The worst sequel I ever played in my life.
GRAPHICS: Decent at best but not really saying much. The game does look and feel like a city but the city itself is dull, boring, and grey as it possibly can get. I even noticed times when the framerate got jerky when the action heats up and a bunch of grass was popping up in the beach. I was suprised to see NO GORE in this game even if you fire a shotgun at point black range at somebody. Facial animations do look good but thats at its best.
STORY: It takes place in Liberty City which is a recreation of New York City. You play as fresh off the boat Niko Bellic who is a european immigrant who came here because Roman says he managed to be rich in America which is a lie. The story isn't bad its just boring to listen at, Niko happens to be a likeable chracter but the other chracters are either annoying, stupid, or are angry all the time. In the ending, I felt rockstar said "screw logical endings" since it ended so abrupt that even a cliffhanger would be a better way to end GTA 4.
GAMEPLAY: Rockstar, I really wish you guys put the money in good use but you all decide "lets make GTA 4 play realistically but lets screw up the fun factor for a city simulator, lets make it feel like your an average joe"!!! You have to literally put up with taxi missions for A HOUR before you can use a 9mm pistol, does that sound fun for you? Every single car, boat, helicopter handles like a garbage truck and when you travel too fast in a car, you will no doubt crash and this will lead to frustration in missions since there are no checkpoints though you can skip the long drive to get there but not during long action sequences. The game has a new cover system but it's WAY to sticky and sluggish and I failed most missions because it barely helped me in tight spots since I took cover in a place I didn't want to take cover at. You also can no longer dive underwater anymore you can only swim which was just pathetic. Rockstar also removed a TON of weapons from previous GTA games such as the flamethrower, chainsaw, akimbo guns, silence guns, katanas, funny weapons such as flowers. There is less everything, there are no airplanes, no RPG elements, no customization with cars, you can't buy property, and what is up with the missions? Its only kill or follow and chase that they have you do, there is NOTHING cool like controlling a mini helicopter in San Andreas. If you want to say its more based on realism answer these two questions, HOW CAN YOU CONCEAL A ROCKET LAUNCHER? HOW CAN YOU RESTORE ALL HEALTH WITH A HOT DOG? People keep praising the game's so called realism yet it's basically not even realistic to begin with. A game like Heavy Rain would make sense but this is sandbox Rockstar, it's like you're trying to make a soap opera with Duke Nukem. Trust me, this game is NOT realistic and you could play realism right now which is called the outside world.
SOUND: At the very best, the guns do sound good enough, voice acting is good to but the music is terrible for me at least. I do give credit to Rockstar on this but it's not fantastic at all.
But you must be telling yourself " This review sucks, GTA 4 is awesome, why does it deserve a 2 out of a 10"? Its because Rockstar decided to make it more of a city simulator and while they did the job nicely, it fails at being a sandbox game, being fun, or even feeling like a game. The game is BORING to play at the start, you start the game with you driving your drunk cousin back to his dirty apartment and for the next 1 to 2 hours, you're going to do taxi missions for him, does that sound fun or boring? In something like Just Cause 2, you start off by parachuting about 5 miles high and blow up a entire base which was awesome. What makes a good sandbox game is being able to do what you want, GTA 4 barely gives you the tools to have fun. It has little variety, most of what GTA 4 has for you in store is there for decoration like the TV, computer than for actual use. What I meant that it has in store for you had so much potential to have a ton of missions to do but its there just to be there. Rockstar shouldn't even bother with stuff like this if it fails to have some sort of fun. Rockstar, how could you develop this garbage? I thought you could do it right......
I however was sick of the game being given a perfect 10. It at the very least, can get a 7 or 8. The reason why this game was complete garbage for me was that it was a game with so much hype that when it came, people were throwing 10s at it for it being " grown up" and " realistic". I don't even bother multiplayer with games if the campaign is garbage, most people say its fantastic which i would laugh at the idea of it being good. I even wonder if people like the game or lie about liking it so they get good ratings. GTA 4 has annoying, noticeable flaws from graphics to controls to gameplay. NOTHING rockstar did in GTA 4 is perfect, it's a boring, repetitive, flawed city simulator that never was perfect or innovative. I wish people would focus more on the gameplay than presentation.
For these reasons, this is why GTA 4 was garbage. I had high hopes for your game Rockstar but you just gave me the middle finger. GTA 4 earns this low score not only because it was garbage, but for mainstream reviewers like Gamespot, IGN, etc. dub it flawless despite having major issues. If people were more honest with GTA 4, it wouldn't be abysmal in my eyes but until people form their own opinions and not follow a trend. I will bash games like this. It can warrant a decent score but not the honor of flawless. If you want a good sandbox game, get Red Dead Redemption, Just Cause 2 or the previous GTA games. I gain back some of your respect Rockstar thanks to Red Dead Redemption. I'm hoping L.A. Noire will be a great just like Red Dead Redemption but if it's like GTA 4, no doubt I'll smash it.