GamerNode: Reviews - Grand Theft Auto IV

Grand Theft Auto IV

Category: Xbox 360, Posted: 05/11/2008 at 04:17PM EDT by Kyle Stallock, Contributor

Grand Theft Auto IV
Xbox 360
Rockstar North
Rockstar Games
April 29th, 2008

Rockstar Games has it easy when it comes to the Grand Theft Auto series. Replicate the real world with increasing detail and people will do a plethora of real-world things, including those not typically permissible by current culture and/or administration/s; what the series is most known for outside of the chin-scratching gaming elite. In the series' fourth numbered entry, rumored to have cost over 100 million dollars (the equivalent of a single middle-classed Englishman's salary with current exchange rates), Rockstar has created their most vibrant and realistic world yet. Upon boot, it's seemingly filled with infinite levels and varying degrees of interactivity. As the numbers reach ever higher on the always depressing sobering "time played" statistic, the aforementioned admiration is significantly reduced, a natural byproduct of current limitations. Even so, Second Life's creators should hang GTA IV posters on their walls.

Niko Bellic is that one-of-a-kind protagonist looking to go from rags to riches quick enough to give that pantaloon-wearing f*ck Horatio Alger a hard-on. Like those heads that talk would say, "same as it ever was." As many know, the series has always existed in a semi-satirical universe centering on an arguably typical but fairly serious storyline inhabited by over the top stereotypes. With the latest entry, Rockstar has dodged the Polar Express bullet and missed the deepest part of the uncanny valley, due in large part to the facial and body animations and the mostly top-notch voice-acting, exemplified by Niko, possibly GTA's most likeable character yet. He's a friendly, easy-going eastern-European with a mysterious past who looks after friends and family with diehard loyalty and a thick accent. Niko's obviously seen some shit in his day and over the course of the 30+ hour story, bits and pieces are revealed in varying ways. While not entirely new, his story makes for engaging entertainment and serves as one of the highlights of the single-player experience.

Yet, it's hard to take the story seriously when a highly emotional non-interactive cutscene grounded in reality is bookended by interaction in a semi-satirical world where the player can kill dozens of cops and civilians while listening to the game's extreme conservative republicans on WKTT talk about America in ways Rush Limbaugh and Fred Phelps can only dream of. This disconnect between story and world is one of the game's most significant narrative flaws; since GTA is so open-ended, it only compounds the problem inherent to its very genre.

The mission variety rarely serves the inconsistent narrative, and even when engaging in some of the more unique tasks throughout the game (including a date with a man and wrestling control of the vehicle with a passenger) they usually devolve into simple kill "A" and drive to "B" errands, or simply the latter. The most talked about missions, as evidenced by constant message board chatter, are obvious nods to famous movies such as The French Connection and Heat, but they often become exercises in frustration due to unclear objectives, difficulty, and lack of mid-mission checkpoints. A new replay mission option is added upon failure, but by then it's too little, too late.

But who needs to do missions anyway when Niko can take women out for a good time and even go on man-dates? Niko's straight. Most of the other dudes are straight. The only distinction between a date with a woman and one with a guy friend is the possible sex concluding the former, portrayed in consistence with the tone of the gameplay via slow-panning camera outside the building with exaggerated sound effects. It's about as enjoyable and satisfying as visiting a virtual strip club and getting a virtual lap dance. If you're into the aforementioned you can justify your virtual libido by telling your girlfriend useful rewards and additional information are gained through building relationships with various characters.

Speaking of other characters, multiplayer was introduced on the console version of San Andreas and has been greatly expanded on in IV, albeit with a slew of limited game types and a poorly executed party system. The multiplayer modes offer drastically different game types from simple racing to the frenetic mafiya work where multiple teams of two complete various jobs around the city. Ranked modes are modifiable by the host and lack the balance found in other titles, discouraging serious skill-based play. Free mode, not the party mode lobby, is a fantastic way to organize your own custom game types with friends. Party mode seems to be their way of replicating the Halo matchmaking system. Unfortunately, it's short-sighted and a little self-important as there is no way to access the lobby free mode options while in-game and after each ranked match all players involved in the party are instantly booted back to the free mode lobby, adding two unnecessary load screens. If problems are encountered during the process a player or players may be returned to the single player game, adding yet another series of load screens. It's painful, but hopefully it'll be fixed in an "oops, my bad" patch.

The highlight of anyone and everyone's playing experience has always been those moments generated by random and oftentimes creative usage of the in-game engine and tools provided. A mission may not require a rocket launcher and a fire engine, but why not? This mentality is the very essence of Free Mode, the game's most depressingly but highly enjoyable bare-bones element. While it's still very enjoyable to run from the cops with a multitude of other players, it would be even more fun to download or create custom scenarios with varying rules and objectives, all free of charge.

