GTA IV gets a perfect 10 at IGN

[mkreku]

So.. no bicycles? No gyms? No way of getting fat (or fatter, according to one of the jerks in this thread)? No hidden packages to collect? Not as many hidden jumps and stuff to have fun with in the world? And the world is smaller than San Andreas?

 

So uh.. What does one do in GTA4 if you don't feel like following the quest line? I am replaying San Andreas right now and I've solved just enough missions to get the spray can. I've spent the last 8 hours or so just finding those hidden graffiti tags (while gaining in driving skill and stamina and shooting skill!).

 

It sure sounds like a step back..

[WITHTEETH]

So.. no bicycles? No gyms? No way of getting fat (or fatter, according to one of the jerks in this thread)? No hidden packages to collect? Not as many hidden jumps and stuff to have fun with in the world? And the world is smaller than San Andreas?

 

So uh.. What does one do in GTA4 if you don't feel like following the quest line? I am replaying San Andreas right now and I've solved just enough missions to get the spray can. I've spent the last 8 hours or so just finding those hidden graffiti tags (while gaining in driving skill and stamina and shooting skill!).

 

It sure sounds like a step back..

Is this a completely new engine they are using now? Maybe it wil progressively get better like GTA3 to San Andreas. Its tough to imagine with 100 million dollars they took a step back like that. What did they spend it on, prostitutes? Speaking of the Devil, i hope elliot Spitzer makes a cameo in the next GTA!

 

 

I play San Andreas still too. I love the latina gf random calls.

[Starwars]

Personally I think San Andreas was more a case of "let's add a lot of stuff that sounds cool to the game" rather than trying to polish up and improve things from the previous games. As fun as these games are, there are room for a *lot* of improvements. Better (and less frustrating) missions, better controls, making the city more active and alive etc. That's what I'm hoping for in GTAIV (haven't played it yet).

Don't get why they removed bicycles though, I though that was a good addition.

 

I'm glad they removed the "stat" system though. Stuff like eating and whatnot, it's just a bore when it's done as simply as in San Andreas. There is no depth to it, and IMO no reason for it to be there. AFAIK there will be a system like in Mafia II, which is a bit of a disappointment for me.

[WITHTEETH]

Personally I think San Andreas was more a case of "let's add a lot of stuff that sounds cool to the game" rather than trying to polish up and improve things from the previous games. As fun as these games are, there are room for a *lot* of improvements. Better (and less frustrating) missions, better controls, making the city more active and alive etc. That's what I'm hoping for in GTAIV (haven't played it yet).

Don't get why they removed bicycles though, I though that was a good addition.

I kina hoped the San Andreas Enviroment had as much character as Vice City did. I could just drive by Vice City to catch all the hidden humor. San Andreas is vanilla when it comes to scenery. But its solid where it counts. I would pay double the money for it if Rockstar asked. The game was still that good. Give me all the extras! With all of that coding the game runs 100% solid without a single patch!

[Meshugger]

The PS3 version has an avarage of 99.4% at gamerankings, making it the best game ever.

 

To use Volo-logic: "Game Over man, Game Over."

[Pope]

So.. no bicycles? No gyms? No way of getting fat (or fatter, according to one of the jerks in this thread)? No hidden packages to collect? Not as many hidden jumps and stuff to have fun with in the world? And the world is smaller than San Andreas?

I found a "flying rat" near the Statue of Happiness that I shot with my sniper rifle, after which I got the message "199 flying rats left in Liberty City", so I'm guessing those are the new hidden packages.

 

I really do miss the bicycles. I loved the trick in San Andreas where you could jump super-high when firing your weapon quickly after jumping. I was able to jump through the donut hoops that way

 

A question: are there still parachutes? I'd love to base jump off one of those skyscrapers.

[thepixiesrock]

No parachutes. I don't mind that they took a lot of that other stuff out of the game, it's easier for me to take the game wrold seriously, as opposed to San Andreas. I could also believe that they did that so that they would have more options in the furute of things to add. Sort of a "let's release a better game than the previous one, but without a lot of those extra less important features, and we can add the other stuff in later instalments."

[Krookie]

They've already confirmed that there will be a downloadable bike package, but it'll cost you like 500 MS points or whatever.

[Sand]

GTA4, as was GTA3, is the baseline of the GTA games for this generation of console platforms. I am sure they will have expanded material in future GTA games in the future. I would love to see a GTA: Tokyo for a spin-off done in San Andreas style.

[Krookie]

Would you get a samurai sword and spikey hair?

[Hurlshort]

The multiplayer options are a pretty awesome improvement over the previous games.

[mkreku]

I really do miss the bicycles. I loved the trick in San Andreas where you could jump super-high when firing your weapon quickly after jumping. I was able to jump through the donut hoops that way

One thing I love to do is to complete the missions in the dome near the place where you start the game. If you do that, you get a monster truck that always spawns outside the dome. What I do is I take that monster truck and drive it north from the dome (along the beach road) until I come to a really steep road to the left. If you drive your monster truck slowly up that hill in the wrong lane, you'll drive over the cars you meet.. and occasionally launch them several hundred meters up in the air! You actually have time to get out of your car, locate the flying car in the sky and take a picture of it as it comes tumbling down :D Great fun!

