GTAIV is Fantastic, But.......
User Rating: 9 | Grand Theft Auto IV PS3
There's no getting around it. GTAIV is an incredible achievement. Liberty City is alive and breathing more than any city or environment in any game to date. The first several hours I spent on this game I had a very hard time focusing on what I was supposed to do, because I was in constant awe of the surroundings. Staying with what's right: Niko, one of the most interesting characters I've ever seen, right up there with Solid Snake in terms of a character you care about, and want to succeed. The choices to make. To kill or not. This will effect gameplay and what happens, a very good add on from Rockstar. The music, as always is top notch. You may not have heard of every band in the game, but that's not a bad thing. The only drawback, whereas San Andreas had the whole early 90's music vibe that perfectly matched the game, GTAIV's music doesn't quite connect to the city and atmosphere. GTAIV is massive as well, driving long distances gets a tad old, but there's always a cab ride to quicken things up. GTAIV is darker, and the humor is standard (another good thing) Rockstar fare. The story is very ambitious, and while it hits home runs in some spots, (Brucie, Brucie, Brucie) others it fails (Girlfriends=boring very quickly). The game can take an insane amount of time to finish, which is fine by me, I've yet to even attempt the multiplayer. To sum up GTAIV one mission/scene stands out. Fairly early in the game you need to go and save a main character, Niko is cursing out his enemy on his cell while driving and hearing his "friend" be tortured. It took several tries to finish this mission, But on the first few I noticed how fast I was driving, with reckless abandon, and then it hit me. I cared about saving this "friend", truly cared if he lived or died, and seeing as how my decisions impacted who lived or died earlier in the game I wasn't sure if he would live or die. I'm not sure in 25+ years of gaming that I've ever felt that for a side character, which is a testament to the greatness that Rockstar has achieved with GTAIV.
