Upon dropping off Jacob after a game of pool, and the auto-save finishing, the 100 pt "Key to the City" achievement notification popped up. A nearly month long obsession can finally subside. Since coming home from the midnight launch at the Best Buy on 5th Avenue and loading GTA IV up for the first time, the disc tray on my 360 hasn't opened once. With the variety of activities in Liberty City and the size of the game world to explore, I had no reason to play anything else.

While I do not think that GTA IV has the best of anything, whether that is story, controls, gameplay or visuals, Rockstar deserves praise for putting so much into this game and pulling it all together into one entertaining package. Games don't have to be artistic, they dont have to have important social commentary, they dont have to be comparative to movies or books, but they have to be fun to play. GTA IV is that in spades.

The last GTA I played was GTA III. I avoided playing Vice City or San Andreas because I have a problem. I get obsessed with completion percentage. After sinking 80+ hours into III to 100% it, I thought better of picking up VC or SA for fear of the time sink they would become. Anytime a game has a progress tracker, I feel compelled to finish it off. Achievements have made every game a potential problem now. While this completionist trait has served me well in my professional life, it has led to many late nights hunting orbs in Crackdown, stomping grubs in Half Life 2, or looking for canisters in Lego Star Wars. Things a normal person wouldnt care about since they lay outside the main story. Thankfully I have been able to satisfy myself with only an 80+% gamerscore completion percentage. My multiplayer playtime is primarily of the non-ranked with friends variety, so I am glad to let the ranked multi achievements go.

I finished the story in a little over 40 hours, so the last 34 hours have been used to finish races, finish car deliveries, finish random character missions, hunt down all the pigeons, find all the stunt ramps and take all Niko's "friends" out to all their required activities. Thanks to the all the helpful people who find the time to put out guides with maps & videos for all of these things, it wasn't nearly as hard as it could have been. Not that it didn't get tedious at times. I dont know how I would have found those 2 pigeons that need grenades to kill or known that you have to do all the different activities with Brucie, Packie & Jacob. I stopped answering their calls once I finished the story.

I enjoyed my time in Liberty City. While the cover system was a pain at times, the police presence sometimes too abundant, the missions honestly somewhat repetitive even if fun, the scripted chases causing wasted ammunition, and the night missions being so dark as to be difficult to navigate, the pros far outweigh the cons. Having been born & raised in NYC, I have a special appreciation for the level of detail put into Liberty City. Its not just the big famous landmarks, but the little touches. Take Colony Island, modeled after Roosevelt Island where I reside. The old hospital where the Snow Storm mission takes place really exists, it's the Renwick Ruin. The tram station, the steep meditation steps along the river where people sit and read or watch the boats sail by, the lighthouse, the look of the buildings on Main Street...all that on just one little island which most people don't know much about. My favorite moments have to be anytime you take off in a helicopter, as you rise up, the skyline never fails to impress.

While I may be done with single player for now, I still see myself causing chaos in free roam & other multi modes with you guys online. I'll just be able to allow myself to play something else now.