I think most of us out there took at least some interest in Grand Theft Auto 4. If you were one of the few who weren't interested in checking it out, you were probably at least curious as to what direction the series was going to take. Grand Theft Auto 4 (GTA4) has come and gone and somehow I can’t help feeling a little empty. Now don't get me wrong, it's a great game and in many ways it's better than its predecessors but something was missing from the formula.
Niko Bellick is fresh off the boat (literally) as the game opens. In true GTA fashion the game branches out as you complete missions and meet new contacts. This time around though the story doesn't quite come together the way in which the GTA's of the past have. All the memorable characters are there but the story arc feels too convoluted and unfocused. Too often Niko is forced to take his eye off the prize, which inevitable causes the player to do so as well. At the end of the game you are left feeling like there was not very much closure and unfortunately it's true. However, there is a silver lining, and that is Niko Bellick himself. Niko is easily the most realistic lead character for the series to date. Throughout the game you will see Niko display a wide range of emotion, he's complex in a way no other GTA main character has ever been.
As I have already stated, GTA makes a number of huge improvements over its predecessors; the most important of which is the combat system. The implementation of a cover system makes the combat much easier to endure and although it's not perfect, it's much better than what we have had to work with in the past. Also being able to lock on or enter free aim with the same button is truly spectacular once you get the hang of it. Probably equally as important as the upgrade to the combat system is the addition of the cell phone. The cell phone makes the game feel much more organic. Instead of randomly showing up to icons on a map, you now receive phone calls telling you to meet someone. The cell phone also allows you to maintain contact with friends and eventually acquire their special abilities. In fact, Liberty City as a whole feels more realistic than any other environment I have ever seen. Usually I feel like environments were designed around the character, but Liberty City feels like it designed first and Niko Bellick was added to the equation later.
As great as Grand Theft Auto 4 is and as much as I enjoyed playing it, a few things bothered me. One of my favorite things to do in a GTA game is purchase property. Unfortunately there is no property for sale in GTA 4. I mean the auto save feature is nice but I would much rather have multiple hideouts and garages to store cars in than an auto save feature. More importantly there are no businesses to own. The theme of the last two Grand Theft Auto's were rags to riches, and although Niko moves up in the world you never really get the feeling that he owns Liberty City the way in which Tom Vercetti and Carl Johnson owned their stomping grounds. With nothing to buy, what am I supposed to do with all this money? I mean I would go out with friends and buy weapons but ultimately money in Libery City is completely useless. Finally there is that combat system I mentioned earlier. Although it is a significant improvement over what we had, it's still clumsy at times. Hand to hand combat is completely broken and short range gun fights are clunky at best.
Although Grand Theft Auto 4 has its flaws it is still the best sandbox game of this generation by far. My issues are not so much with the game; it's what was left out. Hopefully the new additions from GTA 4 and the features from previous titles can come together and make a truly spectacular GTA 5.
Huzaifa from eXputer: "2008 was home to the likes of Call of Duty: World at War, Dead Space, GTA 4, Far Cry 2, Left 4 Dead, and many other hits, which is outright remarkable."
Here here
Those that were around before 2000's i am sure are like me that think we entered a world of non readers or those that follow without question.
I can not wait to see fallout 3 a goty game even though it was about water with non content until you add the dlc/updates then you got the performance/crashing
1998 - the best year in gaming! Metal gear solid, crash bandicoot 3, medievil, half life, ocarina of time, thief, tenchu, resident evil 2, Spyro, tomb raider 3, oddworld abes exodus, banjo kazooie.
It was a different breed of a gaming era. You’ll never understand what it was like back then. The aura of gaming, it was different!
I second this. Gaming was a lot more varied and fun than it is today. I'm 35 so getting on compared to some here but I got to see all the changes from NES up to now but I've never felt so disappointed in any generation than I have this current gen. I was expecting more from this generation rather than prettier versions of games that came before it. Game mechanics have become so refined that alot of games feel the same and has done for a while now.
Maybe it's time to have a break for a while. I love gaming but I don't feel I get much fun in the traditional sense out of it anymore.
Metal Gear Solid, Resident Evil 2, Abe’s Exodus, and Ocarina of Time are the only things from that list that I liked.
