Grand Theft Auto IV
Published by Rockstar Games
Rating: MA 15+
VCE, meet your greatest foe yet: Grand Theft Auto IV. Rockstar's magnum opus is a sprawling epic, demanding hour after hour of morally testing, adrenaline pumping enjoyment, throwing you to the depths of Liberty City and giving you the choice to do as you please.
It's no understatement to say that it's the best and most complete game I've ever played, and if the following words even slightly interest you then by all means go out and buy it. This is a tough game to review - I think I'll be running out of superlatives fairly quickly and no amount of mere words compare to playing the game for yourself. I'm reviewing the Xbox 360 version of the game, but rest assured the PS3 version is sure to be just as good.
The plot
Players take the role of Niko Bellic, an Eastern European immigrant intent on living the American dream. This dream turns out to be anything but, however, as you will experience the shady underworld like you've never seen it. To make a long story short you and your cousin Roman have a lot of unfinished business to take care of, and you sort through this business with a whole range of missions including everything from escorting 'businessmen' to stealing goods and being a assassin. It gets a lot more varied and intense than this, but why ruin the surprise? Finding out what your next crazy job entails is half the fun.
If you don't like doing "missions" and are more interested in just wandering around enjoying the scenery, don't fret. As everyone who's played the series before knows, the best part of the game is the world you play in: Liberty City. It's living and breathing and very real.
Often it's fun enough just to watch people going about their lives, homeless people wandering the streets looking for food or families driving along tucked in their SUVs. You can go on dates, get drunk with your friends or simply watch hours of cable TV in your apartment (which happens to be hilarious, by the way, and infinitely better than normal television). Heck, you can even jump on the game's internet and look for girls to date or stuff to buy. All this and without mentioning all the kinds of havoc you can wreak with the weapons and vehicles… GTA IV truly is next generation.
The controversy
The game, like all others in the series that precede it, hasn't been without its controversy. Everyone including the infamous Mothers Against Drunk Driving organisation has had their say on the game and what it allows you to do, which includes acts involving drinking, drugs, and other things that can't even be mentioned here. In the end it was edited slightly by the creators, Rockstar, so it wouldn't be banned here in Australia. And thank goodness it is allowed here.
The gameplay
It ain't all rosy, however. Driving in the game has been made ridiculously difficult. It's almost like Rockstar have coated the streets of Liberty City with the highest grade butter. No matter your driving skill, you will inevitably end up skidding right past the corner you had expected to turn into. It takes a lot of practice to be able to drive well, a lot of braking is required, and even still I find it difficult to be 100% precise when behind the wheel.
The graphics in the game are part of what make it so special. The visuals are stunning. Firefights play out like they would in a Hollywood movie with explosions aplenty complemented with bodies of police officers rushing through the air. I shot down a helicopter and it exploded in a million tiny balls of fire. To have designed all this as well as a city of this scale that includes such detail is a feat in itself. Something is always happening in Liberty City. People go about their daily lives and it looks just about believable.
The game, though lacking in splitscreen capabilities, is still fun as a game to be played with a group of likeminded mates as me and my friends proved when we spent hours just trying to have the most extreme police chase we could. It never got stale. Every time we picked up the controller the game was a little different. Online play is a totally different story, however. Game modes like "Cops n' Crooks"are a blast - it's like "Cops and Robbers" from your primary school days but, well, with machine guns.
The soundtrack must be mentioned, too. Smashing Pumpkins, Black Sabbath and Kanye West all in one game? All-star lineup or what? There's something to please everyone. If you're in your punk mood you can turn on the hardcore rdio station or if you're feeling a bit spacey you can listen to the experimental radio station "The Journey". The dialogue is not to be ignored either. I found myself laughing out loud at the often witty one-liners and gags that the game offers.
The conclusion
It's simple: you must play this game. The word 'game' makes it sound so insignificant. In reality GTA IV is an experience. Rent it or buy it (don't steal it as that'd resemble the game a bit too much), my point still stands. As one of the best games of this generation, at $100 or so, GTA IV is a real steal.
