Reviews

Publisher:  Rockstar Games
Developer: Rockstar North
Release Date: April 29, 2008
Category: Action, Adventure, Racing, Third-Person
Players: 1-16
Also for:Xbox 360

Entering the Liberty City at the start of GTA IV recalls you you of CJ(''Carl Johnson''- The GTA San Andreas protagonist) landing on Los Santos,you can tell that Rockstar is ready for one more heck of a ride and the game has to offer something special. Yes , be ready for another GTA game and some extraordinary action and hunting criminals or cops down, but I bet it's more than that. GTA IV is a game with testing and nonlinear storyline, a game with a great protagonist who you can't resist to love and with extraordinary online features. Though it's not a flawless game but still it's the best GTA ever.

One of the main things that made GTA IV really special was the Liberty City, which I would prefer to say '' New Liberty City'', which has a better urban environment than its predecessors. Niko is surprised to see the diverse people who are not aware to the crime going on in the city , when he understands that his cousin Roman got sunk in fatal gambling debts. Niko's military experience makes him a player for employers in the business of killing or assassinating  each other and gives him confidence to complete his own mission.

Actually, it's not pretty straightforward it's entirely on you than blindly following instructions in missions . You don't necessarily kill the target , you might don't know his presence may come useful to you in future , or even have work for you in bonus missions. Warning : you might miss some of the most interesting feature of the game and you'll likely fall in playing the game again.



GTA IV can be likely beaten in 35 hours, and there are so many optional missions and side missions to take part in comfortably. Majority of missions in the game task you to kill the people. The easiest thing in the game are missions than the previous games because Niko is such a aggressive and a strong killer than any GTA protagonist, and the cops have more busy things like eating donuts than catching Niko assassinating people around. Some really unique missions in the game include kidnappings, a bank heist and a job interview. The excellent cinematic cutscenes are superbly presented. The characters have been greatly animated, great voice acting, and extremely life-looking faces. There are always problems when you fail a mission, you have to go long distances in order to that mission again but the new ''replay mission'' option is really helpful.

New abilities in Niko's including scaling fences and walls anywhere, cover behind objects, so on. Ability to cover makes the targeting and gunplay system really efficient in GTA IV and with a new targeting system it's just awesome. The enemies are not smart enough to hit when you are in cover. Locking on the targets on their torso or on their legs by default takes long time in killing the enemies, but you can hit with the use of your right-analog button to kill more efficiently. I think the only flaw with the targeting system is that there is no more lock-on feature which makes it difficult to kill, instead you will have to master the technique so that you can blindly hit the enemies either from the cover position or free.

After realizing you are giving to much trouble to the city, it's sure that the cops have to stick their nose in your business, but this time they are really easy to deal than the other GTA's. First, because they are really slow while persuading you. And second, because they don't even bother to block your ways. It's so easy that even if you destroy the whole city you'll come back alive. You have one more advantage, the GPS- it helps you to show the exact locations of the patrol cars and even the policemen strolling around, and brushes the area where they are heading and also the place where they are in search of you. To escape, you just need move outside the brushed/highlighted mark. The easiest thing you can do is to just stand at one place and find your way out until the police car is out of sight this. This is very easy trick when your wanted level is low and the brushed mark is small.

When you are getting bored of doing missions, racing or even destroying the city. Eventually, you will find that their to many things for your fun like- you can watch television or listen to many of the amusing radio stations, being a audience in many comedy clubs and best thing to do is the in-game Internet. GTA IV's Internet has diverse kinds of websites. Mainly you find them in searches or spam e-mails. You can find computers in ''TW@'' Internet cafes.



Dating & socializing you'd love to do in girls. Like, when you are on the Internet  there is an interesting site where the women see your profiles and if they like it they might go with you on a date. Besides, you can make friends and get many important benefits. You'll waste a lot of time with them to impress them. Different people like to do different things, for example- some people like to eat, while some people like to play pool,bowling etc. Later, you will realize that dates are really frustrating at times... they get impressed according to various factors like whether you pick them at time, where you take them and several more detail factors like what you wear and how you drive. There many rewards you can get through socializing and dating –example- if you make friend with a nurse/doctor you can get health advantages.
     You can know more about them by a new GTA IV feature- the cellphone. This new feature so well implemented that this new feature really distances the other GTA's from GTA IV. With the help of the cellphone you can all many of the acquaintances and take calls even when you are driving. It's really easy to use the phone you just need to take up the friends phone number, it depends on whether the person takes the call or not. There's one funny thing with the cellphone whenever you're engaged in a gunfight or a mission you can expect majority of calls. You can also add new ringtones and themes for your phone from the Internet which represents the amount of detailing in the game.



