bit-tech News: Grand Theft Auto IV

[Chierin]

Grand Theft Auto IV is a great game and although it's still very early in the year, this is obviously going to be a strong candidate for Game of The Year. It always was, frankly.

Yet, there's still a little niggle of doubt in our ears here -- something that says that although Grand Theft Auto IV is a great game, it just isn't the huge leap forward we all expected it to be. This seed of doubt says that GTA IV is far more an evolution than a revolution and that that is obviously going to limit the overall impact and impression of the game.

That doubt is true and is utterly justified in what it says when you sit down to really listen to it. Grand Theft Auto is a top-notch game, but it isn't as mind-blowing and impressive as something like Portal, for example. It's building on the foundations of previous games in the series and adding on a few extra features each time -- it isn't completely new and fresh itself.

That doesn't make Grand Theft Auto IV any less of a Game of The Year candidate and it doesn't take anything away from the insane amount of fun to be had. What it does do though is make the entire experience a little more predictable; a lot of the time you know what's coming beforehand and the first third of everything feels like jumping through hoops just to meet an old friend.

It's not game-wrecking and it doesn't detract from how great GTA IV is as a whole, but GTA IV isn't as original and shockingly good as the franchise once was. It's another re-polished and re-tuned iteration of a proven idea and though the game is definitely a must-buy, it also isn't all that startling.

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[jeffopus]

I have never played any previous Grand Theft Auto game until my editor at Game Chronicles listed it on the available reviews list for us reviewers. I jumped at the chance to review this as it would be the first in the series I played as well as the first decent game I played on my new PlayStation 3 system.

It is a very good game, 8.8/10 in my opinion, but not the best thing since the guy sliced the bread before selling it us. I liked the games style and the voice acting was fantastic along with the detail they followed for making such a wide open environemt with things everywhere, even in train tunnels.

But, and I do not think this is small or petty things, the open ended environment ends when you start on a mission, you do not have the entire islands to roam from the start. During a mission this open ended environment will often not matter as several mission will have you quickly having to chase down someone where they are dictating where you go.

The game is fine and plays well for the most part but there are times when you are trying to quickly perform a couple of manuevers like running and then whipping out a gun and shooting that does not always work well. This jumping from one movement or action to another was the most infuriating part of the game and definetely not a perfect feature.

So my big complaint about the reviews of GTA IV, I saw several reviews that included complaints and problems with the game, nothing major but still worth mentioning yet they gave the game a perfect 10 out of 10 or 100% or whatever their scaling is.

I found it a great game but there is no such thing as perfect when the game has graphical and gameplay problems.

My review will be hitting Game Chronicles Magazine soon.

Jeff Gedgaud