Here’s the 2023 game releases that I personally liked… and big releases that I didn’t care for:
- Dead Space Remake
- Wo Long Dynatsy
- Resident Evil 4 Remake
- Diablo 4
- Fire Emblem Engage
- Hogwarts Legcay
- Street Fighter 6
- Hi-Fi Rush
- Like a Dragon: Ishin
- Octopath Traveler 2
- Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters
- Final Fanatsy XVI (actually ended up not liking this, but it was still a big deal release)
- Baldur’s Gate 3
- Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon
- Lies of P
- Mortal Kombat 1
- Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
- Starfield (Ended up hating this one, but big release)
- Super Mario Bros. Wonder
- Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (I’m an old-school Zelda fan, but didn’t really enjoy this game)
- Alan Wake 2
I mean, honestly I’ve never seen a year of major IP releases like that, ever.
Isn't it just a generational thing realistically.
I've been gaming since way back and I some of my favourite games go as far back as the late 80s for me each generation has a year or two of game changing releases one after another before an inevitable dry spell.
I kind of agree gaming had a different feel games hit different because we didn't have the internet nothing got spoiled and you really had to put in the effort to beat a puzzle which could set entire groups of people looking for a solution. But most importantly games were experimental and not as cookie cutter as today even basics like controls were not universal today r2 is shoot l2 is ads garunteed you can't deviate from that in a shooter back then it could of been square, R1 or R1 and circle nothing was standard.
But as time moves on a new generation picks up their controller they are going to be interested in different things that PS1 demo disc with the t Rex blew our primitive 16 bit brains back on launch but to kids today it's laughable.
The new gen of kids coming into to hobby seem to value different things to us there seems to be a huge focus on online play, streamers, gaming personalities, and social experiences, convience of digital downloads. To me I value none of that but that's ok like my parents not liking the band's I would listen to its just the natural cycle.
Just about every year in the 7th generation was great and something we most likely won't experience again.
2009 for example had Assassin's Creed 2, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Dragon Age: Origins, Uncharted 2, Halo 3: ODST, Killzone 2, Borderlands, Bayonetta, and Demon's Souls to name a few.
It still amazes me we got over 7 rockstar games ps2/ps3 but 3 for the ps3/ps4/ps5
Dragon age 1-3 and mass effect 1-3 in 7ish years what a generation.
Grand Theft Auto 4 is an important game for Rockstar, not least because it was the first title in the franchise to use the newly created RAGE engine.
There’s never a bad time to relive its magic, and with rumours of a potential Grand Theft Auto IV remaster making the rounds, why wouldn’t you?
Not sure tbh.. I'd say 3 was the most overrated. It's pretty rough to go back to, it was quite rough even trying it just after Vice City. Lack of humour and vehicles that had the weight of polystyrene with top speeds to match.
VC & the stories games (even LCS) were all fun. I remember there being a lot of praise for GTA 3 on TV and in game mags, saying it was a Dreamcast killer of a game or words to that effect, and honestly after playing it on PC I didn't think it was that special and kind of dull, had the odd moment of fun but hardly anything. I heard they cut online multiplayer at the last moment for PC, shame because it could've made all the difference.
Would've loved to have seen what kind of cartoony GTA style game they could've done on Dreamcast as a competitor, I bet something along the lines of Simpsons Hit & Run would've worked well.
@numberz How can the game that defined a generation and was copied by everyone be overrated? Was a asinine comment
For me 4 was better than 5 was more realistic and the physics was on another level! 5 was a major let down in that department!
@blacktar you have your opinion i have mine. I found the game dull, and it is for the most part. It set the foundation for the much superior SA and VC however.
You say GTA III is overrated because it's rough to go back to and rough to play after Vice City. Your entire opinion is in hindsight. Of course it's rough going back to it today. It came out over 20 years ago. That doesn't take away from the fact that it pioneered a lot and was a paradigm shift for a lot of trends in game development today. Vice City in a lot of ways is just a more refined version of III. It was San Andreas that took the big leap forward from a design perspective. If III doesn't release, who knows if the open world genre would be what it is now. How can that be overrated?
Not at all. My most played game of all time. Truly stunning accomplishment in gaming and with PC graphics mods it just took it to levels beyond anything that came before and possibly even after.
