Grand Theft Auto IV - Anand's Thoughts
by Anand Lal Shimpi on April 30, 2008 12:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Software
It’s an Evolution Baby
I mentioned that GTA4 failed to revolutionize the series, but instead was another evolutionary step in the franchise; that’s not a bad thing. If you loved previous GTAs then new additions like being thrown through the windshield of your car during a particularly violent accident are nice touches (ok, that sounds a little sociopathic).
The physics in GTA4 are quite possibly the biggest change from earlier games, they are far more realistic - in some cases this is a good thing, in others its a bit annoying. People react more realistically when you hit them with cars or shoot them in the legs, but it also takes longer for you to do things like run up a flight of stairs (also contributing to the game’s slow-control).
Niko, our loving GTA4 protagonist, now has a cell phone that he can use to communicate with other characters in the game. It’s a nice touch, but it’d be even nicer if he had an Internet-enabled smartphone so you wouldn’t have to drive to the nearest Internet cafe to check your email. I guess in GTA5 the main character will rock an iPhone.
You also get use of a GPS, which can give you turn by turn instructions on how to get to your destination. Unfortunately, if the route isn’t plotted automatically by the mission, it’s a bit of a pain to get it started; you have to pause the game, go to the map menu and click on your destination. You’d lose part of the realism but it’d be nice to be able to plot your route directly from the cellphone, since that’s how you receive a lot of instructions on where to head next.
The loading screens are definitely annoying in GTA4, although no where near as frustrating as San Andreas. I’m told that the Playstation 3 version gets around this problem by installing the game to the hard drive, but with everyone I know purchasing the Xbox 360 version I had no choice. Thankfully the loading screen is pretty much limited to before and after cutscenes in the single-player game, its presence in the multiplayer modes is far more frustrating the more I think about it. Actual gameplay is never interrupted by loading in single-player but it’s annoying nonetheless; it contributes to the overall slow/sluggish feeling I get from GTA’s gameplay.
Grand Theft Auto 4 is one of those games where you can, over time, adjust to its pace and controls. The problem is that switching between it and any one of the many faster paced games on the market will throw you off.
Multiplayer
I used to love the multiplayer in the old top-down GTAs and admittedly haven't clocked enough hours in the GTA4 multiplayer modes to provide a full analysis but what I will say is this:
1) My complaints about controls are amplified when you get to multiplayer. The games are much more fast paced and thus sluggish controls are even more frustrating.
2) The load times between respawns are frustrating. While the actual loading itself may not be any longer than a respawn in Halo 3, you're left looking at a black screen with the word "Loading" in the corner - making it feel much longer.
3) There's a party system, yay. The party system isn't a carbon copy of what Bungie did for Halo 2/3, boo. At some point I'm hoping Xbox 360 game developers will start taking Halo's party/matchmaking system seriously, because it makes a huge difference when playing with friends. I liked Gears of War, but the lack of a Halo-esque party/matchmaking system meant that once Halo 3 came out, my friends and I dropped it entirely.
The multiplayer itself can be a lot of fun, especially with friends. Even though the various multiplayer modes are very objective oriented, you can still wreak havoc in Liberty City just as well - the difference being that you can do it with friends. That being said, I'm not sure how long the multiplayer will be enjoyable, but for now it's entertaining.
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FITCamaro - Thursday, May 1, 2008 - link
While I'm not saying the game is bug free (there will always be glitches in a video game), what exactly are you referring to? I've found nothing wrong with it so far.zainab12345 - Monday, September 14, 2020 - link
amazingzainab12345 - Monday, September 14, 2020 - link
Really the best game ever, really liked it https://hdpcgames.com/gta-iv-pc-game-download/Locutus465 - Wednesday, April 30, 2008 - link
This is a very sad truth... Particularly since I do still enjoy PC gaming because typically this is where you first see the major break throughs with gameplay, graphics and all the rest.Ivan244 - Wednesday, April 30, 2008 - link
Glad to see you brought a critical eye from seeing all the unabashed frothing I'm seeing elsewhere.Would love to get your take on the Halo3 matchmaking. For me personally I refuse to play Halo3 mp because of MM. I don't like, for unranked matches, being told what I'm going to play and on what map I get to play it on.
Yes I understand friends list but then you have to have x number of people on and x number who want to play Halo and x number who want to play that map/game type.
I much prefer Gears and all the other games out there that give me a list to choose from. Pick what I want and if I don't see it host my own.
Plus with Halo and Forge all those people create great custom games and yet it's like pulling teeth to find them. Finally there are some workarounds but you got to admit it's far more hassle then if we had a server list.
So curious to see what you like so much about matchmaking that draws you to Halo.
tfranzese - Wednesday, April 30, 2008 - link
I'm holding out for a PC version, like I've done in the past. Dunno, maybe I'll change my mind if the wait is more than a year.Baked - Wednesday, April 30, 2008 - link
I was gonna pick-up the MGS4 PS3 bundle and GTA4 because I love Sony products and have loved the GTA series since the beginning, but after reading Anand's excellent review, I've decided to spend my money on a Xbox 360 and Halo 3 instead. Even though I've never played Halo and absolutely hate the FPS genre, Anand's review has convinced me otherwise. Thank you Anand.BZDTemp - Wednesday, April 30, 2008 - link
Don't by a console for Halo 3!!!!The Halo series is overrated and for each installment it has been going downhill. Sure there are some nice points but it is nothing special.
If GTAIV is worth getting a console over or not I can't say. I have not played it and release day reviews are to be taken with a grain of salt. Anyway I have both a 360 and a PS3 and if getting just one console of the current ones then get the PS3.
Locutus465 - Wednesday, April 30, 2008 - link
No offence... But what's your problem? Anand made graphical comparisons to games known to be graphically very good. I.e. Gears of War and Halo 3, the point being the graphics in GTA4 aren't quite on their level. That doesn't mean that graphics aren't good (indeed anand points out that generally they are) or that the game isn't any good or that you should buy Halo instead. It's called creating a point of reference, many of us here have seen/played Gears an halo, so we understand the point of reference.aikendd - Wednesday, April 30, 2008 - link
I love Anandtech for technical news, so I suppose it shouldn't be surprising that this review is technically focused in forest/trees sense.There's confusion about story: in movies, story is distinct from acting and cinematography, and it's silly to confuse the three here. I'm fine with faulting the story in GTAIV, but saying the story is weak because the animation isn't photorealistic is like saying that the story in Toy Story is weak because everyone knows toys can't talk. It shows a lack of understanding of how the word is generally used.
The review also misses the single most important question: is the game *fun*? There's some half-in, half-out comments about "if you liked other GTA's, you'll like this, if not then not", but how about the reviewer? Did he have fun?
I more or less agree with the conclusions, such as they are, but on the whole this seems like a review of the draw distance and character animation with only cursory attention to the actually game experience.