Grand Theft Auto IV - Anand's Thoughts
by Anand Lal Shimpi on April 30, 2008 12:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Software
Final Words
Recommending GTA4 is pretty easy: if you liked the previous games, you'll like this one - and if you didn't, chances are that nothing has changed. If you've never played a Grand Theft Auto game then it's worth giving a shot, simply because it's one of those games, like Oblivion, that is open ended enough to have something for just about everyone.
The scale of GTA4 is tremendous, the streets are individually named, the populace is genuinely diverse (although you will still see the same character model dressed in different clothes) and Rockstar has done a tremendous job of making you feel like a single person living in a very big city. For some, the scale and attention to detail are enough to keep you occupied in GTA4, but be warned, despite all of the relationship-management you can do in game, this is not a clone of the Sims.
The scale of GTA4 is without a doubt impressive.
One of these is not like the others
The main story is good enough for those who need a story to enjoy a game. You have to take a divide and conquer approach to completing the missions, which after you get started really come at you from multiple sources at the same time, but if you enjoy a game with a purpose GTA4 can fulfill that need.
Then there are the side missions, achievements and random acts of violence. There are enough things for you to do, unrelated to the main story, to please the havoc-seekers. In this sense I don't believe GTA4 succeeds nearly as well as a game like Oblivion (you could call me an obsessive fruit-stealer), but it's definitely got more to offer here than 90% of the titles out.
The social commentary is honestly my favorite part of the game, not because it somehow adds more enjoyment to the game, but because Rockstar managed to express some pretty un-PC viewpoints in a form that will reach millions. GTA4 is expected to sell over 10 million copies this year alone and to be able to say some of the things that are said in GTA4, and still reach that many people, is impressive.
And I can't help but ask, where's the PC version? I get that consoles are far better sales platforms these days, but if we view the creators of a game like GTA4 as artists, then they should want their art on the best possible canvas. The draw distance and graphics issues could be alleviated (although probably not solved completely) on a PC; sure it would take a very high end PC to deliver the perfect experience, but with new and more powerful GPUs coming out every 6 - 12 months, the chances for making GTA4 look beautiful on a PC are pretty good.
In short, Grand Theft Auto 4 is an addicting game, fans of the series won't be disappointed but there's little chance that someone who hated the previous games will fall in love with this one. It's not what I would call perfect, but it's a decent evolutionary installment of an already good franchise.
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Nihility - Wednesday, April 30, 2008 - link
The massive amount of perfect scores GTA4 generated is amusing. There will never be a perfect game and this is just an example of that. I'm sure it's a great game and provides hours and hours of awesome funsies but it ain't perfect.I had the same problem with the bioshock reviews. Everyone was going crazy giving it perfect scores but when it came down to it the game was very repetitive and annoying.
Anand points out the flaws in the game even though it obviously makes the fanboys cry at night.
psxguru - Wednesday, April 30, 2008 - link
"It's like the cameraman just discovered depth of field and went nuts with it."this comment made me laugh - it's what I think of most of the pictures in the hardware reviews! Concentrate on your focus please! lol
spudboy23 - Wednesday, April 30, 2008 - link
...anand, or the anti-liberal legions that comment on this site will come after you for labeling the viewpoints expressed in "Weazel News" as "satire" instead of TRUTH.also, you mentioned an iPhone...probably won't be long before the anti-Apple forces will attack with all the fury of their sharp opinions. i'd be cowering in fear if i weren't so busy admiring how pretty my Jesus phone is.
interesting perspective, btw. likely there's no PC version (yet) because they want to milk all the $$ they can out of the console versions before people starting pirating away on the PC version.
spudboy23 - Wednesday, April 30, 2008 - link
sorry, i couldn't resist...actually it's Dailytech that gets all those comments, not Anandtech itself. i was kind of surprised to realize this wasn't a Dailytech page.apologies for sarcasm.
SerratedDrums - Wednesday, April 30, 2008 - link
GTA VI PC!!! I can't wait to buy this game. The multiplayer will be huge on PC. And stop pirating people.Locutus465 - Wednesday, April 30, 2008 - link
For the record I'm against piracy... But you have to admit there's a degree of irony calling out for people to stop pirating a game that's all about stealing cars and beating people to death with intamate aids... ;)SerratedDrums - Wednesday, April 30, 2008 - link
Haha. True that.frinky525 - Wednesday, April 30, 2008 - link
going to any of the east coast shows?Casper42 - Wednesday, April 30, 2008 - link
I was reading somewhere that newer FPS style games on the consoles were including support for USB Keyboards and Mice for us "PC Gamers" who simply cant let go.Was curious if anyone knows if GTA IV provides such an interface?
andrew007 - Wednesday, April 30, 2008 - link
I am sorry but this comment just doesn't carry much weight. For example you will be hard pressed to find SciFi movies or TV series that have stories that can compete to Wing Commander series. Or RPGs requiring 40-80 hour investments. I could easily say the same thing in reverse as I don't really watch movies and TV - they are just dumbed-down mass entertainment as far as I care. Unless you are heavily involved in both, you can't really make that kind of comment.I mean Anand is a busy guy who doesn't have much time to play games that require serious investment of time. If you follow the website regularly you know he mostly plays FPSes or other games that can be played in short spurts or - more importantly - benchmarked. How many games has Anand had a chance to actually play over the years? For example he still thinks that Gears of War is a great game today which no serious gamer that plays 30+ games a year would say. On the other side he can find time to watch movies since they can be watched in 2-3 hours. And he loves movies, as witnessed by creating a full blown mini home cinema from scratch.