GTA:IV Official Thread

[Guest]

The cars control fine, it's the rest of the buttons I struggle with, the telephone, jumping onto cars instead of into them. Pressing a button to go up a ladder ffs! I mean, I'm going to stick with it but I don't think a lot of people less dedicated than I will. The most difficult thing about this game, to me, is controlling it/remembering what the buttons do. Not saying they're bad controls just there's too many of them. And for a game all about freedom that's a bit of a shame. I know the ladder thing is a tiny point but pressing a button to go up a ladder! What is this, the 1970s? There are enough buttons to press already!

I think a lot of people are really very, very stubborn when it comes to playing games. When a game is hyped like this one, they will want to. It's social conditioning once again.

But it is awesome. It's amazing. But with regard to your mum knowing about it whereas she hadn't heard of Halo, I don't know what that proves apart from this game is more contraversial - I also think you show this game to a none gamer and most times you'll get the reaction "Well, it's a computer game, isn't it." And we'll be all, "Yeah, yeah, but look, look at this map, look and the size of it, the detail. LOOK!" and they'll be all "Aren't all games like this?" And we'll be all "Fuck no!" and they'll go, "Oh, I kinda thought they were" and we'll go "It's took a THOUSAND people to make this game!"

Well it's awesome and amazing, that's good for me

[Yoshimax]

Fix for PS3 freezing from Take2 :

Please run through the following, go through in order.

1) Delete the game's install data. This is done via the PS3 options. Scroll along the cross media bar until you reach the 'Game' tab, now scroll up / down the list until you reach the 'Game Data Utility' Enter this and locate the GTA IV option. Highlight this and press triangle once, from the menu select Delete. This will delete the game's install information.

2) Delete the game's save files. To delete any save files you will need to do the following. Scroll along the cross media bar until you reach the 'Game' tab, now scroll up / down the list until you reach the 'Save Data Utility' Enter this and locate the GTA IV option. Highlight this and press triangle once, and from the context menu select Delete.

3) Disable your Internet connectivity for the PS3. To do this scroll along the cross media bar until you reach the 'Settings' tab, now scroll up / down the list until you reach the 'Network Settings'. Now scroll down to the Internet connection option and press x, now select the disable option. Once this has been done unplug the ethernet cable if you are connecting to the Internet if using this.

4) Disable the console's information board. To do this scroll along the cross media bar until you reach the 'Network' tab, now scroll up / down the list until you reach the 'Information Board', highlight this and press triangle. From the menu select 'Do not display' Press X to confirm this.

5) Disable Media Server functionality. Scroll to Settings, now scroll up / down to 'Network Settings' select Media Server connection. Once this has been done press triangle and change the option Disabled.

6) Delete all of the system's Internet cache. To do this scroll along the cross media bar until you reach the 'Network' tab, now scroll up / down the list until you reach the 'Internet Browser', highlight this and press X. Once you browser opens press the triangle button once, from the new menu highlight the 'Tools' option and press X. Scroll down the menu until you reach 'Delete Cookies' and press X. Confirm the files deletion. Repeat this for 'Delete Cache'.

7 ) Turn off the PS3 screen saver. Use the cross media bar to scroll to 'Settings', select 'Display Settings'. Now highlight 'Screensaver' and set this to 'Do not use'.

8 ) Once this has been done, manually restart you PS3 by holding down the power button for 5 seconds it will beep once and then shut down. Release the power button and re-press it and hold for about 5 seconds. The system will then boot and reset all display settings. You will be prompted to reset your display settings to how you require them.

9) Once restarted please try the game again, you will be prompted to reinstall.

Once the game has started please turn off the following features:

1) The game's auto-save. Press Start, Game, and locate the Auto-save option. Turn this off.

2) Turn off the game's flicker filter. Press Start, Display and locate the Flicker Filter option. Turn this off.

3) Turn off the controller vibration feature. Press Start, Controls and locate the vibration option. Turn this off.

If that doesn't solve the problem, Take-Two allows tech support users to reopen their cases within seven days.

[Super Craig]

That was mentioned in the PS3 thread and I'm pretty sure the poster said it didn't work.

[ZOK]

What this game really misses is SA's countryside. Tooling around the country on a motorbike was the best bit about San Andreas, and it's a real shame there's no equivalent fun to be had in GTA4.

I'm hoping that the DLC will be the Catskills or something. That would be simply amazing.

[Dimahoo]

Right with you there ZOK. I loved the small communities as well, and things like the dam. Those modern concrete moniliths that show there is some kind of civilization in the deserts.

[DC Lemon]

I couldn't believe Michelle let me hump her just for taking her to that Burger King-style shithole, and having just watched me mow down loads of pedestrians on the way back to hers. This game is just too damn realistic.

[Escobar]

That was mentioned in the PS3 thread and I'm pretty sure the poster said it didn't work.

It's a piss-take, right?

[Chadruharazzeb]

This thread would be great if it wasn't for all the bullshit.

[murray]

Yeah, thanks for adding to it.

[therev]

I'm hoping the DLC will be a newly-renovated fun fair with working rides and mini golf.

