Customer Reviews
A Masterpiece, so why am i disappointed - By: Wizard83, 17 Jul 2008 
Many reviews have highlighted the plus points to this awesome game, the inclusion of the mobile phone, the much improved combat & the friendships that you have the time to cultavate & which can servein making the game eastier or at least a little different.
But, there is something missing & that something is ambition. San Andres may have been all over the place but the sandbox was large & encompassed many ideas. Niko is a mission machine who will work for anyone but he makes no headwayin any organizations & more importanly there is nothing to spend your money on making side missions pointless.
Gone are businesses you can buy & cars you can modify, gone are gang wars & the ability to alter your charactor beyound his clothes, gone to is the ability to buy your own safe houses.
Instead this is a hollywood production. It is a great story with the first really good leading charactor of the GTA series but it is nothing new & maybe even a little less than what came before it.
GTA III with all of the fun and humour sucked out of it - By: The Happy Space Invader, 15 Jul 2008 
I have grown fed up with the hype that surrounds the release of video games these days, so I now wait for a few weeks after launch & then decide whether or not to buy. I decided that amongst the gushing reviews from young manboys who desperately want to play gangsters to the moral outragein the press that there might be a gamein there worth playing.
I put GTA IV into my PS3 (knowing full well that there would be a long install time) & kept an open mind. The first thing that struck me about the game was the graphics. They may not be the most technically brilliant graphics for the PS3, but the level of detail is impressive. More than any other GTA game before it, this really feels like (If you'll excuse the cliché) a living breathing city. However, play for more than a few minutes & the fact that you can only wander into certain shops & buildings starts to jar. Still, I understand the limitations of the technology, so I can excuse that minor disappointment.
The next aspect that struck me was the story & the characters. In a gangster-themed story, you expect characters that do or say unpleasant things, but this lot really are the most unpleasant, unlikeable characters I have ever seen. None of them have an ounce of soul - they're all just two-dimensional caricatures of characters from other gangster movies. The dialogue reads as if it was written by a 15-year-old. It is peppered with swearing but notin any kind of artistic way - it's as if it's desperately trying to ensure the game gets the coveted 18 certificate it thinks it deserves. I actually enjoyed GTA III & Vice City because the plot didn't take itself too seriously & the characters were funny. There's just nothing funnyin this game at all - it's rather like playing GTA III with all of the humour sucked out of it.
Once the story got underway & I was carrying out the missions, I became bored & frustrated. Your ability to explore Liberty City is severely restricted by the fact that locations only open up once you have already visited them. The missions are all "go to point A & meet someone" which inevitably leads to point B where you have to shoot some people & then go back for another very similar mission. It's all extremely slow & laborious - notin any way fun. It seems that Rockstar have finally run out of ideas.
The driving aspect of the game is the worst yet for any GTA game. The cars handle like shopping trolleys & the "behind car" cameras are very sluggish to respond, which means quite often you will turn a corner & have no idea what you're going to hit because you're effectively driving into the camera. Fortunately, you can save yourself a lot of frustration by getting a taxi to most locations.
The police chases have been toned down to the extent that escaping the police is extremely easy & they don't often notice your crimes. I actually welcome this change, given the vehicle handling is so poor.
So, is it fun? Not really. I enjoy the sandbox-style play area, & I actually like the graphics & sound a lot, but the actual gameplay, missions & storyline seem pitched at sad lonely teenagers; If you're one of that crowd though, I'm certain you'll have a ball. If, however, you want something a bit more grown-up & genuinely funny, find a copy of GTA III & Vice City & play them a second time instead.
GTA 4 Review - By: J. Le Mar, 15 Jul 2008 
The good........
The graphics of GTA4 are simply outstanding, especiallyin high def. This is best illustrated when flyingin a helicopter or viewing the city as a passengerin a taxi cab.
On the subject of taxi cabs, their enhanced capability's make for much better gameplay. In such a complex city of narrower & more congested roads, driving across liberty city can be a time consuming task. Taxis allow one to either getin & allow the driver to take care of the road, or even better getin to the cab & then select skip journey. From a to bin the tap of a button.
The new shooting options are excellent. Drive by's now require a bit more skill as you need to manually aim. On the up side, you can now shoot at a much greater range of targetsin front, behind, on either side, high, low.
