tbh i think its better than the rpg elements in san andreas like eating and body building....

Still trying to find a store that has the game in stock ...

I played San Andreas for like 30 minutes and never played it again. Too bad gaming is just so un-original these days. GTA 4, is a 7.5 to 8 out of 10 at the most.

The aiming system has a lot left to be desired, and well.... I could go on and on about everything that is wrong with the game, but it does have its fun parts. I just kind of wish I didn't pay $60 for it, I don't think it is worth every penny.

Having worked in the game industry, I can't agree that gaming is wildly unoriginal these days. 90% of everything is crap, be it video games, current fashion, the current music scene, or anything else. There's a lot of really, really great titles out there currently. Some are wildly innovative, some are simply solid titles built on familiar foundations.

If you didn't like San Andreas, why did you buy GTA IV?

8 is still a really good score, you realize. I'd be proud to have a title given an 8 by anyone.

I was being generous because I haven't finished the game yet, it could drop below a 7 if it gets too monotonous.

I just hate it when developers have a great idea or product and screw it up by some things that they think is innovative but really just a pain on the game play. I don't want to spend hours upon hours building up friend ships, I just want to kill stuff, and be a criminal, you know those things I can't do in real life with out dire consequences...

I guess for those socially inept, having virtual friends may be something that is cool to them in the game.

well i still maintain that this is one of the best games made, it does so much, the scope of the game is so huge, and for its genre, there is not a game that comes close

It is just really a rehash of all the GTA games, and the scope is not that broad. You also sacrifice a lot when you try to add everything. The driving mechanics are horrid. It is not anywhere very original and I would not even closely call it the best game ever. I don't see myself playing this game 10 years from now, like some of the better games out there from the 90s that I still play.

The combat mechanic is clunky. I mean I could go on and on how this game is just mediocre across the board, and that is what happens when you try to accomplish everything.

Now, if they could make a combat system like quake/rainbow six, a driving system like burnout, have a way to automate your social interactions so you don't waste 45 minutes of your life entertaining a virtual character or your virtual girl friend.

Best game ever? hardly, a fun game? Yeah, it is fun, but I bet after I get my fix I trade it in for a different game. It is just too mediocre across the board, and it fails in several aspects of game play. The best part of it is the story line, and the character interactions, but when you have to spend over an hour of your time entertaining people with no action I start to lose interest. I'd rather read a book for that type of story or character development or go out in real life and hang out with my friends.

It needs less talk and more rock.

Easy with the generalizations. GTA's audience is really, really big, and not just a bunch of socially inept nerds. It doesn't make millions because of pathetic little Jimmy in his mom's basement.

If you just want to blow things up and that's it, period, okay. It isn't your game. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that. The problem you have isn't that the game sucks, it's that you didn't like San Andreas but you bought this one anyway, probably without reading any of the reviews first. That isn't the game's fault, and your lack of preference for the game's pacing, progression, and environment doesn't necessarily mean the game is flawed. It simply doesn't sound like it's your kind of title. That's cool.

This review, for example, probably would've told you that it wasn't your game: http://arstechnica.com/reviews/games/gta-4-review.ars

Edit: I'll give you the driving thing. Several reviews have pointed out that the driving mechanics aren't as good as they could be. Everything's got flaws.

No, quite contrary, I read all the reviews and it said improved aiming and combat mechanics (which I agree it is improved), but I feel that given the hype, money, and resources tossed behind this game it could have been better. I think that a lot of the developers lost sight of why a game is great to begin with.

No, I am not saying that the game makes most its money of guys living in mom's or grandma's basement (though I am sure there is definitely a percentage that apply to that demographic), I am saying that the game itself tends to have some lacks of flow with it.

For example, if you ignore someone their fondness of you goes down, and you lose the friend benefit. Some benefits are better than others, and I haven't unlocked all of them. The problem is, that you will get like 4 people calling you at once. So, instead of the game spacing out social interactions you will get tons of them calling you at once, and then you are stuck with a choice. Doing back to back to back social interactions or ignoring them and doing missions. If you ignore them too much their fondness level drops a bit and if it drops below 80% you lose the friend benefit.

Now, if the developers implemented this in a better manner I think I would not be annoyed by it as much.

While the game isn't horrible by any means, it also is so close to being great but misses here and there. It is too bad really.

The reason I didn't play San Andreas is because I felt it was exactly like Vice City, and I played that game so much that I was kind of tired of the GTA franchise. Took a few years off and now it is fun again for now. I will complete the game, but in the end I don't think i will keep it for my collection. I think I will trade it in towards another game once I complete it.

The multi player is OK, but I have only played death match on it so far.

well the driving does take some getting used to, cuz of the physics engine, just remember dont handbrake, and use the normal break when going into turns

I dont see why you think San andreas being like vice city is a bad thing? Of course the basic gameplay will be the same, thats what makes the series brilliant, surly you cant expect them to make a completely redeveloped game each time

(but if you dont like gta iv, i'll happily buy it off you if its the ps3 version)

Heh, I wouldn't buy a PS3 until the next gen comes out. I would hate to spend $600 on a paper weight when it breaks just out of warranty.

