I want to start my review by saying this game is no perfect game. My review will be fair to how I see the game, but I'm not getting paid for this review therefore I plan on being honest.
Normally I break up review in to the tradition categories. But for a game of this scale and hype, I will go alittle less traditional.
So unless you have been living under a rock you have heard something about Grand Theft Auto IV. This series has become a constant symbol of new ideas and massive gameplay. Being a "Sandbox"/Open world game, a lot of time goes in to the game. Developers have to analyze every inch of the world because the player can venture anywhere. Realistically it would be impossible to make this game with out any glitches. This game suffers a fair amount of glitches, but for the most part, it is amazing.
Niko Bellic is the best character thus far in the series. He's a character with more depth. Some one you can connect to and enjoy controlling. While at times he sounds like Shrek, the lines are well written and easy to follow. The only character I dislike is Little Jacob. His Jamaican accent is so deep that most of his dialouge is hard to follow. Each character is easy to differentiate, even the Irish brothers encountered later in the game. The overall character roster is well thought out and easy to keep track of, although at times it seems you don't have time to keep every one happy.
Liberty City is a play off of New York City. Having never been to New York, I can't say how it does in its imitation. As for size, its smaller than San Andreas. It seems like there are alot fewer icons of places to go shop. Liberty City is divided in to 3 areas which the icons mirror each other. When you want new fire arms you usually have to drive out of your way to get there. But for the most part this stays true to the series.
But if you are reading this, then you most likely know something about this game. So what's wrong with this game? What keeps it from being that perfect 10?
The first thing that keeps it from being a 10 in my review is simple. It doesn't live up to the hype. It didn't take my breath away the instant I put it in. It didn't suck me and and hold me in. Soon after playing I found myself able to turn my system on and move on. A perfect game to me keeps me sucked in for hours and hours.
Secondly, theres not too much new to it. Sure the location is different, and the characters have changed, but the game is the same. The things that have changes is the removal of things, such has character customization and planes. While I do enjoy watching t.v. it doesn't make the game better than others in the series.
Next, multiplayer. Since GTA III, I said multiplayer would be great, so when I heard it was coming I was really excited. But when it got here, I was, well, Disappointed. Character customization is very limited, most game modes are pointless, and crappy teammates can leave you feeling helpless. A lobby system that gave you a choice of room choice would have been nice, so you can get in to a room thats near full, as opposed to near empty.
What else could keep it from perfect? Have you ever played a game and just felt that something was missing, even when you just can't put you finger on? Well thats how I feel about this game. It's great, it's fun, but somethings just not quite right. I don't know what it is, but it is that factor that for sure holds up perfection.
GTA IV turned GTA into a more grounded franchise where storytelling and immersion became just as engrossing as wrecking up open-world sandboxes.
Huzaifa from eXputer: "2008 was home to the likes of Call of Duty: World at War, Dead Space, GTA 4, Far Cry 2, Left 4 Dead, and many other hits, which is outright remarkable."
Here here
Those that were around before 2000's i am sure are like me that think we entered a world of non readers or those that follow without question.
I can not wait to see fallout 3 a goty game even though it was about water with non content until you add the dlc/updates then you got the performance/crashing
1998 - the best year in gaming! Metal gear solid, crash bandicoot 3, medievil, half life, ocarina of time, thief, tenchu, resident evil 2, Spyro, tomb raider 3, oddworld abes exodus, banjo kazooie.
It was a different breed of a gaming era. You’ll never understand what it was like back then. The aura of gaming, it was different!
I second this. Gaming was a lot more varied and fun than it is today. I'm 35 so getting on compared to some here but I got to see all the changes from NES up to now but I've never felt so disappointed in any generation than I have this current gen. I was expecting more from this generation rather than prettier versions of games that came before it. Game mechanics have become so refined that alot of games feel the same and has done for a while now.
Maybe it's time to have a break for a while. I love gaming but I don't feel I get much fun in the traditional sense out of it anymore.
Metal Gear Solid, Resident Evil 2, Abe’s Exodus, and Ocarina of Time are the only things from that list that I liked.
Here’s the 2023 game releases that I personally liked… and big releases that I didn’t care for:
- Dead Space Remake
- Wo Long Dynatsy
- Resident Evil 4 Remake
- Diablo 4
- Fire Emblem Engage
- Hogwarts Legcay
- Street Fighter 6
- Hi-Fi Rush
- Like a Dragon: Ishin
- Octopath Traveler 2
- Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters
- Final Fanatsy XVI (actually ended up not liking this, but it was still a big deal release)
- Baldur’s Gate 3
- Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon
- Lies of P
- Mortal Kombat 1
- Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
- Starfield (Ended up hating this one, but big release)
- Super Mario Bros. Wonder
- Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (I’m an old-school Zelda fan, but didn’t really enjoy this game)
- Alan Wake 2
I mean, honestly I’ve never seen a year of major IP releases like that, ever.
Isn't it just a generational thing realistically.
I've been gaming since way back and I some of my favourite games go as far back as the late 80s for me each generation has a year or two of game changing releases one after another before an inevitable dry spell.
I kind of agree gaming had a different feel games hit different because we didn't have the internet nothing got spoiled and you really had to put in the effort to beat a puzzle which could set entire groups of people looking for a solution. But most importantly games were experimental and not as cookie cutter as today even basics like controls were not universal today r2 is shoot l2 is ads garunteed you can't deviate from that in a shooter back then it could of been square, R1 or R1 and circle nothing was standard.
But as time moves on a new generation picks up their controller they are going to be interested in different things that PS1 demo disc with the t Rex blew our primitive 16 bit brains back on launch but to kids today it's laughable.
The new gen of kids coming into to hobby seem to value different things to us there seems to be a huge focus on online play, streamers, gaming personalities, and social experiences, convience of digital downloads. To me I value none of that but that's ok like my parents not liking the band's I would listen to its just the natural cycle.
Just about every year in the 7th generation was great and something we most likely won't experience again.
2009 for example had Assassin's Creed 2, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Dragon Age: Origins, Uncharted 2, Halo 3: ODST, Killzone 2, Borderlands, Bayonetta, and Demon's Souls to name a few.
It still amazes me we got over 7 rockstar games ps2/ps3 but 3 for the ps3/ps4/ps5
Dragon age 1-3 and mass effect 1-3 in 7ish years what a generation.
Grand Theft Auto 4 is an important game for Rockstar, not least because it was the first title in the franchise to use the newly created RAGE engine.
Yh I am really dissaponted with online, like you said, very empty. I am bored of GTA IV now, too many repetitive missions and not enough great ones.
Wow empty feeling multiplayer? Yeah doensn't seem like you've played much at all. I've only played a few missions in single player but multiplayer is all I play. Me and my buddies just roaming around the city starting cop chases and doing some ranked deatchmatches are pretty insane and pretty much the best multiplayer games I have ever played. Go play some more multiplayer or just find some friends to play with and see what I mean.
its the same game different graphics but if gta 4 came out for ps2 and san andreas came out for ps3 how do u thnk everything would have changed??? (remember a game called o wat is it that microsoft made ummm o yea saints row)