Perhaps the most unique feature to this installment is how it connects to the net. If you have your account linked to the Rockstar Games Social Club you can view and contribute to a plethora of stat-tracking features such as the LCPD blotter, the 100% club, and many more. The only people as hungry for this much number crunching are either involved in the sports world or currently work for Bungie. Unfortunately, the Social Club doesn't seem to update very often as my personal stats are out of date and I have no ZITS, the optional in-game text message system used to inform the user of the current song information. Apparently, any "ZITTED" songs appear on your Social Club profile and can directly be purchased via Amazon.com, 40% of which was currently unavailable. It's an unnecessary but highly welcomed feature not typically seen on the console.

One of the most massive and detailed worlds on the console, GTA IV offers a tremendous amount of content to read, watch, hear and play. Despite this, it's the same old GTA and more evolution than revolution. The nature of the open-ended gameplay still makes for memorable random and not-so-random occurrences you'll repetitiously be reciting to friends, but for the most part it's nothing we haven't seen before. Even moreso, the series is starting to feel reluctant to move forward in storytelling and in terms of pushing the envelope. Don't believe the hype. More importantly, don't believe me. Play it and judge it yourself.

(21)

Posted by Steve on 05/11/2008 at 08:42PM

Wow, trying to get the metacritic listing hits or something? Or are you guys trying to reserve Ocarina of Time as the number one reviewed game of alal time?

Funny because, I don't think I agreed with anything in this review. Move foward in story telling? Did you listen to the cutscenes, Kyle? Everything else you said was basically nitpicking, and I don't think that warrants GTA IV any deduction in points. Or unless, that was the whole goal of the article.

Really seems like you guys just said to yourself "Hey, we are real late on our GTA IV review and it doesn't look like we will be receiving any hits from it unless we make the review very, very controversial. I know what to do, let's give most praised game of all time a low score. That'll bring in the hits!".

Posted by Brendon on 05/11/2008 at 09:50PM

I actually agree with Kyle on this Steve. I loved GTA3; it's one of my favorite games of all time. GTA4 was a good game, but I've played ones this week which have been more entertaining for me. It's called opinions. This suffers from the same fate Halo 3 did where people who reviewed it first gave it huge scores because they were supposed to due to the hype and getting a huge game before street date, and just falling victim to the "OMG THE FINAL PART OF HALO!" syndrome. I guarantee you a year from now people will regret giving it a perfect 10, just like I regret the score I gave Halo 3 when it was released. And as a former writer now running his own Xbox site I'd think that you of all people would understand sometimes people just don't enjoy big games as much as others, and know that no one here would give a game a score just to get traffic.

But enough about that, let's keep the comments civil. The forums are for the flame wars =P

Posted by Brendon on 05/11/2008 at 10:08PM

Also, before anyone comments on it going from 8.5 to 8.7, that's my bad. Originally Kyle had talked me into an 8.7 even though we go by a .5 scale, and I forgot he won the argument and I would let him get away with it.

Posted by Chrispy on 05/11/2008 at 10:51PM

Good review, Eddie. While I disagree with some of your points, I understand where you're coming from.

Posted by Chrispy on 05/11/2008 at 11:11PM

er, Kyle.

Posted by Steve on 05/11/2008 at 11:27PM

I don't know Brendon; like I agree there were some flaws in GTAIV that will, in the long run, hold it back from being on the level of Ocarina of Time, but I don't think any of those were in Kyle's review.

Bad storytelling? Come on, this game had some of the best writing on the planet. Point A to B missions? Not really. Of course you had to go from point A to point B to get to a destination but, missions didn't stop there. Bad use of the term rigth there.

I mean, there are just SO many things I don't get in this review. Trust me Brendon, you know I'm not falling into the GTA hype wagon. It's not like I skipped to the score and said to myself "WTF not a 10!?"

As a zelda fanboy, it's annoying when I see things like "GTAIV is the bestest game of all time! Ocarina of Time sucks now1!!!1!". But still, there is no doubt that it was a great game, and while I'm perfectly fine with someone disagreeing, I'm just a little turned off when I read a review that seems like someone is disagreeing for the sake of disagreeing.

Or at least that's the way it came off to me from a first read through.

Posted by Eddie R Inzauto on 05/12/2008 at 12:45AM

Is it just me, or are the comments on this Grand Theft Auto IV review strangely talking just as much about a game that was released in a different millennium as they are about the game being reviewed?

Last I checked, Zelda wasn't living in Liberty City, and has nothing to do with this review. Not everyone in that way, and frankly, it's completely childish. We look objectively at the content with which we are presented, and Kyle saw a very good, yet flawed videogame in GTAIV.

Same goes for traffic. We do our work with all the integrity that our readers expect and deserve.

