ic-games Review - Grand Theft Auto IV - Reviews, Previews and Interviews for PC, Xbox 360, PS2, PS3 and Wii

ic-games Review - Grand Theft Auto IV - Reviews, Previews and Interviews for PC, Xbox 360, PS2, PS3 and Wii ic-games Review - Home - Review, Preview and Interview for PC, Xbox,Xbox 360, PS2, PS3 and Wii

Grand Theft Auto IV

Information
Reviewer: Andrew St.Denis
Developer: Rockstar North
Publisher: Rockstar Games
Reviewed: Xbox 360/PS3
Genre: Third Person/Vehicle
UK Release: 29th Apr 2008
Article Date: 04th May 2008
Difficulty: N/A
Retail Price: £49.99
Price Comparison:
idealo.co.uk

Score Breakdown

Experience:
Gameplay:
Graphics:
Sound:
Overall Score: 100%

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Pros
Amazing gameplay
stunning cutscenes
impressive online gaming

Cons
Graphical glitches

Screenshots

4 of 6

Niko Bellic is fresh off the boat from his homeland, after needing to 'get away' from his home country for a while. His cousin Roman is already in Liberty City and has been sending him emails about the 'American Dream', unfortunately, that's exactly what they were... Dreams.

The Grand Theft Auto series have been ground breaking in violence, music and sheer size and freedom of the gaming area, the 9th title in the series is actually named G.T.A. IV (strange, but true). The much hyped game has had everyone drooling; either at the prospect or in abject rage that the game is in existence, no matter though since sales should be record breaking. But, after so many disappointments in the past, will the game live up to the hype?

You have to say “Yes!”, right from the word go you are shown the level of detail, both in graphics and in the depth of character. You play Niko, a Serb, who fought in the Bosnian war. In an attempt to find a new life, he arrives in Liberty City at the request of his cousin Roman, who has promised wealth, luxury and women with big titties! Roman might have been telling a few porkies though. The truth of the matter is that Roman lives in a little flat, drives or manages a taxi cab company and openly lusts after Mallorie, who also works at the cab firm.

One thing that changed is the stance of the hero in GTA IV, Niko, instead of glorying in the violence and using it to advance himself in the world seems to find himself digging even deeper and darker holes for himself. The game doesn't promote violence, in fact it seems to try and show what you could be doing to yourself if you try and take that route.

In contrast to the San Andreas bigger is better belief, the gaming world of GTA IV is smaller, but with fewer empty areas. There are also only two aircraft, with only helicopters available and no fixed wing that can be flown. Also gone is the build your character ability system too, you don't need to eat, except to regain health, you don't get better with weapons as you use them.

Now we've gotten over what has gone, let us start on what has been added, which is a whole lot more. The most used item will be a mobile phone, which you acquire early on, but that can be upgraded later. From this phone you arrange your new life in Liberty City, from missions to dates to nights out with the lads. Everything goes through the mobile, but how you build up your associations with other NPC's (Non Playable Characters) is by taking them on a night out; mini-games are used for some activities and darts, pool and bowling are the options. Other things include food, a club to watch cabaret or comedy shows and to a strip joint too.

One other new thing and one that's been tried in other games is the cover system; now you can use objects in the game world to hide behind. Once in cover you can use aimed fire opening yourself up to return fire for a few moments or you can use blind fire, which is obviously less accurate. This does for the most part work very well, with Niko sliding into cover if you aren't real close and since you aren't using a twice mapped button you don't find yourself going into cover when you don't want to. If you try using it near some narrow objects though, such as some doorways or pillars, you can find yourself going into cover on the wrong side of them, but that doesn't really happen too often to cause complaint.

The populated world of Liberty City is just crammed full of inhabitants going about their daily lives, in a city that never sleeps you will find certain times busier then others, cops chasing crooks and people trying to get from point A to B, occasionally getting into minor accidents on the way. The AI drivers is improved, will most of the cars no longer just on set routes, as they now have some give some leeway on how they move around the streets.

