This is the best GTA game. Unfortunately the GTA games are tired. We need a new game.
The game looks incredible, it is true. The soundtrack is sublime, no longer simply a hit parade. The structure of the choose-the-order-of-the-missions gameplay has been improved and is clever and smooth. The A.I. is improved and the targeting is manageable. This is all scaled back from the overly ambitious San Andreas and it works well. The Rockstar team has even managed to craft out an interesting main character, something that most video games are not able to pull off. I even find myself pondering the vaguely challenging "moral" dilemmas posed to the character from time to time. Overall this is a very good game.
On the flip side, someone has to call out the mechanics of control in this game and the fact that there is no real gameplay advance here. For a game called Grand Theft "Auto", the game still suffers from a serious amount of questionable, even poor vehicle controls. While you learn to compensate in time, the feeling that the driving controls are simply unresponsive never goes away. There is real variety in control of different cars but none of them respond well to turning or cornering and all vehicles suffer from extreme drifting issues.
The on-foot controls suffer from lagging response issues as well. Turning a corner not only looks odd but makes control difficult at times, especially when dealing with a staircase or a ladder. The character often seems to stop too late causing him to be shot or to fall off things. Lastly, this game does not break new ground. Only the arrangement of gameplay ideas, the shuffling of them makes the game more playable than the ones before. There is no new development in any department here, the mini games are still dumpy but playable and the missions are still "chase then kill" most of the time. This cannot be engaging for much longer, I know it has ceased to be interesting to me. The Gangster theme is tired as well, but fortunately there seems to be less imitation (read aping) of popular movies in this version. That is refreshing.
The one glimmer of breakthrough is in the co-op online missions. With development this could be an incredible new game by itself. The ability to coordinate the fairly simple GTA missions makes them enjoyable again. Maybe Rockstar will work this into downloadable content or make this into "GTA IV: City Rats" or some other new game in the same way Vice City was to GTA III.
Overall this is a high quality game that is unoriginal. The truth is that there is no such thing as non-linear gameplay yet although games like The Sims, Elder Scrolls, GTA and even Black and White or Populous have made progress toward that end. Perhaps with developments in AI we will one day have an environment in which we can truley impact an interesting virtual world.
GTA IV does not warrant a perfect score by any means but if you are a "free-roaming-non-linear" gameplay junkie who can't get enough of gangster posturing, the word **** and PG-13 sex and you've loved the last 8 or so in the series, then pick it up right away.