Obligatory GTAIV Thread

[ShaggE]

Well, it's the eve of release day. So, who's getting it?

More importantly, who's going to be going online with it?

My copy will probably be arriving on Wednesday. My gamertag is ShaggE21 for anyone who is looking forward to the thefting of grand autos over XBL.

[wisp]

it looks pretty neat...and i haven't played gta since..2, i guess. so i would be totally interested, but unfortunately it's not available on any of of the good systems..not on pc that is.

[Mysterysheep]

My brother works in "Harvey Norman" so it should be arriving at 6pm today, Irish time. A day before release! Oh! For anyone interested My gamertag's Mysterysheep.

[fco.]

woha! This game is about to overthrow Ocarina of Time as the best game ever on gamerankings.com.

Maybe I should buy that X360 afterall... I don't know, I'll wait for what Yahtzee has to say about it first.

[Tester Scott]

I am hating on Rockstar right now due to their awful decision to region lock the game. While I live in the US I bought a Japanese 360 due to the fact that Japanese devs region lock but American ones didn't. I mean come on region locking is stupid and goes against the whole world community thing. GRRR. /Rant

[ShaggE]

Ouch, that's gotta suck. I was pissed because my copy didn't come in today, but that's nothing compared to needing another 360 to play it.

[purple_monkfish]

When pc version comes out, possibly... also.. when pc is running windows again and not linux. Linux and games don't really get on without a hell of a lot of faffing about and I can't be having with that. Stupid corrupt harddrive -_-

[patters]

Originally Posted by Tester Scott

I am hating on Rockstar right now due to their awful decision to region lock the game. While I live in the US I bought a Japanese 360 due to the fact that Japanese devs region lock but American ones didn't. I mean come on region locking is stupid and goes against the whole world community thing. GRRR. /Rant

that is really stupid seeing as they often only do it to prevent people importing early where gta had a simultaneous release

on topic hant played it but i will get it eventually

[ShaggE]

Just got it.

Absolutely AMAZING game so far. I've been playing for almost 5 hours, and I've barely scratched the surface.

[Locomojo]

There's a bunch of cheats already posted on the web. For some reason I thought they would wait to release them...

[Badwolf]

I've not played the game, but the Daily Mail and Jack Thompson has told me everything I need to know.

It idolises senseless violence, two people have already been attacked since the game came out because of the messages it gives, you get points for killing innocent civilians, and it is the worst thing for the wellbeing of the world's children since Polio.

Shame on you all.


;P

[Derwin]

Oh, and a guy stole a copy of the game... which must have been inspired by playing the game, since it is called Grand Theft Auto. Strange time paradox anyone? Or does the news truly believe that the story of one man attempting to steal a copy of the game qualifies as being newsworthy, seeing as people steal stuff everyday (you wont see a lady stealing a Yoga Fitness video making national news).


*NOTE* This post does not condone theft unless done with proper adult supervision.

[Damon]

If it works for the good ol' USA,

http://www.americasarmy.com/

it works for Rockstar.

Originally Posted by Badwolf

I've not played the game, but the Daily Mail and Jack Thompson has told me everything I need to know.

It idolises senseless violence, two people have already been attacked since the game came out because of the messages it gives, you get points for killing innocent civilians, and it is the worst thing for the wellbeing of the world's children since Polio.

Shame on you all.


;P

[Dangerzone]

I just like playing these games cause it allows you to become someone else, and pretty much do anything you want... Where else can you lob a grenade into traffic and count how many cars you can take out at once with it?

(Speaking of which, the games are totally unrealistic... cops don't come after you for stabbing random people on the street... *Pfft*)

... I also like to see how low they can go with the various adverts, radio, and now tv station bits... sadly they get old fast, even before you complete the game.

I think i am the only person who actually tries to hit 100% completion in those games... doing the various side, and odd jobs, mini-games, etc. damn things take over a month to do everything.... they actually have TOO MUCH junk to do in them.

