GTA:IV Official Thread

[Super Craig]

Not Halo 3 or CoD4 progressed gameplay wise either. They just refined the basics, just like GTAIV. If you judge GTAIV for not progressing much in gameplay terms, you have to do it for every next-gen game out there because no game has really showed anything new.

I agree there are some elements that could be better but I really believe people were hyping themselves up for a game created by God himself.

There's plenty of scope for improvement in GTA. Could you really say the same for Halo or CoD?

[evilwallpaper]

at least halo3 had the theatre mode which I am genuinely shocked isn't included in some way in GTAIV in one form or another.

[biglime]

There's plenty of scope for improvement in GTA. Could you really say the same for Halo or CoD?

Neither are doing anything even nearly as ambitious as GTA4.

[Talk Show Host]

Oblivion felt genuinely new to me. Sure, it was buggy, and flaky, and was limited in some ways, but it genuinely attempted to make a living world with more meaningful interactions with NPCs than I'd come across before.

You had a lot of freedom to choose how to achieve your mission objectives - all that mattered was that it was achieved, not how it was achieved - and there were a lot of interlocking sets of consequences. At one point you're going around the whole world gathering soldiers to join you in a later mission. Some soldiers might not even be available if you've grassed them up for corruption and sent them to prison in an earlier (optional) mission, for example, and the game handled things like this fairly elegantly. Oblivion was far from perfect, but it felt like an attempt at a 'next gen' interactive, mission based game world.

If you have played the previous elder scrolls then the Oblivion world would feel very much dated. Also, the radiant AI was broken. If someone can give marks for a game "trying" but failing then that would apply to GTAIV too. Also, Oblvion is an RPG. You can't compare it to GTAIV.

No game has offered anything new this gen?

Hmmm... I'd argue that games like Dead Rising, Test Drive Unlimited, Wii Sports and Super Mario Galaxy have offered quite a lot of new stuff. I'm sure there are others that I could mention if I really put my mind to it.

That can be argued. In pure gameplay terms, Dead Rising was an action game with a twist, TDU a racing game, SMG a perfectly designed platformer and nothing more and Wii Sports just changed the way you interact with a game. Wii Sports is the only game that has some merit to gameplay changing mechanics.

So, as you can see, there really is no point in this.

[Pob]

Of course, another reason people want so much from GTA is because that, in most areas, it's so far ahead of the competition that it seems unlikely that another dev could ever take the reins.

In terms of graphics, audio, characterisation, driving (oh man, the driving) and of course the city itself, GTAIV is in a different ball-park to any of the wannabes.

[squirtle]

TDU is not just a racing game. It's a driving RPG with customisable online modes that allow you te set races from anywhere to anywhere. There's nothing even remotely like it. And the PS2 version is in no way comparable, if you ask me.

[Uzi]

There's plenty of scope for improvement in GTA. Could you really say the same for Halo or CoD?

Yeah for one in COD they could stop doing respawning enemies with trigger points. A massive flaw if you ask me.

[Smitty]

I dunno, i'm beginning to have my doubts about this gen.

The last generation kicked off with the genre-shaking, console-defining Halo. A game I still believe is possibly the best ever made.

We haven't had anything like that, yet.

If RE5 is as good as RE4 then I think that'll be the game to be excited about. I don't think we've seen anything really, really next-gen and impressive yet.

[Sng]

Wow, the explosions are on another level.

[Talk Show Host]

TDU is not just a racing game. It's a driving RPG with customisable online modes that allow you te set races from anywhere to anywhere. There's nothing even remotely like it. And the PS2 version is in no way comparable, if you ask me.

Yeah but you can't walk in the city, meet with friends in your mansion, you can't interact with anyone, you can't enter buildings. That's a shitload of wasted opportunity for me, just like people say about GTAIV.

It is unfair to judge TDU because of these omissions isn't it? I am sure TDU 2 may have those, just like "GTAIV 2" will probably offer many more things. I think it's unfair to criticize a game for what it lacks first, when it brings revolution stuff on the table.

[Warszawa]

So, I'm about sixteen and a half hours in and all I can do is marvel at this game. Sixteen and a half hours in, with only 25% on the clock.

It has gameplay flaws, sure...but I can't bring myself to scrutinise them because it's so rich with atmosphere, beauty and fun. Reading this thread I think some of the criticisms ring true, but luckily they're proving a non-issue to me.

The game is a marvel....the scope of the city is incredible and the first 3D Liberty City feels like a child's playground in comparison, so short, narrow and stunted it feels next to this. 10/10!

