Rate top gamesI finally revisited the series since I played San Andreas ten years ago! GTA IV is a good game, and it's definitely worth your time even if you are a Japanese indie-strategy lover or worse. I won't touch upon the subjects that was discussed through and through such as the gameplay (you kill and steal, duh) or the soundtrack (brilliant and authentic as always) or anything like that.
My personal experince was that in this GTA I really loved shooting. Never before assaults in the series have felt so good. Which is probably why there are lots of missions involving assaults in some form. The weapons felt different and guns make you change the playing style. This was the first game where I loved to shoot the pistol, the weapon that is usually regarded as the lamest one. Mastering the pistol is very rewarding in some sense, because when you finish storming the building full of gangsters wielding AK47s or M16s, you feel like a bad ass antihero that Niko really is.
In some sense, the game is truer-to-life than San Andreas, since there are no jetpacks or easily-stealable tanks or spy-planes. In some sense, it is not, since you can't work out to fight or run more effectively and you can't put on weight either.
As for the story, I demote the overall score from Exceptional to Recommended because of it. The story is sometimes not logical and sometimes too predictive (something like a bad action B-movie), some really interesting characters that you meet don't develop at all and die quickly. In this sense GTA IV really make you revisit Liberty City, since GTA III also suffered from the bad story (but it was kinda the first game in the series, so it was justifiable back then).
My personal experince was that in this GTA I really loved shooting. Never before assaults in the series have felt so good. Which is probably why there are lots of missions involving assaults in some form. The weapons felt different and guns make you change the playing style. This was the first game where I loved to shoot the pistol, the weapon that is usually regarded as the lamest one. Mastering the pistol is very rewarding in some sense, because when you finish storming the building full of gangsters wielding AK47s or M16s, you feel like a bad ass antihero that Niko really is.
In some sense, the game is truer-to-life than San Andreas, since there are no jetpacks or easily-stealable tanks or spy-planes. In some sense, it is not, since you can't work out to fight or run more effectively and you can't put on weight either.
As for the story, I demote the overall score from Exceptional to Recommended because of it. The story is sometimes not logical and sometimes too predictive (something like a bad action B-movie), some really interesting characters that you meet don't develop at all and die quickly. In this sense GTA IV really make you revisit Liberty City, since GTA III also suffered from the bad story (but it was kinda the first game in the series, so it was justifiable back then).
Other reviews26
The story is interesting and the characters are amazing but the gameplay is so bad and boring. I gave up playing after the half of the game. And let's not forget that there are NO CHECKPOINTS in this game. If you f*cked up a mission you have to do it all over again.
«Waste of time»
«Boooring»
Knowing that this game is 16 years old is really mind blowing.
Of course the graphics shows their age, but not to the extent that I was expecting.
The things I loved:
- Very cool, funny, deep, & many times dark writing & character.
- The protagonist is really interesting & written very well.
- The world is nice & brings back that time.
The things I didn't like:
- The VERY boring & repetitive gameplay loop.
- Too many missions that are just basically the same.
- Having to restart the mission from the beginning each time you fail.
- The cars driving is not very solid (I'm on pc)
I would give it a rating of: good - very good.
Of course the graphics shows their age, but not to the extent that I was expecting.
The things I loved:
- Very cool, funny, deep, & many times dark writing & character.
- The protagonist is really interesting & written very well.
- The world is nice & brings back that time.
The things I didn't like:
- The VERY boring & repetitive gameplay loop.
- Too many missions that are just basically the same.
- Having to restart the mission from the beginning each time you fail.
- The cars driving is not very solid (I'm on pc)
I would give it a rating of: good - very good.
I understand that side quests are a major factor in GTA - since It's a really big game -, but my god, why are so many deviating from the main story?
I got hooked by the premise and have played for hours on end just to make progress in what really matters to me, and it's incredibly time-consuming. After the betrayal of Dimitri Rascalov, I feel like most quests lack development. After 20 hours of gameplay, I did myself a favor and quit. Perhaps that's why most people choose to ignore the campaign and do whatever they want, besides following the game's instructions.
Unfortunately, GTA 3, VC, SA, and 4 left me with the same feeling of wasting time. I loved playing them as a child, though.
I got hooked by the premise and have played for hours on end just to make progress in what really matters to me, and it's incredibly time-consuming. After the betrayal of Dimitri Rascalov, I feel like most quests lack development. After 20 hours of gameplay, I did myself a favor and quit. Perhaps that's why most people choose to ignore the campaign and do whatever they want, besides following the game's instructions.
Unfortunately, GTA 3, VC, SA, and 4 left me with the same feeling of wasting time. I loved playing them as a child, though.
«Waste of time»
Pretty good. Graphics were top notch for its time, the story is actually engaging and missions are quite fun