Grand Theft Auto 4

What is it?

Third-person action adventure with guns, cars and an exciting story.

Liked:
- Exciting and varied missions
- Well told story with some tough player decisions
- A city that is arguably the closest to feeling alive than any other game before it
- Intuitive use of in-game mobile phone
- New spoken dialogue if you have to repeat a mission

Didn’t like:
- The game lacks some of the sandbox nature of previous games leaving little to do after the story is over
- Misleading chase missions where targets are invincible until a certain point
- How every feature left me wanting more
- Play dates with needy friends quickly becomes a chore
- How I cant play pool or bowling in the online mode


I liked GTA4; I liked it a lot in fact. Being back in Liberty City reminded me of playing GTA3 and how much fun I had in that world. In many ways 4 still resembles most of my memories of 3.

The main structure is largely unchanged from before with fetch quests, assassinations and chases making up the bulk of your missions. Again you find yourself rubbing shoulders with various criminal low lives and that while cops will ignore your speeding they don’t like you tapping their bumper. GTA4 is still all these things but its delivery feels improved.

The controls are slicker, the story feels more involving and the city feels more alive. However the more I found myself asking “Can I…” the more the game said “NO!”

“Can I go into this shop?” … “NO!”
“Can I watch TV with Brucie?” … “NO!”

Not that GTA should say “YES!” to any of these questions or the ones you will find yourself asking, but every edge or limit I hit made me wish there was more. Perhaps that is just the sign of a fun game.

This game was certainly worth my £40, looks great on PS3 and had plenty of game-play to keep me entertained (at least 30 hours) but once I completed the story I had no desire to go back to Liberty City. There just isn’t as much non-story fun to be had as there was in previous games. An online multiplayer mode is also great fun, but I wouldn’t recommend it to people with out real friends to play with. If you are a big fan of previous games, action movies and virtual criminal activity you won’t find many better games this year than GTA4.

Quick Tips: Take your finger off the accelerator and break round corners. Always use cover in gun fights. Make LJ your friend.

Who’s it for:
- Lovers of great action games and movies
- Fans of previous GTA’s core story and mission structure
- People who love to shoot and blow stuff up, but also want an engaging story

Who’s it not for:
- Children under 18
- People who deplore violence and swearing
- People who have no interest in story and just want to mess about (try Saints Row 2)