Liberty City has been in vogue before. Circa 2001 – Grand Theft Auto
III for PS2. Rockstar North had unflinchingly created a landmark video
game that was so ambitious and fresh in its free-roaming 3D world, the
retired top-down view of GTA2 had become stale as consoles moved on
graphically and technically. The sequels, sun-drenched '80s Vice City
and gang-torn state San Andreas, were later released to critical
acclaim and sold several million copies. Rockstar's stature as a
creative and formidable developer in mature gaming was enforced;
collating a massive, adoring fan-base. Fast forward to 2008 – Grand
Theft Auto IV. New hardware breeds new possibilities, and the opus
falls on Rockstar to once again manifest a now familiar genre and still
keep the concept relevant to games that have worked and re-worked the
formula to death. Did they succeed? Yes.
An Eastern-European with an equivocal past, you are Niko Bellic. Niko
ventures to Liberty City in chase of the hopes and promises that your
exaggerative cousin Roman told you about in letters and emails: The
American Dream. Fast cars, beautiful women that lust for you and
possibilities that never seemed imaginable back in the Old Country. So,
when Niko steps off the boat into Liberty's Docks, it's fair to say
Niko is somewhat disheartened by Roman's actual demise. Suffice it to
say, things aren't as expected for Mr. Bellic, and from there your
journey begins.
I think what is most important to mention in GTAIV is the sheer passion
and influence that has gone into telling the story through setting and
character that the game achieves so well. In narrative stance, playing
this game has shown me just how shallow previous GTA games had been.
Despite always being charming with their interesting characters and
crime underworld hyperbole, the polarisation in morality that GTAIV
presents to you, as a video game player, is one of daring contrast.
Without being too fantastical myself, it seemed impossible for a game
of such mature content and excessive violence to be any in shape or
form capable of questioning your intent, but because of the likeable
characters and the brilliant script that supports their fervent
personalities, there is a connection between player and world that is
an utter rarity in video games, past or present. While this may not be
a sensation every one that plays GTAIV will encounter, I did, and
without telling in preservation of spoiling it all, throughout my 30+
hour completion of the storyline, I felt satisfied and justified with
not only the linear plot twists, but the ones that you are able to
manipulate with consequences, which are just as compelling. When it was
all finished, I felt excited, intrigued and, from my own endeavours,
even bereaved with the events that followed from the beginning.
But, arguably, more important than storytelling is gameplay. Criticised
for their flawed shooting mechanics, to comply with comparing previous
GTA iterations once more is fair judgement. Targeting was always a pain
and often broke down when confronted by several opposing enemies.
Fortunately, this issued has, for the most part, been alleviated.
Thanks to an effective cover system, much-improved targeting and manual
aim system, the act of shooting is far more satisfying this time round.
There are fewer weapons than in the previous games, but there's no love
loss, as all the standard shooter weapons are included and pack a punch
to an even more explosive degree than before. Rifles tear through large
waves, rocket launchers create explosions and raging fires like you've
never seen, and even the standard pistols can be effective thanks to a
clever reticule assist that lets you manoeuvre your aim for a quick
headshot when locked onto someone. There is less chance you'll lock
onto a random pedestrian on the street in the middle of a fire-fight,
and the fist-fighting has been developed further with a dodge mechanic
that allows you to pull off combos, which isn't 100% perfect, but
you'll rarely combat anyone anyway – story missions or other wise – if
you're not packing heat. Car combat has also become more tolerable;
thanks to the new-fangled ability to free aim with smaller weapons and
unabashedly drop grenades when at the wheel. Moreover, the new industry
tech darling "Euphoria" is put to good use with some excellent vehicle
and environmental damage coupled with some of the most amusing ragdoll
physics I've seen in a game.
At its core, GTA has predominately revolved around the driving
experience as opposed to just the on-foot. Thankfully, the handling
model for vehicles in IV has been significantly improved, creating more
enjoyable and diverse car chases that can lead to some great cinematic
moments. Planes, bicycles and the more superfluous (albeit fun)
vehicles such as tractors have all been removed from the vehicle roster
in IV, but the new approach to GTA's handling will make these
detractors seem more viable from a geographical and gameplay
standpoint. Helicopters are still in, though, and they still kick ass.
At first use, the new car handling will take some getting used to, as
building up speed, taking corners and dodging traffic can be more
erroneous when learning the way. For example, a slow but sturdy pick-up
can handle corners well but a speedy sports car may find the task more
incomparable, and how making the right decision when looking for a car
to steal during a chase can either help or hinder you greatly. This
aspect isn't necessarily anything new to GTA, but occasionally having
to bust open the window of a parked car and hotwire it as fast as
possible can combat any feeling of rote gameplay that the previous
games spent several years rehearsing but never changing dramatically.
