GTA: IV Extensive 7 Day Hands-On Impression Playthough

GrathiusXR shares his 7 day early Hands-On playthrough of the years most sought after game – GTA: IV.

by GrathiusXR

©2008 Arthur Kotsopoulos

“`Waking up at 8am on Wednesday the 23^rd to discover on my front porch a box containing my ordered GTA: IV Special Edition sitting there, was a sight to behold. I thought to myself is it April 29^th already? No it can’t be.

“`Just like any other gamer I ripped open the box and took the Special Edition and checked out the lockbox, key ring, duffle bag, soundtrack and the most anticipated game of the year Grand Theft Auto IV.

The version I have is the Australian version which by now everyone knows it is the edited version, although no one exactly knows what has been edited from it.

The Australian version is as much violent and rude than any game I have played in a long time. Whether it’d be over the top swearing, blood splatter on cars, strip clubs or just plain killing and making fun of the police, edited or un-edited there is a lot of fun to be had with this game.

GTA: IV is set back in Liberty City, so you could say it has come full circle just like Halo 3, which is nice since it takes the best from all 3 previous GTAs’ and implements them in GTA: IV.

Once I put the disc into the Xbox 360 I knew I was going to be in for the ride of my life. Without any stalling or hassling the game loads up and throws you straight into the action with a nice intro cut scene which explains the basic story of what you need to know to get you going.

Since I am so used to Forza 2, the moment I started driving the cars in GTA: IV they felt some what out of control and really sensitive. Of course this is how all GTAs play like in terms of vehicles, so it was more of me needing to accustom myself to the handling of the cars. After a bit of practice and driving around the cars get much easier to handle and drive. The cars available on the first island are of course the worst so their handling isn’t up to scratch, but once the other 2 islands become accessible better cars can be stolen and they handle excellent.

“`The same can be said with the handling of the main character Niko. At first the camera angles and movement of Niko can feel awkward and will take some time to get used to. What I really liked was the different camera angles available there are 5 in total to use. With the cinematic view being the best when driving around Liberty City, as it is different views every few seconds, from helicopter views zooming into your car, or viewing from the back right wheel of the car every view is just so COPS style as you see on television and it is great. With this also comes a slow-mo feature which is superb when driving away from cops and you want to do some slow motion turning.

Rockstar have implemented a cover system which actually works really great in the GTA world. Accompanied by a target system in tricky situations this is actually a very useful feature and I have actually used it myself in every single gun battle I have been in, not only will it ensure that you won’t lose as much health and you will also be able to pick off enemies one by one a little easier. If you some how don’t like the feature then you can just turn it off and use the free aim which is the norm or aiming in GTA.

The target and cover system are great and just add to the intense adrenaline rush. Though these come with a price, the AI can do exactly what you can do. If you slide behind cover the enemy does exactly the same, if you drive a car and hide behind it most enemies will throw grenades to flush you out or kill you. So be careful when running into gun battles as the enemy will use tactics to eliminate you

Liberty City is just apex of the whole game, why? Because it is one whole living place, during the day yeah you have your pedestrians, cars driving, police and gangsters roaming, but at night is where it really shines. There is nothing more satisfying than flying your helicopter over Liberty City and just watching all the flashy neon lights below on the buildings and bridges. It shows that Rockstar have put time and effort into making GTA: IV the best experience ever, it is still the king of the open sand-box genre and that after GTA: III, Vice City and San Andreas it can still offer something new and exciting to breathe fresh air into the genre.

I love how every pedestrian on the street you meet on all 3 islands will have a different reaction towards you, either afraid, or menacing or just plain friendly and that no one pedestrian really looks exactly the same, which is great and adds diversity.

The size of LC is just huge! With 4 islands and a ton of stuff to do the scale of this game is just beyond and above, but this size comes with a price, and that is time. Some missions will require you to go to different islands and driving there takes what may seem forever, but Taxi’s have been included to ensure you a quick and harmless journey in the split of second which is nice if you cannot be bothered to drive for minutes on end to get to a mission.

“`With a scale of a game this big you must imagine how tough it is to perfect the graphics, and I must say Rockstar have done wonders to provide stellar graphics which is a major overhaul from San Andreas, yet also offer an almost bug free experience. *Almost* bug free.

“`Even though it has received numerous 10/10 on different websites, it does have certain graphical problems and game play issues I have encountered. Texture pop-ins in the most unexpected places that really shouldn’t be there, game play glitches where I knocked over my ally during a mission in a building and they disappeared and then popped up on the roof which you could not access. This meant I had to restart the mission a few itmes until I finally got it done.

The mobile phone is by far the best addition to the GTA universe before it was just answer when it rang but now they have allowed you to customize your ring tone, theme, call up anyone to ask to go you with them for a drink, or ask for their special services they offer after a certain time.

Although it is a great addition, it is the most annoying is the mobile phone you own. Once you have a lot of contacts during the critical point of a mission they will call you up and ask you to go out with them and of course you cannot say “yes” because then you fail the mission when you’re going so good, this leads to them losing some respect towards you and how much they like you.

With the mobile being annoying the others are minor and very rare but make you wonder if they got a bit lazy at the end in terms of fixing up the bugs.

Like with previous Grand Theft Auto’s the radio stations have been on everyones to listen to list. Whether it’d be rock, funk, pop, or dance songs from every genre are included in the lastes installment, although at first some of you may thin kwho on earth is this singer? do not worry Rockstar have gone the way of rising singers and bands to add to the song list and radio stations. These songs not only capture the essence and atmospsher that is Liberty City but they also do really sound good. What i love best is if you need to chase a crimnal and steal a car what kind of song do you think will start playing off the bat? A fast adrenaline pumping song of course.

I have chased many crooks and had rock and roll songs start playing, i have taken helicopters tours and had soothing slow rock songs start playing and at night when i fly around LC and take in the sight electro funk starts playing. So in every situation there is a perfect song that plays to capture the moment

Here is just a little something of what I have done through Liberty City in my 7 day play through so far, and there is so much more to do. Whether you want to just roam around cause havoc, continue with the main missions, or just chill out with friends at the bar, or bowling alley, Rockstar have really thought of every possible way to satisfy the gamer through out their time spent in Liberty City,

• Steal a car and drive off while the guy holds onto the door and just drags along for the road for the ride,

• Call up my cousin Roman or some one of my friends and go and play either Darts, Pool or Watch a stage show, get drunk, or enjoy some man time at a strip club,
• Smash into poles and watch Niko fly through the front windscreen and just tumble and roll,
• Meet certain random people in the street and help them out with certain situations they have,
• Prank the police in coming to where you are and just watching them in embarrassment as they stand there looking around,
• Hijack a helicopter while being toured around the city to tour myself and enjoy the view of the city at night,
• Hijack a police vehicle and access the police computer and take down criminals in action.

Like I said there is nothing you cannot do, and if you are stuck on a mission use the environment as your tool to success. I found a mission where there was a roof I could not get to how did I accomplish it? By stealing a helicopter and getting onto the roof. GTA: IV is as non-linear as they come with LC at your very disposal, so if you are stuck don’t think inside the box, think outside it.

While there are some things I have noticed such a texture pop-ins at their rarest form, and a few game play glitches here and there GTA: IV is an absolute blast to play and enjoy and worth the price it is being offered at, by far the best of the series and a definite contender for GOTY.

©2008 Arthur Kotsopoulos