[Pope]

I doubt any future GTA game will ever leave the same impression, or last with me as long as Vice City did. The improvements it had over GTA3 were everything I could possibly wish for (motorbikes!, helicopters and planes, costumes, buyable assets!, interiors, flat tires, shooting through windshields, exiting moving vehicles, incredible 80's soundtrack, hilarious conversations and commercials on the radio, a city with atmosphere, a voice and personality for the main character!), and the whole Scarface inspired story was the most satisfying out of all PS2 GTA's. VC was a very coherent game, and by the end it really felt as if the city was yours, adding to the Scarface feel.

 

San Andreas added a lot more little things (bicycles, parachutes, character customizability, countryside, waypoint on the map, bringing along gang members, a bunch of minigames, moving while crouched, swimming!!), but it failed to have the same impact on me as VC. The radio stations were fun, but not nearly as hilarious as VC's. As mentioned by pixies above, the biggest gripe with it was probably that it was difficult to take the game world seriously. The whole gangsta setting wasn't very appealing to start with, but when the plot began taking all sorts of crazy turns the game started feeling a bit incoherent, and the immersion quickly disappeared. I never felt like I had fought my way to the top like in VC.

 

It seems that with GTA4, Rockstar's priority was improving user-friendliness (mission retry, autosave, cabs, gps, cellphone). I definitely give them credit for it. For what it's worth, removing some of those little things does indeed add to the immersion. But still I miss the bikes and the buyable assets.

 

 

 

PS: thank you ragdolls, driving over pedestrians has never been this much fun.

[Hurlshort]

There's something fairly satisfying about shooting a driver in the head and having them slump over on top of the steering wheel, causing the horn to blare.

[Arkan]

There's something fairly satisfying about shooting a driver in the head and having them slump over on top of the steering wheel, causing the horn to blare.

By itself that's a pretty disturbing statement.

[Hurlshort]

I know, this game is clearly a bad influence. Every time I load it up, I hear a crackling sound, and I'm pretty sure it's the foundations of our society crumbling away.

[thepixiesrock]

If you play this game for a few hours, then go drive your car, you get the urge to crash into the car in front of you.

[Sand]

There's something fairly satisfying about shooting a driver in the head and having them slump over on top of the steering wheel, causing the horn to blare.

Personally I like it when they die, and the car keeps going, crashing into other cars then ultimate smashing into a wall, sparking on fire, then exploding in a fireball, taking out a rushing police car passing by.

 

It makes me hungry for roasted marshmellows and smores.

[Gorgon]

This is one of those games that friends of mine are wild about, and I can't fathom the reason Why. I liked the voice acting and humor for some of the missions in San Andreas, but fantastic, hardly. Least of all when you are in a gun battle on foot, and the ammo and weapon pickups are giant man sized swirly things. Another thing is that you shoot with a mouse. You can drive with a gamepad that works well, but shoot. Doesn't work.

Edited May 6, 2008 by Gorgon

[thepixiesrock]

Yeah, they fixed that gun thing.

[Nick_i_am]

I doubt any future GTA game will ever leave the same impression, or last with me as long as Vice City did. The improvements it had over GTA3 were everything I could possibly wish for (motorbikes!, helicopters and planes, costumes, buyable assets!, interiors, flat tires, shooting through windshields, exiting moving vehicles, incredible 80's soundtrack, hilarious conversations and commercials on the radio, a city with atmosphere, a voice and personality for the main character!), and the whole Scarface inspired story was the most satisfying out of all PS2 GTA's. VC was a very coherent game, and by the end it really felt as if the city was yours, adding to the Scarface feel.

 

I've got a friend who swears that VC is the best, despite being the 'least popular' for the same reasons.. I didn't play it much back in the day, but looking back I can see what you both mean.

[Pope]

GTA4, as was GTA3, is the baseline of the GTA games for this generation of console platforms. I am sure they will have expanded material in future GTA games in the future. I would love to see a GTA: Tokyo for a spin-off done in San Andreas style.

I predict the next GTA game will be located in a revamped Los Santos. And the one after that in Las Venturas. They can skip San Fiero for all I care, that was a pretty boring city.

 

 

Btw, somehow this reminds me: anyone heard the commercial for the CSI parody, The Science of Crime? It's hilarious!

Edited May 6, 2008 by Pope

[Sand]

GTA seems to be the anti-CSI. GTA *insert city name*. CSI *Insert City Name*.

 

HAHAHA!

[thepixiesrock]

I don't think I've ever been a fan of GTA comedy.

[Nick_i_am]

Ironically, their sense of satire was always the thing I liked best about GTA, in GTA3 I would cruise around from place to place with the talkshow on, just because it cracked me up.