People who moan about it generally tend to be people who played it on under powered consoles and couldn’t handle the more realistic car physics. It was the slightly more realistic approach that made it stand out more. Absolutely love it. In fact I always said Vice city was my favourite of all time. But after going back to the remaster I realised 4 was actually the best.
I'm no critic and I consider it the best games in the franchise after recently replaying every entry it's story when paired in conjunction with it's DLC was and still is amazing.
Lol. Fun fact. That dlc cost a certain green colored console 50 million for exclusiveness. Un heard of back then. Just to point out the hypocrisy of the 3rd party exclusive agenda going on.
Anyway how the dlc better then the base game by a mile. Lol imo
San Andreas holds a special place in my heart. Honestly, I couldn't get into IV at all. Didn't even finish it. I had some pride in playing it at first because I'm originally a New Yorker, but it just didn't do it for me.
To each their own.
Gta sa for sure. To this day my favorite. My least fav is gta 4 easily. Gta 4 made me feel like the dude in next friday trying to take the cd back talking about i cant get jiggy wit this.
Maybe looking back it would be 3 but 3 did so damn much for gaming in general. . My first gta was of course the top downs so the series has came a long way.
Yeah I remembered falling asleep playing the last mission in GTA4.. the most boring protagonist (out of all the voiced protag), and the town is too small.
Not really
Overrated
Boring
Liberty City despite being a reimagined version for the HD era lacked any variety
Lacked the GTA fun charm overall
Niko was bland compared to past protagonists like Tommy, CJ or Victor
GTA 2 was the best, lol my only owned GTA game. Vice city was alright when I rented it back then. I cant really say which is the best cause those the only 2 games i played but GTA 2 was fun on PC back in the day. Closes game to it that I enjoyed was SR3 and I dont care what people say. That none serious tone was fun enjoyable.
Like hell it is. San Andreas was far better, much more fun and a better game overall.
Nah, it's a masterpiece in attention to detail and the amount of immersive systems at play. But it really isn't very fun, ESPECIALLY when compared to the previous games in the series. Like tons of things are just wonky and actively kneecap lots of experimentation, or is just lame. Like why do I take huge damage when falling into water, why can I only stand in very specific large trucks when they are moving but not smaller trucks and vehicles, why is the melee combat such a massive down grade from GTA SA and GTA IV, why is the euphoria nowhere near as reactive, why is being drunk using a rasterized animation of staggering rather than the far more entertaining euphoria GTAIV and RDR used when you were drunk, why do npc vehicles barely react to you popping there tires even at high speed, etc etc.
I've always loved playing around in GTA games world. Like the campaigns are great but the majority of my time was always spent just playing in the open world. Yet GTAV is the only game in the series I never really returned to after beating it, it just lacks that fun factor the others have, I spent more time in GTA SA remastered than GTAV
It's one of my least favourite GTA games. It's clunky, the ai is exploitable, it's far too long and the writing is absolutely awful.
...No property to buy? No garages? I might have to rent GTA IV first when I get my PS3...
...There's a sentence I never thought I would have to say.
I still haven't finished the game, but already get the feeling that the story doesn't really take my any place. I was let down by the fact that one cannot purchase anything as well. There's a lot they fixed, but they took out a lot as well.
I was never a huge GTA fan due to its repeated mission nature. With all the 10's this one got, I just couldn't pass up on the opportunity. This one still suffers from the same problems though as the game is just a bunch of "go kill somoene, escape, rinse and repeat."
Now that MGS4 is out, I doubt I'll finish the game for a while since most of my time will be spent playing as snake instead of Niko.
All in all, a great game with a lot of replay-ability due to its sandbox exploration nature. Still I think the game lacked that "something" that would give it the 10/10 status. I think the reviewers went a little over board with their hyperbole. 9/10 at most for me.
"Not the best looking game out there, but character models are nice and the sights of Liberty City are truly impressive. I have not noticed any pop ins and have experienced no frame rate drops, and with so many things going on, that is truly impressive. "
Im glad someone can understand why GTA IV graphics are good. Most people here are so narow minded that they think if it doesnt look like call of duty 4 then the graphics suck.