Grand Theft Auto IV: PlayStation 3

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Grand Theft Auto IV: PlayStation 3

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by death and betrayal, and escapes his native country to find peace in America only to find a new war to fight. The war of survival for both him, his cousin, and as the story progresses those who become close to him.

The game actually lives and breathes Niko's conflicts, his woes and his desires. For the first time in GTA history the decisions you make actually affect what transpires. there are moments where you can actually decide if someone you pursue should live or die, and it doesn't stop there. As the story progresses you meet many people who begin as business acquaintences, and in time they become your friends, which you can contact on your cell phone when you're not on a mission. With the sel-proclaimed "Alpha-Male" muscle-head Brucie you ultimately start joining him in street races for big bucks. With the Jamaican Dealer Little Jacob, his friendship will mean obtaining weapons at a discount rate. Many times you just meet people on a freelance basis and actually go to internet cafes and hook up with a girl (or a guy) online and you can take them out on a series of dates whether it be to a bowling alley, the club, a bar, etc. and humorously enough many times you can exit a bar totally inebriated and risk getting busted for drunk driving which is a blissfully manic experience trying to outrun the cops while under the influence. Of course driving drunk is only a smidgen of the things you are capable of in this new improved Liberty City.

The gameplay mechanics make an almost seamless transition from one platform to another. The game will start you off with a brand new control scheme. However if that isn't to your liking, R* had the considerate foresight to allow the player to go old school and use the classic control scheme. Which all things considered made my ability to drive a heck of a lot sharper. I purchased the PS3 specifically for this game because GTA and the Playstation controller are a match made in heaven. A new addition to the control style is the SIXAXIS system which allows the operation of certain vehicles (like helicopters, and motorcycles) to be motion sensitive to the way you handle the controller. Once again however if that is not to your liking, luckily R* is flexible, and I'm glad because I didn't want the controls to interfere with my ability to drink in the atmosphere.

Speaking of atmosphere, this is bar none the richest, meticulously detailed, and most beautifully rendered environment I've seen in a video game to date, many times I accidentally crashed into a cop car (leading to another tricky one star level chase) because I was overcome by the sheer grandeur of this brand new Liberty City. After the epic size of San Andreas I seriously did not think it could be topped... I spoke to soon, because not only did GTA 4 dwarf San Andreas in scale it trumped it by giving it life. Many times I was walking the streets deliberately to take in and enjoy the local color. The variety of clashing personalities of the random people wandering the streets is simply mind blowing and I'm still discovering new aspects. Now other drivers are just as crazy and as reckless as I am, the police no longer scrutinize you alone. It actually scares me when I'm driving along and their sirens sound off when they start to pursue another suspect!

Which leads me to another element of the gameplay. the AI on your enemies and police are deadly, the tenacity of Liberty City's finest knows no bounds and they will chase you through hell and back if they have to and it's not as easy to shake them as it was in the old days. Even the trusty Pay 'N' Spray has it's limitations when you're being pursued by the cops!
As for the shootouts. Your enemies are far more organized than they used to be. Though Niko is now able to find cover by pressing R1 that is still not enough, you still have to ward off snipers while fighting off thugs on the ground and many times they got better guns than you do. The most rewarding aspect of this is that if you survive and take the time to salvage the bodies, not only do their guns become yours but many times you get them in bulk. So many times you're never short of ammo for an AK47. Also the targeting system (notoriously has always been the most troublesome aspect of the GTA franchise) has reached a new level of efficiency, refining many of the aspects left over from San Andreas, and enabled you to engage multiple targets at once without becoming too scattered.

Another unique element here is in the almost infinite array of vehicles to choose from. The driving mechanics have been rendered to a point where it almost feels like real deal driving, which makes the experience of driving each vehicle more challenging and urges you to develop a subtle touch with the controls which keeps the gameplay consistently spontaneous an unpredictable. Much like GTA 4's predecessors, however you begin to develop preferences to specific cars and motorcycles, which is both a blessing and a curse, mainly a curse during a police chase or a tailing mission. Oh, also the act of stealing cars has been given a whole level of tricky realism. This time you can't just jump in front of a car to make it stop, this time a car will hit you if you try to stop it out of the blue which will take it's toll on your health so be careful! Luckily, in the end, all these new challenging elements are never a hindrance, and never detract from the overall experience.

Ironically I've barely even scratched the surface of all the brilliant aspects of R*'s next generation debut, but I'd rather allow you to be surprised yourself... also I'd be typing forever if I did go on. Sufficed to say R* still leads the way for relentless, innovative, entertaining video gaming experiences and for the new gaming platforms it seems that they were only getting their feet wet with the PS2.

I wonder if they'll make a Bully 2?

Grand Theft Auto IV: PlayStation 3

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same thing twice in this game. Even when you retry missions, the city life is different so you can't expect to pull the same maneuvers every time.
Driving can take a little getting used to, but it's really not that hard. The suspensions are ridiculously loose, and you will tilt even when turning at very low speeds. Physics are a far cry from real, but a huge improvement over past episodes.
The radio is great. No matter what you listen to there is a station for you, and the debates and commercials are hilarious, and not in a lame way.
There have been complaints of freezing on the PS3. Honestly, read up on it, apparently it has to do with your online settings for the PS3. I never had a problem with it (I have the 80GB PS3).
Also, it comes on a Blu-ray disc. Yes I know that should be obvious, but apparently some people are saying it's on a DVD.

So here's the bottom line: While it's certainly not a perfect game, and it could have had among other things better graphics and better AI for the NPC's, it's a very immersive adventure. You will want to keep returning to it because it's full of surprises and you never know what crazy new thing you'll find on your next errand. There are plot twists too, although I suppose that should be a requirement at this point. I used to be a pretty big gamer a few years ago but then I walked away from games for a while because I just lost interest and moved on to other things. This game got me playing again, and for the first time in years I am having a ton of fun gaming. One last point to make: GTA IV actually grows on you. The interactive NPC's are quite real, and you feel like you're living the story, so you start to care more about it as time passes. It's the best game out there right now, even with its flaws. If you're unsure about buying this game, I recommend renting it and playing it for at least a week before deciding whether it's for you or not.

Thanks for reading, now it's back to GTA IV.