Then after you complete them, they have absolutely no replay value whatsoever. so they get lost... end up in the back of the bookcase, or wedged behind the tv, and get all sticky and warped from the heat, spilled soda, and junk food wrappers stuffed back there.... you know, the place you always miss during spring cleaning... speaking of which, uh... i gotta go and get some industrial gloves to remove that fire hazard behind my flatscreen....

See you all next month.

[patters]

bought it today but its still sealed (got maths revision to do)

[Croutons]

I got the game at the midnight release a week ago. I haven't seen a line like that since I saw footage of people lining up to see Star Wars Episode IV in the theater...

Here is my review (I like writing reviews..)

So, GTA IV is finally here. Does it live up to the hype? Hell yes. Is it the best GTA yet? Once again, Hell yes. This game does to the third-person shooter genre what the Elder Scroll Series has done for first person RPGs. It's created a huge, deep, and interesting world, and it gives that world to you in not just the main story mode, but to allow you to take side-jobs as well as just randomly roaming. Sure, it's not new for the GTA series themselves, but GTA IV is in many ways a step up. It's not just 'another city with a couple new cars' (The complaint some non-GTA fans had for the sequels to GTA III) and the story this time around, also has evolved. However, not all is perfect with GTA IV. No game is truly perfect, but I shall address all the pros and cons of this amazing game.

Any GTA fan should know by now that GTA IV follows Niko Bellic, an immigrant who believes that coming to America will get him a better life, that the American Dream is alive and well. As he steps off the boat, he instantly sees that not all is well. His cousin Roman, has lied to him about his wealth, and has lied about the great place that is Liberty City. However, despite Niko knowing by now that there are problems with this city, he still has no idea how deep into the hell of the crime underworld Liberty is in, and how he will be pulled in by his own actions along with the actions of the people around him. The story unfolds with a certain grandeur that the other GTA games did not have. The story here doesn't tell the story of a man's life of crime and deception, but rather how he wants to escape that, his quite interesting past, and a well-spun tale of deception and revenge. Niko is by far the most interesting character in the GTA series, as he has a much deeper past. Unlike the last protagonist, C.J., whose past is nothing more than 'He left the city' and now he's back, and the crime is worse, for Niko, this entire world is new to him. Although he is new to the crime underworld, he is not new to a gun. This ties closely into his past, as he was a soldier in the Bosnian war, and he has seen acts of violence that have deeply troubled him, specifically one where he saw a whole group of Children murdered in cold blood, right in front of him... by his own squad. Eventually, they were also led into a literal death-trap, only 3 survived, including him. One thing he does know about Liberty, is that the man who caused these events, is living here, and he wants revenge. The way this story ties into the characters in the world is done brilliantly, and it weaves an excellent yarn of deception and many twists and turns on his way to revenge. The only negative thing I can say about the story, is some of the dialogue. I'm not offended by language [With the exception of one word, which thankfully isn't said in GTA IV, but considering that we don't like language here, I don't think I need to divulge which word it is.] Sometimes it's hard to get plot, because so many F-words are uttered. Often times, in one sequence alone, there are probably 30 f-words and at least twelve people referred to as a d***-head. Thankfully, the scenes where the story actually advances with Niko, the language is toned down so we can get the good dialogue.