[Smitty]

Does anyone know how accurate the % completed tracker is, as a sign of progress through the game?

[squirtle]

About 90% accurate.

Although there's only a 15% chance of that.

[Pob]

Okay, for all the moaning I just did about the missions, I just did one for Manny which recreated a very famous scene from a very famous film perfectly

(The French Connection)

. It was so amazing, I'm actually going to reload my last save to do it again.

EDIT: shit, I can't. It saved over it

[Smitty]

About 90% accurate.

Although there's only a 15% chance of that.

Seriously, does anyone know?

I don't want to finish the game and have the counter read 65% or something.

[Super Furry Animal]

The sandbox aspects of the game are so far ahead of anything else you have to just sit there in awe. The only game I can think of that raised the bar so much is Half-Life 2.

I spent most of the time yesterday just harassing people. Taking prostitutes to the pier and pushing them off, arriving in the suburbs at sunset to stab some elderlies, herding the paranoid people on the beach with a motorbike. I've even started copycat killing joggers in the park. Who needs missions?

[robdood]

Seriously, does anyone know?

I don't want to finish the game and have the counter read 65% or something.

Why? Are you just never going to touch it again once you see the ending?

[Spacehost]

Y'know, I never liked the car handling to start with, but it's utterly great when you get used to it. Depending on the vehicle any chase can end up like the one in Ronin, The French Connection or The Matrix Reloaded. I can tail-swipe people with my Porsche while doing a handbrake turn and stuff. Happy days.

[Mortis]

I dunno, i'm beginning to have my doubts about this gen.

The last generation kicked off with the genre-shaking, console-defining Halo. A game I still believe is possibly the best ever made.

We haven't had anything like that, yet.

If RE5 is as good as RE4 then I think that'll be the game to be excited about. I don't think we've seen anything really, really next-gen and impressive yet.

Yeah but the HYPE will be off the scale for RE5 and it'll be just like GTA IV - the same game in next gen visuals and everyone that gets themselves all into a frenzy will moan.

I think that's the issue that most people are having with this as it's the most hyped people on the forum pre release that seem to be the most annoyed with it.

For what it's worth I expected a new GTA game and got exactly that - it's got all the padding that annoyed me about SA taken out, a script that improves on the story of VC and a city that feels more alive than any I've played about in yet.

More importantly it's fun - something we seem to overlook at the expense of picking fault in every game because we spend so much time finding every minor flaw now.

[squirtle]

Silly question: How do you push people? I just end up hitting people.

[robdood]

Silly question: How do you push people? I just end up hitting people.

Make sure you're fully pushing a direction on the analog stick.

edit - as you press the B button, obv

[Guest]

On a technical level? Emphatically yes.

Gameplay wise? I'm not so sure...

See that's what you guys don't, quite, understand...

Nevermind

[Smitty]

More importantly it's fun - something we seem to overlook at the expense of picking fault in every game because we spend so much time finding every minor flaw now.

It is fun, definately.

Just very samey fun.

[Mortis]

It is fun, definately.

Just very samey fun.

Yeah but every game is generally samey fun - surely in the hobby we have fun is the main factor?

[Rowan Morrison]

The pause in this is really getting on my tits. Just pause! Don't take half an hour about it and make me continue steering as the screen fades. And not pausing the SP game when the 360 blades are brought up is a real pain - if the phone rings you've got no chance of backing out in time to answer it, and even if you do you'll probably be hitting the B button in a frenzy and will therefore cancel the call as soon as you get back to the game.

I don't know if I'm sold on the car handling yet, either. It still feels more Saint's Row than GTA, but I've got the hang of cornering now so the experience is improving. It's still like driving a moon buggy on occasion. And man oh man do I miss the wide-open spaces of San Andreas and the magical bike / desert / Freebird combo.

But still, wow.

[Sng]

Little tip but when the blades are up can't you just hit the big button again to close them all at once? Without having to go B, B, B, B?

Car handling isn't very good but that's just the early cars I think. Some of the cars you get in later handle really well.

[Smitty]

I think the handling is great.

[murray]

And man oh man do I miss the wide-open spaces of San Andreas and the magical bike / desert / Freebird combo.

Don't, you're getting me all teary eyed.

[Hello Goaty ♥]

Yeah, the handling is fine.

This isn't GT5

[Rex Grossman]

Yeah but the HYPE will be off the scale for RE5 and it'll be just like GTA IV

The hype will not be as massive as it is for GTA. On here we've had nigh-on 16,000 posts (nearly 500,000 views) and it's only been out a few days. There are many other threads dedicated to GTa – and a folder.

RE5 will be hyped, but not like this.