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User Rating: 9 | Grand Theft Auto IV X360
By roosteraxe1 | Review Date:
Initially I felt GTA 4 wasn't very good. At the outset it really seems like more of the same tired gameplay from the last 3 games. You start as a nobody newly arrived to Liberty City from an Eastern European country. Your cousin Roman picks you up and you are thus introduced to your new playground of destruction. There are a few things that stand out right away and start to make you sort of feel this is a next-gen GTA. The physics engine makes blowing things up and causing mayhem more fun than ever before. It also gives you the first hangup in the game. Car control. With more realistic physics comes more realistic car control. You can't just hit the hand break to make wicked sharp turns. You have to learn to drift more realistically. This can be quite frustrating for those of us used to the arcade-like feel of the older games. Nikko Bellic, your character, also makes it difficult to initially get into the game. At first he seems like just an annoying immigrant whose fairly ignorant and seems to just botch things up with his over-aggressive solutions to problems. But give him, and the rest of the game a chance and you won't regret it.
After the first dozen or so missions Nikko really starts to grow on you. As you get more insight into who he is (and as he becomes more acclimated to America) he eventually becomes one of the most likeable GTA characters to date. The controls too become much easier to manage as the early missions gradually train you to drive like a pro. Missions are almost always fun and action packed. Although a little more variety would be nice. The whole go here, kill everyone mission structure can get a little old. It's often either that or find this guy, chase this guy, kill this guy.
There is so much to do in this game besides the missions that you will rarely be bored. Everything from surfing the web, playing darts, going on dates, watching TV in your apartment, clothes shopping, going to comedy clubs and even getting hammered at the bar and attempting to drunk drive while avoiding the police will help kill time while waiting for your next mission contact to be available, or just from taking a break from the main missions. There is of course the other fun part of any GTA game... causing massive chaos and mayhem! This game takes the cake for the utter amount of damage and good M Rated fun you can dole out. The physics make launching molotovs and grenades more fun than ever before. Shooting the jerk taxi driver who just ran you over through the windshield and hearing his limp head land on the horn will bring a guilty chuckle to your heart. One of my personal favorite moments came when I jacked a car, the owner went to open the door as I drove off, he held on flopping on the concrete as I floored it down the street and I finally dislodged him by driving him into oncoming traffic. This game can bring out your sadistic side. All in all this is a must own for any 360 owner.

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