Jakuza
05-09-2008, 11:48 PM
So I guess its safe to say I've completely beaten (the main storyline) of GTAIV. The game is nothing less than amazing. Right now I shall bring you the full review of GTAIV in hopes of it giving you an opinion on wanting to buy it or not.
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Before I get into the review, I noticed something; All of the games with chronological numbers, GTA1, 2, 3, and 4 were all set in Liberty City. Vice City and San Andreas were set in two pretty different places. I think this is why Rockstar didn't include VC and SA in the chronological series, leaving them as side stories.
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http://www.slipperybrick.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/grand-theft-auto-4-sales.jpg
The Story
This time around in GTA, your back in Liberty City. Your playing the role of Niko Bellic, a European man who seeks "The American Dream". His cousin, Roman, tells him about all the finer things in America, and to come there. Seeking a better like, Niko sets off on his trip.
When you arrive, your greeted by your cousin, Roman, and this oh-so "awesome life" he lives. When you, Niko, get back to the apartment, you realize Roman was completely lying about what he had; hot cars, woman, money, and a mansion. Roman explains to Niko that this dream he talked about through emails is 'coming', and Niko is going to help him achieve it. This is where the story takes off into a plot about money, betrayal, surprise, and revenge. I'll leave the rest of the story telling to you, if you play it.
If anything, I rank this storyline to be the HIGHEST of all the GTAs. Its so in dept, and it keeps you locked in for however long you play this. Unlike the other GTAs, where its mission, travel, mission, travel; The story in this game rises above all the storylines from all the GTAs put together. It'll make you angry, sad, happy, and keep you laughing through it all.
Perfect - 10/10
The Graphics
As most of you may know, GTA isn't known for its graphics, but just as a fun series, itself. This time around, Rockstar put a hell of a lot of detail into in GTAIV. The characters' looks are of gringy or dirty art style. New York..or..Liberty City is beautifully designed and the environment is massive. Facial expressions are perfect, cars are shinny, the sun at different times are amazing, everything looks lifelike, and its just has this overall goodness. The only flaw I see is the lighting at times. It can get VERY dark in the game, and you'd have to close all the curtains/binds in your house in order to see anything. I suggest turning up the brightness and contrast if you were to play this game.
Rocket launcher and grenade explosions are AWESOME.
Good graphics wasn't something I was truly expecting from GTAIV, but Rockstar pulled it off - 8/10
The Sound
Grand Theft Auto is known to have great voice acting. Yet again, they come at full force with a lot of good foreign/non-American accent voice acting. There are a handful of non-American characters in this story, and little American ones. In my opinion, I think this time around, the voice acting is at its best. Emotion is shown perfectly through the dialogs. Insult me for this, but the added LARGE amounts of cursing/swearing really adds on to the want of showing emotion.
The soundtrack to this game seems good enough for medium expectations. When I'm in/on a vehicle, I only catch myself listening to the Rap, R&B, Reggae, and Reggaeton stations. I don't know of the other stations, but the licensed songs on here are awesome. I wish they could've had more, though.
Gun, car, and environment sounds are lifelike, I have no complaints.
No real flaws in the sound category, but we all know nothing will ever beat Vice City's soundtrack. - 9/10
The Gameplay
The most important category in every game, the gameplay. Grand Theft Auto comes back with the same fun gameplay it has always had for the past 10 or so years. Adding on to that, is the new cover - fire system. It was mentioned in a few videos and reviews that it seemed like a Gears of War kind of thing. I guess I can say I agree. You can hide or get behind anything in a line of fire. The new targeting system is also a bit better. Auto-aim and manual aim are enabled with all the guns. The only downside, to me, of the new gameplay is the driving. I have to say it sort of sucks. Lets just say I don't want Grand Turismo driving physics for my GTA. I learned about E-brake late into the game, btw, haha.
Throughout the game, you'll be using your cellphone a lot. You call people to hang out, find out about jobs, text msg, input cheat codes (if your the type), some other stuff, and even access the multiplayer. The interface for the phone is right on.
For GTA, the game play has gotten WAY better, and WAY funner. Its the most fun I have ever had with a GTA game. The gun battles are intense and so AWESOME - 9/10
Lasting Appeal // Multiplayer
I'll cram these two into one section. Depending on how long you play, daily, and your attention span (like IGN said) the game lasts for 25-48 hours. I beat it in two weeks. If the game itself wasn't enough for you to keep it, the multiplayer will surely keep you interested...
The multiplayer in this game has to have some of the funnest action, ever. There are a number of match types including, deathmatch, cops n' robbers, turf wars, other ones I can't remember, and the very fun free roam. The amount of people you can have in a match, max, is 16 players. You can choose to have matches throughout the WHOLE city, or certain boroughs. me and Dedinho were playing for 1-2 hours yestarday and we were having hilarious fun.
Character creation is kind of bland at first. You only get 4 different things to choose from in each category; shirt, pants, hat, skin color, etc. You unlock more as you level up.
I don't see no downsides to the multiplayer, at all, other than the few lag spikes here in there. You would expect that since your roaming the whole city with 16 other people - 10/10
Overall // Final Verdict
GTA comes back with IV and hits HARD, .... HARD. Perfect storyline, new cover system, multiplayer, and a good looking game to beat. This game is a MUST, F*CKING MUST BUY!
