Grand Theft Auto IV
Grand Theft Auto 4 (released on April 29th, 2008 in the U.S.) is the latest installment in the well-known and well-publicized series of free-roam criminality games. As usual, the player assumes the role of a criminal to take on the city, this time the fresh-off-the-boat illegal immigrant Niko Bellic. His home country is left intentionally unknown (all we know is he was in a war, and speaks Serbian).
The game was met with mixed reactions. This time, not only from the usual sources, such as oft-ignorant journalists claiming one mission has the player solicit sex with a prostitute, then kill her to reclaim the money spent, but from the gaming public itself. In this review, I hope to put to rest suppositions and subjective opinions heard all too often from the GTA community, about what in the game warrants disdain, and what is empty complaining. Realism is the name of the game. Boasted as much more realistic than its predecessors, GTAIV was to be huge. But realism does not always mean better.
The graphics are as good as can be expected, and possibly much better, given the relatively poor graphical quality of the PS2 and PSP-era games. The realism abounds in the city, and when all aspects of the game come together harmoniously to produce a truly realistic experience, the graphics do their part as best as could possible be expected. Realism here does no disservice whatsoever to the game. Some miss the more cartoon-like feel of the PS2-era games however, and this is about the only real graphical complaint; the game is heavily biased towards grays, but only because it is a dense city.
The story is no better or worse than the other games in the series. Perhaps more refined, but it’s hard to say objectively that it is superior. An immigrant comes to this county on promises of luxury penthouses and beautiful women, only to find poverty for his cousin and a life of killing and being errand boy for the mob not unlike he escaped from in his home country. Some claim it’s a social commentary on the impossibility of attaining the “American Dream,” while others insist it’s the same story as the other games; a person not from town ends up on the wrong side of some criminals, so they rise up and conquer their enemies, emerging rich for their troubles. Either way, the story is solid, if nothing else.
Moving onto gameplay, the biggest aspect of this game, numerous things have been changed. Complaints of the game being “too slow,” or “not as fast as the previous ones” really do have some merit. By default, Niko walks, requiring a button to be pressed to make him sprint (the default speed in previous games), or tap repeatedly for a faster run. As for cars, almost all are locked by default in the game. The process involves looking around, breaking the window, then starting the car, possibly by hotwiring. All in all, it takes about 5 or so seconds. Does the realism detract? Possibly, as the bare basics are more tedious, and lack the arcade feel of the previous games. Aside from this, cars now handle more realistically, which unfortunately makes high speed turns a thing of the past. This requires a higher level of control be exercised in chases and other vehicular activities, lest one crash and fail the task.
Next is the new combat system. Older games in the series used rather archaic lock-on style combat systems that, while alright for those games, were hardly cutting edge. GTAIV moves towards a much more current 3PS-based system, replete with ways to carve an advantage, including much more fluid controls and accurate aiming for firearms, an expanded melee system for fisticuffs, and even improved controls for firing from vehicles.
Unfortunately, the aforementioned also comes with a cover system that is lackluster. It is designed to give the ability to quickly hide behind and fire from (including blind fire) any decent object around: dumpsters, a car, a wall, or even a pillar. The problem is the execution: the game often sends Niko to the wrong object for cover, making it awkward to use. The player is better off simply using cover manually.
Other improvements include an enhanced police system, with a police force that exercises excellent AI by using team tactics, outflanking, and requiring line of sight to know exactly where Niko is, on top of not generating infinite cops everywhere. This, along with the vehicle and other combat physics are made possible via the Euphoria physics engine, and they are what really make this game shine.
Now to address some complaints I’ve heard voiced. One of the main ones is the lack of some elements present in previous games, including some weapons (flamethrower, remote grenades, chainsaw, katana, and generally more melee weapons). Along with this is the lack of infinite ammo at 100% game completion, no weapons appearing at safehouses for every ten collectibles (in this game, shooting the pigeons), and a lack of airplanes and especially tanks. Aside from possibly airplanes, these are all legitimate complaints, as there is little reason for their exclusion besides “realism,” which is where the realism justification itself breaks down.
The lack of items to purchase with money, and by extension, the lack of variety in clothing to acquire for Niko, no properties (residential or commercial)to buy, and the absence of car modification shops, is another very legitimate qualm. The money situation is akin to GTAIII, where weapons were all there was to buy. While the car modification shop may be a casualty of completely redesigning the game environment and engine, the other two (clothing and property) are pretty baffling. Property, perhaps, is not Niko’s forte, but even that is a rather weak excuse.
Essentially, the arguments boil down to the lack of things to do in-game, and the tedium of what is present. In my opinion, however, there is plenty to do, and causing random destruction can be as fun, if not moreso than in the PS2-era GTA games. Improved police AI makes for better battles, and the combat system and other changes makes fighting easier and more enjoyable overall. It is my hypothesis that, like me, many others got all of the random chaos out of their systems in the older games, and thus have little patience for this one. My advice? GTAIV is a sandbox game. Go out, make your own adventures and fun, and don’t wait for the sand to entertain you.
Johnny IV
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