A Step Back into the 'NextGen'
The very moment that encapsulates my opinion on GTA IV comes when I am on a heli-tour, cruising along the long stretch of a highway hugging the coastline with a beautiful sunset reflecting off of the ocean stretching to the far horizon. A beautiful sight to behold, so impressive that the Rockstar developer may have been compelled to include the feature of aerial sightseeing in the first place. There is no ulterior or snide tongue-in-cheek motives here; just pure technical wizardry that translates to profound elegance to the point that it almost transcends the inherent limitations of its sand-box format.
The helicopter however decreases its altitude, all good things must come to an end; long gridlocked lines of car headlights, the illusion of Liberty City traffic jam, slowly dissipate, one by one, until a small throng of cars appear in their place plodding along at the exact same pace. Commuters appear out of thin air, familiar landmarks and buildings flung far into distance pop into view to restore the fragile illusion. You are on solid ground now, the game tells me, steal a car and cause some mayhem! They seem to be merely putting on a show; the rest of the city is as empty as the buildings that lie in wait for your arrival, which then jangles into life, like the 'Truman Show'. The heart of the city remains mostly cold and dead. All semblance of reality is explained by some complex formula, ironically just how our own reality is worked out often to compromises and approximation. GTA IV in a sense seems like a work in progress, a game that definitely foretells of greater things to come for the franchise on next gen iteration.
GTA IV definitely struts its maturity in ambitious design of realizing the equivalent of the Big Apple's boroughs, and shows off the content to bring out the uncanny resemblance. But The charm I've relished in the often cartoony self referential treatment of some characters in Vice City and San Andreas is replaced with the cynicism and gloom of slimy double-crossers and largely forgettable cast of characters whose plastic faces however detract from what menacing emotional quantity they possess. The most appealing character, ironically, is an emotional wreck who often despairs at the course of his gangbanging life and contemplates incessantly of 'ending it all'. Not that they are not well written and well acted; the game that should be an escapist outlet instead looks squarely at us in the eye and relays a hard knocked life of an immigrant who wins some but loses some too, in a big way. A powerful narrative of multi-layer proportions, but draining and depressing nonetheless. Moreover, the theme of forgiveness or revenge rests on the top of piles of meaningless bodies you heaped and maimed during the course of weeks game time. The theme of integrity above money is skewered with arbitrary morality lessons gleaned through waves of mob hits and cold blooded violence.,
Any attempts of GTA IV to incorporate a serious veneer is upended by its often incongruous hyper-referential radio and web content, especially on the bleeding edge of parody in all things the Scots may find amusing about the US, but considered already tiresome and on the back burner of current trends by most Americans. None seem to be spared, as always, but the tone is much sibilant and harsh, almost rabid; there is no subtlety in the miscellaneous details that are expected to accommodate the overall presentation of the game, not overtake it and become a sticking, defining point of its own. It is a wasted opportunity, and in a game where a lot of content that actually physically adds to the playability, nevermind the replayability, of the game were cut, this kind of missteps can become quite glaring.
On the whole GTA IV follows the footsteps of GTA III, not its immediate predecessor, San Andreas. In a way, it is a step back, a reluanch on the 'next gen' that has been current for over three years. I hope the series can move on to the sunnier side of the franchise the next time around and finally graduate the series to truly not be beholden to tiresome pop culture trivia and commentary. The heart of the city only beats when you provide the spark, but it could use some help to prolong the interest and scale the immersion factor long after the credits have rolled.
