Immigrants are nasty people. At least that what Grand Theft Auto 4, Rockstar's most recent take on the American life. Playing as Serbian immigrant Niko Bellic, you will kill, steal, destroy and, well, just make Liberty City that little bit nastier.
Reviewing games like GTA 4 is difficult. They defy classification because they represent an entire genre, so reviewing the latest GTA game is like reviewing the open world, criminal action game genre. No game since Mafia has challenged Rockstar on the throne and, if GTA 4 has anything to say about it, nothing will for a very, very long time.
If you've been living under a rock for the past 10 years, you may not have heard of the GTA games.... Then again, if you've been living under a rock, I'm sure there are other things on your mind. Where was I... Oh yes, the Grand Theft Auto games have been some of the highest rated, highest selling and most talked about games of the decade, so it comes as no surprise that the hype surrounding numero cuatro has been huge. Millions of people will flock out to buy this game no-matter what you, I, or anybody says. But does Grand Theft Auto 4 live up to the hype? Meh. Mostly yes.
It is at this point that I should mention my relationship with the past Grand Theft Auto games. I hated them. While I could say that there was a lot to like (funny dialogue, free-roaming world, unique gameplay) I thought that the missions were often dull and that the combat was poor. The lock on system, where by you just held down R1 and pressed the 'kill' button repeatedly required no skill, was nothing like real combat, and ground after minutes. Most of all, I just got tired of freeroaming fairly quickly.
So here is number 4 to change my mind. While most things remain the same (the things which I liked), the combat system (which I hated) has been overhauled. Sounds great. I'm going to get the bad stuff out of the way first, and make it clear that, for me, the combat system is not a huge improvement.
Gameplay
Sure, it touts the no-doubt Gears of War-inspired cover system, taking a more realistic and more tactical approach to combat. But for me, it still isn't quite there. It only just misses the mark, but an inch is as good as a mile here, because the combat just doesn't feel fresh and exciting. The same lock on can be used from behind cover, making it more of a pop up, lock on, kill, go back to cover. It ends up being the same, monotonous, auto-aim and kill gameplay which dragged down its predecessors for me. To make matters worse, snapping to cover often doesn't work, and having to start the mission after good ol' Niko covers against the wrong wall is infuriating. A little time and patience can get over this, but it just shouldn't be there in a game like this, and it reminds me of Kane and Lynch, something which game developers should probably try not to do. Another issue with the combat is something which is worse on the PS3 version, but which is annoying at any rate. To auto-aim, you hold down the left trigger (Lt or L2) and your reticle will lock onto the most conveniently placed enemy. To manually aim, though, you must hold down the trigger halfway- so that it is neither depressed fully, or left upright. This is really annoying and finicky, and, particularly with the PS3 version of the game, you will find yourself manually aimed on somebodies head, when in the heat of the action, when about to press the 'kill' button, you slip and hold down the left trigger the whole way, locking onto often a different enemy to the one you were targeting. Worse still, if you depress the trigger again, you can't return to manually aiming where you were aiming before. Its these kind of mishaps which can simply be ignored, but should not be there if the more realistic combat wants to be taken seriously.
Most of all though, the combat just falls short of other shooting games (Gears of War would be a prime example), making it hard to recommend as a serious shooting experience. Perhaps this lack of quality is what make a more light-hearted approach to combat necessary before, and this newer more serious attempt just doesn't cut it. The game could have benefited a lot from a slightly better combat system, and I can't help but think that Rockstar either needed to make a poor, but at least light-hearted combat system, or a good, serious one.
Presentation
Now we get to the good stuff about the game, and I'll start by saying that Grand Theft Auto 4 has one of the best stories going. It becomes more serious than the previous games, without ever losing the larger than life characters and clever dialogue. The game follows Niko Bellic on his quest from rags to riches (note: slightly better rags) as the plot twists and turns from love to betrayal and from friendship to revenge. This is possibly the game most comparable to a movie (Metal Gear Solid's storyline is probably better, but feels too OTT to be a movie) with both extreme action and interesting dialogue. To give any more away clearly wouldn't be a good idea, but I will say that there are also multiple endings to work towards.
The menus are top-notch, from the use of your phone, to taking the fight online, everything is streamlined and innovative, cutting out much of the nonsense found in other similar games. In particular, the afore-mentioned phone works very well and is a fresh and innovative introduction into the GTA universe.
