BREAKING: GTA IV's Liberty City based on New York City

Okay, so you already knew that, but a bunch of sites have popped up comparing specific buildings IRL (in real life) to Grand Theft Auto IV.

All previous installments of GTA have been based on specific locations, but developer Rockstar Games has taken the similarities to a new level this time around, and some NYC politicians are less than pleased.

"Setting Grand Theft Auto in the safest big city in America would be like setting Halo in Disneyland," said City Councilman Peter Vallone, chairman of the Council's Public Safety Committee [New York Daily News].

While the idea of sticking Mickey Mouse or Goofy with a plasma grenade is incredibly distracting, the point is that GTA IV is a better game for its similarities to real-life New York City. As with any piece of pop-culture that even mentions New York, the personality of the city and the superior existence it takes to live there has become a major focus of the game. In The New York Times review of the game, they barely mention little things like the gameplay, focusing instead on how the game "almost smells like NYC." Give me a break.

Setting GTA IV in New York City elevates the game to a higher level of cultural significance. There is no cooler place, in the U.S., to set a city block ablaze or rip through the skyline at night in a helicopter. It also brings the series full circle.

Everybody has been talking about how the game's attention to detail is what makes it so great and allows it to make people-smuggling-boatloads of cash. Who wouldn't want to mow down a few Wall Street [The Exchange] investors or shoot a few Brooklyn [Broker] hipsters in the kneecap? In the same vein, the real-life landmarks make the game more fun between the missions, which is what Grand Theft Auto has always been about.

Check out some of these specific comparisons to landmarks IRL with GTA IV:

Matthew Johnston created a Flickr set with screenshots from real life and the game.

Ed Levine's New York City restaurant blog, New York Eats, takes a specific look at how places to eat in Liberty City compare to the Big Apple.

Eurogamer.net has a video comparing landmarks.

Gta4.net has, by far, the best list of comparisons with good photos and descriptions.