Grand Theft Auto IV - Anand's Thoughts
by Anand Lal Shimpi on April 30, 2008 12:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Software
Controversy: I Has It
The GTA series has always done a good job of poking fun at, well, everything. One thing that I did appreciate in GTA4 is that the game does do a good job of providing loud, but non-confrontational commentary on a lot of social and political issues. Everything from gun control to race relations, and my personal favorite: criticism of our mainstream media.
The use of satire in GTA4 is quite possibly the single most impressive thing about the game; it is done so pervasively that if half the people that GTA4 makes fun of realized what was going on, we might find ourselves in the midst of a civil war. It feels strange to say this, but despite how in-your-face the satirical commentary is, it’s all so subtle since there is so much more going on in the game. I was driving down a road headed to a mission when I heard the first commercial for Weazel News, it left me with a smile on my face.
The commentary isn't the focus of the game, but keep a few of the talk radio stations on or pay attention to more than just the story and you'll easily pick up on it. While I wouldn't compare the "acting" in GTA4 to a movie, the writers have clearly put in enough social dialogue to rival, if not best, Hollywood.
That's just plain funny
I was blown away by how much negative coverage Mass Effect got in the non-gaming press and I'm curious to see how, and when, GTA4 will ruffle feathers. I hope for Rockstar's sake, GTA4 doesn't become the punching bag that San Andreas or Mass Effect were, but I somehow don't believe we've gotten beyond all of that yet.
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larzemodo - Monday, May 12, 2008 - link
"The reviewer sounds like someone who is not only new to game reviews but new to gaming. The comments about the depth of field and the animation were both painful and hilarious to read...I guess they deserve some credit for being able to invoke such diametrically opposed emotions."- I totally agree, nuff said.
- Depth of Field is a per-pixel effect and is very draining for any GPU at high resolutions, it combined with motion blur can bring a much more photographic experience, simulating acethetics qualities found in film. For GPUs these two graphical effects are in my oponion are most effective SFX in computer games I have ever seen.
OK GTa4's Depth of field is far from perfect, it still adds to the overall sense of scale, And when your Drunk it looks awesome!!
hvypetals - Monday, May 12, 2008 - link
seems like the reviewer just wants to be different for differents sake.its blurry a block or two away? umm.. yeh so what. you cant be in two places at once. like you need to see the ants crawling on the moon?
its one thing to be unbiased, its another to hold the game to an unrealisticlly high bar.
and i had a shootout with cops in a building and had no troubles in the confined spaces just using the free aim and not the auto lock. if you would have read the directions you would see you could do both.
raj14 - Friday, May 9, 2008 - link
Finally a review that comes off as professional and well written, and not as some 15 year old teenager drooling over a popular title.Please review more games!
Schnoogs - Tuesday, May 6, 2008 - link
The reviewer sounds like someone who is not only new to game reviews but new to gaming. The comments about the depth of field and the animation were both painful and hilarious to read...I guess they deserve some credit for being able to invoke such diametrically opposed emotions.This isn't a Pixar production...you're not gonna wow even a casual gamer with your complete ignorance of animation and what is considered realistic today.
Perfectly in focus boxes on the horizon aren't very realistic. The fact that you seem to prefer that over depth of field is a bit scary seeing as that is how both real life and movies look. Knocking this game for obtaining that realism is silly especially when in the next paragraph you go on to knock the animation for not being realistic. So which is it? You want realism or you don't?
Stick to hardware. That's what you guys do best.
tEthiC - Sunday, May 4, 2008 - link
I've played the game an hour orso, I'm a PC FPS player and i've played the previous versions of GTA. I really have to agree, the cover system annoys me, walking slow annoys me, car handling isnt that fun too anymore, camera always looks in the wrong direction when turning slow, pretty annoying. Aiming and shoot buttons are really not ez getting used too, they're all on the wrong place(PS3). (all of these problems are probably coz i hate aiming with a controller instead of mouse/keyb)i really wasnt that much impressed like those other 100% score reviewers, really don't get where this game is that much better than san andreas, it looks and feels the same (on a normal CRT television)
yyrkoon - Friday, May 2, 2008 - link
*IF* this was not meant to be a review, then it should never have been put on the website, period. Should have been put on your blog page, and left there.Most of us who care enough about GTA really do not care what your thoughts are, and we will buy a copy of it *when* it gets put out for the PC.
dingetje - Monday, May 5, 2008 - link
what a bs comment...i liked this review...so speak for your lonely self.i would like to know more about thr rumour that this game crashes consoles and even damages them though
Andrewsacar - Monday, June 7, 2021 - link
Does GTA 5 have cheat codes? can gta san andreas codes be used, some poeple are waiting for gta 6 but rockstar hasn't announced it yet.https://apkgameapps.com/gta-san-andreas-cheat-code...
fragbait666 - Thursday, May 1, 2008 - link
i hope this comes out for PC soonunbaisedgamer - Thursday, May 1, 2008 - link
Just as people bash magazines and websites for giving the game a 10, so should you people be bashed for jumping on the "hate the mainstream" bandwagons.The majority of gamers will find this game to be a 9-10. Fans of the series will find the game to be a 10.
There will be plenty of people who hate it because its popular. There will also be players who dislike the genre.
There will be players who are fanboys and toute their system as the superior version.
There will also be players who just don't enjoy the game.
All that's fine, but alas we are all drops of water in an ocean. If you didn't like it, there will be a million other people who loved it.
Honestly though, fanboys and people who hate all things mainstream are wastes of space.