GTA IV builds upon its predecessors' reputation and ideas to create one of the best games of 2008.
The Bad: A small amount of graphical glitches that are easy to ignore; driving is a lot harder to get used to than in previous installments; major RPG elements have been taken out
Alright, we all know about Grand Theft Auto. Whether you've heard controversy about it on the news, or on a website...you know about Grand Theft Auto. Well, Grand Theft Auto 4 has been one of the most anticipated games ever since people were finished with San Andreas. It's been a long time coming, but now Grand Theft Auto is ready to reinvent itself in this long awaited sequel.
Niko, an immigrant on his way to Liberty City, is ready to start a new life. His cousin, Roman, has promised Niko beautiful women, a mansion, and all sorts of things that just seem too good to be true. However, when Niko arrives, he finds out that Roman is living in a run-down apartment, he hardly has a girlfriend, and everything he had gloated about was a lie. Disappointed, Niko tries to make some money in the big city by helping out Roman and his friends with anything that they can think of.
The story gets a lot more deep. Betrayal, love, plot twists, and making the right decision pop up everywhere throughout the 30 hour story. Niko is also one of the most realistic characters to ever star in a Grand Theft Auto game. Unlike many of the other characters in previous entries, Niko has real human emotions that present themselves throughout the story.
In this entry in the series, it's all about making friends happy. Roman introduces you to a number of strange people, who, in turn, introduce you to more people, and so on. Each character has his/her own personality. They like to do certain things and hang out at certain places. It's a bit of challenge to keep every single person happy, but it's all held together nicely by the cell phone.
The cell phone, which is received early in the game, keeps track of everything that a cell phone should keep track of. Friends numbers, the date, time...everything is held together by it. Friends will often call you about an important mission, or simply to go get a drink at the bar. The cell phone is also customizable. You can customize the ring tone, the background, and a bunch of other things to make the cell phone fit your personality. This is totally optional, however.
Going out with friends is usually pretty fun. Various activities can keep you entertained. You can go play pool, darts, and even bowling. Most of the activities are designed fairly well, and are a fun little distraction. One of the funniest activities has to be going to a bar. Once drunk, the screen will shake back and forth like a metronome, and Niko will fall every two steps if you don't carefully guide him. Driving drunk...is just stupid...just like it is in real life.
After making specific friends happy, they will eventually offer you their services. These are very useful. Friends can offer you guns on the fly, or even 24 hour access to a helicopter. However, if you make friends angry by not picking them up, picking them up late, or taking them to a place that they don't like, your friendship level with them will go down, and you'll have to try that much harder to please them.
The gameplay in GTA 4, is somewhat like that of previous entries. You get called to do a mission, then you go complete the mission (which usually involves you killing someone else), then you get called on another mission. However, you don't have to finish the missions right away. You have an open world to explore, and destruction to cause. Just like in previous games, the free world means that you can kill, basically, anyone, at anytime, wherever you are.
The open world and the freedom that you have is unparalleled. You can go wherever you want to go in the city. Taking a helicopter to look at Liberty City from a bird's eye view is breathtaking, and walking around, you actually begin to notice that Liberty City is a living, breathing world in itself.
Now, to the actual gameplay. From the very first mission, you realize that driving is a lot tougher an more realistic this time around. These cars control and handle like real cars. They're tough to get used to at first, but eventually you'll get the hang of it. The biggest, and most vital addition to the gameplay...would have to be the cover system. By pressing the Left Bumper, Niko can take cover behind anything...yes...anything. He can then blind fire, or shoot around it. It's a little different than other duck and cover games, but it still works just as well.
The next addition has to be how you get away from cops. You still have the star meter depending on how cruel and heartless you've been, but now it's handled differently. Instead of just having a small or high number of police chasing you depending on how many stars you have, GTA 4 uses a radius. If you are inside this radius (Red Circle) the cops will still chase after you. If you can manage to get out of it for a few seconds, the cops will stop chasing you. The thing is, the more stars you have, the bigger the radius will get, making it harder and harder to escape.
Another thing that's worth mentioning is the RPG elements from Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas have been cut out of this game. Running around town a lot won't upgrade your running skill, and riding a bike everywhere won't increase your BMX skills. There's virtually no RPG elements, and considering that most people adored upgrading their character in San Andreas, some may not find this game as appealing.
There's a load of customization options for Niko. You can give him glasses, a hat, a suit and a ton of other things. There's even times throughout the game where you have to wear a suit or tuxedo to do a mission. This makes the game feel a lot more real, especially when your complimented by your girlfriend on a date on how nice you look.
Now...Multiplayer. You can access a number of multiplayer modes through your cell phone. Once you select a mode, you'll jump right out of the single player story into an online game. There's a ton of modes available. There's a game called cops and robbers, where the robbers try to get to a certain location on the map before getting killed by the cops. There's also Free Play. A mode where you can simply go around and kill people, or hang out and take out some cops.
The online modes are fantastic. You can hijack cars and do almost anything, just like in the story mode. One problem is the lack of customization with your online character. You pick up new customization options as you gain levels, but still, the customization to your character isn't exactly ground breaking.
The graphics in the game look pretty amazing. This is surprising since earlier Grand Theft Auto games didn't look that good at all. The water effects look great, cars look awesome and the characters have realistic movements in GTA 4. You'll see occasional glitches pop up, and the frame rate can get a little choppy, but it's nothing that can't be overlooked.
The music from GTA 4 is awesome. Tons of great songs and multiple radio stations will please any type of music lover out there. The voice acting is also fantastic. Every line is well spoken with the correct amount of emotion and feeling to make you feel like you know what that character is going through.
Online play, a 30 hour story, and goofing around on the streets of Liberty City...Bottom line: You're gonna be playing this game for a while. Believe me when I say that this game is sixty dollars well spent.
Altogether, Grand Theft Auto 4 is what we've been waiting for. It's a crazy open world where the sky is the limit. This game needs to be in your collection. It's one of those games that just pushes a system to its limit to provide an experience unlike any other.