Grand Theft Awesome.
Vice City was probably the best in the GTA series as it caputered the true essense of the source material but was let down by average controls and truck loads of glitches. I found Vice City though to have the most eccstatic characters of any GTA but I never felt motivated enough to go and complete the damn thing.
GTA III was the one that revolutionised free roaming forever in my opinion, but by todays standards in very average. The lead character was a mute and the story really didn't get interesting enough for me to feel the need to play it. And the overall message I got from the looks and feel of GTA III made me feel a little depressed.
GTA IV however, is the first in the series that has totally thrown me and caught me by surprise, the story line is very interesting, the characters are solid and new feel of liberty city is unlike that of previous outings. It is actaully quite an enjoyable game now.
Everything has been refined to a immense point of quality, as much as quality goes in a GTA game. The shooting has been vastly improved with a cover and auto aim feature that worked very well, though the auto aiming can get a bit dodgy sometimes and it aims for someone totally different on the other side of the street to who you actually want to cap. I like the driving. Cars feel like cars, trucks feel like trucks and hummers feel like hummers, they now all react as if they would and the control set up feel right. I like how a lot of PS3 are now using the R2 trigger as accelaration, as it gives you that sense of how much power your injecting your motor. Many won't like the driving compared to last gen's flimsy OTT paper cars which flew off the street if they hit a fire hydrant.
Graphically, for a GTA, its great. Now when I say, for a GTA game, lets face it, they are normally pretty average. Have you recently revisited San Andreas recently? Some sacrifices have been made to accomodate the size of the place but in general, it's a very handsome game. I just wish they would sort the trees out! They are still made of three flat polygons stuck between each other and it looks ****
Water effects are cool and when it rains it brings an enitrely new look and feel to the city as eveything becomes damp and slipperly, you will sit there in awe like the time when Nathan Drake gets wet in Uncharted. Word of warning, night time looks cool but you may want to adjust the contrast on that TV of yours as it becomes very VERY difficult to see where you are going at night.
Niko is a very likeable character and next to the Vice City lead, stands as the best lead character in GTA. I hated CJ because he was simply irritating and his story was pish poor. I hated Claude becuase he didn't talk and didn't feel like a character. Tony Cipriani and the other bloke from Vice City Stories were mildly likeable but nowhere near the depths of Niko.
He is polite, for a start. Bump into someone and he shouts sorry. He has a logical head and is very constructed and considerate in his responses and on a whole a great character.
The city feels truly alive now. You can hear people cell phone calls and conversations and reactions when you bump into them is totally outstanding.
I want to bring this to a close now, but before I do...multiplayer. In short this could be the best online game since Call of Duty 4. The variety of modes is excellent and you're always guarenteed to find a server to join. It is phenomenal.
Overall, GTA IV did something the others didn't for me. It captured me in it's world and refused to let go becuase it is an unbelievable achievement. I wish the cutscenes looked slightly more polished and yeah, the trees do bug me but for the multiplayer alone, it's worth buying and I could surely ramble on all day about how GTA IV out does everything Rockstar initially set out to do.