"A great game brought down by a few problems"

Alright, before you get all mad that "the best game in the world" got an 8, hear me out. I love this game. I play it daily. But seeing as I'm reviewing the game, I must look at it from a professional standpoint. Which includes not only game play, but sound, glitches that effect the game, and just about every aspect of the game you can think of. Now, as a game for fun, I would rate this very highly. However, a true gamer will be frustrated at the little things that mess up a perfectly good game.

Sound (not to be confused with dialogue):8/10
Okay, the radio stations in this game amazed me. The popular radio stations, like K-DST or Radio X will provide good in game music for you to listen to. On other stations the Dj 's will be extremely funny or just...interesting. When something important happens in the game, the DJ is triggered to mention something about it. It's pretty cool. The talk station has quite a few hilarious programs on there, as well as news, which, funny in it's own right, is actually the news in the game and will change from time to time. As for other sounds, the crash effects, tire squeals and engines are pretty authentic, especially for a game. In a hot police chase, the car noises and crashes and thuds will keep you entertained, and you'll actually feel as if you are sitting in the car. However the gunshot noises leave something to be desired. Did I shoot my pistol, or did I just step on a mousetrap? Oh crap, somebody must of crashed into something. Oh wait, no, my grenade exploded. Shotgun? Nah, I could of swore that was someone kicking a barrel. These are questions I commonly ask when I play this game. Unfortunately, once you have beaten the game, the news doesn't change, and the songs do not change in the first place, leaving the radio stations to get repetitive after awhile. Otherwise, a good, strong section for this game.

Dialogue: 3/10
This is, for me at least, what ruined the game's potential 10/10 score. I doubt that even in the gang areas of California in the 90s the citizens cursed this often. Can't get through forty seconds of the game without hearing a curse, and normally not a pleasant one at that. Sure its convincing, but could anyone be this mad? Or just curse at anything like they do in the game? The game allows you to control the radio volume, and the regular audio volume, which would be the pedestrians, gunshots, car engines etc. I have to thank Rockstar for that, because I normally play the game with the audio turned down and just the radio section on because the language is too much to bare. The pedestrians have a good roll of dialogue in this game, but you wont notice, because you're too busy killing them, or you can't hear them over the roaring police sirens. And then of course, there are other possibilities. Maybe you can't hear them over your main character shouting the f word. Or maybe you can't hear them because you're like me and playing with the audio off. All in all, not a good section for the game here.

Graphics: 7/10
Hm mmm........I expected more. Some areas of the game look similar to what they did in GTA 3. A lot of things people hounded them about fixing from previous GTA 's were fixed, however, there are still things to be desired. Some trees are still a little odd looking, and the civilians are a little blocky. One thing that amuses me about this game is how square like the hands and phones have always been. This is also yet to be fixed. Otherwise, the car graphics are pretty good, the guns are at least semi-convincing and buildings look pretty accurate. What I do dislike is the delayed loading times of certain objects when you're driving at a good clip in your car. Many times an object will pop up when I'm just inches from it and ruin my car. It's pretty frustrating when you're trying to keep a car in mint condition or when you have to rush over to a spot for a mission. Overall, good, but disappointing from R*.

Storyline: 3/10
Not compelling. Or believable. At all. Come on, even when the main character was trying to show emotion, it was impossible to feel it or to understand. Maybe it wasn't explained well enough, I don't know, but it just doesn't hit home the way some other stories have. It could just be me, but I doubt it. We are also assuming you can make it through the dialog of the storyline, because I was often very tempted to skip over the cut scenes after the 20th curse in 15 seconds. Vice City, heck, even GTA 3, had better story lines, or at least more emotional or believable ones. Nothing more to say here.
Game play: 10/10
One area of the game that you just have to give full credit. Even if you are a casual gamer, the storyline will take you some time and then you will undoubtedly enjoy the extras and other things you can do in the game. Go drive a micro bus off a huge mountain. Trick out and collect all sorts of cars, as well as importing and exporting them. Form a gang, attack other ones. Fly a plane into a radar tower. Take a speedboat around the state. Whatever you want. As for the gamer who desires 100%, have fun completing the millions of side missions and hidden oysters, gang tags, photo opportunities, and horseshoes that the game has hidden within its deep game play.

Extras: 8/10
So much to do, so little time, but you'll make some anyway. There enough extras in this game to make your head spin. 50 photo opportunities. 50 horseshoes. 100 gang tags. 70 unique stunt jumps. 50 oysters. I can certainly say, without a guide finding all of these could very well be impossible, and even with a guide it is time consuming and often confusing. There en lies my problem with this game. To complete it, unless you are a total addict, you will need to purchase a strategy guide. So for a regular gamer, you will need to add ten to twenty dollars to the purchase of this game to account for the strategy guide you are bound to purchase. Some things in this game that aren't required are pretty funny. I am not sure if some of this would be considered spoilers or not so I'll mark it.

Over time, many rumors have accumulated to what is in the game. Aliens, Bigfoot, and the like. Gamers even took the time to organize themselves and search for such things, but to no avail. Three are several hidden extras that are hidden, and probably more out there. People have reported seeing UFOs.......and I admit....I at one point thought I saw one myself. There are also several smaller things in the game that you can pick up on. Reading license plates is fun when you have some time to kill. Some put down Rockstar's (the maker of the game) competitors, while others will say something like "JO MAMA" or "SHEILA". There's an area of the game called Northstar rock. Sounds kinda similar to the company's name, Rockstar north, doesn't it? I haven't tried in this game, but I know in the previous GTA if you shot at the moon it would change sizes. Now that I think of it, I'll have to go try that after I finish up this review. But, anyway, my point is that little things like this are scattered throughout the game, and for me, they are what make it fun. I am yet to find all the different things players mention on the boards here on Game FAQs. This game seems to have endless possibilities. I only gave this section an 8 due to the fact that finding all the oysters, horseshoes, etc. that are required for completion of the game gets tiresome and boring. Otherwise, another fantastic aspect of the game.

Re-playability: 9/10
Unfortunately, even die-hard gamers will get tired of driving around aimlessly after they get 100%, and I believe I am reaching that point. However, if you read what I said under game play, most of those challenges remain enjoyable for months after you purchase the game. My best friend has had the game since release and has just cut down to playing one hour a day, instead of his usual two. I still play pretty often, and I've had the game for about a year now. Another thing to do once you have completed the mission part of the game is customizing cars. Once you get money, which, after you complete the game, is something else for you to do, you can customize tons of cars, adding all sorts of parts and paint jobs. Who cares if you're going to wreck your beauty in three seconds? Wreck it in style! I can't think back to when I willingly drove a normal car around on the streets. Spoilers, side skirts, rims, low riders, flame paint jobs, fog lights, hydraulics, stereo boosts, are just some of the options you have for your vehicle. Note I say vehicle, instead of car. This is because, in addition to cars, you can customize trucks, SUV's and station wagons! You can even take a perfectly normal taxi and turn it into a celebrity dream car. Getting bored is one thing you shouldn't have to worry about as you go about your business in Grand theft auto.

All and all this is a fantastic game that was brought down by its repetitive language and miserable story line. The glitches and graphical errors didn't help it either, but this is still a fantastic game for any who are even the slightest bit interested. Once you buy it you'll be hooked. A good purchase.
Final Score: 8/10

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 04/17/06