Topic: Rockstar has a new game called IV

[DAaaMan64]

You know, I was thinking... I'll just buy this when it comes out on PC!

Okay I just watched and played this game for about 3 1/2 hours last night.  So far, in terms of looks it looks just like a updated version of Liberty City.  Now unfortunately I have some nit picks. 

1.  You can't stand on cars while they're moving for any extended period.
2.  Seems like there are to many cops and the range you have to run away from them is very large, and how long it takes for them to get off your case seem to be forever. (This could change if I played more)
3.  Cops shoot you A LOT.  It results in death A LOT.  (Could change)
4.  You walk weird and sort of weird and floaty, gonna take some time to get used to.
5.  If you "get busted" then resist you can get away but you have 2 starts, it's nice to be able to get away, but 2 stars a pain to get rid of.
6.  The cops are UNMARKED on your radar.  (Could change, but for now, super annoying considering how many cops there are.)
7.  Free aiming seemed to be a pain in the ass get started.
8.  The cars can STALL and not work any more more often then they will blow up.  Totally annoying and unexpected.
9.  This isn't a problem depending on who you are, but the environment has a very boring color pallet just like GTA3 did.
10.  You have a sell phone, and people freaking bother you with it for missions all the time, even if your in the middle of a giant ass car chase.  I don't like that.  (This probably will change)
Anti-Nitpicks:
1.  Insane graphics, absolutely great.
2.  Cars drive pretty alright.
3.  Got weapons quick.
4.  Physics are wonderful.

But these are IMPRESSIONS AFTER ONLY 4 HOURS. So please be aware.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

It's easy for a game to get 10s when the rest of the platform's library is not up to par hur

[Dasmos]

So I went over a friends house today and played it. I was making fun of him every chance I could get.

"How many cities are there?"
"Uhhh just one, but it's huge!"
"Really? San Andreas had 3. I'd prefer more smaller ones than one big boring one."

"Let's steal a plane, that's my favourite thing to do."
"Uhhhh, you can't. You can fly a helicopter though."
"What? Helicopters are lame, this game is lame."

There were many more examples, it was fun seeing him get overly frustrated, but yeah it's an awesome game. Definitely would warrant a purchase down the track.

[Nick DiMola]

I'm curious to know if it is different enough from GTA III (and Liberty City)/ Vice City (and Stories)/ San Andreas to warrant a purchase. I'm burnt out on those games. If this one really differs enough I'll still consider a purchase, but reviews that I have read and videos I've seen paint this game to be very similar to those just set in a cool city with better graphics and some minor trimmings. Would anyone be able to comment on whether or not that is about right?

[DAaaMan64]

It's easy for a game to get 10s when the rest of the platform's library is not up to par hur

If it is true that it is the exact same map pretty much as 3 than I am very surprised that it would get a ten. I mean it is pretty much a remake at that point.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

"Gamers" need something to champion, even as "jernolists".  Happens on all fronts of the business.

[ThePerm]

It pretty much seems like a remake of 3, except your some slavic dude instead of an Italian, luigi is replaced by your slavic cousin, I've barely played though, so its hard to say.

[DAaaMan64]

Here is a list of all the negatives collected from the reviews.

Link

I need to play this game, I can't believe it has a gotten a 10. It didn't seem like much when I played it yesterday. I hope it comes out for PC soon.

Will you guys on our forums that have it please keep us updated with your impressions? I'm curious what your opinion is.  So far look at some of this stuff:

GTA4 is Gamespots 5th Perfect 10 ever, the prior 10s were:  Chrono Cross, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Soul Calibur, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 (PlayStation 2)

Quote: "canada.com —  Tuesday's release of Grand Theft Auto IV is expected to be so big, there's a real concern in Hollywood that the video game could dampen the box office for the May 2nd release of Iron Man."

Quote from a developer: "As a developer, I am crapping in my pants. The game seems so big and so vast and there are so many things you can do that it has not simply raised the bar as to what is expected in a AAA game, but it's taken the bar and hurled it into outer space."

