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40oz

Grand Theft Auto IV

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I'm not sure if I'm the first to make a topic about this, but this game is apparently expected to have made record sales. I can't say I disagree with this, because ever since the debut of GTA 3, Grand Theft Auto suddenly became the coolest game anyone could play.

I got this game about a week ago, I can honestly say I haven't started the campaign yet. My brother bought the game so he wants to beat the game by himself. So I don't know a whole lot about the campaign, aside from the little snippets I saw of my brother playing.

In case you guys care, I'm just gonna rant on and on about this game, so you probably wouldn't bother reading this unless you plan to get the game or that something irks you about it.

So let me start off saying that I'm not even gonna bother mentioning the good parts about the game because there are too many to list. The game is great and full of content, much like the previous games. So I'm just gonna skip to the parts that bother me about the game.

For starters, I was kinda annoyed when I heard the public crying out "The first grand theft auto with multiplayer yippee!!!" Wrong. Both Grand Theft Auto 1 and 2 had online multiplayer capabilities; except no one played them because it was pretty buggy. And I have to admit, they look a lot more fun than GTA4's multiplayer does. Here's a video of GTA2 Online Multiplayer in action.

I think something that's been bothering me the most is the player control, which I would assume should have been the biggest priority from the start. I played all the GTA's on PS2, and this is my first time playing a GTA game on Xbox 360. Most of the controls were pretty similar to the PS2's, considering the controllers generally have the same buttons, but they changed a lot that I assume is specific to the game and not just the console. (for example the left trigger button being to drive cars instead of the A button, which is located approximately where the X button is on a PS2 Controller) And the weapon aiming has improved quite a bit, which makes some pretty fun gunfights with police. For example, being able to duck and to roll, and peek around corners. But the movement of the character alone is pretty; for lack of a better word, sloppy. The entire time I was playing the game, I felt like I was in slow motion. The guy doesn't run very fast, and his reaction time seems a little dumbed down at times. I think this is due to the countless number of animations the character has. For example, he has different animations to running on flat ground than he does to running on stairs. He also has dumbed down reactions when trying to get him to do simple tasks, such as stealing a car, which I would imagine should have been the most effective action in the game, considering it's title.

It's not absolutely terrible, but what is really driving me through the roof, is how this game does not play nearly as fast as their previous games. In Grand Theft Auto 1 and 2, pressing the key to steal a car would make the character immediately make it's ultimate goal to find the shortest route to the nearest available vehicle. In GTA 4, I feel like I have to press to button several times in order to get him to take the car, almost like nagging him. This can especially annoying when playing online, where your character casually enters and exits vehicles while simultaneously being turned into swiss cheese by enemy players. The use of cars is pretty ineffective online due to this interminable process unless you can quickly maneuver in and out of a persons shooting range, which brings me to my next point.

Car control is pretty frustrating. It's much different than previous Grand Theft Auto games. Driving was fairly easy in GTA3, I seem to remember drifting pretty well and sweeping in between cars like a daredevil. I can't seem to pull it off in GTA 4 anymore. I'm not sure if they rewrote the car physics so that it would be more realistic, I wouldn't know because I don't often floor it everytime i come around a corner in real life. But many many times I feel like the car I'm driving never turns sharply enough. I tried using the brakes, which doesn't cause the car to drift very well unless used at the right speed, which in turn makes the car do a wider turn than if you hadn't used the brake at all. In addition to making cars not very handy, with the increase in the games memory, GTA 4 now stuffs an eternity of objects into every single sidewalk, 200,000 street signs, trash bags, trees, mailboxes, you name it. This is extremely annoying when trying to truck a bunch of people walking down the sidewalk, when they have all the debris blocking your path. This in turn makes it pretty rough getting the police on you. Which brings me to my next point.

GTA4 figured they try something new for the wanted level. You can still get 6 stars, but if you have a wanted level between 1 and 5 stars, a flashing red and blue area will show up on your radar where you commited the crime. Simply driving out of the red and blue area is the equivalent to going to a pay and spray in the previous games. Which I would imagine is pretty handy especially when you do something dumb during a mission and gotta lose those pesky pigs. However I have fond memories of playing GTA 1 2 and 3, death by death, how long I can hold off the police. In this game, High speed chases are out of the question. That of which, is now a real turn off for me when pissing off the fuzz.

