How on earth can Grand Theft Auto IV live up to the hype? With the series so worshipped around the world, Niko’s trip to Liberty City has been high on every gamer’s radar ever since Rockstar announced its arrival on the next gen consoles.
Many pretenders to the throne have appeared since the last full GTA title. We’re thinking of Saints Row on the Xbox 360 in particular. Niko’s tale, however, is finally ready to be told.
Liberty City (the setting of the much loved Grand Theft Auto III if you’d forgotten) has been given a brand new lick of paint and the various lowlifes are lining up to be used and abused. We can't wait.
They say:
IGN: “Expectations were so high for Grand Theft Auto IV that one of the biggest surprises is that it’s managed to meet them.”
CVG: “As an all round experience it's truly, hype aside, a standout experience of gaming in 2008.”
Eurogamer: “GTA IV is the 10/10 you were expecting. Almost everything you do in Liberty City would be good enough to drive its own game and the best parts would be good enough to outrun the competition.”
We say:
Grand Theft Auto IV is an altogether different game to San Andreas. Gone are all most of the repetitive customisation aspects and in their place is a mission that sorts the men from the wimps.
The star this time round, Niko, is quite literally just off the boat. Arriving in Liberty City from some unspecified Eastern European country, it’s his cousin’s tale of wealth, women and all round good living that encourages the former Army man to America.
It’s not long however until Niko discovers that his cousin isn’t quite living the playboy lifestyle. Niko, however, has some scores to settle and he wants the good life – don’t we all? And it’s to Rockstar’s credit that you’ll be desperate for him to achieve his goals.
Obviously we don’t want to divulge too much about the game’s lengthy (about 40 hours alone) story. Let’s just say the combination of stunning cut scenes populated with fantastic animation and incredible voice acting kick all pretenders to the GTA throne into touch. It’s way above the standard ‘bad man trying to kill everyone and everything’ video game fare.
Not that Niko is the only star. Liberty City itself takes equal billing as you see a different personality every time you turn a corner. Streets are littered with incredibly well animated pedestrians who’re intelligent enough to react to your provocation and actions.
There’s so much more to do on foot than in previous GTA games. Niko can clamber all over the city finding sneaky areas to snipe from and attempting to avoid the police after a fully fledged brawl.
But it’s the gun play that’s seen the biggest upgrade. A Gears of War-esque cover system has been included making brutal killing a much more satisfying experience. Switch the auto aim feature off (which you’re encouraged to do straight away) and you’ll be popping out from behind cover to pick off enemies and blind firing with absolute ease. It’s easily as good as any standalone third person action title currently available.
We could rave about this game all day. Each vehicle has much more weight and inertia thanks to the brand new engine. Being chased by the cops will have you on the edge of your seat, especially when your car starts jerking violently after they manage to pop a cap in one of your rear tyres.
GTA has truly grown up with this incarnation. Stealing a parked car now involves smashing the driver's window and hot wiring the vehicle, all while hoping that a police car doesn’t happen to drive past and catch you red handed.
With Niko having an unnerving realistic feel, you’ll be less eager to go on the kind of horrific violence ridden destruction sprees that the previous games in the series are famed for. Don't panic though - you'll still feel like obliterating anyone and everyone and the new engine makes it a much more graphically appealing experience too.
Then there’s the online modes. Up to 16 of you can jump into Liberty City online at any point to take part in races, obliterate each other in a standard death match or make use of some of the more innovative modes on offer. Having a number of you as the police and the rest as the robbers trying to make their escape is undoubtedly one of the best online gaming experiences available at the moment. We reckon this mode will give birth to a million different tales on message boards around the world.
Now for the console rivalry. Much has been made of the downloadable content supposedly available for the Xbox 360 version later on in the year though few hard facts have leaked out as yet.
Downloads aside, which version is best? Well, aesthetically they're pretty much identical. The PS3 version seems a little ‘cleaner’ though the Xbox 360 iteration seems to have a slightly more solid frame rate. If you own both consoles, plump for the one that most of your gaming chums are playing so you can take full advantage of the online options.
Buy it. Play it. Experience it. The hype’s all been true. Grand Theft Auto IV is the single best game currently available on this generation of consoles.
If any other title manages to beat this in terms of excitement, aesthetics, atmosphere and story telling then it deserves its own religion.
Like this? Try these:
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
Grand Theft Auto III
FORMAT REVIEWED
PS3, Xbox 360
OTHER FORMATS
None
POSTED...
Mon 28 Apr at 11:45pm
