Grand Theft Auto IV

"Deserves more credit than given."

OK, I don't get what is it that makes this game so gross to certain people, it is easily the total opposite. Funny how it works, eh? When they see a game with pretty graphics and don't like the gameplay, they say "I don't care about pretty graphics, I care about a good game". But when they play a game with great gameplay like the one at hand and the gfx system shows bugs... well, just go back and have a look. I just don't get that logic, it boggles my mind.

Anywho...

-Graphics (8/10):

The graphics are... very good. The fact that this game has no anti-aliasing support doesn't help much, but the detail in character's textures, the models, and specially the cinematics are very well done. Will be quite demanding with your PC, so make sure you have it up-to-date. I played the game with a 512 MB ATI 3600 HD DDR2 video card, 4GBs of RAM DDR2 and a 2.33 Core 2 Quad processor. Had to reduce the resolution to 800x600 (the minimum) for perfect performance. Everything is also very well animated. The animations are much smoother than the ones in San Andreas.

-Story (10/10):

You are Niko Bellic, a Serbian war veteran, who was invited by his cousin, Roman, to the U.S, Liberty City. This city is pretty much made ala New York. Roman promises Niko they'd live like kings, but let's just say Roman wasn't being totally honest. Now, you and Roman are struggling to rise to the top from the very ground. On the way you will meet drug dealers, mafia bosses, some friends, some foes. Betrayal, love, comedy, revenge... the game simply has it all story-wise.

-Sound (10/10)

Simply fantastic. Like in previous GTA games, you can listen to the radio in a car, but there's far more to it. Walking on the street makes you realize the level of realism implemented in just doing that much. People talking through cell phones, with each other, arguing, cops chasing burglers (already featured in other GTA's, I know, but I love it)... hell, even some people preaching in the middle of the street. What I love the most about it is the incredibly slim, if not non-existant odds of hearing the same sound replay. Perfect.

-Gameplay (9/10)

Brilliant. Remember how you could move while aiming with a gun in San Andreas? Now you can move even faster with the Shift button. Even while shooting. You can also take cover behind objects, take a peak, and shoot away. Speaking of shooting... the reaction of the victims is AMAZING. Shooting them in the legs, arms or gut will all make them behave differently. Crawling, trying to run away while making sure their intestines don't fall off (not shown, but implied), begging for mercy while lying down wounded, etc. Drive-bys are also very well done, no more shooting only at the sides, just point the mouse and blast away. Hitting people with vehicles was also never this much fun, or, in some cases, amusing. The missions can get quite hard at times, but that's what the new retry function is for. Autosave also helps a lot, a feature I am glad they finally implemented instead of going all the way home from the other side of the city just so you can save. However, when you load the autosave, you will appear at home. Overall, the new features implemented in this game were just what GTA 4 needed to stand out above the others. There are some graphics bugs and one bug that caught my attention: I somehow managed to get stuck in a corner while driving, with the vehicle shaking like crazy, as if screaming to get out. But this only happened a couple of times, no big deal.

Replayabillity: Deffinitely. Specially because of the multiplayer function.

Summary: Great game, great interactivity, great storyline, great sound, somewhat buggy graphics.

Overall: 8/10

Rent or buy? Well if you're shallow enough to not give a break to a game with great gameplay because of somewhat buggy graphics, rent. Otherwise, buy! Worth every penny.

My hat's off to R*, they outdid themselves this time.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 10/16/09

Game Release: Grand Theft Auto IV (US, 12/02/08)