with is the day and night cycle and a random weather generator because it can obscure visibility, make roads slippery, and limit traffic and people on the street.
Remember when Yahtzee said "people are shit"? In this city, that's an understatement.
The mission structure of the game is one that works but can be experienced as repetitive as it consists of mainly ?go here and kill/destroy this? but they every mission has a different task in it before you kill the guy such as infiltrate/escape a building or area, and there are very exhilarating set piece missions such as a bomb delivery in a truck and a bank robbery along with an intense escape. But after a while you start to notice a similarity with the majority of the missions as one big errand-boy escapade. The last thing to mention is that you now have a social life within the game. You have to bring a character you befriended to go bowling or to a show or to eat, keep them happy and if their happiness percentage is over a certain point, they?ll perform services for you like get you guns or backup. It?s an interesting feature, as going bowling or seeing a comedy show gives a certain charm since every performance in the shows is different and brings on a lot of laughs. Liberty City is an enjoyable place with the people, the landmarks, all satirizing pop culture and current events. It?s just a shame you have to view this great city behind a coffee filter.
[HEADING=2]Gameplay[/HEADING]
Niko Bellic is much more agile than previous protagonists of the series as he can climb fences, scale ledges, and uses a cover system where he can take cover and shoot from behind anything in the game world. This also implements an over the shoulder aiming system that feels very accurate and deadly and has an auto lock-on feature if you completely depress the aim button. However Niko feels slower than other protagonists, because sometimes the controls can feel sluggish and clunky, but this may be because of the game?s use of the Euphoria engine. The Euphoria engine allows for working physics and realistic hit detection on bodies along with implementing a virtual skeletal and muscular system. When you shoot someone they are pushed back by the force of the bullet and move in a realistic off-balance motion, which works but this causes repetitive motions in every torso shot. The euphoria engine also shows its use on the vehicles as they detect and move on every bump like they have real weight on the ground. The vehicles feel slower and heavier, however, which affects the ability to make sharp turns because of the weight factor, but it soon becomes second nature. I say, the Euphoria engine does more good than harm as I like a game with realistic physics. The A.I. in the game is actually good, since they always take cover and advance on you, hardly ever standing in one spot, unless you?re very close. There can be some occasional stupidity and glitches but the AI is still good even for a sandbox game. The wanted level is also modified with a search radius that you need to stay out of for 10 seconds to get the cops off your back, which on lower wanted levels becomes drastically simple but actually provides a challenge on the higher ones with the search radius the size of all of Broker and enough cops and swat team to take down a small nation. Despite some small feelings of slow movements and controls, the gameplay foundation is solid and comfortable for a consistent and fun play-through
All I did was punch a hot dog vendor!
I will not tackle multiplayer because I didn?t play it enough to make a full review of it.
[HEADING=2]Closing Comments[/HEADING]
GTA 4 maybe the most over-hyped and overrated game plaguing mainstream gaming today, but it still delivers. The city is finely detailed and Niko is a much more empathic character. The gameplay is overall very fun, you never feel too frustrated or uncomfortable. Some repetition may be experienced, but I still found them very enjoyable, and there are a lot of set piece missions that can just feel epic at times. This game is a great example of an open world game that will get you a lot of bang for you buck but don?t fooled by the 10/10?s most reviewers gave this game.
[HEADING=1]Grand Theft Auto 4[/HEADING]
A large criminal driven city, an infinite amount of cars to steal, squishy pedestrians filled raspberry jam, f-bomb dropping protagonists and allies? Yup sounds like another Grand Theft Auto title, first one for the seventh generation of consoles.
[HEADING=2]Story[/HEADING]
You step off the boat as Niko Bellic, an eastern European immigrant that moves to Liberty City to live the so-called American dream. His cousin promised him a mansion, fast cars, and hot women with "big American titties" when Niko would move in with him, but instead he gets a crappy apartment, a cab along with a cab depot a.k.a your cousin's business, and a fiasco with a few loan sharks that your cousin didn?t pay back. Niko himself is a bit more likable than previous protagonists, since he doesn't want to kill but feels like he has to kill to survive. Beneath his cold exterior is a tortured soul that came to Liberty City to look for someone who has betrayed him many years ago in a war. There are quite a number of personalities you meet; they are entertaining but most feel replaceable and not very interesting. Most are just thugs, gangs and stereotypical mafia. Along with these characters comes a well done script and some nice voice acting. When you get to the second safe house, the story is completely abandoned that you are just acting as a hitman or delivery-man for random criminals so you could... Actually what am I doing this for?! For money to help my cousin? Even if I have 250 grand in my pocket, he still acts as if we're dirt poor! There is no good explanation as to what any of the things I am doing for these people is doing to progress the story. Sorry, I'm going on a rant here... The story starts out fairly interesting and while it lasts, it has proper pacing and really brings out Niko?s personality. Unfortunately that plot becomes virtually non-existent until a select few missions randomly placed across the middle of the game middle of the game. The majority of the missions (like 85%) seem to do nothing in progressing the story line and you start wondering what is the point of these.