Grand Theft Auto 4 also has many other little quirks that bother me. The list goes on and on. I don't think having 25 radio stations to flip through when there's only one you like is enough. (Don't correct me I don't know the exact number of radio stations) There's no "Voice Volume" control which I hoped to see in this game, mainly because It's embarrassing to play this game when theres company over, and the TV repeatedly screams "AHH FUCK YOU ANYWAY YOU DUMB BITCH". GTA 4 is also jampacked with useless content such as the ability to go bowling or play darts at the bar, which I don't intend to ever do more than once. You can even go to your safehouse and watch TV. Why would I ever watch TV on GTA 4 when I can turn off my xbox and do the same thing? Some of the things in GTA 4 are pretty cool, but it could have seriously done without.

I Should probably say now, that if I hadn't played Saint's Row (A really accurate GTA ripoff) prior to the release of GTA 4, I probably would appreciate it a little more. Despite all the shit I had to rake up on this game, It's good. I still play it more than most of the other games I have right now. Except maybe Call of Duty 4, but the game is still fantastic. It's addictive, most of the multiplayer game modes suck, but deathmatch, team deathmatch, and free mode are definitely a plus plus. I still reccomend everyone get this game, even at the cost of the things that bother me about it as compared to its previous games, GTA4 still does a really good job at being fun, which was essentially Rockstars plan from the start.

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Back in the day, I made the mistake of buying the 3/VC double pack thinking that, hey, games with THIS much praise have to be worth at least 25 dollars each, and I got burned bad by the suckiness.

I won't be playing IV or any of the rest of the series until 20 years from now when I can casually download it from a site infested with pop-ups (which will presumably be all holographic and shit by then) called something like fukkromz.omg.

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I thought GTAVC was very fun and cool and it's my favorite GTA still. GTAIV looks more of the same though and doesn't look like it retains the fun GTAVC had.

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leileilol said:

I thought GTAVC was very fun and cool and it's my favorite GTA still. GTAIV looks more of the same though and doesn't look like it retains the fun GTAVC had.

I don't really care for GTA but I have some memories of playing lots of Vice City with some friends back in its heyday.

I've seen/played GTAIV at a friends house and it seems alright... the physics are pretty sexy I'll admit and it looks like it would be fun for a little bit but not exactly my cup o' tea. I'm pretty interested in the online modes though, I hear there pretty fun.

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The only real annoying thing in GTA IV is the friends who always seem to ring while I'm on my way to a mission. There's a 'sleep mode' that's meant to stop that, but it seem to mysteriously turn it's self off at random points.

That said, anyone who hates GTA hates fun.

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VC is by far the coolest one, along with the original GTA. The setting and the overall feel of being a parody of several well known movies is what made it a blast to play. And then they threw it all away in SA which took itself way too seriously IMO.

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GTA3 is one of my favorite games ever. Vice City I didn't get to play much, but it seemed like a similar game but with more to do. SA I played for a while and while it was better than the first in some ways, it had some really annoying features. I got to the part where you're fighting gang wars while your stupid girlfriend keeps calling you up, and it just felt like The Sims with more violence so I stopped playing. The old top-down games were pretty fun but hard to find save points (I only found out they existed a few days ago...now I'll have to download them again and play some more).

If I could play GTA IV, I'd probably buy it.

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GTA4 is so win on so many fronts it's almost unbearable. This game deserves all the praise it's getting.

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Danarchy said:

The old top-down games were pretty fun but hard to find save points (I only found out they existed a few days ago...now I'll have to download them again and play some more).


In GTA2 the antennas atop the TV Vans always point towards the church (save point).IIRC it costs $50,000 to save though.

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I had no desire to play GTA4 before its release, but then I got to play it for free and I instantly loved it. JohnnyRancid, a lot of the things you pointed out mostly stand out because you haven't gotten the chance to really sit down and play it. Once you do so, a lot of that stuff will go away.

- Character animations are fine; shoot out the driver's side window, and you'll break into a car quicker, and tapping the triggers repeatedly makes Niko hotwire the vehicle faster.

- It's easier to get shoot up in your own car, but at the same time you can do a drive-by in all directions, to it balances out.

- Car control in GTA4 isn't as arcadey as before, so you can't just go drifting around streets as easily. Normal braking allows you to turn sharply, the handbrake is more for 180's and stunt work. I, also, as someone who was used to speeding all around town in the 6th gen. GTA games, had trouble with the new car physics, but it's something that goes away fairly quickly.

