One of the greatest games ever made.
Liberty City, the city itself, is laid out nicely. Being a mock-up of New York City, it really captures the essence and feel of New York. The atmosphere, pedestrians, buildings, roads, streets, etc, really give the affect of New York. Also, classic buildings and landmarks, like the Statue of Liberty have made in appearance in GTAIV, but like all GTA games, they have different names. For example, the Statue of Liberty is represented as the Statue of Happiness, Central Park is represented as Middle Park. Also, the names of many buildings and landmarks represented are quite amuzing. Now that every street has name is makes navigating around the city a little easier.
The obvious things that make GTAIV the best in the series and a much needed improvement from it's previous predecessors is the graphics and the physics. These two things are revolutionary to the Grand Theft Auto series. The graphics look great and everything has detail. Explosions look spectacular. The physics engine is amazing. Shooting people in different parts of the body have different effects. Shooting someone in the leg causes them to crawl or limp. When you think you've killed someone, he'll start screaming in pain and you might have to shoot him one more time. Shooting people on high places can cause them to fall and scream for their lives. Seeing the blood on your clothes after being shot is an awesome affect.
The combat in GTAIV is outstanding. Every scenario will be different. All the shootouts are intense and action packed. Shooting parts of the environment have different effects. Chunks of walls will fly out with a small dust cloud, bottles and glass will break and shatter. Enemies that are down but not dead you can hear screaming, in pain, for help. There are fifteen weapons to choose from and the melee combat is fantastic and much more in depth than previous GTA titles. You can now pick up small objects in the environment like bricks and they can be used as weapons. The duck and cover feature really makes the combat in GTAIV exciting. It also adds more depth to the combat scenarios.
The audio is perfect. Pedestrian voices really help capture the essence of New York. From the screeching sound of skidding wheels to the sounds of weapons, the audio is outstanding. The voice acting is great and makes the characters memorable.
Vehicles have been much improved as well. They're very detailed and the control of each vehicle is unique making the driving experience more realistic. Too hard an impact will cause the driver to be ejected through the windshield. Whether your is popped or not, the wheel can get stuck and stop rotating. Also, if damage is done to the wheels, they can become bent and wobbly. Vehicles can now take more bullets before they're totaled. You can turn on GPS in the options menu so every vehicle has GPS. No more arrows guiding you on the road, the GPS displays a route to your destination on your radar. Also, the nicer the vehicle is, the nicer the GPS system is. In the nicer vehicles, the GPS system will have a voice that will tell you how far to go and where to turn.
The multiplayer is outstanding. With several different modes to choose from, it's pretty much everything you would want for multiplayer in a Grand Theft Auto game. "Free Mode" is very cool. You can do whatever you want with anyone you want. This is great when you don't want to play a match or the single player, but just sit back and wreak havoc in the city with friends or other players.
What really makes Grand Theft Auto IV stand out isn't just the graphics, physics, the storyline, or even the multiplayer. It's the little things. You'll pass a garbage truck, and actually see two men standing on the back of it. Pedestrians will preach and make random speeches standing on the street. The ability to watch television, get in any taxi and choose a destination, even chat with the cab driver, go online and meet people, check email, hunt criminals down using a police computer. When you drive into and kill a pedestrian, the pedestrian's blood from the impact will be seen and remain on the vehicle. Bullet holes is a nice affect. We all know that almost all shooting games of today have the bullet hole feature, but it's especially nice in GTAIV. When shooting a vehicle, every bullet hole will remain on the vehicle, each hole looks different and is highly detailed, seeing the metal underneath the paint. If a vehicle crashes or hits something, you'll see particles fly up and a dent where the source of the impact occured. Seeing the water splash up from the tires when driving in the rain. It's little things like this that make GTAIV an ultimate gaming experience.
Overall, Grand Theft Auto IV is one of the greatest games ever. It's a gaming experience like no other. With outstanding graphics, a physics engine, and superb mission design, it's a hard game to stop playing. Die hard fans of the series can really appreciate the improvements from previous GTA titles. From the GTAIII series to GTAIV is probably a bigger leap than GTA2 to GTAIII.