Everyone who keeps a blog and owns this game is obligated to post about it. I will keep my blog entry short and sweet, highlighting the game's "awe factor" while saving my in-depth judgment for my review in the future.

All I have to say is the moment the title screen loads for the first time and you see GTA's trademark character cartoon stills with the catchy music beating away in the background you know you're in for a treat. The opening scene and credits are on par with any Hollywood major motion picture. The voice acting is top-notch--you'll hear that a thousand times over. However, what is more important is the scripting itself. A bad actor can make lines from legendary movies like Pulp Fiction or Goodfellas sound like struggling high school writer crap, and the same can easily be said for videogame dialogue, but the writing is so clever and believable that you actually laugh out loud quite a bit along with getting a good grasp on the various complicated relationships you'll find in the game. Superb graphics considering all that is happening around you: don't think the citizens of Liberty City are just strutting around mindlessly as the NPCs in GTAs past have done (ok...so many of them are), but upon closer inspection one can see bums huddled around a fire, police staking out a dirtbag's hideout, delivery guys pushing handcarts, people reading newspapers, fighting, arguing over car accidents, cops chasing down thugs...you really have to see it to believe it. Once I get over the captivating storyline (meaning once I get stuck to the point where I either quit playing or destroy my 360), I definitely plan on spending more time as a tourist in LC...much like any non-escaping war vet Russian-born immigrant would probably want to do.