Though graphics issues bring to the light the lack of power on consoles, GTA IV is a great escape from real life.
GTA IV's biggest letdown is the graphical issues that can cause you to go from forgetting you're playing a video game to rolling your eyes and wondering if the next GTA will be better. Draw distances in GTA IV are impressive for larger objects, like buildings, but suffer for the objects you interact with. This mainly includes cars and people. You might be thinking "No big deal.." but the truth is when you're driving down a street it gets frustrating to see an empty street 50 yards away and then suddenly cars start to pop into view and suddenly the street is crowded when not a soul was in sight seconds before.
Looking from building tops can give you this same frustration as you see small ants below your building but then a deserted city anywhere else. This is a clone of New York, I want to see sidewalks lined with people for as far as the eye can see.
So did RockStar stink it up? Not at all. They did the best they can do, in fact better, with current consoles. The fact is their development and aspirations are just too large for the PS3 and 360. Don't let this get you down, however; let it excite you for the future. With developers like Rockstar giving 110% effort on games, we're in for a real treat with some of the future titles they release on the more powerful future consoles.
If you can look past these graphical frustrations that can really put a damper on the game then you're in for a real treat - and an escape from real life - with GTA IV.
Let's be honest here. We aren't saints and if you think you are then don't read on because you're fooling yourself. We all have guilty pleasures, hateful feelings, sinful thoughts and evil secret motives for the small things we do in everyday life. OK fine, we aren't devils, and most of what we think is good and honest - but not all of it.
Admit it: You know an annoying guy at work you want to murder. You also know a hot girl that blows you off that you want to run over with your car. On top of that if you had the guts you would steal a Ferrari and run from the SWAT team on any given day. Thanks to laws, consequences, family, and the future, we never act on any of these evil impulses.
Enter GTA IV. Also known as "The closest you'll get to actually being honest in everything you do".
In GTA IV you play as Niko who is an immigrant fleeing from crime in his homeland and trying to start over fresh in Liberty City. Luckily he has his halarious, loveable, and overweight uncle to help him get on his feet. Needless to say it doesn't take long before the slightly-involved-in-criminal-activites uncle starts getting Niko involved in his trouble.
And since you're Niko, a badass, you'll savor every moment of it.
The solo player campaign in GTA IV is long, grueling, challenging, and completely fun. It's not a constant run from mission to mission. Instead you're in wide-open Liberty City and you can explore anything you want, steal cars, do insane jumps, meet people, go on the 'web, ride the subways, and do side missions. In fact I can honestly say I had play sessions several hours long where I never got around to doing a mission. There is just so much to do in this wide open wonderful world. In fact just stealing cars and joy riding them, and feeling their difference in handling and sounds, can take hours to get tired of. You could even grab a gun and go into a fast food joint, shoot the place up, and go on a huge police chase - all without even touching the main storyline.
The storyline, when you actually have time for it, is wonderfully done. The character development immediately immerses you in a world where you actually care about yourself and your uncle. You actually want Niko to start earning some money and start becoming someone in Liberty City. You actually want you relationships with the interesting women of Liberty City to work. Believe it or not you actually have to make some major decisions along the way that can affect the storyline greatly.
Besides graphical glitches there aren't many bugs in GTA IV. I can't even think of any. Rockstar really over-develops their titles and it shows here. Its very refined and well done.
Multiplayer is so-so. Some love it while others, like myself, find nothing fun about it. Being in a third person game, in maps so huge, where gunfire isn't the main component behind gameplay, can become a cumbersome and sometimes boring experience. I really don't want to review multiplayer too much because like I said you'll either love it or hate it and I hated it. There are too many games out with great multiplayer so playing something average like this isn't worth it.
One thing that stunned me about GTA IV was the very accurate cover and lean system. Cover is where you can hug yourself against a wall while leaning is where you quickly pop out to take a shot then quickly duck back behind cover. I was shocked to see not only does GTA IV have a great cover system but pretty much everything can be used as cover. In a day and age where some huge titles, like Halo, still have no cover system this came as a great surprise. It added some great realism to the game and gives me hope that other developers will implement this too.
Vehicles are a blast. Cars are big and cumbersome and some are small fast. You'll love the wide variety. Helicopters are great and fly frustratingly accurately and boats are also very realistic.
So GTA IV is great. Its a wide open world with much to do and a great campaign to follow, whenever you find time for it. So next time someone in real life tells you to get away from them then you better do it or you'll get shot. In GTA IV, however, you should get your baseball bat out and beat them to death as well as every bystander that saw it. Its an escape from real life that you'll love and i'm not afraid to admit its a huge stress reliever too.
The Verdict: 9.5
Pros: Great big city, great campaign and character development, nice looking graphics, realistic mood, stress reliever, so much to do you'll get way more than $60 of play out of it
Cons: Graphical glitches due to the lack of power on consoles is the cause of the 9.5. It can be frustrating to experience and can really affect how drawn in you are to the game (temporarily)