[Guest]

I'm hoping the DLC will be a newly-renovated fun fair with working rides and mini golf.

Multiplayer mini-golf where by you can shoot the person whos beating you

[geldra]

also think you show this game to a none gamer and most times you'll get the reaction "Well, it's a computer game, isn't it." And we'll be all, "Yeah, yeah, but look, look at this map, look and the size of it, the detail. LOOK!" and they'll be all "Aren't all games like this?" And we'll be all "Fuck no!" and they'll go, "Oh, I kinda thought they were" and we'll go "It's took a THOUSAND people to make this game!"

I totally agree with this. I don't think anyone who isn't a "gamer" will give two shits about the fact that the game environment is immense, it'll totally get taken for granted. I guess its only because most of us have seen where games have come from that we appreciate the scope of this.

As for DLC I'd love to be able to create my own race waypoints, especially for helicopter races.

[Distinct muttering]

Theres been a couple of people through the game who ive thought "i'm gonna let this one go" but then when the time comes a cutscene kicks in and I'm forced to murderise them. Real shame there isnt more moral choice.

man, i really fluctuate between loving this and being incredibly dissappointed by how linear/limited it is.

What happens if in chases people get away etc? I have seen the phone call kick in from the various characters when you tell them, but always choose the text to restart.

[Guest]

I totally agree with this. I don't think anyone who isn't a "gamer" will give two shits about the fact that the game environment is immense, it'll totally get taken for granted. I guess its only because most of us have seen where games have come from that we appreciate the scope of this.

You don't think non gamers will look at this and go "Ohhhhhh". Trust me they will.

[Chadruharazzeb]

Yeah, thanks for adding to it.

I live to give.

Seriously though, all this "PS3 bettar!1" "No 360 pwn, n00b" bollocks is making me yawn.

Anyway, I'm very much enjoying the game I just wish the bloody second island would open up so I could nick a chopper. How many more bloody missions must I do... jesus!

[Distinct muttering]

I think it's fair to say a lot of the missions are needlessly linear though. There are some really good missions where you can plan ahead, park a getaway vehicle, use different, more discreet entrances but in the main, it engages the start of the mission when you reach a location and you're forced to start shooting / start a pursuit. Some missions are as good as levels in Hitman but the worst are the same as the bad ones from the other GTAs. There are also missions that have blown most other games out of the water though.

It's not something I'd criticise it for really with everything else it's doing but I can see what the complaints are based on. I absolutely adore the game and it's really surprised me as I wasn't a GTA fan.

congratualtions, you are me!

[kerraig UK]

It's not exactly asking for the moon on a stick to want checkpoints is it? I genuinely can't think of the last game I played that didn't have a sensible checkpoint system, it's just become a part of modern gaming. God, even the new Mario had several checkpoints per level. It's so annoying having to drive across town just to set the mission into motion again, especially if it's the third part of the mission you keep failing at but you have to keep repeating parts one and two.

I just think that for a sandbox game, the missions are very very prescriptive and linear. A lot of them offer precisely no freedom, and a lot of what you have to do is very perfunctory. A few people were bigging up the porn shop mission before, saying nothing since had come close to it. Well, I'm assuming I've played it, unless there's another one later, and I'm a bit worried if that's the best of the early stuff. Great location and everything but you hardly do anything.

The GTA games have always been more than the sum of their parts though. The only parts GTA4 excels in are location and character/dialogue. If you take any of the gameplay mechanics in isolation, they're very very average and plenty of games do each of them better. To me, it's a fantastically detailed world with like six 7/10 games bolted onto it, but then the 3D GTA games have always been like that to me. I'm not saying I'm not enjoying the game, but I'm hardly one of those people who thinks it renders all other games obsolete when many other games have more solid or inventive actual gameplay.

Oh my, you've absolutely nailed it

I think basically GTAIV is one of the most important games ever created. it pushes our hobby forwards and is innovative and unique in so many ways, and ups the bar for other games manufacturers that it can only be a good thing. Its just a shame it fails in certain areas. And that shame is exacerbated by how many other areas in which it excels.

[robdood]

I live to give.

Seriously though, all this "PS3 bettar!1" "No 360 pwn, n00b" bollocks is making me yawn.

Anyway, I'm very much enjoying the game I just wish the bloody second island would open up so I could nick a chopper. How many more bloody missions must I do... jesus!

Swim over! The heli place is marked on the map!

[Pob]

Actually, I've just done a bunch of quite fun missions. One big old shootout which ended in a NOOSE team arriving. It was quite cool because there was a choice of entrances in this one (well, two), and it was up to me when the shooting started. Unfortunately my carefully selected and parked getaway vehicle disappeared when the cops arrived (perhaps they moved it), but I was able to adjust on the fly, and a tense escape by foot and bullet-riddled people carrier ensued. Just like Heat!

I also thought the one which all the previews talked about

(with the dude you have to phone and look out for him answering) was really good, despite being told exactly what I had to do. First time, I couldn't see him, so I called him back, walking through the crowd this time, looking for phone-talkers. I spotted him just as he said "I'm out of here man!" and ran off

. I gave him my trademark single 9mm round to the leg to take him down, followed by brutal execution-style headshot.

