Grand Theft Auto IV [PS3] by Product Reviews Centre

What does the American Dream mean today?For Niko Bellic, fresh off the boat from Europe, it is the hope he can escape his past. For his cousin, Roman, it is the vision that together they can find fortune in Liberty City, gateway to the land of opportunity. As they slip into debt and are dragged into a criminal underworld by a series of shysters, thieves and sociopaths, they discover that the reality is very different from the dream in a city that worships money and status, and is heaven for those who have them and a living nightmare for those who don’t.

Beginning with the 1997 release of the original Grand Theft Auto, the GTA series has been one of the most prolific, controversial and down right entertaining franchises in video games history. This pedigree of success guarantees that the highly anticipated eleventh game in the series, Grand Theft Auto IV, will garner at least as much attention if not more.

The Plot
Grand Theft Auto IV is a brand new adventure in the GTA universe following the experiences of Nikolai “Niko” Bellic, a new immigrant from an undisclosed eastern European country whose troubled pa st and the persuasion of his cousin Roman have brought him to the fictional Liberty City. Unfortunately, Niko’s search for the American Dream and a much needed fresh start, hits an immediate snag when the rags to riches story Roman spun to pique Niko’s interest is exposed as not only a complete fabrication, but a ploy to enlist Niko’s well-known skills as a tough guy against the ample list of enemies clamoring for Roman’s debt-ridden blood.

Because Roman is the only person Niko knows in Liberty City he begrudgingly accepts his role as Roman’s protector despite the deception. But as time goes on Niko comes into his own, and his experience on the wrong side of the tracks proves more valuable than he could have ever imagined as he fights for survival and later supremacy on the crime ridden streets of Liberty City.

Game Environments
Based on several of the boroughs of New York City and parts of New Jersey, Liberty City, familiar to players of previous games in the series, has been entirely redesigned for GTA IV. Players can expect visible detail down to the weeds growing in the cracks in the sidewalk, cars and buildings of visibly different ages and a much greater level if verticality in the buildings and bridges that they are able to explore as Niko moves through the city streets. In addition, pedestrians in GTA IV are much more realistic. No longer simply moving cardboard cutouts, these NPCs are intelligent, modern, human representations that laugh, cry, eat, drink, use cell phones and ATMs, and talking amongst themselves regardless of Niko’s interaction with them.

Gameplay
Historically GTA games have focused heavily on mission-based play, requiring successful completion of fixed tasks in order for players to progress through the game, but this has changed to a great extent in GTA IV. Players will experience an entirely new and exciting emphasis centered on the blending of on-mission and off-mission play, resulting not only in an increased sense of realism, but more interesting and unrestricted gameplay.

Features
Aside from the car jacking and a detailed city environment here are the new features for GTA IV:

Improved combat system - Now you can use cover and also a target lock system, which allows you to take out targets with greater ease and accuracy. Plus, you can engage in some hand-to-hand combat if you can’t get your hands on a piece quick enough.
Cell phone - Not just for basic phone calls anymore. Use your in-game cell phone to receive missions via SMS, snap photos, and ZiT (tag) songs that can be downloaded exclusively on Amazon.com/mp3.
Free time - In between missions you can take advantage of “me” time. There are gentleman’s clubs, comedy clubs, bowling alleys, and bars, which all house unique activities.
Take a break from the storyline - A variety of side missions allow you to help run a car service, “borrow” cop cars, assassinate targets, help solve problems for those on the street, or take to the air with stunt jumps that are scattered all over the city.
Control your own fate - Throughout the game choice moments will arrive causing you to make a decision that will affect relationships and money.

Multiplayer
Give Niko a rest and create your own multiplayer “hero.” GTA has added multiplayer modes allowing you to take your creation out to play online in competitive, co-op, and free form modes. Competitive mode has you fighting against the cops, jacking cars, or racing to finish odd jobs. Co-op challenges you and your friends with various tasks including Hangman’s NOOSE where you are responsible for escorting a wanted kingpin to a safe extraction point. Freeform lets you and 15 others lose on Liberty City. Use this mode to hit up the bar and play virtual darts versus each other or head out to the streets and set up your own drag races. If you can dream it, you can do it in Freeform mode.