"I left war-torn Eastern Europe for this?!
[HEADING=2]Design and Progression[/HEADING]
Liberty City is smaller than San Andreas and less varied. With San Andreas there was a variety of environments, not just urban all the time. There was a forested region along with a mountain, a military base, and some rural towns and villages. In GTA 4, Liberty City is divided into 5 boroughs spread amongst 4 islands. The environments are:
Broker: lower-middle class urban industrial vomit
Dukes: middle class urban vomit
Algonquin: Upper-middle class metropolis vomit
Alderney: Middle-class suburban industrial vomit
Bohan: mixed vomit
I say vomit with all these because of the unappealing graphical color of the game, and the fact that the people of Liberty City are jerks. With those said, its good that the people are jerks because it shows that the city is alive and shows a satirical view of American life and really brings you into this self-proclaimed ?worst place to live in America?. You can overhear small-talk between people on the street and when you perform reckless acts of driving they yell some very funny lines like my favourite ?My son can drive better than you and he?s four?. So Liberty city has the sound and feel working for it but the sight leaves something to be desired. That?s not to say the graphics look like crap, the game looks great but it seems to conform to the grey and brown filter paper fad that I don?t think is the best route to go. One major sight I was impressed with is the day and night cycle and a random weather generator because it can obscure visibility, make roads slippery, and limit traffic and people on the street.
Remember when Yahtzee said "people are shit"? In this city, that's an understatement.
The mission structure of the game is one that works but can be experienced as repetitive as it consists of mainly ?go here and kill/destroy this? but they every mission has a different task in it before you kill the guy such as infiltrate/escape a building or area, and there are very exhilarating set piece missions such as a bomb delivery in a truck and a bank robbery along with an intense escape. But after a while you start to notice a similarity with the majority of the missions as one big errand-boy escapade. The last thing to mention is that you now have a social life within the game. You have to bring a character you befriended to go bowling or to a show or to eat, keep them happy and if their happiness percentage is over a certain point, they?ll perform services for you like get you guns or backup. It?s an interesting feature, as going bowling or seeing a comedy show gives a certain charm since every performance in the shows is different and brings on a lot of laughs. Liberty City is an enjoyable place with the people, the landmarks, all satirizing pop culture and current events. It?s just a shame you have to view this great city behind a coffee filter.
[HEADING=2]Gameplay[/HEADING]
Niko Bellic is much more agile than previous protagonists of the series as he can climb fences, scale ledges, and uses a cover system where he can take cover and shoot from behind anything in the game world. This also implements an over the shoulder aiming system that feels very accurate and deadly and has an auto lock-on feature if you completely depress the aim button. However Niko feels slower than other protagonists, because sometimes the controls can feel sluggish and clunky, but this may be because of the game?s use of the Euphoria engine. The Euphoria engine allows for working physics and realistic hit detection on bodies along with implementing a virtual skeletal and muscular system. When you shoot someone they are pushed back by the force of the bullet and move in a realistic off-balance motion, which works but this causes repetitive motions in every torso shot. The euphoria engine also shows its use on the vehicles as they detect and move on every bump like they have real weight on the ground. The vehicles feel slower and heavier, however, which affects the ability to make sharp turns because of the weight factor, but it soon becomes second nature. I say, the Euphoria engine does more good than harm as I like a game with realistic physics. The A.I. in the game is actually good, since they always take cover and advance on you, hardly ever standing in one spot, unless you?re very close. There can be some occasional stupidity and glitches but the AI is still good even for a sandbox game. The wanted level is also modified with a search radius that you need to stay out of for 10 seconds to get the cops off your back, which on lower wanted levels becomes drastically simple but actually provides a challenge on the higher ones with the search radius the size of all of Broker and enough cops and swat team to take down a small nation. Despite some small feelings of slow movements and controls, the gameplay foundation is solid and comfortable for a consistent and fun play-through
All I did was punch a hot dog vendor!
I will not tackle multiplayer because I didn?t play it enough to make a full review of it.
[HEADING=2]Closing Comments[/HEADING]
GTA 4 maybe the most over-hyped and overrated game plaguing mainstream gaming today, but it still delivers. The city is finely detailed and Niko is a much more empathic character. The gameplay is overall very fun, you never feel too frustrated or uncomfortable. Some repetition may be experienced, but I still found them very enjoyable, and there are a lot of set piece missions that can just feel epic at times. This game is a great example of an open world game that will get you a lot of bang for you buck but don?t fooled by the 10/10?s most reviewers gave this game.