[kerraig UK]

By a long, long margin.

Saints Row may have featured a few features that Rockstar could have implemented, but I know that only one of those two games will see me put in a large amount of fun filled hours.

Would that be the one with the huge marketing spend and universally recognised IP?

i never completed any of the previous GTA's for all the reasons i'm outlining here. yet i completed Saints row, and it was by and large a complaint free experience. My complaints would be levelled at the derivative writing, terrible frame rate and dissappointing game world. The actual gameplay mechanics were superb though.

[Distinct muttering]

Ignore (been discussed to death already)

[Ste Pickford]

I was getting totally pissed off with the first Manny mission, as I kept failing the shoot out and then had to go through a long, tedious slow car follow sequence again every time I restarted, but what surprised me was how much alternate dialogue there was each time.

I heard three completely different lines about the two car following distance.

I wonder how much alternate dialogue there is in the game that each player won't ever hear?

Part of me thinks this kind of thing is really good - making every player's experience slightly different. Part of me doesn't like it at all, as the OCD part of me hates the idea of missing out on some of the content I've bought.

[Pob]

I guess the handling issues are down to a more comprehensive physics system. The handbrake in San Andreas was a bit of a 'get round a corner free' button, but in IV you're at the mercy of your momentum. It just took a little while for me to adjust to that style of play as I was expecting Automan-style 90 degree turns. It still feels a bit floaty and low-g, and during crashes the cars seem to occasionally inherit the flopping-fish syndrome that plagued bodies in older ragdoll systems.

But it's far more satisfying to pull off a daring getaway in IV because you just know it could so easily have gone horribly wrong.

I'm surprised you say that, Rowan. I thought Saint's Row had the "get round a corner free" button (great way of putting it, by the way). It was either direction+short button press for a 90 degree turn, or direction+longer button press for a 180. Boring!

GTAIV is much more subtle - it's more like a proper racing game in that the cars have real inertia. Also, it really does depend on knowing the cars. Get a Sentinel, traditionally a best all-round car in GTA games, and you can do some easy high-speed cornering.

The car handling is sublime - the best thing about the game.

[Shoes]

Seriously though, all this "PS3 bettar!1" "No 360 pwn, n00b" bollocks is making me yawn.

To be fair, that hasn't happened for ages. It's more 'GTA4 is rubbish' now.

[elmo]

Would that be the one with the huge marketing spend and universally recognised IP?

i never completed any of the previous GTA's for all the reasons i'm outlining here. yet i completed Saints row, and it was by and large a complaint free experience. My complaints would be levelled at the derivative writing, terrible frame rate and dissappointing game world. The actual gameplay mechanics were superb though.

Matter of taste?

In my eyes GTA is better in almost every way. Not because of the name... because of the game. In fact i haven't played a game that has gripped me so much in ages. I love how long it has kept me on the first island. I love the fact i can now drive a car well. I love the dates. And this may be the first ever game i could actually say is 'funny'. Well not including Point and Clicks.

[therev]

I can tell I like GTA, because I always complain about how little time I have to play games. "I only get about three or four hours a week to play," I moan.

Except, now there's a game I really, really want to play, I've somehow managed to find about twelve hours to play, spread across three weekday evenings.

This week isn't any different from any other week, except for having GTA in it.

[DC Lemon]

I wonder how much alternate dialogue there is in the game that each player won't ever hear?

Part of me thinks this kind of thing is really good - making every player's experience slightly different. Part of me doesn't like it at all, as the OCD part of me hates the idea of missing out on some of the content I've bought.

Is there no part of you that thinks the dialogue is ruubish and that your life will be made better for not having to suffer more of it? No part at all?

[Pob]

Some of the cut scenes are genuinely lol-worthy. I just watched one where Manny

sees the video his cameraman has made for him, and he gets told "it shows both sides of you - it makes you look metrosexual." Manny then says to Niko "he's made me look like a trans-sexual or something!"

[Escobar]

Oh my, you've absolutely nailed it

I think basically GTAIV is one of the most important games ever created. it pushes our hobby forwards and is innovative and unique in so many ways, and ups the bar for other games manufacturers that it can only be a good thing. Its just a shame it fails in certain areas. And that shame is exacerbated by how many other areas in which it excels.

I think since it went 3D they've failed in ways that only people who need perfection will ever fault it. The GTA games I've played seemed buggy and glitchy to me, but millions of people love them because of the core game, that's great for them but I'm too picky. Maybe when I play IV I'll enjoy it now I know what it is beforehand, and maybe Rockstar will improve upon it tenfold with the next in the IV series.

[Puck]

10 hours in and I feel that I'm starting to get the hang of the car handling. I never thought it was bad though, just different to driving experiences in other games I've played recently. Burnout Paradise to be precise. For ages I kept pressing the green button to boost, which is of course handbrake, (yeah, I know there's no boost in GTA), and turning my headlights on when trying to do a handbrake turn. Actually, even though my thumb now *knows* where the GTA handbrake is, I tend not to use it for fast cornering as it's too easy to spin out.