Gaming Grand Theft Auto IV

If a game doesn't look like Crysis, it doesn't mean it looks like ****...

 

I found it a lot more "serious" in the type of missions than SA, no area 51 here...
I couldn't find these cars where when you hop in a mission starts. But I like it a lot, on a PS3 it looks fine in 720p, no framerate issues.
No more bicycles...and no more cop bikes.

 

Definitely agree. I think it's far more important to have a style of presentation which matches the game and has a unique, effective style rather than just adding polygons on top. Look at Portal and the design in that, or in something like Beyond Good and Evil or XII. Artistically those games wow me much more than Crysis did.

 

this review makes me happy as previously mentioned, one of the first i have seen to take a proper subjective view of it and note the problems.
I was excited as everyone else to get it, but after a few hours was pretty disapointed - its a definate step up from the gta3 games in every way....improvements to everything - but that doesnt make it groundbreaking. Its merely building on what they already created.
Graphics were a dissapointment to me as well, probably due to the previous games i played - mass effect, assassins creed, burnout paradise and lost oddyssey. All of those are beautiful in their own way, leaving me expecting more of the same from gta. It is fully understandable though - in response to the comment above about burnout managing to look good with an open world, you forget that the addition of people and other objects that didnt exist in burnout makes a huge performance difference.

I am still playing through the game quite happily, but i certainly dont think its the most groundbreaking game ever.

 

Gfx wise, i think it shows that the 360 and PS3 just arent powerful enough for true 720p gaming. So far , only about 1 game in 4 runs at full 720p with a decent (solid 30fps or more) frame rate.

 

I agree with Hustler. To me, game consoles aren't quite next gen, they got pretty close, but they're just not quite as sharp they could be and omg popin/limited framerates. Then again 360 is nearly a couple of years old now...
Oh and beyond good and evil had great art design, I wish there were more games like it.

 

i will wait until this comes to pc!

 

Would it be too much to bring back parachutes?...

But really, the multiplayer portion with actual goals isn't too fun, but the open multiplayer is where the meat is. Get a few friends together, and just roam around the city. It's how GTA was meant to be played, IMO.

 

Besides GTA II, i never played a GTA that makes me WOW on graphics. I play GTA games for the gameplay. And if it has to have half the graphics quality for a better gameplay I think it's better.

I am ok with square fingers and some blurring, but i will have to wait until PC version of it :/

 

It's funny how influential this games have been. Rick Dark, from TnB released 9000+ Usernames and Passwords, JUST because someone told him the ending of GTA IV =/
What's the gaming world come to?

 

total respect to Joe. 9/10, not 10/10. you just gone up in my books man! good review, and having played it on PS3, one i'd agree with. at the end of the day, this is GTA all over again.

 

I'm going to freeze myself until this is released for PC, because there's no way I can wait until September/April '09.

Come on..... COME ON.....

 

and thats why the pc is superior. (well, there are other reasons as well). shame the port will be a cheap 1 - 1, a year late and not taking advantage of what the pc has on offer.

 

I want the PC-version. NOW!

 

Personally I'd say the game is a 9/10 for the single player element and it strolls comfortably to a 10/10 when you factor in the multiplayer which is incredible fun, whether you're indulging in a race or giving a three-man shoeing to a fallen cop. I'm not one for fanboyism and I'm normally pretty harsh with games, but honestly I find it hard to rationalise GTA 4 not getting a ten, at least in terms of any meaningful relative comparison. Maybe the PC version might score lower if it doesn't get a graphics facelift, but that's horses for courses. GTA 4 has some problems, sure, and it has some limitations to what you can do, but the actual meat of the game is eyewateringly good. I can't see any possible alternative to GTA 4 as the best game on the X360 and that's not even like a close call, I mean by X360 standards Halo 3 or Bioshock is a classic. I mean you've got to consider the comparative weakness of other titles when looking at a game like GTA 4 on a system like the X360.

Thing I would say with it is that if it had no flaws at all, if the controls were somehow better, the graphics a little better- whatever, then ten out of ten would not be high enough, you'd have to give it ten and kick everything else down a notch or two.

I know in the face of such overwhelming hype it's easy to want to swim upstream but unless you're working on a scoring system where 10/10 is completely unachievable then I don't see how GTA 4 could reasonably be considered a deficient game. I'm all for criticism where it's due, but I don't think 9/10, given the other games that have rated that score, is a fair reflection of just how much win there is in GTA 4.

 

I've always felt that why should i waste monon a console which is already last gen as opposed to what they mark it as, in my opinion i've always seen PC's as the next gen hardware that gets dished up into consoles and with regard to GTA i've always prefered the texture increases and framerate boosts ect that the PC versions always bring to the table and i'm sure that rockstar will take into account these texture issues when the port it, i personally look forward to GTAIV on TRUE next gen hardware

 

I've said it before in my original post above and I'll say it again:

Page 3 - para 10 - 'Besides, most of the time you’ll be just be cruising around' - remove 'be'.

 

Finally someone else agrees the graphics were disappointing. I thought I was being odd!

 

Slightly overharsh review i thought.

Especially the part about saying that too much content as being a problem... I don't agree with that at all i'm afraid

Do agree on the graphics though, when you first start the game my first thoughts are always "eeew! jaggies and blurryness" but you do get used to it and not notice it at all a minute or so later.

Only real problem i've encountered so far is the fact that people will ring you up to go out bowling or whatever, whilst you're halfway through a mission, meaning you have to decide between declining and annoying the person who rang you up or failing the mission

i also agree on the final score as well, whilst it's undoubtedly a very good game, it's not perfect, so 9/10 seems about right

Lies! Portal isn't overated, it deserves all the praise it gets

Depends on the car i feel, the crappier the car, the crappier the handling So just find a nice car and keep hold of it!

 

the graphics are alittle below par, but theres so much going on on screen. personally id prefer it this way.