Well, for one, that PC gamers love a good drama. It seems there's nothing we love more then to have a good old moan at a company and oh my did we moan. With rumours spreading like wildfire over the internet that the pc version was broken and bug ridden pc gamers flocked from far and wide to weigh in to rockstar with all sorts of histrionic hyperbole, talking about "treachery" and "betrayal" with one irate gamer proclaiming "rockstar are now my most hated company" conjuring visions of an over dramatic toddler stomping their feet. Whether you had the game or not was unimportant, the outrage bandwagon was bounding along at full steam and gamers rushed to jump on board.

Of course i dont wish to make light of the issue of poor optimisation and be dismissive of what does appear to be genuine technical problems with the game (infact I fully sympathise with anyone who can not play the game due to technical bugs), but its hard not to smile when, time after time, i read posts from gamers incredulous that they get such a low framerate before going on to say that this occurs when they have all settings maxed out. Unfortunately it seems it is a pc gamers instinct, a plight i suffer from myself, to, as an automatic reflex, crank the sliders in the graphics settings menu on any game up to max. Yet some seem incapable of conceding that they cant run the game maxed out and to then experiment with medium or even (dirty word) low settings (gasp!), until they get a stable framerate. If they did maybe they could stand back and realise that at even medium settings the game is visually far superior to the console versions. But no, instead they will stubbornly keep the settings high, playing at settings their hardware simply cant support, seemingly for no other reason than it justifies them having a good old moan on the forums.

I saw one poster recently bemoan the lack of sli support for his nvidia cards, theatrically stating his desire to punch rockstar in the face. i provided him a link for the updated nvidia drivers which would allow sli support for the game but, no doubt blinded by rage, he missed the post (and the solution to his problems), instead jumping back into the thread minutes later to resume his tirade against rockstar, proclaiming piracy was now justified as a means of punishing them. It's almost as though some PC gamers love to play the victim more then they do the games.

So.... to the gamers who can not start the game after having scoured the internet for a solution to their problems, with fully updated drivers to all their hardware and fully updated .net frameworks, then I can fully sympathise. To the gamers who can run the game but get an unplayable framerate even on low settings when their pc meets the mimum requirements or above, then I again sympathise. To the gamers who can run the game but feel they should be able to get much closer to max settings with the hardware they have got well then… join the club.

There is no doubt that the game is poorly optimised, but people should have had an inclination from the minimum spec requirements of a dual core that this game was going to require some serious processing power to run adequately. Rockstar should certainly work hard at patching the hell out of the game until it is accessible for medium to low rig users. however it should not be overlooked that gta iv looks better than most of the other big hitters of this year, namely fallout 3, far cry 2, mass effect and cod waw.

Unfortunately all this uproar has detracted from the impact the game should have made because gta iv is certainly up there with the best games on pc this year. Rockstar have addressed the main criticisms leveled against san andreas, namely the confused and muddled main quest and the tedious traveling over long distances. Now, in iv, we have a much more cohesive and plausible storyline and a fast travel taxi system, both of which have been implemented extremely well and are a huge improvement.

PROS

very immersive story and plausible plot

some great characters, niko in particular

great looking visuals

unprecedented level of detail

weapons handle well and feel great

refined vehicle controls

new features such as fast travel and mobile phone all implemented well

great fun and very addcitive

video editor

modding kit and imminent arrival of mods

CONS

windows live and rockstar social club inclusions

system requirements too high

cover controls can be fiddly

more variation in weaponry would have been welcomed

friends dating becomes a chore

repetitive nature of missions common to gta games on the whole unchanged

lack of things to spend money on

some glitches and bugs on certain systems

CONCLUSION

9.2 / 10

Despite its faults it is an utterly enthralling experience and firmly throws the series into this modern generation of gaming. It's a welcome return for the series in terms of story and characterization to the standard set by its predecessor-but-one Vice City. Other "blockbuster" titles from this year such as far cry 2 pail into insignificance when stood shoulder to shoulder with it. Make no mistake, of all the versions released, this is the superior version and is reflected in the score (i always believed the console game should have received a 9).

Some further character development would have made it near perfect - being able to splash out on luxuries such as exclusive cars, mansions and businesses and to be able to customise your character with your new found wealth would have really emphasised niko's evolution from poor immigrant to crime lord. the fact that you are given new houses and apartments without having to spend your money negates the progress you are making in the criminal underworld, infact you might as well be paid for jobs in weapons vouchers or taxi fares as this is all you will spend your money on, and the story seems to stagnate a little in the middle because of that - you never quite feel like you are becoming a criminal of real power and significance. But these are minor gripes and are hard to focus on when the game has so many positives. So now we sit back and wait for the mods…