GTA will most likely be game of the year - 9.2/10
---
Before I get into the review, I noticed something; All of the games with chronological numbers, GTA1, 2, 3, and 4 were all set in Liberty City. Vice City and San Andreas were set in two pretty different places. I think this is why Rockstar didn't include VC and SA in the chronological series, leaving them as side stories.
----
http://www.slipperybrick.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/grand-theft-auto-4-sales.jpg
The Story
This time around in GTA, your back in Liberty City. Your playing the role of Niko Bellic, a European man who seeks "The American Dream". His cousin, Roman, tells him about all the finer things in America, and to come there. Seeking a better like, Niko sets off on his trip.
When you arrive, your greeted by your cousin, Roman, and this oh-so "awesome life" he lives. When you, Niko, get back to the apartment, you realize Roman was completely lying about what he had; hot cars, woman, money, and a mansion. Roman explains to Niko that this dream he talked about through emails is 'coming', and Niko is going to help him achieve it. This is where the story takes off into a plot about money, betrayal, surprise, and revenge. I'll leave the rest of the story telling to you, if you play it.
If anything, I rank this storyline to be the HIGHEST of all the GTAs. Its so in dept, and it keeps you locked in for however long you play this. Unlike the other GTAs, where its mission, travel, mission, travel; The story in this game rises above all the storylines from all the GTAs put together. It'll make you angry, sad, happy, and keep you laughing through it all.
Perfect - 10/10
The Graphics
As most of you may know, GTA isn't known for its graphics, but just as a fun series, itself. This time around, Rockstar put a hell of a lot of detail into in GTAIV. The characters' looks are of gringy or dirty art style. New York..or..Liberty City is beautifully designed and the environment is massive. Facial expressions are perfect, cars are shinny, the sun at different times are amazing, everything looks lifelike, and its just has this overall goodness. The only flaw I see is the lighting at times. It can get VERY dark in the game, and you'd have to close all the curtains/binds in your house in order to see anything. I suggest turning up the brightness and contrast if you were to play this game.
Rocket launcher and grenade explosions are AWESOME.
Good graphics wasn't something I was truly expecting from GTAIV, but Rockstar pulled it off - 8/10
The Sound
Grand Theft Auto is known to have great voice acting. Yet again, they come at full force with a lot of good foreign/non-American accent voice acting. There are a handful of non-American characters in this story, and little American ones. In my opinion, I think this time around, the voice acting is at its best. Emotion is shown perfectly through the dialogs. Insult me for this, but the added LARGE amounts of cursing/swearing really adds on to the want of showing emotion.
The soundtrack to this game seems good enough for medium expectations. When I'm in/on a vehicle, I only catch myself listening to the Rap, R&B, Reggae, and Reggaeton stations. I don't know of the other stations, but the licensed songs on here are awesome. I wish they could've had more, though.
Gun, car, and environment sounds are lifelike, I have no complaints.
No real flaws in the sound category, but we all know nothing will ever beat Vice City's soundtrack. - 9/10
The Gameplay
The most important category in every game, the gameplay. Grand Theft Auto comes back with the same fun gameplay it has always had for the past 10 or so years. Adding on to that, is the new cover - fire system. It was mentioned in a few videos and reviews that it seemed like a Gears of War kind of thing. I guess I can say I agree. You can hide or get behind anything in a line of fire. The new targeting system is also a bit better. Auto-aim and manual aim are enabled with all the guns. The only downside, to me, of the new gameplay is the driving. I have to say it sort of sucks. Lets just say I don't want Grand Turismo driving physics for my GTA. I learned about E-brake late into the game, btw, haha.
Throughout the game, you'll be using your cellphone a lot. You call people to hang out, find out about jobs, text msg, input cheat codes (if your the type), some other stuff, and even access the multiplayer. The interface for the phone is right on.
For GTA, the game play has gotten WAY better, and WAY funner. Its the most fun I have ever had with a GTA game. The gun battles are intense and so AWESOME - 9/10
Lasting Appeal // Multiplayer
I'll cram these two into one section. Depending on how long you play, daily, and your attention span (like IGN said) the game lasts for 25-48 hours. I beat it in two weeks. If the game itself wasn't enough for you to keep it, the multiplayer will surely keep you interested...
The multiplayer in this game has to have some of the funnest action, ever. There are a number of match types including, deathmatch, cops n' robbers, turf wars, other ones I can't remember, and the very fun free roam. The amount of people you can have in a match, max, is 16 players. You can choose to have matches throughout the WHOLE city, or certain boroughs. me and Dedinho were playing for 1-2 hours yestarday and we were having hilarious fun.
Character creation is kind of bland at first. You only get 4 different things to choose from in each category; shirt, pants, hat, skin color, etc. You unlock more as you level up.
I don't see no downsides to the multiplayer, at all, other than the few lag spikes here in there. You would expect that since your roaming the whole city with 16 other people - 10/10
Overall // Final Verdict
GTA comes back with IV and hits HARD, .... HARD. Perfect storyline, new cover system, multiplayer, and a good looking game to beat. This game is a MUST, F*CKING MUST BUY!
GTA will most likely be game of the year - 9.2/10