-Watching television in GTA4 make time pass by faster. You have to wait for meetings during a few missions, and it passes the time better than just driving around and possibly getting arrested.

I agree with the police situation making chases less fun, but I always hated having a wanted level in the previous games, and possibly losing all my weapons, so I personally find the radar escape system to be one of the best features. I guess if you actually find fun in seeing how long you can run from the law, GTA4 isn't the sequel to do that in-- or you can just get good at the game and do the same thing at 5 and 6 stars.

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After playing for a while, I have a few comments (maybe spoilers):

- These pop-up missions get annoying. People can call any time with "emergency missions" and they'll interrupt whatever you were doing at the time. That's fine, but give me the option to go back. There's nothing more annoying than starting a mission and while the screen fades out you get a call or a message from... who was that, anyway? Ah well, you'll find out when you suddenly see their friendship level go down 10 minutes later. This gets 10x worse when the weekly scheduler comes into play; naturally, I'd get a (non-optional) call to decide whether to kill Playboy X or Dwayne five minutes before an interview. Also, don't even THINK about entering a Pay & Spray when you're about to meet up with someone. Their initial is wiped from the map and they'll just have to get along without you.

- Setting waypoints on the map (through the pause menu) is a GODSEND. Liberty City seems to have been designed by 8-year-olds after eating an acid-laced Snickers bar. I don't know how the roads are built near R* HQ, but when I turn east onto a road, I expect to be headed in an EASTERLY DIRECTION. Also, they need to research "on-ramps". I feel like I'm driving on a mobius strip. I wouldn't mind so much if there were more visual landmarks in the city, but LC seems to be pretty sparse in that area.

- Pursuit missions are thankfully rare, but DEAR GOD are they frustrating. Firstly, you never know if you're "allowed" to kill the guy you're chasing before he gets to where he's going. If not, the game will give his car ungodly speed and handling. Secondly, do me a favor and intentionally lose a pursuit mission. Now do it again. Notice how that taxi swerved in front of you exactly the same way as it did last time? That's right, the traffic is scripted. That taxi will do that no matter how near or far you are from the target. It's SUPPOSED to get in your way. That 7-car pileup will be there every time.

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if you have played GTA3 you have basically played the subsequent GTAs. i know this because i own all of them (except IV cuz i dont have a 360) but i played IV a lot at my friends house. i was unimpressed with it, it really didnt look anything better then the previous GTAs, played pretty much the same... but its still fun to play.

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Coopersville said:

- Character animations are fine; shoot out the driver's side window, and you'll break into a car quicker, and tapping the triggers repeatedly makes Niko hotwire the vehicle faster.


All I'm saying is that despite the little tidbits of things you can to to increase speed, it will never be as fast as it's predecessors.

Coopersville said:

I agree with the police situation making chases less fun, but I always hated having a wanted level in the previous games, and possibly losing all my weapons, so I personally find the radar escape system to be one of the best features. I guess if you actually find fun in seeing how long you can run from the law, GTA4 isn't the sequel to do that in-- or you can just get good at the game and do the same thing at 5 and 6 stars.


I still think going to a pay and spray, and losing the police at the expense of $1000 is a suitable price. This new method of 'running away' in order to lose a wanted level is pretty lame and unrealistic as well, especially in a game that has added countless more realistic features than their earlier games. I'm pretty positive that no one gets away with stealing a car, and striking 4 pedestrians by driving 3 extra blocks so that everyone will forget about it. I also think that making the game extra difficult to lose a wanted level teaches a lesson which I think is vital for any lawsuits that may spring up and blame this game.

I always thought GTA 3 tought the lesson pretty accurately, that if you kill 20 police officers, run over a ton of people, and cause some unbeleivable destruction, you will undoubtedly get shot and die, or arrested at some point in your characters lifetime. There's no way (besides a pay n spray, which the concept of changing liscense plates is illegal in the US) that you will be able to lose your wanted level, and you will have to either pay the price of death or time.

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Car control is pretty frustrating. It's much different than previous Grand Theft Auto games. Driving was fairly easy in GTA3, I seem to remember drifting pretty well and sweeping in between cars like a daredevil. I can't seem to pull it off in GTA 4 anymore. I'm not sure if they rewrote the car physics so that it would be more realistic, I wouldn't know because I don't often floor it everytime i come around a corner in real life. But many many times I feel like the car I'm driving never turns sharply enough. I tried using the brakes, which doesn't cause the car to drift very well unless used at the right speed, which in turn makes the car do a wider turn than if you hadn't used the brake at all. In addition to making cars not very handy, with the increase in the games memory, GTA 4 now stuffs an eternity of objects into every single sidewalk, 200,000 street signs, trash bags, trees, mailboxes, you name it. This is extremely annoying when trying to truck a bunch of people walking down the sidewalk, when they have all the debris blocking your path. This in turn makes it pretty rough getting the police on you. Which brings me to my next point.


