GTA IV – Game of the Year or Over-hyped Letdown?

by Tiberius Jonez

The smoke has cleared, literally and figuratively, and I’ve had a chance to step back and gather my thoughts about Grand Theft Auto 4.

Does this latest installment from gaming behemoth Take Two/Rockstar live up to the massive hype or is it just shooting blanks?

The answer to that question depends largely on your own expectations of the game prior to its release. If you were expecting a revolutionary, ground-breaking game that would change the world of videogames – well, GTA IV isn’t that. But the fact that it uses many of the tried and true formulas of the previous GTA games isn’t a bad thing in most respects.

First off, while the graphics have been lauded as amazing by most reviewers, compared to games like Call of Duty 4 and Gran Turismo Prologue, you may find GTA IV to be somewhat disappointing – at least at first glance. But compared to previous GTA games it is absolutely stunning. What makes the game engine special is the amount of minute detail to be found – much of which doesn’t become noticeable until you’ve been playing for a few hours.

While it’s true that Liberty City is significantly smaller than either Vice City or San Andreas of the earlier games, no other game city has been presented with this amount of character and sheer detail. Every street has its own surface right down to sheet metal patches, potholes and manholes. Steam rising from those manhole covers is convincing and the physics interaction between your vehicle’s tires and the road is superb.

The first time you get to drive through Liberty City’s version of Times Square, the lights and people and plain “realness” of the scene is a true “wow” gaming moment. I found myself driving up and down the strip several times just to take in all the detail. It is stunning.

The other stunning part of GTA IV is the writing. This is the first time I’ve played a GTA game where I actually identified with the protagonist. No, I’m not a Slavic immigrant but as you play through the tale of Niko Belic, you can’t help but feel his pain and frustration with the people around him and the world itself which seems to constantly push him into making decisions counter to his own convictions. And that is what seperates Niko from previous GTA characters – he has convictions. He is a ruthless killer and a career criminal, but not necessarily by choice. As his story is revealed it becomes clear that life has led him down this path and he has simply done the best he can to survive. Because Niko actually has a conscience, at times you may find yourself feeling guilty for some of your actions. It is a refreshing change to play a GTA game that actually presents moral conundrums instead of only mindless violence and mischief.

The story sports multiple endings making it worth a second play through just to see the alternate ending. Interaction between characters and a few meaty plot-twists really set this story apart from previous GTA games. The writing in spots is on par with anything from Hollywood and will hook you early and keep you there. The cut-scenes are all done in-engine helping to maintain a feeling of consistency that sustains your suspension of disbelief.

As for gameplay, GTA IV does use many of the mechanics of previous GTA games – drive here, deliver this, assassinate this person, etcetera. But the way the missions are done in terms of variety and pacing, they somehow always feel fresh and you will likely never find yourself bored.

Gunplay is much improved over earlier GTA games with a more user friendly control scheme and the addition of a cover mechanic similar to that of Gears of War and other recent games. While Niko will occasionally get “stuck” in cover, the fact that you can move from object to object and maintain cover is very cool and creates an added layer of realism and strategy to the gunfights. You can take cover behind virtually any object in the game that you would in real life. In one instance I moved from behind a trash can to a car to another car to a short wall to a building without ever exposing myself all in one firefight. Yeah, it was fun.

There are no planes to be flown in GTA IV but pretty much every other vehicle you could ask for is here, including helicopters. If you’ve played other games in the series, the handling of cars will feel familiar but more satisfying. Every car has its own unique handling characteristics and I found driving from the in-car view to be very intuitive and enjoyable while motorcycles are best ridden in third-person view. The helicopters are surprisingly easy and fun to fly which is a blessing since your best view of the city is from the air. Boats handle very nicely and the physics reactions between hull and water are surprisingly realistic. One glitch that seems to be a carryover from the previous games is seeing a million other people driving whatever car you happen to be driving at the moment. It is not a big thing, but it is somewhat jarring when you finally find that rare sports car you’ve been looking for and as soon as you hop in it every Joe Schmo on the road has the same highly coveted luxury ride. Not a big deal, but somewhat disappointing considering this is a “next-gen” title.

Of course the radio stations are a staple of GTA games going back to GTA III and they do not disappoint here. You can spend hours just driving around listening to the radio if you wish. Between the comical banter of radio hosts, satirical commercials and another outstanding collection of great music from every conceivable genre, there is something for you to enjoy from Liberty City’s airwaves.

If you’re exhausted from the whirlwind of mayhem, you can also take a break and just chill in your apartment watching the boob tube. There are several programming options from a spoof of “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous”, stand up comedy and a pseudo talk show hosted by a ‘roid-raging fighter and a metro-sexual. There’s also a commercial for a reality TV show based around former celebrities downward-spiraling into oblivion.

As far as customization of your character, GTA IV foregoes lifting weights and changing Niko’s shape in favor of maintaining a consistent character throughout the gaming experience. But you can buy a wide variety of clothes for Niko allowing you to sport a look ranging anywhere from “Eastern Bloc Ghetto” to “Manhattan Elite”.

I could say much, much more about GTA IV, but the simple fact is, this is a game you must play to appreciate. While you are still invited to and rewarded for wandering aimlessly doing whatever you wish, the story portion of this Grand Theft Auto game is more mature than any previous installment in the series in terms of writing, presentation and style. Be forewarned however, you may actually feel bad for killing that innocent bystander this time around.