Grand Theft Auto IV
Posted on May 11, 2008 - Filed Under Reviews
I just finished playing through both endings of GTA IV, and I figured I would reflect a little. Overall, the game is stellar. There are plenty of quirks, but the entire package is an incredibly detailed and powerful piece. It’s a great example of how video games are making a move into the realm of movies in terms of art form. I’ll try not to spoil anything specific in case you haven’t played the game yet.
The Good
- Deep story, with an emotional punch. Quite honestly, the ending left me feeling kind of sad for poor Niko, and I really wondered where he would go from there (aside from what I would do in free roam).
- Great character development. Niko is a really down to earth, realistic character. You’re drawn into the story so much through his interactions with the other main characters, and since he’s got both a quick tongue and a shrouded past, it makes you want to know more about him and care more about him.
- Dialog and voice acting. Through out the game, the dialog was mostly believable and the voice acting was top notch. There were a few instances where it was a little off, but not enough to be overtly jarring.
- City detail. There’s such variety in the city’s design, and there are numerous little things that you see and just go “wow.” From the advertisements in the game’s version of Time’s Square, to Happiness Island and the Statue of Happiness, everything is both immersive and believable.
The Bad
- Aiming. Granted, Rockstar did make a number of improvements to the aiming mechanism, but too often I ended up locked on a target hiding behind a car when there was a guy 4 feet to my left shooting me in the head. It’s very difficult in an intense firefight to remember to half hold the left trigger to free aim.
- Vehicle physics. Some would argue that the cars in the game handle fairly realistically, but when I go from 2 mph to a 25 mph fish tail just by pressing the gas and the e-brake, I don’t think that’s quite possible. Also having a barrel flip over low riding car just doesn’t happen.
- Missions. There were a few exceptions to this, primarily the bank robbery mission. That one turned out to be extremely epic, even though it essentially boiled down to the same pool of missions used in the game. The different missions consisted of: “go fetch X and bring it back to Y”, “go eliminate X”, “follow/chase X to Y.” I suppose the main problem I have is that there were quite a number of missions in the game, and those three types got old fast.
- Relationships. I see where Rockstar was going with the relationship system, but it got annoying really fast when I started getting 3 or 4 calls in a row of people wanting to hang out.
The Ugly
- Cover system. It was a good idea, but the implementation left so much to be desired. Plus, it also got me killed more times than I care to remember. One instance that comes to mind is the Elizabeta mission in the hospital, where I got caught in the middle of a doorway and got shotgunned by a cop.
- Mini games. These were basically torture to me. Darts provided absolutely no challenge whatsoever. I could get 180 9 out of 10 games. Pool had a number of “how the heck?” moments, but was at least tolerable. Bowling I could not figure out for the life of me. I could usually win, but I couldn’t figure out how to throw a strike.
I haven’t gone online with the game yet, since it’s Crumb’s, and I don’t feel like getting into it too much when I won’t have it for a while after the school year. Again, overall, the game is superb. The story is top-notch, deep, and thought provoking. Aside from the minor quirks and some of the frustrations in the game, it was a pleasure to play and I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a new game.
Comments
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