Liberty City is huge, and this is really the game's best asset, and where it climbs above its predecessors. Most of the pop-up and lack of loaded textures from previous installments are gone, though a little bit does hamper the view at times. Make no mistake though, Liberty City at night is a site to behold, as it is at day, and it really does capture the essence of New York while maintaining its own atmosphere and ambience. The sheer amount and variety of things to do here is phenomenal too, from the requisite car-snatching, to newer, more refined touches, such as the in-game television and internet and locations like the comedy club. Relationships also play a big part, although, they're not as fleshed out as they could have been, which is disappointing. An unprecedented amount of locations to explore and minigames such as bowling and snooker mean that you'll always have something to do (although both the afore-mentioned activities happen to be fairly poor). It goes beyond words to explain what it feels like to be inside GTA 4, it really does compare to real life like no other game before it, and this is number 4's biggest improvement over its slightly empty predecessors.
At the end of the day, Liberty City just feels lived in, and its not just in the amount of things to do. The city has been detailed far more than any previous game, GTA or otherwise. Pedestrians react appropriately, and it isn't just the same six character models over and over. You'll find yourself honking your car-horn at motorists who pull out in front of you, adding to the immersion. But above all, the architecture and detail of the city streets goes above and beyond anything seen before, truly capturing the essence of New York. And yet everything has its own GTA flavour- from the statue of Happiness which holds a coffee-cup aloft to the uncanny amount of hookers which litter the streets Liberty City seems to have a healthy pulse, and its waiting for you to explore it. I think the phrase is 'full immersion'.
Graphics
The previous games are famous for their car-destroying pop in and lack of textures and long distance, and its good to say that this has finally gone. Kind of. Its present, but instead of staring you in the face, it lurks around the corner, barely visible. But its still there, and its a shame because it can almost take you out of what is otherwise such a beautiful world. Yes, this is probably the best looking GTA game for its time yet, and Liberty City is actually astonishingly beautiful, both technically speaking, and from an artistic standpoint. It stands as a towering monolith of a game in terms of console graphics, and, though graphics on the consoles have been done better, they've never been this good and this big. As somebody who is partial to a little Crysis on high settings, the graphics don't astound me, but they are terrific none the less. Except for the trees. The trees, in all their 2-D glory, suck.
Sound
It will come as no surprise to hear that the voice acting, the noises of the city and the radio stations are all absolutely superb. It does absolutely everything you would expect it to, and then a little more, as the city sounds much more fleshed-out and real, than the, again, slightly empty predecessors, keeping in line with the rest of the game. As afore-mentioned, the radio stations are up to the series's standard, though, to be honest, never really push it forward. That said, not on station is a throwaway, and some of the same comic-genius found since Vice City is there (my personal favourite being Vladivostock). Everybody and their cat calling you 'Neeco Bellic' in their best Russian accent does get slightly annoying, but then it is your name, right?
Conclusion
Right from your arrival in Liberty City, you know that you are dealing with a quality product. The production values here are clearly huge (and they should be considering it will probably sell gazillions of copies). My major sticking-point is the gameplay, which just grinds you down throughout the 40 hour duration of the game. But then I prefer not to call it a game. I prefer to call it a journey, because that's what it is. Its a journey through a beautifully-realised world, a living, breathing game-world which stands as a towering monolith of what open-world games should be. You truly forget the fact that its half the size of San Andreas because of the frankly overwhelming level of detail and care which was put into this game. Its one of those games which does so much, so right that I would have to recommend it to anybody into fun, but its glaring faults, for me, hold it back from gracing any game of the year list. Myself, as an avid Starcraft player with my head so far up my anus that I would still hate the 360 if it cured cancer, I feel while I know that the storyline and game-world are fantastic, the grinding gameplay stops me enjoying it quite as much as I would. For me, its a game which is so near to that 10/10 perfection that some parts of the game adhere to, yet so far- it makes me feel sad that this game isn't quite what it could have been. For many, the shortcomings will be minute- but they're still there, tarnishing what this game could have been. Nevertheless though, undoubtedly the best GTA game to date, this is a blockbuster- a roller coaster romp through a terrific story, set in a terrific world, and, despite its shortcomings, its a ride which needs to be seen, to be believed.
Presentation : 10
Graphics : 9
Sound :9.5
Gameplay :7.5
Value :9.5
8.5/10
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