Also the new blind fire, & shoot behind cover techniques make for much more exciting & skillful battle. The tossing of grenades to lure people away from cover is particularly clever.
The auto save. How many times have you just completed a hard mission on GTA SA, only to get attacked on the way back to your safe house by a rival gang, get killed & lose a wonderful & expensive hoard of weapons. Now your game just auto saves after every mission.
Friends / girlfriends - The special skills of friends is very useful, particularly little Jacob who sells you cut price guns near your location (he could park closer though).
The car damage / explosions. The car eventually catches fire & you can watch as it slowly gets engulfedin flames & explodes. Even better is to sit on the highway, wait for the car to ignite before speeding off & watching the actionin slow mo. Fantastic.
The railway system, its brilliant with interchange stations, & different lines. It might not be the quickest way to get around, but its scenic & just fun to do.
The decision making processes. Being able to choose your final ending to the game is genius. I have chosen the Deal ending, & the story has been absolutely pulsating. Having the finale over 3 missions also makes sense.
The revamped police vigilante missions are brilliant, & there is not the annoying 12 consecutive mission constraint likein previous games. Now one can attend to normal crimes, or carry out special assassinations on criminals on the 'most wanted' list. One can even call for (not always helpful) backup.
Random characters provide a humorous & refreshing break from the main story, brilliant.
New online multi player mode is brilliant, allowing fierce battles with friends to take place within the grounds of the alderney prison. Or perhaps a race across the streets of broker? The choice is vast.
The not so good.....
Sometimes the game gives you a bit too much help, like telling you the locations of Brucie's cars he asks for via e-mail, directing you to most wanted characters etc. The traditionalistin me would rather the player has to find the car (or check it upin a guide).
No aeroplanes, I guess that as it is just one city, & not the vast state of SA it makes sense. However aeroplanes were great fun, & always a welcome addition to any GTA game.
Sometimes the missions do not always feel like they fit into the overall plot. Niko does many missions just for money which are not directly related to the plot. Whereas characters like CJ or Tommi V seemed to often be working towards a goalin addition to the money.
Statistically I believe there are less missions thanin SA, & the size of the city is slightly smaller. Critics of SA argue that there was too much dead space like the deserts, however I think that sense of openness & size of area to explore was part of the brilliance of SA.
Player cannot buy safe houses or property. Once the safe housein Broker is closed, there are no safe houses on the entire island. The property & entrepreneurship of previous GTA games was a fun extra.
Conclusion......
An absolutely awesome & outstanding game that will be noted as one of the most successful & advanced games. It really has set a new levelin open world gameplay. It is a game that is brilliant for the occasional gamer or the hard core GTA master alike.
Overall : 5 Stars
Gameplay: 5 Stars
Graphics: 5 Stars
Plot: 4 Stars
Online Capabilities: 5 Stars
Realism: 4 Stars
A little dissapointed - By: Samantha John, 08 Jul 2008 This game is good, but not great. We patiently waited soooooo long for it to come out & bought a PS3 just to be able to play this game. It just doesnt live up to San Andreas or Vice city.
You earn piles of cash, but whats the point? there is nothing to spend it on. We havent had the usual fun of exploring, running around looking down alleys, swimmingin the Ocean, climbing up onto roof tops to see what might be hidden up there etc
The missions are OK & the storyin depth, but all this keeping people happy is such a drag & feels like a huge waste of time, very irritaiting & totally pointless.
Was hoping for Amazing, but got Average.
WARNING! adult content... - By: Dr. Owen Thomas, 07 Jul 2008 This game is great. I'm not going to go overboardin graphic terms with regard to content as with the huge numbers of reviews already here it's not wirth repeating that, but if you're wondering whether or not to buy this game as a present for a youngster, then think again. This game has more than earned it's 18 rating. In addition to the strip clubs you can take yourin game friends to & pay for private lapdances rendered beautifulyin 3D, it's possible to buy hookers, graphically murder & get involved with drugs, gangs & guns as well as thieving cars, & the dialogue is gratuitous even by the standard of Goodfella's.
I don't want to paint a black picture it's great ADULT fun, but it just ain't for kids.