Grand Theft Auto IV

Customer Reviews

A deadly blend of reality and video game
I’ve been a big fan of the GTA series and this new release is definitely a very engaging game; it really thins the line between reality and video game. Firstly the graphics are great, from the simple lighting at dusk to the blood stain on the hood of your car after running over pedestrians, to taking a helicopter ride at night, this game looks really good.

The controls will take some getting used to, if you are someone who enjoys playing games like GT or Forza you will notice the cars obviously dont handle the same, it takes some time getting used to.

The gameplay is well done, it’s not perfect but it really gets the job done, there isnt a big learning curve with the game because you can do whatever you want to do. I’ve only completed about 2% of the game because I have been so immersed into the whole world aspect of the game, from aimlessly driving around and figuring out the city to attaining the highest wanted level and trying to make a run for it!

I’m never too fast to jump into purchasing games, mainly because the games cost a lot of money, but I can honestly say that the 60 dollars that i spent on this game was worth it. I’m a casual gamer by standards so I put in a few hours every other day but the game is great for when you just want to “escape” into virtual reality.

The violence in the game is there, and it is surreal; I’m not a believer that video games turn people around but there are certainly things you can do in the game that make you go “wow.”

Take this for what it is, a game. It’s a great way to pass the time when you just want to have aimless fun, and it gets the job done.

Cousins, are you not having FUN?
The top down GTAs were my favorite I dipped my toes into the other incarnations but tired of the shooting system. The newest entry fixes what I considered to be the weaker points of the franchise and evolves what a GTA gameplay experience can be. After many hours of straight mission runs and overall experimentation everywhere else this GTA will leave you out of breath. Just visually appealing enough with rare cross hatching graphics popping out on occasion, IV looks good but requires alot of BRIGHTNESS?CONTRAST manipulation during some of its exceptionaly darker corners and hours of day. The police pursuits and mayhem factor are much easier to control this time around and you will often find yourself escaping and finishing missions that older games would have had you replaying for days. The music is a nice varied lot as usual and a high point at moments when it meshes with the voice acting and SFX to perfection. The detail to player experience and ambiance is unparalled throughout other than the eventual repetition of the media on TV and Radio which is only a testament to how many hours your spending in LC, also no custom ST? The driving controls feel especially nice on the DUAL SHOCK 3 trigger buttons and the included Six Axis controls for HELICOPTER BIKE BOAT are another PS3 bonus and are tuned just right once you practice. When are games worth ? When they are so rich with content and development that almost all those moments in every other game where you said ” I wish I could try that” are fufilled.
***** I do not have my 60PS3 highspeed ready so I cannot vouch for the quality of the mutliplayer content which looks to outstanding if it runs.
My system has run this game perfectly other than one cutscene going mute.

Keeps you coming back for more
GTA IV is worth the hype in my book. It is similar to the other games in the series (not a bad thing), but the graphics are much improved and the acting/storyline are outstanding. The missions are fun, but if you get bored you can always grab a shotgun and raise hell at any moment. This game just feels big. I remember driving my car off the bridge into the water, crawling out the window, swimming around and just staring in awe at the night sky with the city glowing in the background. Just an all around amazing experience.

Boring GAme
I highly recommend that people rent this game before buying. I honestly dont get why its rated so high. I was so bored while playing this. The controls are difficult and when you walk the screen always jumps to the wrong direction. Fighting multiple opponents is so awkward. I stopped playing it because i was so bored. I first had to pick up some girl and take her bowling. Then after that i had to take my cousin to a strip club where you have to fight multiple opponents. It wasn’t fun at all. It also froze on me a couple of times and I had to try to restart the ps3.

Killing has never been more fun, driving however…
This game is through and through GTA. Not much has changed since the last 2 installments of this game. There are many pros to this game; but a few major negatives keep this title from a 4 star rating (and FAR from the coveted 5 star[which is handed out like candy on Amazon]).