The game isn't bad, it is just not great. It is good, but if fails on so many things just slightly to make it great.

Also, I have found the best method of driving fast is using the brake + the hand brake + the gas in turning. It actually gets a bit better when you can do that combo. I just hate some of the delivery/chasing missions that give you crappy cars and a very limited time to get across town, the driving mechanic makes it hard. Also, when you brake into a turn you lose your mobility. The cars also turn extremely slow, it as if Niko doesn't know how to spin the wheel fast enough. I can see SUVs being like that, but the sports cars and bikes?

I am sure they will patch of few of these things I am talking about and fix them.

*gasps*:mad::mad::mad: (enter fanboy mode) ps3 is sooo much better, xbox sucks, *cough rrod* /end fanboy rant

sorry about that^ Im not a fanboy, honest :D

Ok so you think its a good game, but is there any game in the genre thats better? I mean lets be honest saints row sucked, sr 2 will suck as it comes out just after the xbox dlc, (i might still get it, its multi plat) The only game id say has come close would be The getaway, and thats because the story was so unique.

But then again the story of each gta is so unique, almost oscar worthy. And niko is probably one of the best video game characters of all time

I have been playing video games since 1983, so I am hardly impressed these days. The last original game that came out that caught my attention was BioShock. It had a great story line and a very unique feel to it. Even though, it did rehash the 60s sci-fi type genre which other games have also done in the past, this one was just really interesting. Half life and HL2 of course are ground breakers for me. I remember when I loaded HL for the first time on my Nvidia 16meg TNT card and thought it was so awesome.

Fallout and the Fallout series have also been games that have captured me due to their uniqueness be it game play, story line or innovation. I fear that Bethesda will royally screw up Fallout 3, but we will find that out in September I guess.

Crysis was suppose to be this big deal and honestly, i found it rather repetitive and boring after a while. Then again, I have been gaming since 1983. First person shooters are over a dime a dozen and occasionally you will find a diamond in the rough, but I will hold my breath on every FPS game I play.

Blizzard has made some of the best RTS games, until they tossed in the whole role playing aspect of it, and I kind of lost interest. I guess though you are damned if you do and damned if you don't. If you don't innovate you are just a rehash, if you do innovate the fan boys will hate it, and so on and so forth.

After playing tons of racing games, shooters, and third person actions games on my xbox 360, i just feel that GTA 4 could have been way better. The game itself does have a lot of depth to it story wise, and some of it is going in a too obvious of a direction IMO. I could guess what some characters were going to do pretty much the second time I interacted with them. Again, I am not all that far in the game and need to reserve my judgement until after I completed it.

For the record, I have the latest Gen Xbox, which has the new falcon chip set which does not really give a red ring of death. I went through 4 different PS2s over the years and my original xbox never failed. So, I don't have a lot of faith in Sony products (I used to repair Sony's).

lol i still have my ps1 from waay back, never failed on me,

Anways, id agree that bioshock was very unique, a great game

As far as crysis goes, true it was a normal fps, but what i thought set it apart (if you could run the game) was the fact that everything was so detailed, all the building were destructible, and the environment was basically a sandbox, giving the player a lot of freedom, and the graphics and physics were just amazing..

Anyways i thinks is should stop since you've been playing games 10 years before i was born...

The generation gap is part of the issue here I think. They are marketing it more and more towards younger kids (teenagers) these days because that makes up a bulk of the gamers. The gaming industry loses some users when kids go to college, because some kids take their education real serious and don't have time to game as much.

I would say over half my friends don't play video games at all, and out of the half that do play, maybe they only play casually and like one or two games tops.

I think I am definitely jaded having played tons of awesome games in the past and well I guess my expectations are just a bit too high for GTA 4.

im sure one day the perfect gta will be made, i doubt this generation, as they are already pushing the consoles to the limits. I think the next 2 gtas (this gen) will be ps3 only since the dvd9 isnt big enough.


On a side note, have you seen the new gameplay trailer for the game mirror edge, it looks like something new and looks pretty good

http://www.gamevideos.com/video/id/18706

that does look interesting indeed. I am also waiting for RE5. I love to kill zombies!

meh, looks ok, i cant wait for little big planet, now hows that for innovative? And im not sure, but i might get mgs 4, but ive never played that sort of game, not sure if im willing to spend £40 on it....

Hey 'larkin, have you tried it on XBL yet? Or multiplayer of some sorts?

That's where it leaps up from a rehash to fun, trust me.

Free mode ftw!! My copy, err i mean my older brothers copy is coming this friday, and my friend from rockstar just gave me a TW@ mouse mat :D

Rockstar funny at it's finest. I fell out of my chair when I saw that.