GTAIV: Grand Theft Auto Review
GTAIV is here, the long wait is finally over and you can now pick the game up at nearly any retail store! GTAIV is the 4th game in the gta series and to put it simply “IT RULES”. The game is unlike the others in the fact that it is just way better in every-way from sp to mp play you will not find a better game on the next gen console!
Gameplay 5/5
The game-play in GTAIV is extremely fun, you can drive around a massive city or blow things up and shoot people, plants and cars any time you want. You can run from the cops or play a good guy half the time and stop at every stop light and stop sign in the city. If your unsure you will like the open-world freedom GTAIV brings you only need to think back to games like Driv3r or even the previous GTA games to understand the massive scale and fun game-play.
GTA brings a decent cover system for heated battles you will come up against in the game, however I find it easier to stay away from the battles and instead just run from the police on foot and driving in a car or on a bike.
If you like the hardcore play of run and shoot GTAIV pulls it off perfect with a cover system much like Gears Of War 1 on the Xbox 360. You simply walk up to a walk and touch the Right Top button on your ps3 controller to put your back against a wall and you can peek out around cover to take your shots without taking damage yourself.
Throughout the game nearly every object lying around from trash cans to birds can be interacted with (picked up and thrown). Overall GTAIV brings the best game-play to the next generation consoles I have seen to date.
My only complaint with game-play is the fact that the cars drive so wildly its hard to have control, when you go around a corner and nail the throttle the car should take off but it doesn’t, its very delayed and makes escaping from the cops when your heat level is maxed out extremely difficult.
Story 5/5
The storyline in GTAIV is just as great as the game-play with a host of characters from scum underground to big time mobsters you won’t ever get tired of completing missions that are different and unique. As you progress through the game you will unlock weapons and more places to just go and chill! You can go to the show or take a girlfriend on a date to a fancy restaurant or show. In the game there are also many mini games like darts, pool and bowling you can do with a date or your cousin roman.
I don’t want to give any of the actual story away as I would rather you all be surprised by what goes on but I will say that on several missions you can choose the fate of characters, you can choose to kill them or tell them to just get out of town. Each can make different things happen on your journey to finishing the game which means you may want to play through the game several times just for the fun of seeing a different cut-scenes and such.
Many of the missions however are relatively the same and are a bit repetitive accept that you can drive multiple ways to get there and on the mission take different routes. This is easily overlooked since the city is so massive and there is no one way to do things.
Graphics 5/5
From any next gen game we expect great graphics to erupt and GTAIV is no exception. The visuals are very nice and at times you will even be saying to yourself there is no way this is a game it has to be real. The vehicles are extremely realistic with some old class touches to make them different then any other car game. The character models are probably the weakest part of the whole game visually and even they are pretty nice.
They all support bump and normal maps to really bring the realism out and make you believe your actually in the game as niko. Not only does the shiny paint and busted up cars look real but things like water and weather effects are also just as nice. Night time is actually when the city looks its best with tall buildings lit up like christmas trees and the fact that if you taken down light poles when driving it takes the light for that area out unlike some previous games.
Damage on vehicle models is simply superb and I could not find any flaws, when you hit something with your back bummer it forms around it realistically. The cars must be very high poly to do this and GTAIV pulls it off perfectly with just the right amount.
Sound 5/5
Just like the rest of a game sound is very important and GTAIV Rock-star team new this, the game has superb voice acting behind every character engaging you to play more and more. Every person you meet has a unique and different voice by a talented voice actor. The lip sync is also very realistic on the characters but even better then that is the different engine sounds and gun sounds you will hear. Everything is spot on and could not sound any better or realistic!
Multi-Player 5/5
If your a MP junkie then you will love GTAIV, it has some of the best MP modes and game-play to date. You and up-to 16 friends can ride around and destroy the whole city all while online. Its great and the battle is intense and fun! Grab a copy today and see you all online!
Total Score 5/5
May 06 2008 07:32 pm | Game Reviews
baby on 21 Jun 2008 at 11:38 pm #
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