Grand Theft Auto 4 is a tour de force. You'll be hard-pressed to think of another video game that makes such a dramatic first impression. A massive, vibrant homage to New York City ... some of the best character development ever seen in video game history ... rock-solid game mechanics polished to a shine like never seen before in this series. A storyline that grips you from the start with characters that engage you .
How could anything go wrong with this potential masterpiece?
I hate to think it boils down to something so trivial ... but by the time you've made it through two-thirds of the game, opened Alderney and begin what you would expect to be the crescendo of the game's storyline, everything ... just ... peeters out. It feels like 90 percent of the work on GTA4 went into the first half of the game, but when it came time to flesh out and conclude the storyline, Rockstar just ran out of time or energy.
The memorable NPCs you're accustomed to meeting turn into stock Mafia television archetypes. The plot turns from unique immigrant story and family relations into stock Mafia movie fodder. For such an amazing setup, it's disappointing the game doesn't follow through and give you that epic conclusion and finale you've put so many hours into discovering. Alderney itself also seems strangely under-utilized, especially compared to how chock-full of activity and gameplay that fills the rest of the regions.
So certainly if all you see of GTA4 is the first few boroughs, this would certainly be one of the greatest video games ever created. But considered in whole, and the failed opportunity to close the game with as much creativity and brilliance as the beginning, it's hard to call GTA4 the masterpiece of gaming all the early reviews bestowed upon it.