Talking of details, Rockstar has made act of stealing more interesting, which still can be done by just a click of one button, but this time you can expect different things to happen. If the door is locked, Niko will smash the window with his elbow or even the foot. Once Niko is inside the car, Niko does hot-wiring in order to start the car. In some cases when you smash up the window the car may trigger a alarm, and it may attract the nearby policemen  to come after you.

To make GTA IV more easier than its predecessors, driving has become very loose which helps you in making stylish U-turns, skids and sharp turns easily. To make the driving really amusing the positioning of camera is very important which is done just perfectly in the game. Like , when take in hand of something fast the camera comes closer and shows the need for speed. But, there is one of the most important minor problem in the game is that it's really difficult to halt the car whether it is a stallion, dumpster, motorcycle, boat or even a helicopter.'

Getting online GTA IV couldn't be easier. You simply select the multiplayer mode from cellphone, choose the game you want to host or join. You certainly won't have to wait longer and get bored. The multiplayer mode offers about 16 players to do just anything around the city. To ensure that things don't get too friendly the weapons are scattered around the city.

The multiplayer mode offers many things for you to customize freely if you want to host a game session, you can customize various things such as police presence, traffic levels, friendly fire and so on. You can also choose where you want the game to be held. The multiplayer modes such as deathmatches  and race are amazing. You also task-based games similar to a single-player mode. The multipalyer mod e also offers many team-based games like – Turf Wars, Cops'n'Crooks and so on. The online mode offering upto 16 players to play all  together with a variety of modes to play is as compelling as the single-player mode. The GPS is also made to great use in the online mode, so that you can track the players objectives and engage their doings in certain situations.



If you're curious to what difference do the PS3 version or the X360 version have. Frankly speaking, they don't have much in difference. The PS3 version starts only after a crucial installation that makes the time taken by loading a little shorter.

The sound effects are really efficient in the game and impressive during gunfights. The soundtracks in the game are just amazing which has vast number great licensed songs. And if you are curious to know more about these songs, a song recognition service has been introduced that gives you full-proof information about these songs back on your cellphone.

GTA IV is a game with everything you ever wanted and in case you still don't have a copy of the game, get out and go to your nearest video-game stores. GTA IV has some really minute faults but still stands up to more than our expectation and is truly the best GTA ever created.

Presentation- 10/10 - The game is presented with ease and excellency and everything is an inspiration from the game. The storyline is really good and non-linear.

Graphics- 10/10 - The graphics just can't get better than that, GTA IV looks realistic at every side of the game. The streets, the water, the sky , the city almost everything looks real and gives the pleasure of playing the game in the superb urban environment.

Gameplay- 10/10 - The gameplay is really the backbone of the game respecting the the new cover system, great use of the GPS and the cell phone. Besides, all this the game provides an entirely new feature of in-game Internet and the television.

Sound -10/10 - The sound is just perfect and really brings Liberty City alive. The game has plenty of great licensed soundtrack which are extremely addicting.

Replayability - 10/10 - The game will be the same and amusing while replaying because as I said before the game has lot of alternatives and hidden things to be done.

Overall Rating - 50/50 - It's just the perfect game you want and if you are real gaming fan you'll surely have to check this game out once in a lifetime.

Game summary

The fourth installment of the popular series by Rockstar features improved graphics, new features, and new gameplay. Players take on the role of Niko Bellic, a rough-around-the-edge chap from Eastern Europe. Niko has arrived in America, in Liberty City -- a land full of promise and opportunity. His cousin convinced him to emigrate, to join him in his mansion and life of luxury, but as soon as he steps off the boat, Niko discovers the truth about the American way. Still, the wealth, the comfort, the bliss of the good life, it all really is here ... And it's all for the taking.

GTA IV reinvents the series with a renewed version of Liberty City detailed to the last pothole and rooftop vent. There are now four boroughs to explore plus extra area outside of Liberty City proper. With the ability to climb obstacles, drive cars, steer boats and pilot helicopters, the world of GTA is more accessible than ever before.