One of the most highly-anticipated games of 2008
There was much hype surrounding this game when it first came out; so, being a fan of the Grand Theft Auto series, I decided to give it a go. This game DOES NOT disappoint. Fresh off the boat you, Nico (The main character) comes to America to find a new life, in his hopes to escape his past; however, what started as a fresh start in the land of opportunity comes to be a repeat of his past.
Ah, familiar Liberty City; things have changed all for the better. If you've never played the previous installments to the Grand Theft Auto series, don't worry, you will be able to pick up this game and love every second of it... assuming you don't mind getting in some trouble on the way ;).
The physics have been re-worked, no longer can you jump off of a 2-3 story building and still live (Like the previous installments of the series). Cars behave the way they should: larger vechicles handling sluggishly, no longer being able to turn on a dime, and actually carrying some pain with it as you pummel through other cars; sports cars on the other hand are fast, but you must put to good use the E-brake if you want to be able to drive at high speeds around corners. Pedestrians are probably the most exciting thing about this game (I know... woo-hoo huh?), they are individuals all their own... I've spent days playing and haven't seen the EXACT same person walking around (Which if you played the other games, there was a basic scheme for a specific person). The lighting in the game has been reworked, headlights finally have a purpose (You can switch from low-beams to high-beams by holding square). Car damage is realistic and just plain fun to look at how badly you have ravaged your car, be careful though... because driving into a pole (something that will bring you from 60 or 100 mph to a complete stop) will send you flying out the windshield; as well as the more damage your car has, the less likely it will start on its first... second... or even third try. Cars will catch on fire before exploding, and will burn for quite a bit before exploding; keep in mind though, if your car is on fire and you smash into something going fairly fast... your car will explode and it'll be off to the hospital. Crashing in a motorcycle sends you sprawling across the road, you might even smash across a car or two, depending on how hard you hit (A death can be prevented by waiting until you put on your helmet). The water looks phenominal, reflections and life-like behavior; you can swim (Like in San Andreas), but you can not dive under water.
The police are in a category all by themselves this time around, taking special notice of other people as well as you; (Example: You run into someones car, they get out, they pull you out, they hit you, they get arrested.) this also includes guns, which if you have them pulled out, will earn you a felony star. The felony system has been reworked, showing you a circle-area where the police are looking for you, get out of that circle without being noticed... stay there for a bit, and your felony goes away; however, it becomes more difficult with more and more stars. They have done away with the pressing R3 to get into missions for police, now they have a police computer that you can access to find vigilanties.
Gameplay is amazing, they have reworked the aiming as well, making it easier to aim at a specific spot on a person rather then just simply aiming at the person at random.
Top 3 reasons to play this game:
1) GREAT storyline (It's been a while since I could say that about a GTA game)
2) Improved graphics and physics (You are no longer superman who can jump off a 5 story building, get up, and walk away)
3) Life like atmosphere (Beware, this game can turn your social-life into spending hours upon hours wasting away infront of the TV)