The Just Win Clan

Grand Theft Auto IV Reviewed

By T.J. Williams

Graphics – 9.0

The graphics in this game are amazing.  Everything looks smooth and flushed out.  I was blown away with so many little things have little details added to them.  For example when it rains you can actually see the rain drops hitting the ground, and when you go to the cut scenes the mouths actually move with the voice (sounds ridiculous, but after playing so many games with voices not matching the mouth movement, it is a nice change).  Once you reach the second island and get to see their version of downtown New York, you will almost stop whatever it is you’re doing and just pan the camera around in amazement of how great everything looks.  I think one of the best new features in the game has to be what Rockstar calls the “ragdoll” effect.  The ragdoll effect is where each person or character in the game reacts like a doll after any impact.  For example, when you hit someone with your car barreling around a corner they will literally fly through the air like a doll with limbs flailing around.  It brings much more realism to a game that you thought couldn’t have any more added.  I do play in full high definition which has a tremendous amount of more detail then a standard TV, I have also played GTA on a standard TV and the game definitely loses a lot of beauty.  The only thing that I would say still needs to be improved on by Rockstar would be the character’s bodies.  They don’t look bad but they still feel a little blocky to a certain degree.  It’s not a major issue and still looks good, but it seems as though they put more emphasis into the faces/heads of the characters versus how much effort they put into the bodies.

Sound – 8.0

With full surround sound coming through all the speakers you can hear everything as you walk around one of the four main islands.  Everything sounds authentic and crisp from the street cars revving their engines to the people on the streets walking by going about their business as if you are not there, unless you bother them.  The real meat of sound for any GTA game is the music stations when you are in a vehicle.  For me, I was let down by the music selection in this game because I felt like there was not enough music that I enjoy.  However, it is purely an opinion of music as I have heard from others that the music in this game is some of the best GTA music they have heard.  For me, I found myself listening to only about three different radio stations with the other ones being a waste of time.  At one point I even turned off the radio stations because I was sick of the songs they were playing.

Playability – 9.0

The playability in this game should be broken up into three parts:  shooting, vehicle controls, and general running around.  Shooting is a bit awkward at first but after a few moments with it you get used to it and become very comfortable with it.  My only complaint about it is that the free aim is a bit cumbersome if you have auto-aim on because it will quickly go to a target even if you’re just trying to look around.  You can also hug up against a wall now and shoot around corners without completely exposing yourself, somewhat like Gears of War or Rainbow Six: Vegas.  The vehicle controls for the cars are spot on and very easy to get used to.  Even better, each car has its own way of handling and power. You can definitely feel if a car is too heavy and has no get up and go or if the car is too light and will slide too much around corners.  The only vehicle that was a pain in the ass to drive was the helicopter, mostly because it is so awkward to fly around because it feels like the controls are so unresponsive.  But really, that feeling is just the helicopter adjusting very slowly.  It could be like that in real life for all I know.   To understand, try doing the helicopter bridge achievement and you will know my frustration.  Lastly, generally running around, Niko moves smooth and controls react when you want them too without too much frustration.  The only really annoying part about any of the controls in this game is if you get stuck in tight corners trying to aim, the camera will sort of jump and you can get turned around very easy.  Luckily there are only a few missions (out of 94) that it could become a problem.

Fun Factor – 10.0

Ok, I have always loved the GTA (sandbox games) style of games where you pretty much have free roam to do whatever you want, and GTA 4 is no exception.  There are so many things you can do in this game that you will literally lose hours just running around seeing and doing different things.  If you are bored (which is not likely) or curious, you can take a helicopter tour of the whole city.  You can also stray from the main storyline and go do assassination missions where in one case you have to snipe someone on their boat.  Or you can just drive around in a car hitting people trying to out run the police.  On top of those things you can play darts, pool, go bowling, go to a comedy club (yes, watch a comedy show), and go to a strip club.  That is only a few of the things to do in this game that I found fun, then there is the multiplayer, which I will be honest I was very skeptical of at first because I thought online gaming with GTA…no way.  However, after spending several hours online just getting in some team deathmatch I was blown away with how much fun it was.  I am not saying it is better then COD 4 or anything like that, but if you are looking for an online shooter where you can just log in and shoot and have a good time I definitely recommend this game.  Also, they have online races you can partake in with courses they have put together.  I tried those, but I am not any good at racing games so I got smoked. It did seem as though the racing games were more packed then the team deathmatch games, however.

Replay Value – 9.0

I would say the replay ability in this game breaks down to whether or not you like/want to do all the side missions and get everything in the game, thus achieving that elusive 100% complete status, or just beat the game and move on to the next game.  I am one of those guys when I get into a game I want to get everything.  So, for me the replay value is very high and fun and I would say for the gamer who just likes to beat the game and move on, that the online part of the game will even keep you playing a bit longer than you think.

Overall Rating (an average) – 9.0

This game is simply put, amazing with a couple of minor imperfections that are hardly noticeable to the flow of the game.  The imperfections don’t really detract from the game.  One could easily play this game for 30+ hours and not even realize it.  For me this game is one of my all time favorite games.  This game is definitely a must buy game.