Posted by Eddie R Inzauto on 05/12/2008 at 12:57AM

Readers can also look forward to a discussion between Kyle and myself about GTAIV that should clear up exactly where we stand regarding the game. It may even spark a bit of further thought for some readers...who knows?

Posted by jiggyteddy on 05/12/2008 at 03:51PM

some of these guys have a bad attitude, skip.

Posted by SninnaHabbing on 05/12/2008 at 05:06PM

Wow this is truly insulting to Rockstar. They put 100 million dollars into a game and perfect it in every aspect, expecting to get the respective reviews and responses that they deserve, and got from most. Developers don't throw 100 million into a game just to make some money based on the simple popularity of the game, as these jokers suggested. If they wanted to make money purely based on the fact that its a GTA title, they would have thrown down a few mil. and called it a day, and they game would have sold just as well just because there are so many GTA fanboys out there that it wouldn't even matter. No, rockstar went out of their way to make THE best game of all time, and thats exactly what they did, regardless of what one small time group of reviewers wrote about it. The only sad thing about this all is the fact that these jokers had to take their perfect score of 100%-99%'s from every other reviewer and dub down the average by giving them such a low score. Sure, 87% is great for many games, but more is expected out of Rockstar, and they game the consumers what they wanted, way to go ahead and ruin Rockstars perfect scores just to make some noise because you all are some small time site trying to get some attention.

Posted by Brendon on 05/12/2008 at 06:48PM

Spending money on a game doesn't mean it should be reviewed good, bage. By that same reasoning Speed Racer should be in the 90s on Rotten because the Wachowski's care so much about film and spent hundreds of millions in trying to make a new film that appealed to a wide audience.

GTA4 is a great game, but it's not the greatest. If you look at the user reviews on every review site you'll see that there's a good deal of people who don't give it a 9 or 10, because they just don't enjoy it to the degree other people have. Heaven forbid Kyle reviewed it as he saw and played it and not based on what RockStar put into a game and what the other reviewers said. When did an 8.7 become a bad score, anyway? It's still far higher than average. People need to stop overreacting.

Posted by Danioelos on 05/12/2008 at 10:13PM

jesus fuckin christ people, lighten up, for starters nothings perect, ever. It's a fact of life, and one HUUUUUUUGE problem with GTAIV is no splitscreen co-op. I like it's online and whatnot, I've played hundreds of games and the funest thing to do has been splitscreen co-op, not online or playing with myself. On top of that graphics are nowhere near perfect, the day i can't tell the difference between real life and a game then that game's graphics are really good but like i said nothings perfect. Excuse my cussing but i believe he's really justified for the score he gave it. Nothing should ever get a 10/10 or 5/5 or 100% or 100.00 or anything of the sort, if anything a 99.99 or 9.9 or 4.9/5 stars because it's just a simple fact nothings perfect. The best example is a can of lysol, it kills 99.9% of bacteria not 100%

Posted by Danioelos on 05/12/2008 at 10:16PM

oh btw, imo this game really sucks becuase it seems like another god damn copy of all the other recent GTA games. i give it a 6/10. Come on rockstar, make something new already!

Posted by Joey Daniels on 05/13/2008 at 01:52AM

After how great GTA3 and Vice City, I don't think Rockstar would rate their own game better than this. I mean anyone who was played the multiplayer knows that has some definite flaws. The writing definitely is NOT some of the best on this planet and for saying so I will even buy you a good book to prove that point. Its average writing at best. For a video game it is decen writing but I promise you that 99% of the people that bought this game didn't buy it for the writing. In all actuality most people who play GTAIV probably dont even care about the writing. They play for the badass characters, cool cars and running stuff over, and killing the cops to get chased. No one in the world will agrue that this isn't a great game because it is. What it isn't is a "perfect" game. So I say Kyle's rating is spot on.

Posted by Quasar on 05/13/2008 at 01:06PM

It's funny how some people seem to think that because GamerNode has given GTA IV a lower score than the masses have, that it is because of trying to get hits. Think about this for a second and how asinine this sounds. What they are saying is that everything that the crew here has worked towards---being an independent and fair voice amidst the hundreds of video game sites who mimic and go along with what everyone else is saying, has been thrown away simply for ratings.

Number one, I don't see a spike because of the "low" review scores given to GTA IV around here. And two, nothing of the sort ever happened in trying to generate more traffic by giving it a lower score, which is, by the way, an absolutely honest and perfectly reasonable review of GTA IV. If anything, it takes more guts to say what a game is truly worth rather than going along with the crowd. Fanboyism be damned. GTA IV isn't the best game ever to hit the consoles. Far from it.

