Grand Theft Auto IV is a game you've most certainly heard of. A large open world action game. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if most of the people reading have the games, Im just here to give my two cent, so lets get on with it. Grand Theft Auto sets you in the large metropolis of Liberty. You progress through the main story by completing mission that you get from various characters and these missions can be completed in many different orders and fashions, making it a very open ended (Why it's called open ended). While it is for the most part an open ended game, don't let the idea get to your head, it's not as if the game will craft an entirely different story for everyone. Their can be some minor differences, but for the most part the game fallows one main story. Now, that we have the basics down we can get the actual gameplay. When in combat, Grand Theft Auto IV Plays much like Gears of War. You can get behind cover by pressing the Right bumper. Locking on target is done by pressing the left trigger and the right trigger shoot. Most of this is pretty basic stuff you've probably learned from other shooters, Gears of War and Call of Duty 4 especially, and it all works very well. Combat wise my only real complaint is that sometimes you might take cover behind something you didn't intend to on occasion, but it's no big deal. I also have to say I think it's really strange that in a modern action game such as this that instead of recharging health, you have the old fashioned health bars that you have to worry about, making you desperately look for health pack, armor and vendors if your in a sticky situation. For vehicle controls, all I can really say is that you'll either like it or hate it. The vehicle controls are more realistic and in line with what you'd see in Gran Turismo Forza Motor sport. It takes more skill to drive cars in this game than in the usual action game. It's not as difficult as the racing games mentioned earlier, but don't be surprised if you spin out of control in same car chases. You'll either get the hang of it, or you wont, and if you don't, may God have pity on your soul. In GTA IV, you have a cell phone and while its pretty cool sometimes, It has it's downs as well, First I've gotta say the text on that thing is to small, and I've got an HD TV. It's not unreadable, but you really have to look hard. Then there's also your friends in the game. There's also your friends in the game. At first you wont mind going out with them, but as you get further into the game it get really annoying, but if you don't go out with your friend they'll start getting angry... I suppose it's not a big deal though I guess. It's all optional and most characters wont really do anything if they get angry at you other than maybe not assist you with some of their services, but I'm sure it'll still bother people a bit. Really, it's nothing big, it's just a minor annoyance. Also, you can only save in safe houses... which can be a bit inconvenient if your pressed for time. The game looks fantastic really. It's hard to believe the game is so detailed based on it's epic scale(It's the biggest game I have ever played). The only problem is that there is some texture pop ups every now and then, but the game is still rather impressive and it's easily one of the best looking games I have ever had the pleasure of playing. I'd also like to note that the new euphoria physics engine used for this game is utterly fantastic. The voice acting it's excellent and the ambience of the city is perfect. The licensed soundtrack for the radio stations have great variety and are of the highest quality and the original track for the game are great to. Honestly, if there weren't an achievement for it, I wouldn't believe, but the game can be beaten in under thirty hours, but Im sure the average is higher. Personally it took me around forty hours to beat the game. There's a lot to do here. Once you've beaten the game you will most certainly have a lot of missions left to do and some achievements to unlock. And considering the game has to ending and some plot points that can be altered there enough here to go through game more than once. Besides the long single player game though there is a pretty good multiplayer mode. To sum it up, just think of Halo 3's multiplayer modes and most of them are here in GTA IV under a different name. There's death match, team death match, Cops n' Crooks is basically VIP(you must kill a specific player on the enemy team), Turf war is basically territories and there are a few unique game type like Mafia Work. There are also a few co-op mission, unfortunately it's only a few. Over all the multiplayer is great and it's certainly formidable competition for Halo 3 and Call of Duty 4. I just find it amazing that it was possible to have up to 16 players all there in a huge map at the same time with cops and citizens all in tact. It's truly an achievement. I may nit picked a lot, but Grand Theft Auto IV is an excellent game. It may not be perfect like the critics have been saying, but that shouldn't stop you from getting such a great game as this.
Well, it's been about a month since I picked up GTAIV. A month of mayhem and debauchery and murder. I read the reviews when this initially came out and figured this was a must own for the 360 and that I was going to be... Read Full Review
Gaming has given us many unforgettable, immersive, soul-sucking settings in which countless gamers have lost themselves in for months, even years sometimes. GTA IV, the entry of the acclaimed (and notorious) open-world s... Read Full Review