Pros:
-Graphics: Everything is relatively smooth, and there is little more satisfying than laying into a police cruiser full auto and watching the glass and shrapnel fly…mmmmm welcome the sweet embrace of death coppers!
-Decent gameplay improvements: like hitting something at an insane speed and being ejected from your car. I for one like the melee; it can be a bit slow but it requires more skill than previous GTA titles, which only required you to rapidly press one button completely annihilating your opponent. The auto aiming is much improved over the other titles as well, but just like the melee it takes awhile to get it down just right.
-The storyline: it’s GTA, so of course it’s going to be above par (or under par depending on how literal you take golf metaphors)
-AI: You mean to tell me the cops don’t just wander into my every shot now? How will I ever get rid of these 3 stars? The AI is much improved. Cops and enemies actually duck and cover a hell of a lot better than they ever did. Cops are more patient at the lower wanted levels, and way more intelligent at the higher wanted levels. Over all decent improvements all around.

Cons:
-Is that a trash can or a person? Holy God this game is dark. I’ve read that a lot lately and it is so true. I understand that it is a more realistic feel, but if I walk down an ally in this game at night I can’t tell where the hell I’m going. If I drive around during the day, and than hit a shady spot in the city I can’t tell any details, I can hardly see cars 20 yards in front of me and forget identifying people on the sidewalk. Yes, my brightness has been turned all the way up (in game and on the TV) and it is still ungodly dark. This was ok after day 1 and 2, when I was still drooling over the awesomeness of GTA, but not so much now. It really detracts from gameplay and it is a constant nuisance to play when the game begins to go to night…that’s usually a good time to go eat or play a game of pool or something that requires NO reaction time and NO need to see in front of your face. Really…its dark.
-Driving!!! Dear gentle Jesus is this game horrible when it comes to driving! Quick side bar, My number one all time favorite games are racing games: F1, Gran Torusimo, NASCAR, I love them all and consider myself VERY adept at driving. That being said… I understand you break for speed BEFORE you begin to turn, and you shouldn’t be breaking while IN a turn(unless your trailbreaking which is a techniques for a much faster entry, with an exit that sometimes suffers…but it’s GTA so I’m sure it’s not THAT detailed) but cars in this game REFUSE to turn at like 35mph. you have to slow down to an insanely slow speed to actually corner. It’s ok, it can be over looked…but now these cars NEVER flip. It’s like playing a NASCAR video game on the PSX circa 1998. they bobble around from wheel to wheel, rest on their side, than slowly sit back up onto four wheels. What??!! GTA hasn’t had driving physics that bad since GTA2 on the PC. if you land JUST right on your hood it will stay like that, but you will never corner hard enough, get T-boned hard enough, flip fast enough to not somehow magically land on your four wheels again…weird and awkward. I mean the driving just sucks, I miss the old auto cam that panned around with your car, but it’s not that big of a deal because I prefer to drive in the “hood” view, so It’s not that important to me, but why get rid of the auto cam? It’s fairly impossible to shoot, break, and try and fumble with your camera when also fumbling through the turn. bottom line the driving physics are absolute garbage.

Those two reasons are why this game is not 4 stars. It really seems weak at first glance(trust me I know because I read all the reviews before I actually bought this game) but it hurts the gameplay severely. I mean when you get right down to the heart of it, you will spend 85% of your time in a car, so why such crappy driving physics. And seeing as half of the rest of that 15% will be at night, this equals weak sauce from Rockstar.

Now a quick defense on the 3 star and you can go out and buy this game shunning my every word. A 3 star review is NOT a bad thing, its above average. I for one think that there are very few things that deserve a 5 star (Gran Tourismo 4 and Battlefield 2 come to mind) Things that are really good deserve a 4, and things that you should own if it’s up your ally deserve a 3. This is a 3 star game. I love the GTA series and do not regret buying this game a bit. If you liked ANY of the GTA games go out and pick this title up, you will love it. But I’m not about to say this game is great(4) or the best it can possibly be(5) because it isn’t.

I’ve pulled the pin on my fire extinguisher, so flame on!