And countless other things like that ALL over the internet.  After playing and watching it for 4 hours I really don't feel that good about this game, but whatever.

It must be REALLY damn good.

[Flames_of_chaos]

Gamespot is hilarious their original review they gave GTA a 9.5 but then they change the score to a 10.

Lol, seriously?

Yup and now they are trying to play it off as if it was a bug Source

[Nick DiMola]

With everything pointed out in that nega-review it is pretty clear that this game is not a perfect 10.

[DAaaMan64]

With everything pointed out in that nega-review it is pretty clear that this game is not a perfect 10.

Well I have to play it, I mean it could be like No More Heroes where it has plenty of little problems but when you actually play the game it is so overwhelming awesome you let the score a little higher anyway.

[GoldenPhoenix]

Well I played it for a couple of hours last night and have to say it is good but definitely not great, then again I haven't been able to play many of the missions because I've been exploring the town. It basically feels like GTA3 with a makeover and realistic physics (which are great). There is nothing really innovative about the game from what I've seen. The cop escape radius is stupid IMO, and it has some clunky jumping controls that sometimes make you try more than once to jump over something.

The framerate is erratic at times and the textures seem kind of blah, especially door textures which give no sense of realism to the buildings and look painted on, something I was hoping they would fix with this, perhaps even allowing you to enter more of the buildings, but instead it appears to be more of a step back in terms of that instead of a step forward.

So a perfect 10 seems quite far fetched so far for a game that basically a flashier GTA3. Though that does not mean it is a bad game by any means. I'll update my impressions as I get more time in it.

[Nick DiMola]

Well I played it for a couple of hours last night and have to say it is good but definitely not great, then again I haven't been able to play many of the missions because I've been exploring the town. It basically feels like GTA3 with a makeover and realistic physics (which are great). There is nothing really innovative about the game from what I've seen. The cop escape radius is stupid IMO, and it has some clunky jumping controls that sometimes make you try more than once to jump over something.

The framerate is erratic at times and the textures seem kind of blah, especially door textures which give no sense of realism to the buildings and look painted on, something I was hoping they would fix with this, perhaps even allowing you to enter more of the buildings, but instead it appears to be more of a step back in terms of that instead of a step forward.

So a perfect 10 seems quite far fetched so far for a game that basically a flashier GTA3. Though that does not mean it is a bad game by any means. I'll update my impressions as I get more time in it.

This is exactly the impression I got from reviews. Meh, I'll pass for now. Once I can find it used for about $5 like the others, I'll buy it up.

[DAaaMan64]

Thanks GP.

[Dirk Temporo]

1.  You can't stand on cars while they're moving for any extended period.

You can't in real life either.

2.  Seems like there are to many cops and the range you have to run away from them is very large, and how long it takes for them to get off your case seem to be forever. (This could change if I played more)

WHAT. COPS ACTUALLY CHASE YOU?

3.  Cops shoot you A LOT.  It results in death A LOT.  (Could change)

Suck less.

4.  You walk weird and sort of weird and floaty, gonna take some time to get used to.

I don't even know wtf that means. Niko walks perfectly normal.

5.  If you "get busted" then resist you can get away but you have 2 starts, it's nice to be able to get away, but 2 stars a pain to get rid of.

So they FINALLY give you an option to resist arrest, and you COMPLAIN ABOUT IT?

6.  The cops are UNMARKED on your radar.  (Could change, but for now, super annoying considering how many cops there are.)

Why should they be marked on your radar? It's ridiculous enough that they're marked when you have a wanted level.

7.  Free aiming seemed to be a pain in the ass get started.

Free aiming works MUCH better than it did in SA.

8.  The cars can STALL and not work any more more often then they will blow up.  Totally annoying and unexpected.

As with the arrest, they finally give an alternative to a car billowing out smoke and flames then exploding, thus taking you and everyone in a twenty foot radius with it (which probably killed me more than anything else in the other games), AND YOU'RE COMPLAINING?

10.  You have a sell phone, and people freaking bother you with it for missions all the time, even if your in the middle of a giant ass car chase.  I don't like that.

