Review written by Playstation4.net staff member Klark Byrd
Has there been a more anticipated release than that of Grand Theft Auto IV? I don’t think so, but then again, I could be wrong. Not only has GTA IV kicked up sales of hardware (though less than industry analysts had hoped for), it did break and set some new world records when it was released.
I didn’t really get into the Grand Theft Auto scene until San Andreas, but since then, I’ve been hooked and GTA IV was no different. From the moment I started watching the opening cinema sequence, I was addicted. The graphics on the PS3 version of the game are amazing. We still have yet to see if graphics can be produced so well that it’s hard to tell the difference between reality and game, but GTA IV visuals are absolutely stunning at some points.
Car control feels very different from previous installations of Grand Theft Autos. It felt stiffer, which after a short while of driving around, felt more realistic than in the past. Each and every vehicle in the game has it’s own handling controls meaning that you’ll definitely be able to tell the difference between driving a sports car and an SUV.
One of the things about this game that truly caught my attention and led me to several deaths was the way your character moves when you wreck. Thanks to an awesome physics engine, you are no longer doomed to an eternity of watching pre-drawn crash test dummy graphics. Instead, each and every time you wreck, Niko (the main character) will move just as a real human would in the accident. If you hit a car with your arm, Niko will contort in mid-air to the hit. If you land on your head, you might slide forward, or if you hit with enough force, you’ll start flopping head over feet until you finally come to rest.
The play of the game has great flow to it, and of course like previous installations of GTA, the world is open to your desires. Completing the story (which is nicely flushed out without feeling as though it’s dragging on) is only a certain percentage of 100 percent game completion.
Much like the girlfriend aspect of GTA: San Andreas, you’ll have to keep girlfriends and friends happy with you so you can reap the rewards of the benefits they have to offer. Take Jake, for instance. Once you attain a certain percentage of like, he’ll bring guns to you anytime you call him. Niko’s cousin Roman will send a cab to pick you and take you anywhere you want to go for free. The price of Roman’s free ride is putting up with a smart-ass cab driver that is upset that you get a free ride, but you can always skip that part.
That brings me to another point I like about this game, the cab rides. Unless you want the game to skip the ride, you get to go along for the ride and check out the sights and sounds of the city around you. The only time it’s hard to do that is if you’re drunk, at which point the second the cab starts moving, everything on the screen gets blurry. So unless you’re completely used to seeing the world that way, you won’t like getting drunk to often. It’s not only hard to walk when you’re drunk, but if you drive a car, you’ll be pulled over. And since you’re too drunk to walk, getting away from the cops just isn’t going to happen.
I won’t go too far into detail about the realism of shooting people, the mechanic of it remains almost unchanged from San Andreas, though I have noticed the enemy responds accordingly to whatever body part you shoot. This just adds a layer of realism to the game that is appreciated by most gamers.
All in all, if you want an addicting experience full of tons of mini-games, side missions, shoot-em-ups and car stealing, then GTA IV is the game for you. Did I forget to mention that you get to fly helicopters too? Well, I’ll let you pick up the game and meet Brucie for yourself. That’s a headache I’d rather not talk about.
9.5 out of 10
