Developer: Rockstar North
Publisher: Rockstar Games -- Take Two Interactive
Where to start?
Let's all be glad Burnout Paradise got to "Welcome To The Jungle" before Rockstar.
This installment of the GTA series places you in the boots of Niko Bellic, an incorrigible immigrant from the Eastern Bloc who committed unspeakable atrocities in his mysterious past and has now been lured to the United States by his cousin with promises of money and women. Yeah, that sounds like a good place to start. Developer Rockstar Games put a tremendous amount of effort into this title and it really shows with jaw dropping incidents, stunning graphics, and a compelling storyline.
First thing's first, this issue of GTA has a strong emphasis on story. The characters are still blown out caricatures, but honestly would the game be as fun (or as funny) if Brucie wasn't always screaming about being genetically superior or commanding you to 'stay alpha'? I don't think so. In the story line, Rockstar wasn't looking for reality. They've set up, I believe, an intriguing though at some points intentionally campy story that really keeps you guessing. However one of the problems the game faces is that there are so many stories and characters that it's easy to forget what's happening. Especially if you're like me, going back and forth between main character missions.
Side missions abound, one example being you're tasked with making friends and keeping them your friends. This sucks. By the halfway point your phone is filled with contacts all wanting to get drunk or throw darts (or both.) Sometimes I just wanted to search the alleys or complete side missions but Little Jacob wanted me to drive him to Cluckin' Bell (Cluckin Bell! Awright rasta) and after I was done with that Dwayne wanted to bring me down with all his ex-con bullshit. You're given an incentive to hang out with these people though -- if you get them to like you enough they provide services for you, such as helicopter rides, discount weapons, backup etc. Careful though: if you're not friendly enough they won't pick up your phone calls. I wouldn't have minded hanging out with them until you unlock the perk, and then always having the perk from that point on, but it gets incredibly tedious hanging out with people, even if they do have something different to say each time they get in the car.
Aside from the veteran side missions of car theft, vigilante justice, and street racing, the main missions feel like there's a reason to be doing them. It's not so much go find this guy and shoot his car until it explodes anymore. Many times a car chase will deliberately be difficult because Rockstar is leading you to a spot where the guys you're chasing bail out and take up defensive positions in a house or park (for instance.) They've also designed a ton of buildings to specifically be a space you fight in, which adds an 'indoors' dimension lacking in previous GTA's.
The story asks you to make decisions affecting future business opportunities (and business partners for that matter.) The result changes the storyline and (depending on your perspective) the entire outcome of the game, which adds yet another layer of replayability, as if we needed anymore.
Rockstar made a good decision this time around by focusing their efforts into making a few gameplay elements really fun and compelling, instead of spreading them out over a ton of semi-fun activities (i.e. jetpacks, planes, sky diving, property ownership.) They implemented the same idea with gamespace as well. One of the things that's been floating around our conversations here at QP is how space in GTA IV is much more useful. Sure, San Andreas was probably the largest GTA in terms of space, but most of that was open fields and dense forests that saw at most three or four missions. Here, every inch of Liberty City is worth scouring, and you'll find yourself at almost every out of the way warehouse or crumbled building complex by the end of the story.
The gameplay in this installment shows great leaps and bounds (within the GTA universe) in some areas, and falls flat in others. Probably the newest and best aspect is the completely revamped aiming system. Pull the left trigger to auto aim, then use the right thumbstick pick your shot: head, hand, foot, etc. You can also go the much harder and arguably more manlier route by free aiming. Free aiming requires you to hold the left trigger half way, and allows you to have complete control over what you're shooting at -- very useful for shooting exploding barrels or car tires, not practical at all for taking down baddies.
Rockstar also added a cover system that serves its purpose fairly well. The cover system is pretty sticky, which is good for missions that are designed for you to use the cover system. However, if you get caught up in a gunfight on a street crowded with cars or stuck in a tight space, it's nearly impossible to predict where Niko will take cover. You can also jump from cover-to-cover a la Gears of War -- and from my experiences it works much better than Gears.
Your environment in GTA IV is much more conducive to losing police in alleys and backyards. They've given Niko a quick hop over smaller objects, and the ability to hang on to and shimmy to and fro on a ledge. Ladders provide easy vertical access providing rooftop shootouts and building-to-building firefights. In general, getting around on foot is easier and way more fun than previous installments.
Unfortunately, GTA IV still suffers from a case of what I like to call 'The Walkies.' The walkies have been in every GTA since they've gone 3-D and it refers to the phenomenon of not being able to stop your character on a precise spot. Walking near a ledge is a death wish because when you let go of the thumbstick Niko inexplicably takes one or two more steps. Forget turning around quickly because Mr. Bellic needs more room than most cruise ships to complete his semi-circular procedure before finally facing the other direction (he must have hurt his knee or hip in the war or something.) Whatever you do, DO NOT combine any of the aforementioned moves with the sprint button as you'll inevitably end up looking down the barrel of a cop's shotgun.
Driving is very fun and controllable, though it takes a while to get used to; once you're set though, it's easy like Sunday morning. GTA IV also desperately needs an easier way to switch guns -- how about the 'B' button guys? Come on! It's arguable that current-gen consoles shouldn't even use d-pads anymore, let alone poorly implemented ones (yes, I'm looking at you, Xbox 360), but I shouldn't have to stop moving if I want to switch my weapon.
For my money, GTA IV is the best looking game around, especially when you consider everything the engine is doing. The graphics sport a hint of Crackdown in a very subtle, comic book, black outline kind of way (stylized anyone?) Every block is extremely detailed and completely unique which really helps with navigating the four islands. A wide selection of cars to choose from, all sporting variations on sun roofs, convertibles, and gold trim, among other things, help to keep things fresh. There's also a wide selection of people to run down...or interact with -- whatever.
The only problem I saw with the graphics is that sometimes the details on the road surface will disappear for a second, or objects will pop in(to) view at the last second. This isn't a huge problem though and rarely does it affect the gameplay. The huge variation of cars, people and city blocks, combined with GTA IV's impressive draw distance really bring together the environment like none of it's predecessors. Take a helicopter ride night... tet-tet, shh... just do it.
Multiplayer is intensely addicting. It's bad enough that I still want to play the single player game after putting in seven hours in one day but on top of that they have to give us totally awesome multiplayer? Play anything. It's all fun, we promise. Just be sure you get a host who knows what they're doing. This is important as there's a myriad of game variables just waiting to be tweaked: weather, spawn distance, re-spawn time, amount of traffic...it seriously goes on like this for quite some time -- and they all can seriously affect how fun and fair the game is. However one element that must be changed is re-spawn distance. If it's set to 'near' you're just going to be spawned right next to the person who killed you. You're going to want some time and space to get stocked again after you're hit in any game mode.
Speaking of modes, GTA IV multiplayer sports cops and robbers (just like it sounds), street racing, deathmatch, co-op missions, and perhaps the most addicting: free mode (among others.) In free mode you simply wreak havoc on friends and the dear citizens of Liberty City for as long as you like. No rules.
Make no mistake about it, it's very easy to get caught up in all the hype surrounding this game. Mostly, said hype is justified. There will be moments when you curse the game for it's somewhat clumsy controls or lack of checkpoint system (I have to drive this dump truck to Broker, again?), but for every moment that plays smoothly, GTA IV shines brilliantly and constantly demonstrates why it indeed deserves the title of most hyped game of 2008.
