GTA:IV

I never Planned on getting GTA:IV since I've always been wary of the series, but with the help of a cheap Limited Edition Box...thingy through HMV those scottish devils managed to tempt me into forking out the money for it.
Now, all the big gaming sites went all out on this game with very few of them even mentioning one bad thing. All giving perfect scores. It kind of scared me ^_^

The game starts with a ship coming in to....blah blah blah...if you've played previous GTAs you can guess the story of the game driven by fucked up family issues, drugs, gangstas, mafias, violence ect. The writers can't be compared to those of Lost. But no one buys GTA for story.

Gameplay is the same as always. open world with plenty of cars to steal. missions to do which involve taxiing people around, eliminating certain people and going on dates....yea they dress it up and mix it up, but it come's down to those three.
Gameplay mechanics is basicly your phone. It appears in the bottom left hand corner and is quite hard to read on SD TVs. NPCs that you meet will always be calling you and pestering you. Frankly, this mechanic is one of the reasons GTA failed to impress me.
The AI is basicly the same stupid fuck from san andreas with idiotic drivers weaving all over the place.

Graphics wise Im hugly dissappointed. With all the delays and artsy screen shots plus the fact that this is the next gen I expected a bigger leap. But in my eyes they are a baby step from san andreas. Infact, in some places it seems to be a step back. heck the buildings looks like google earth in 3D mode. And dont get me started on the faces.
Though I do like the crash animation. The way you go flying through the windscreen when you crash at high speeds and you head and limbs react to smash against the floor is almost poetic. Though it gets annoying during motorbike chases where you keep fly yards away from the bike when you just tap an object. Overall, the graphics are acceptable....if it's on the 360. Heck, I'd bet the original Xbox could handle these graphics. But for the PS3 it's fucking insulting!

Character development is the same as in previous titles, though I see a reversal of roles. Normalling I hated the main character(damn CJ ><) but like the other. But in IV I find my self like Neko but hating everyone else in the world. This may have something to do with me not understanding a damn word they say even with subs on. I also blame the writers for this as well as the voice actors.

Fun and humour was non-existent for me in this game. I think R* must of hired new writers for this game because it all sucked. I liked the not so witty humour in SA. The radio is crud and the police don't hurl insults anymore.
All the things I found fun in SA to do when not doing missions seems to be removed from IV. No aeroplane to ply under bridges then jump out of at high altitude to free fall then parachute. No combine harvester to mince the local village. No farm vehicles at all. No Tanks to go on riots with. No country side to go exploring.

All in all I found Rockstars Grand Theft Auto IV to be a big let down which I traded in a week after release...kept the extra stuff though.

If your a 360 user then I advise getting this, especially with live.
PS3 users I advise only getting this if SA was your fav game on PS2 and you speak gangsta.

*looks at clock* ...this counts as Thursdays post.

Happy cruising

L