is the same, the same, the same. gta4. oh yah, cheat code!
The very first thing that will strike you upon entering Liberity City for the second time is how incredible it looks. Sure, distant structures look cloudy and textures can look foggy, but this is a major step forward for the otherwise ageing GTA engine. Word of warning: The night time in this game is VERY dark to enhance the realism. Although this looks nice and fancy I will explain its drawback later on.
Niko Belic has a past! Yes, in the other GTA games you can consider your character to be a blank slate, looking to build up a reputation. In GTA 4 you have a dirty slate which isn't hidden from you, the gamer, which you must work hard to clean. It brings over a slightly more compassionate bond between you and Niko. However the story isn't fully developed enough, and some elements just seem to be thrown in to make it sound more plausible. You may think that the game sounds good right? Well now its time to take a much more cynical view of it.
If you played GTA: San Andreas and utterly loved it, like I did, and played it endlessly until completion. And played it again, you may be dissapointed by number 4. You see, I made reference to the series as a step ladder to greatness BECAUSE of the constant content additions, GTA 4 falls over itself because so much of what made the series what it is, isn't there anymore. Pay n sprays are rare! As one mission giver wants you to constantly get him cars and the price he gives you drops if its condition is bad, you will find yourself making ludicrous trips across the map to get to that one pay n spray, and then back to the mission giver.
Same story with Ammunatio.....oops sorry, it isn't called Ammunation anymore, now its an underground guns dealer in a tiny room in some dark alley. Prices there are high, and guns dont come in stock until much later in the game. This will remove your option of even paying him a visit at all, because you get plenty of guns through missions anyway.
Time to get harsh. Mission running is what has made the GTA games so incredible. The climactic build up of mission importance and your rewards spurs you on as you build your very own empire (SA nailed this perfectly I reckon). However, GTA 4 has you running silly errands for someone else, without expanding your own power. Content at the end of the game is on the low side. This is undoubtedly because there is so much less to do! No hair dressers, no mod shops for your cars, no race events. Clothing shops have such a limited array of clothing, and most of it looks crap. Reminds me of going to Primark.
The missions themselves remind me of World of Warcraft, as they are effectively grinding missions requiring you to go to the mission site, find bloke, kill bloke, chase other bloke down in car, chase half way across map, kill bloke, drive all the way back to the mission giver. The shooting system isnt much good either, as you lock on to your targets and you just have to spam the button as he stands there in the open. The cover system isn't great, and this sucks as the AI can be brutally accurate at times.
Remember what I said about nights being dark? Well this is where it becomes an utter pain. If you have the severe misfortune of ending up doing a mission in the dark, then you literally cannot see a thing. I failed some missions a bunch of times because my target got away because I couldn't find the damn door. You could turn the brightness settings all the way up, but once it becomes light again, you have to tune them back down. It becomes a mission of repetitiveness.
Overall I would score this game on a percentage of 80%. It does take some previous areas of the other GTA games and improves on them hugely (graphics being the main one). However it does take a LOT out too and it makes you wonder...what really is a GTA game? They are meant to be about smashing people up and going hilarious missions! GTA 4's more realistic and serious take now requires a far more patient approach to things, and therefore I no longer classify it as a GTA game, more like True Crime: Streets of LA, on the dark side.