GTA IV is likely to be the biggest news in gaming this year and as per usual there well is all kinds of hype about "Too much violence" in video games surrounding it. Perhaps it's all been done a little too often however, because it seems far less then usual. Then again that may partly be because of the spin GTA IV took on the series, this decidedly more serious take is tinged with so much social commentary that any arguments about its violence are coming off more and more foolish.

The original GTA and the title "Carmageddon" share a similar space in my memory. Fun games with colorful over the top violence that was near impossible to take seriously. GTA was as likely to encourage crime as TETRIS was to encourage people dropping bricks off buildings to try and have them land symmetrically.

GTA III changed the landscape a little, figuratively and literally. The move to a fully rendered three dimensional world, it was suddenly less comical, as visually it approached something more realistic. All told however, GTA III still encapsulated silly over the top violence with a humorous setting. Blowing up city streets, driving over pedestrians and firing rockets at tanks it was more giggle inducing then violent. GTA IV steps up the visuals once again, as well as the overall immersion of the city, but importantly it takes some pretty serious deviations with the sense of humour.

It doesn't take long playing GTA IV to feel the difference, suddenly you are sticking to road rules, avoiding pedestrians and running from police rather then shooting them down. A large departure from the original where the presence of the firefighting team was an exciting opportunity for a big splat style hit and run! The reasons for this are two fold:

Firstly the world is much more immersive and reacts very differently; you will feel bad when you sideswipe a pedestrian whom was on the phone to their spouse at the time. Car jacking a vehicle with a pair teenage kids in the back is not the kind of action that you will take in your stride.

Secondly the protagonist, Niko Bellic, is that much more relatable. He is not a crazy wild card running around a city making as much mess as possible, he's a man with real struggles and those sorts of acts with you at his controls seem needlessly violent and character inconsistent.

Through Niko, the game will have an affect on you. As you progress and find yourself tinged with guilt at the path you have chosen, but your family is threatened, you have no money, no job prospects... what else can you do? It's in that element of social commentary that the game really shines. Niko will ask his cousin rhetorically as he travels to a dark deed of revenge "What is my trade, Roman?" confirming poetically what we already know "I deal in death." His options in this dark city are limited, he can't get a job fixing cars or mending houses, in a world surrounded with crime, crime is the only alternative for him that could lead to a better life. Another character Dwayne Forge touches on the issue, talking about how he never wanted to become what he did, he wanted to be a police officer. Yet he couldn't spell or write, and the drug trade lingered near, promising a chance to make real money, a chance to make a better life.

You understand their plight; you pity their situation and still struggle with your conscience.

Additionally, crime is not painted with the same glamorous strokes as previous games. You don't take jobs from rockers living the high life; everyone you deal with is burnt out. From the paranoid mob bosses, scheming made men down to drug addled junkies trying to escape there own guilt and near suicidal ex-cons. As you play you realize the isn't any light at the end of this tunnel, your aspirations of a better life through crime will only lead to more graves, more blood and more dark deeds.

This darker tone is not limited to these themes either; it touches on the personal consequences of war, corruption and domestic violence, sometimes with satirical charm, some with dark retrospect.

So through all that, taking these issues into account, it's nice that the media isn't being over the top with proclamations of "too much violence in video games", seldom in any form of media are so many issues presented so well, and by the time you put down the control pad after playing GTA IV, violent video games won't be the on your mind, but it will make you think about a host of other issues facing society, and anyone that is foolish enough to proclaim how dangerous violent video games are, is surely ignoring how thought provoking and meaningful this "violent" game was.