Car control is very different from the previous GTAs but by far more realistic - however, you do get use to it. I was able to use a technique to get out of a car spin that I had learned in real life (then promptly hit a barrier and flew out my windscreen, heh).

The brakes are indeed tricky, the handbrake moreso. I found tapping the brakes repeatedly allowed for sharper turns without loosing too much speed. Braking into the turn and acceleratingly out works well.

This is the first time I've ever played GTA on a console, so it was somewhat more of a learning curve for me when I am use to a kb/mouse, but overall, I find the driving in GTA4 to be a lot of fun, very realistic and better than previous GTAs. The only annoyance I can think of at the moment is the motion blur applied at the higher speeds. ergh.

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Bucket said:

- Pursuit missions are thankfully rare, but DEAR GOD are they frustrating. Firstly, you never know if you're "allowed" to kill the guy you're chasing before he gets to where he's going. If not, the game will give his car ungodly speed and handling. Secondly, do me a favor and intentionally lose a pursuit mission. Now do it again. Notice how that taxi swerved in front of you exactly the same way as it did last time? That's right, the traffic is scripted. That taxi will do that no matter how near or far you are from the target. It's SUPPOSED to get in your way. That 7-car pileup will be there every time.

:(

I always loved the randomness in the GTA games on missions. Sometimes you'd chase someone down and the traffic would be pretty easy to get through. Then other times a garbage truck would come around a blind corner at you and you'd slam into it going 150 MPH. That's the fun with playing in a dynamic environment.

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JohnnyRancid said:

This new method of 'running away' in order to lose a wanted level is pretty lame and unrealistic as well,

The game is *more* realistic but not truly realistic. Do you really want an APB out for you just for running red lights? You want to have your wanted level accumulate the entire game until you get arrested? Do you want an instant "GAME OVER" if you get nabbed for a felony? Do you want to get parking tickets, take pee breaks and trim your fingernails? No, of course not.

That said, getting 1 or 2 stars isn't that big of a deal. Try getting 3 or more. The "patrol area" takes up half an island, cops pop up everywhere and they're near impossible to shake, let alone evade long enough to find a Pay & Spray. Last time I had 3 stars it took me a good 6 minutes to get clear.

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Bucket said:

Do you really want an APB out for you just for running red lights?


Driver did it. It was a gigantic pain in the ass.

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I prefered Mafia way of doing things. If you got caught running a red light, you simply stopped, paid the fine and went on your way.

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Bucket said:

The game is *more* realistic but not truly realistic. Do you really want an APB out for you just for running red lights? You want to have your wanted level accumulate the entire game until you get arrested? Do you want an instant "GAME OVER" if you get nabbed for a felony? Do you want to get parking tickets, take pee breaks and trim your fingernails? No, of course not.

That said, getting 1 or 2 stars isn't that big of a deal. Try getting 3 or more. The "patrol area" takes up half an island, cops pop up everywhere and they're near impossible to shake, let alone evade long enough to find a Pay & Spray. Last time I had 3 stars it took me a good 6 minutes to get clear.


I dunno, some of things I think I would prefer. Because if the extreme increase in realism I actually expected a wanted level for things such as colliding with other cars, driving on the wrong side of the road, running red lights, etc. The previous games made sure your wanted level accumulated until getting arrested, unless you only had one star, you could sneak by that if you werent consistently being a threat. Why you'd get an instant GAME OVER for a felony I dont know, as the fun in the game was trying to escape, even if it wasn't possible. The main character never actually owns a car, so parking tickets would never apply to him. Pee breaks and nail clipping would be dumb though. I dunno, after getting 3 or 4 stars, escaping from police was still not too hard. 5 and 6 is pretty ridiculous though. I still prefer the old way of doing, where I just rush throughout the city trying to shake off as many squad cars as I can. The only way to do that now is to try and shake off the police in a single neighborhood. I think previous Grand Theft Auto games needed more Pay and Spray though. I think there were only one or two per city. Should have been more like 9 and 10. I think thats what GTA 4 needs too.

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