GTA IV satisfies our sadistic pleasures by blending a great story with the freedom to roam around Liberty City at your own discretion. At first, GTA IV felt just like all other GTA's and to say the least, I was disappointed. I thought to myself, "Here we go again," but there was a pull factor that kept bringing me back and it was the great story. I have never completed any of the other GTA's because I always lost interest due to horrible controls and shotty gameplay. Previous GTA's are overrated in my opinion but GTA IV fixes most of the annoying aspects of previous GTA's.
Aiming in GTA IV at certain points will still drive you crazy but not like previous iterations of GTA. You can either use the auto aim feature or be a stone cold killer and use free aim in order to get one hit kills with head shots 
. Driving still feels the same as you collide to everything in sight and with this said, make sure you drive a decent handling vehicle or else you'll cuz up a storm during the most intense driving missions.
GTA IV has been made accesible to the general public by making it PLAYABLE. The graphics are easy on the eyes and very impressive. I prefer the realistic gritty overtones over the cartoony world of previous GTA's. If you miss the cheessiness of those worlds then go play Saints Row. I can not wait to see what Rockstar's Rage engine will do in the future. Everything is crisp but once in a while you will encounter pop-up but that's expected with the grand scale and size of this game. I compared the Xbox 360 version against the PS3 version and each have a distinct look to them. The PS3 version appears to be running at a higher resolution than the 360 version and every graphical aspect appears 'slimmer.' The 360 version has more pop to the colors which in my opinion brings Liberty City alive even more. Both look great and it all comes down to personal taste.
Niko Bellic is the protagonist in this epic adventure and fits the bill nicely and his story lives up to the magnitude of GTA. Rockstar seems headed in the right direction and hopefully they can improve future iterations of GTA.