Grand Theft Auto IV
Review
Do believe the hype
by Chris Davis
reviewed on X360
Transition
Players who remember visiting Liberty City seven years ago will find that the city they once knew has been drastically altered. Unlike the almost mid-size city feel of Grand Theft Auto III, Niko Bellic’s Liberty City is vastly larger and both looks and feels much more like the major metropolis it is modeled after. Gone are the islands of Shoreside Vale, Stauton, and Portland. They are replaced by the much larger islands of Broker, Dukes, Bohan, and Algonquin and even part of the state of Alderney: Rockstar’s take on New Jersey. The resulting size of the city is gigantic, beating out recent renditions on games like Spider-Man 3 and maybe even the upcoming Sierra title Prototype. It can literally take up to thirty minutes to traverse the entirety of the map.
Rockstar has gone to great lengths to recreate New York in their own twisted fashion. Many of the landmarks of the city, such as the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building, are featured in the game. To keep the critics at bay, they have been renamed and slightly remodeled into the Statue of Happiness and the Rotterdam Tower respectively. Many other New York landmark locations are present, giving Liberty City a quite authentic feel. It is interesting to note that many of the streets of Liberty City are named after minerals and elements in the periodic table, though the vehicles in the game all have the same license plate.
When you transition from one neighborhood to another you will instantly notice the changes in people. The day-night cycle has the same effect; the transition going from businessmen and women to seedy prostitutes and lowlifes as the sun goes down is simply breathtaking. Of course, as is tradition in the series, the populace is filled with distasteful anger and road rage throughout so veterans will feel right at home. And all this can be enjoyed with the full freedom to roam around as you please.
My Heart with Rapture Thrills
The most prevalent addition to the Grand Theft Auto universe is the creation of a cover system similar in function to games like Gears of War and Rainbow Six Vegas. This is a significant improvement over the previous three games, as many missions could be near impossible to play later on. It is such a good addition that the end result is almost game-breaking, allowing the player to sit behind cover for long periods of time and wipe out dozens of enemies without even taking a scratch.
The standard gameplay controls are very similar to the previous games but some things have been reorganized on the controller. All is pretty much well and good, though one of the nitpicky things players will quickly discover is the camera system. Like the previous games in the series, the player can freely control the camera any way they see fit. New is that the camera automatically reverts to its default position when the right stick is not in use. While this doesn’t sound like an issue, it can be a bit of a pain when you are driving a car simply because you can’t keep an eye out to either side of you. However, this is just a bad pistachio in a five gallon bucket full of goodness.
Rockstar decided to use the Euphoria physics engine, well known for being one of the most realistic engines on the market. With it, they have succeeded in providing some of the best drive-simulating in an action game to date. The only small weakness in the driving controls shows when you are in the heat of pursuit. At these times it can be overly difficult to navigate traffic while you (or a cop) are trying to do a P.I.T. (Precision Intervention Tactic) maneuver.
9.0
fun score
No Pros and Cons at this time
