A Few GTA IV Impressions.

So time got the better of me and I never actually wrote about my impressions of GTA IV. It's been a tough few weeks and, to be honest, updating this blog has been the last thing on my mind. However, I'm not here to talk about my personal life so let's get back to business. This isn't a review so I'm not going to cover everything, I just want to pick out a few of my thoughts about the game.

Playing video games has really been my only escape lately and it was a pure god send that a new GTA game was released during this time. I've always adored the GTA series, mainly because I can get lost in a whole new city while doing pretty much anything I want in my new home. GTA, as usual, didn't disappoint in this sense. As Niko Bellic steps off the boat at the beginning of the game you get a feeling his experience is the experience that many players feel when beginning a new GTA game for the first time. You're effectively a new immigrant to the city, just like the character you play in any new GTA game, entering a strange new world but also excited about the possibilities this new world presents. This links you from the start and, in the case of GTA IV, it's even more so with the character of Niko - an Eastern European immigrant. He's also an instantly likeable character, besides all the murdering he'll be doing, and you really get a feeling that he's doing what he's doing because he has to, not because he wants to. This attitude means that going on the usual GTA rampage seems out of character for Niko - it doesn't stop you doing it though!


For me the city is always the star of a GTA game. You can have a superb cast of characters and the best storyline ever but if the city isn't fun then it's not going to get me playing for long. You only need to drive down a single street in the revamped Liberty City to notice just how much care and attention has gone in to creating the immense detail that makes the city incredibly life-like. In the first few hours of play I saw a preacher spouting about the end of the world, workmen laying a new drive on a housing estate, people having conversations on their cell phones, random conversations everywhere, cops arresting and pulling people over. All this, and more (such as the radio stations and the incredibly detailed Internet), filled me with awe. It finally feels like you're living in an actual living breathing city instead of a bunch of buildings with empty lifeless husks walking around them. Couple this with some absolutely breathtaking scenery on behalf of it's New York City imitation and you're on to a winner.

This level of detail is also covered in the sheen of a totally new engine. Yeah, the game isn't the best looking game in the world but that's never expected from a GTA game and, besides, with a world like GTA IV's you can't really compare to other games that don't have the sheer level of detail but have incredible graphics. The game is by no means bad looking and it looks more realistic than ever. The weather effects are brilliant and each time of the day has it's own unique look. The character animations are incredible (although Niko can be a bit over-dramatic when he's nudged by a car) and, as such, gun fights now never feel like the same old point and shoot that the previous games had (although I love the new cover system it can be a bit awkward at times and the game still has a few targeting issues. Overall though the system is vastly improved so the few flaws can be forgiven). Everything just feels far more realistic.



There has been a few complaints about driving but I really don't see the problems myself. It's been described as being like 'driving on butter' but this is completely senseless in my opinion. It was far too easy to drive on previous GTA games, far too easy to scream around the corners when trying to escape from police. Scream around the corner in GTA IV without proper handling and you're going to end up hitting the nearest wall. Sure, it takes time to learn how to handle each car properly but that's the beauty of it. It's actually fun driving now because you have to think when approaching each corner. It's by no means at the standard of a racing game but it's getting there.

Multiplayer has been a bit up and down for me. The first few days after GTA IV's release saw me and a few friends playing it non-stop over Xbox Live. I hardly played the single player at first as free mode with a few friends was incredibly fun. It's just that it seemed to be a passing fancy for the friends I was playing with, whom have pretty much gone back to Call of Duty 4 while I play through GTA's singleplayer. Playing GTA IV with the random masses on Live is not half as fun - largely because it's full of asses but mostly because GTA IV is a game which is designed to enjoy with friends. 'GTA Race' is the only mode that I can really enjoy when I'm not playing with friends. Maybe it's because my friends love COD4 and I get easily bored of it that always leaves me in this situation as I'm the only one who seems to want to play GTA IV's multiplayer modes for an extended period of time. GTA IV's multiplayer is by no means bad when not played with friends but I feel you're missing out on a lot of what it has to offer if you're just playing with strangers.

It's not a perfect game by any means, but what game is perfect? I'm not the kind of gamer who'll get annoyed by a bit of pop-up and the odd glitch (although some of the glitches in GTA games can be incredibly fun) and no game is without it's flaws, specifically a game where an open world means it's harder for testers to cover every base. Although the storyline is absolutely stellar in this installment it's the city that's the real star and Rockstar North just provides the highly tuned tools to play around within its creation. The new generation of consoles doesn't just mean shiny graphics, it means adapting tried and tested formulas to fit with the tools the developer has at its disposal and also making sure that gamers will get something new and not just the same old game (no matter how much the said franchise has sold in the past because this streak will not last forever). At its core GTA is the same game it has always been but there's enough new and adapted quality as the crust to make GTA IV one of the defining moments of the current generation and maybe even the entirety of video game history. I, like many gamers, can't wait to see where Rockstar North takes GTA next.