The gameplay, may seem that it hasn't changed much since GTA 3,VC, or SA, but that is not true. While it is similar on the top, it is much different. Rockstar has pulled out all stops to keep you immersed. For one, the world feels so much more alive now. Every citizen looks unique, the way they interact and animate is excellent. Just looking at a citizen can say a lot about what they've done, whether it be criminal actions or just their grocery shopping. And some 'random citizens' actually open up a couple odd jobs for you to do. Then there is the city itself. While I could not guess that Liberty City was an allusion to New York by seeing just one screen of GTA 3, or even it in motion for a couple minutes, it is obvious in GTA IV from the second you step off the boat. It adds some immersion, simply because you feel like you're in a real place. There are so many more things to do as well, there are bars, comedy clubs, strip clubs, darts, bowling, pool, internet cafes, as well as many other interesting places to go with friends (or girlfriends. There is an entertaining nod to the infamous 'Hot Coffee' incident in the game, an achievement called 'warm coffee.' I'll leave it up to you to guess how you get it. ) or by yourself. Even getting drunk in some ways opens up a minigame where you have to control a very funny, slurred, and confused Niko. Driving is not recommended, but you can try. Some returning features, are of course new cars to jack, drive by shootings, hidden packages (Now in the form of 'flying rats' you must exterminate) and much more. But almost everything is improved. Even the time and weather aspect is improved, it's quite an experience to be caught in a thunderstorm and every time thunder booms your controller shakes wildly. If only there was snow, that seems to be the only missing occurrence. The gameplay, is obviously what a game is all about, and there is so much packed into GTA IV that it will immerse you highly, and make it more addicting than any other previous game in the series. Some things are still annoying though, like the finicky driving controls. You can flip over a freaking sedan at only 20 miles an hour, if you turn without the e-brake.

The visuals are much improved as well. Using the in house RAGE (Rockstar Advanced Gaming Engine) engine, the world looks great. Characters are highly detailed, excellently animated, everything just shines. Liberty is truly a visually interesting place as well, especially at night. Seeing the whole city light up at night in a realistic fashion is amazing. There are a few graphical bugs, however, as there are some jaggies, as well as a short draw distance. It can be annoying when things 'pop up' in front of you. But the visuals over all, are impressive enough, that most will be willing to forgive these small problems.

Sound wise, GTA IV is once again excellent. The voice acting is great, if you can get past the sometimes poor dialogue (The language again...) and everyone sounds great. The talkie radio shows are genuinely funny and well acted, the same goes for the talent in the cabarets and comedy clubs. Music wise, we have another licensed soundtrack, but I think it is one of the weaker in the series. Maybe it's my dislike for rap, smooth jazz, and other things. The classic rock station is my favourite, although whenever 'Schweine' plays on the Russian radio station, you just have to pause all other sounds to hear the catchy tune. Obviously, some people may enjoy the soundtrack more than me, but there are just less songs I enjoyed than in VC or SA.

Multiplayer. *Sigh* I can't give this a fair review yet... as it's buggier than hell. I've only gotten in one game without it crashing on the loading screen, and it still crashed in game. Once the bugs are ironed out, I will give a fairer review, but for now, this is sadly, the weakest point of the game.

GTA IV is an excellent game, but its problems mostly come in the forms of bad bugs, annoying use of language, some finicky controls, but when you look at the good, these problems are hard to count as serious (Except for a few game crashing bugs... but hopefully Rockstar will patch them soon.)

Story: 9/10
Gameplay: 10/10
Graphics: 8.9/10
Sound (Voice acting: 9.5/10)
Sound (Music): 5.8/10
Multiplayer: 0/10
Overall: 9.6/10

GTA IV is not to be missed.

[ShaggE]

^ Agreed with almost everything.

Question: Has anyone had a car fly up out of nowhere and land on the road? No driver, just a car. This happened to me on one of the major bridges, and I still can't figure it out. It looked too deliberate for a glitch, but I sure as hell don't know how a car could magically fly up from underneath a bridge and land gently on the road.

[patters]

Originally Posted by ShaggE

^ Agreed with almost everything.

Question: Has anyone had a car fly up out of nowhere and land on the road? No driver, just a car. This happened to me on one of the major bridges, and I still can't figure it out. It looked too deliberate for a glitch, but I sure as hell don't know how a car could magically fly up from underneath a bridge and land gently on the road.

im pretty sure its a glitch (ive seen some weird glitches) the game may have been trying to draw the car to before you got there but failed miserably

i unsealed my copy now

[Erwin]

Did anyone's 360 or PS3 broke down yet? Apparently that's happening to a lot of people, I heard.

--Erwin

[ShaggE]

Originally Posted by Erwin

Did anyone's 360 or PS3 broke down yet? Apparently that's happening to a lot of people, I heard.

--Erwin

*plugs fingers in ears* LALALALALAAA!! I'm already paranoid about RROD, don't be saying stuff like that!