Considering the vast changes and improvements this series has seen, from the overhead Micro Machines headache of the first two, to the improvement of GTA3 and Vice City, and then the huge environment of San Andreas, I was expecting great things with this latest release...but was let down. This is by no means a total disappointment but it does have some serious flaws that make me question all the hype around it. Granted, a Grand Theft Auto game arrives with considerable interest and enthusiasm from the video game world but here the ends don't seem to justify the means.
For starters just firing up the game and playing was a demanding experience; a two minute load screen and a whole new set of controls are an unpleasant way to start. I was really hoping the new systems wouldn't require load screens, or at least ones this long, but they're still here. The control scheme was also completely reworked, and though some players may enjoy this change, it was still frustrating to not be able to just start playing the game without a checking the instruction manual. Even when I switched over to the classic setup things just were not as responsive or crisp as past games, particularly vehicle control, this game's Achilles' heel.
If a game is titled Grand Theft Auto, and is part of a series that revolves around stealing, driving, and eventually crashing cars, then it would stand to reason that vehicle play would be at least somewhat intuitive and natural. Here though cars behave as if the streets are paved with ice or at least covered in snow. Hard turns, even at low speeds, produce spinouts and violent fishtails. Just basic driving is slow as most cars sound and behave as if they are permanently stuck in first gear or are just really underpowered. Generally the more powerful and fast a car is the harder it is to drive -- even at very low speeds. You're stuck between choosing small engine compacts with predictable handling or more powerful, but nearly unmanageable, vehicles. I quickly came to dread missions that would require chasing someone in a car as you can simply be outmaneuvered before actually being outrun. Also the vehicle camera is once again stuck in a low behind-the-trunk angle that makes for an enormous blind spot directly in front of whatever you are driving. I soon learned to just hold the thumbstick at a proper angle for a better view, but it would be really nice to see some kind of driving camera patch in the future.
(Personally I think the best all around vehicle is the Humvee; powerful and big enough to knock most traffic out of the way and climb stairs or small obstacles. Oh, and it's the one vehicle capable of moving on grass because for some reason all parks and lawns in the game are apparently very wet and most vehicles will just helplessly spin on them even if they are perfectly flat.)
The improvement in the vehicles comes in their reliability, or the fact that once they catch fire they don't explode a second later, instead you have plenty of time to get out and run for cover (small cars still produce big explosions). Cars also smoke, lose windows and body panels, and sometimes just shut off after a hard crash, all of which is an upgrade over past games where every vehicle was like a time bomb if you crashed it or flipped it over. Here they aren't quite as top heavy, but they can toss you through the windshield crash test dummy-style and sap up a lot of health (I guess seatbelts and airbags aren't in the code).
The game's strength is in its story, or rather in the depth and path in which you choose to play it. The sandbox style of gaming has always been very open-ended but here you can choose from multiple friends and, uh, business associates with whom to interact and perpetuate crime. Most get very annoying very fast, including Niko, this release's stereotyped protagonist, an Eastern European scumbag with a gut (he can't run very fast) and a short fuse (he ends up instigating a number of murders despite other characters' protests). Early on you get a cell phone and you end up with most contacts, services and shortcuts being only a call away. This combined with a very detailed and dirty environment and you have quite a bit of fun exploring and exploiting things throughout the game without having to drive really long distances or reload old saves.
The depth and detail seems to also hinder some play; there are almost too many people and vehicles to easily get around the city without involving yourself in multiple fender benders and hit and runs. The police are also very vigilant and you have to outrun them rather than just wait them out like in past games. Just stealing a car (practically the series' trademark) is risky as police will come racing after you and most drivers, from hunched over seniors to wannabe gangbangers, will actively fight you for their ride. Fortunately there are numerous parked cars (including unoccupied police cruisers) to steal and they are all for the taking because you can now simply smash a window rather than be stopped at a locked door.
I wanted to give this a higher rating but the frustrating gameplay just doesn't allow it. Graphically it is an improvement, especially after San Andreas felt like a noticeable downgrade from Vice City, but despite its grimy beauty there were still heavy shadows and blinding sunlight at times. Despite doing away with pointless details like having to work out or wear correct gang colors, there was still a lot of dumb filler; the Internet and cable in the game are interesting for maybe two minutes each and then you wish game designers had spent their time engineering workable vehicle physics and playable controls rather than silly extras. After playing and enjoying GTA clone Saint's Row on Xbox 360 I was hoping that Rockstar would take note and clone the clone, but they didn't. That's what is so unbelievable after Grand Theft Auto IV: how could an imitator produce such a fun copy and the original series not completely outdo it in every manner? If you have never played a GTA game this can still entertain even with a demanding learning curve, but veterans deserve better.
Nice to.