Kyle did a fine job of reviewing this game, and if anything, was probably a bit generous in his score of 8.7. His points are valid about the non-innovation of the game. Sure, the game is fun, but no way does it merit a 9 or a 10. There are serious issues with GTA IV...the monotonous game play (I call it Animal Crossing for adults), the horrendous graphics pop-ups and clipping in the game (not seen since PS2 days), a somewhat mediocre mulitplayer mode, and an overall feeling of "been there, done that" is evidence that something is amiss regarding the high review scores around the internet. No, a game doesn't have to be "perfect" to get a high score, but a game better show some sort of demonstration regarding excellence in game play and overall production value to earn the esteemed 9 or 10.

Yes, GTA IV is fun, but even so, GTA IV will not be talked about for years to come because frankly guys, it doesn't have the star quality that will separate it as being truly unique, cutting edge or innovative. The universe for GTA IV has gotten a lot bigger in the game, but bigger isn't necessarily better.

I give GTA IV a 8.5 and I don't care how much was spent on the production of the game.

Posted by Coop on 05/13/2008 at 02:45PM

I disagree with the score, but he is entitled to his opinion. I do believe the game is a 10, and I have a hard time seeing why people would drop it below a 9, but whatevs. I disagree with Quasar the most, as the single player missions do get varied later on and the multiplayer is more fun than most games out there. It does seem like people feel obliged to nit-pick the hell out of the game, and it isn't really fair.

Posted by alexei_net on 05/15/2008 at 05:53PM

"but for the most part it's nothing we haven't seen before. Even moreso, the series is starting to feel reluctant to move forward in storytelling and in terms of pushing the envelope. Don't believe the hype."

That is a biased review that i will find a way to get removed from the rankings at both major sites.

You simply cannot give a fighting game a 10/10(super smash brothers), which is far more redundant then GTAIV.

When the reviewer can explain that one, maybe then this site will be included in the overall rankings.

Posted by Coyotegrey on 05/15/2008 at 10:11PM

This reviewer, me, did not review Smash Bros.

Posted by Brendon on 05/15/2008 at 10:26PM

"When the reviewer can explain that one, maybe then this site will be included in the overall rankings."

Two different people. Two different games. And our track record and past work was enough to get us included in the two aggregation sites, so I doubt one review of a major game which disagrees with all the perfect scores will cause any issues. Why not remove all the perfect 10s and 100s from the site too, then? Couldn't they be biased in the opposite direction following your criteria? I've seen IGN and GameSpot dock plenty of games for not doing enough to innovate in sequels, yet GTA4 seems to warrant a 10.

Will people (and publishers) stop trying to cause some massive drama/conspiracy over this? It's a review that disagrees with most of the other reviews out there. Big deal. Read it, post a civil comment arguing otherwise, and move on. No need to send death threat emails, spam people from GN on IM/MSN, or try to get people to DDOS the site. It's a game review for Christ's sake, get some perspective on what's going on in the world.

Posted by rtanger on 05/24/2008 at 11:09AM

A little late getting in here, but there's something I wanted to talk about--

"This disconnect between story and world is one of the game's most significant narrative flaws; since GTA is so open-ended, it only compounds the problem inherent to its very genre. "

I don't necessarily agree 100% on this point. Yes, the world in GTA is rather irreverent and covered in a rather juvenile sheen, but to me, I see this as a further commentary by Rockstar on the state of this country. On the surface, everything is glossy, silly, and fluffy, no real meaning to any of the things that surround us. Our world of advertising and consumption, as well as the ridiculous "discussions" and "news" on our radio and TV, is really just as pointless as that in GTA's radio and world.

Under this shiny, irrelevant surface, though, beats a cold, dead heart of business and ruthless moneymaking.

Is that really so different from our world?

The outward appearance, shiny capitalism and ridiculous nature of the world, and this idea that underneath it all, the world is fundamentally f*cked up plays well into the commentaries of the series.

At least, in my humble opinion. Having troubles thinking this morning. Need moar coffee. Hope I got my idea across...

Posted by rtanger on 10/27/2008 at 09:48PM

Finally, an honest review that's not kow-towing to the RockStar gods.

Wish I'd read it BEFORE I bought this piece of crap! Why make such a great game with no decent save system and no difficulty control? Plus, the personal fight controls stink to high heaven - push the punch button, nothing happens. Push again, nothing happens. Push again, randomly, he finally throws a freakin' punch - well after he's already been pummeled by the opponent a couple of times. These are some of the most fundamental gaming features and they're completely left out or fumbled. Great writing, great visuals, great music, but the gaming is second rate. What the?!?!

Gameplay & Design: The single-player gameplay is the same as it ever was but the engine is more refined than ever. Goofing off without a purpose is rarely this fun.
Graphics & Sound: Altogether fantastic, but the game suffers from more than average pop-up. One of the most eclectic soundtracks around. Everything sounds as you'd expect it to, even the insane hobos talking to themselves.
8.7	Final Word: The nature of the open-ended gameplay still makes for memorable random and not-so-random occurrences you'll repetitiously be reciting to friends, but for the most part it's nothing we haven't seen before.