Even now, the alterations in the way the game plays (not only driving,
but as a whole) made the notion of car-jacking and criminality seem
fresh and exciting – a concept that has clearly been positively refined
rather than made totally indifferent. The addition of the search radius
shown on the map when wanted by the police (a system still dictated by
a 6-star scale) adds another layer to the blend of driving and on-foot
action. Dodging police blips on the map, changing vehicles when unseen
to the law's eye and taking refuge down hidden alleyways thus
essentially losing your wanted rating is an unprecedented mechanic in
open world games, which works just as it should. At times, however,
when you've only got a 1-star wanted level, there is indeed a sense of
anti-climactic disillusion when you can merely hurtle down a long road
for a good 10 seconds to get away from the search radius, but it far
beats the monotony of having to find a Pay 'n' Spray like in the
previous games (although there are still a small number in Liberty City
if you're so inclined).
What's most striking about GTAIV, though, is the city of Liberty
itself. Run by Rockstar's own RAGE engine, a coming together of the
atmosphere and technical prowess makes your experience in this city
really mesmerising. From the bustling, bright and exciting downtown
metropolis of Algonquin, to the run-down, poorer districts of Broker,
the essence of a living world is truly brought to life through
exceptional graphic detail. Pedestrians of the city will roam around
the city, talk to each other, purchase food, use newspapers as a shield
from the rain; cars will beat music from the radio and chat stations
that inhabit varied modern music and well-written, comedic talk shows;
and the architecture that Liberty is built on - a deliberate
carbon-copy of New York City - captures a fantastic sense of scale and
immersion. Weather also plays an important role in developing
atmosphere – when it's sunny, cars will shine accordingly and when it
rains... oh boy, when it rains, not only does it look gorgeous, but it
sounds even better. Walking down an alleyway and hearing rain-drops
patter onto a rubbish container or glaring at the incandescent bridge
lights reflect on the pristine-looking water at night-time are just a
couple of examples of how sensationally the world hems you in. As a
slight non-sequitur, there are points in the game through dependent
relationships with storyline NPCs that let you soak in the activities
on offer in Liberty City. You can date women or do things with friends,
such as getting wasted at a local Irish tavern, visiting a classy
cabaret club or taking in the sights on a heli-tour. Bowling with your
average chauvinist gangster may seem like a deprival of the game's
overall content, but nonetheless these activities make the experience
anything but diffident and you'll soon identify Niko as a guy that
would probably want to go to relax and play darts after a murderous
mission for the Mafia. Ultimately, however, whether or not you find all
this fun is purely subjective and not always necessary for completion
of the main story.
With all the extravagant talk, it's hard to believe that GTAIV has any
issues. Well, this isn't true. It makes sense that the introductory
missions were probably designed to give you general insight on the
game's characters and setting, but in truth it all starts off fairly
slow, taking perhaps a bit too long to introduce you to everything, and
as mentioned above, the new driving model may be a slow burn for some.
Some missions are a little too scripted, as well, up to point where the
free world approach seems a little negated and although provide for
entertaining missions, can hurt the heart a tiny bit. Furthermore, for
players now in common terms with regenerating health systems in games,
GTAIV may seem like a slap in the face with its atypical approach, but
in reality the advent of cops-'n'-robbers wouldn't work as well without
it. As the game goes on, new ways to regain health become available, so
it's definitely not a huge revoke of fun when playing, but will more
than likely catch a few players off guard for the worse. Certainly,
these complaints are minor and if anything only showcase the game's
stronger points.
Like always, GTAIV poses the challenge of gaining 100% completion
through stunt jumps, hidden "packages" and the like, and although there
are no Vigilante or Rampage missions from the older games, let's be
honest, who's going to miss those anyway? Instead, if you grow tired of
the main game (which should take you a good 30 hours to finish), GTAIV
now includes a fully-fleshed online multiplayer component for 16
players (that can also be played over system link, but not
split-screen). As well as being able to roam around the entire city
with friends - peds and cars 'n' all - some inventive game modes such
as Cops 'n' Crooks have been implemented, which involves one team of
Cops preventing the Crooks' boss (a randomly-assigned player) from
reaching a certain destination in Liberty. There's no doubt the game
translates well to an online arena, with hilarious car chases and
intense shoot-outs making for some great online experiences. Perhaps
not for the dedicated multiplayer players, however, seeing as a fairly
immature matchmaking system and some balance issues can cause a little
grief now and again. You may run into some lag issues periodically, but
very rarely anything game-breaking. With all that said if you don't
take it too seriously, you can have definitely a blast playing the game
online and proves without doubt to be a welcome appendage to the
franchise.
Rockstar North was always clever with the technology available on
previous consoles and continued to make brilliant and involving action
games despite limitations. So, despite abundant financial benefits,
it's inspiring to see a developer able to create a game of such
structured formula and successfully reprise it as something other than
a typical jingoist cash-in. There is passion, influence and love
seeping through all its stronger aspects – a quality that is not often
perceived in most games. Grand Theft Auto IV is by no means perfect,
but through pertaining exceeding elements of design and technicality,
the quintessential direction remains the same, but yet is completely
different. Without hitting every possible grandiose note, here's the
summary: GTAIV is a fitting example of just how advancements through
technology and experience can better the playability of games that
carry any kind of reception indigenous to mature titles; a game that
wholeheartedly deserves your time, money and undivided attention.