So... Don't answer your phone. Problem solved.

PS: Haha. Mr. Jack thinks he'll be able to find this used for $5 when games that came out at the 360 launch are still $60.

[Bill Aurion]

The controls are pretty awful, especially in combat...Missions have been okay, and the humor is still really good...

Definitely not a 10 so far, but I'll have more time to put into it this weekend...

[DAaaMan64]

1.  Part of what made past GTA games fun.

2.  They didn't take that much work to get away from.  See #1

3.  "Playing" with the cops was fun. See #1

4.  He doesn't run or move like in past GTAs, it feels like you have less control over him.  I ask GP to say what she thinks about this.

5.  Considering how often the cops come out to play, this seems much more annoying then before.

6.  See #1  There are tons of cops walking and driving around, all the time is this one so far.  It's annoying.

7.  That maybe true, last one I played was Vice City.

8.  Because the cars die sooner! I don't want to accidentally hit a wall and then not realize my car died!  I'd rather it went on fire!  Very annoying to have this happen when your running from someone.

10.  Cause it's fricking annoying to harassed with "meet Roman at the Pool hall" crap when your just trying to goof off.

Please stop being so rude about this, I distinctly stated impressions after only FOUR HOURS.

[DAaaMan64]

The controls are pretty awful, especially in combat...Missions have been okay, and the humor is still really good...

Definitely not a 10 so far, but I'll have more time to put into it this weekend...

Bill remember to lock on to people when fighting, we didn't realize that for a while.

[Bill Aurion]

No problems locking-on here, it's the other things like punching/duck-n-cover/etc...Nico already controls rather floaty, so it makes it a pain...

The one thing I forgot to mention that irritates me the most are the camera options while driving...Why did they decide to stick the camera DIRECTLY BEHIND the car?  It makes it very hard to tell what the hell is in front of you...So I find that as I drive around I try to raise the camera a bit manually, but that just doesn't work out too well in a car chase... =/

[GoldenPhoenix]

The control over your character seems more fluid/realistic, really I don't have a problem with it.

You know what I would compare this game to? GTA3, Madden, Wrestling Games, The Sims 2, and Burnout. What the heck do these all have in common? Well the first game on a new system (or a sequel) feel incomplete, like they were more concerned about building a foundation to milk the franchise every year or two. Unlike, let's say, a Bioshock, Mario, or Zelda which feel like complete games where not much could be added to them and that the next game will be a full fledged sequel 3 or 4 years down the line. When games like Godfather had more interaction with buildings than GTA4, this feeling is emphasized 10 fold. The game even took a step back when it came to expanding the full map, San Andreas had a HUGE map complete with woods and cities.

[Bill Aurion]

Somehow I just got arrested for being a cab passenger...

[GoldenPhoenix]

Somehow I just got arrested for being a cab passenger...

LOL. One thing I like about GTA4 is that the civilians act more realistic, and are kind of fun to fool around with.

[Caliban]

I got the game today. I have played for a couple of hours or so.
One thing I will tell anyone is to start playing this game with either none, or negative expectations. I did.
It's not the greatest game to come out this year, but I am impressed with a few details. I'm liking the story so far, so I'm not going to deviate myself into a path of anarchy just yet, I will leave that for mulitplayer.

[GoldenPhoenix]

I got the game today. I have played for a couple of hours or so.
One thing I will tell anyone is to start playing this game with either none, or negative expectations. I did.
It's not the greatest game to come out this year, but I am impressed with a few details. I'm liking the story so far, so I'm not going to deviate myself into a path of anarchy just yet, I will leave that for mulitplayer.

I think you are right, I do NOT believe it is a bad game at all. It is quite good, perfect 10? Not a chance, but good. It does have neat little visual details, and the story is quite solid (like most GTA games).

[Maverick]

Just got this last night, but so far I'm finding myself liking San Andreas more.  Then again I'm only like, five hours into the game, so that could very well change.

I heard that there are no planes to fly in this one, though.  That makes me a very sad panda.