The police have also been worked on and how they respond to crime and violence, indeed if you start a fight out of sight and then don't respond again, when the cops show up they actually arrest the guy you first hit. Also the way the wanted stars are gotten rid of has changed, no long will driving into a pay and spray (even if the cops are on your tail) get rid of them. You have to lose the cops and keep out of sight for a time before they give up, the higher the wanted level, the further the search radius is for them, within that circle you are not safe. Also added is the police computer system; get in a cop car and when stationary, you can access the computer, search for names or faces (used in some missions) or check out the most wanted lists and current crimes lists and even go and do your bit to tackle crime on the streets.

How you move around the streets has been changed, not only are there cars, motorbikes and helicopters to choose from but now there's the 'L' railway and taxi's. That's right, no longer are they a way to make money or just another vehicle, now you can hail a cab, and travel to various places throughout Liberty City, they do cost money though. The bicycles have been dropped and the motorbikes have had a change in handling.

Vehicles have had a make over, a rather large one, the number of drivable vehicles have been reduced, but the damage model is now second to none, drive your car at high speed into a solid object like a central road divider, head on and you will find a 'v' shaped chunk caved-in on your car, a slight bump and you could get scrapes or a slight dent, it all adds to the realism. Another change is in the suspension properties, the amount of roll and the driving characteristics of each car is noticeably different, and the weather changes that too. Finally on that note is the firing of weapons from your car, adding to the sub-machine guns of the previous titles you can now fire handguns and also dropping hand grenades out of the window.

Music and radio stations have become a bit part of the GTA phenomenon, the well written scripts of the callers and presenters as well as the adverts are all a source of humour, no matter what the subject. Nothing has changed in this game either, the music is varied and contains some big names and classic tracks on the numerous stations. Most tastes are catered for from the talk radio to classic and heavy rock and from jazz to r 'n' b and rap, you will find yourself finding a quiet area to just sit in the car and listen to the music.

Voice acting has hit the highs with some of the previous Grand Theft Auto series and even though the famous actors have all but disappeared the actual voices used are nothing short of spectacular. The only voice that has made the jump from the past games is that of radio DJ Lazlow and the only famous voice is that of comedian Ricky Gervais, who can be seen at the comedy club on Algonquin. However all involved have made up for this with a level of acting rarely seen in a video game, passion and pain and all the other emotions can be heard and whilst there are annoying characters, it's not down to poor voice acting that makes them that way.

Graphics are as you would expect with the next gen consoles, very nice indeed. The Rage/Euphoria engine Rockstar used copes with very little in the way of slowdown and, not that much in the way of load times, less so for the PS3 version which actually uses hard drive space for storage space. Cut scenes are splendid, facial expressions and lip-sync are very well done, even the way the people move make them seem more like a real movie then computer generated creation. Nothing can be said to ruin the over-all presentation of GTA IV but there are still graphical glitches, mainly in where items find their level which sometimes seem to be several inches beneath ground level.

Whilst there will be detractors to the GTA series and whilst kids are able to get their hands on games with this type of graphic violence and language, these people will never go away and they will always have some credence. So parents, take note of the '18' certificate and realise that they don't just add those things to make the box look pretty. And also note that just cause they are video games, doesn't mean they are aimed at kids, the average age of gamers now is 25. These people attacking the gaming industry would take away the ability to market what is, in my opinion, the best game you can buy.

So overall, if you are of the proper age and have no problem with grasping that this is fiction and shouldn't be re-enacted on the streets of your town, then you should buy this game. It's the best example of the sandbox style of gameplay that GTA first started and the best thing that Rockstar have done, I can only hope that the next GTA is as large a jump as San Andreas to GTA IV was. As for the hype, some things do live up to everything said about them and Grand Theft Auto IV is one of them. The depth of game, the level of characters and the interaction between the populated world of Liberty City is just breathtaking. The other sites that have reviewed this game have given it perfect scores, and it's not unwarranted, GTA IV really is that good and if you never take another piece of advice, buy this game, now...

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