GTA:IV Official Thread

[Sng]

Couldn't get it to work. Seriously, this temperamental nature of the PS3 since putting GTA:IV in the drive has fucked me off so much I'm thinking of selling up and getting a 360.

Mine's bluetooth. I just synced it when I bought it and now whenever I turn it on it goes "beep beep" and it's connected to the PS3.

RTFM!?

[Pob]

Oh, is there an easy way to tell which doors open and which ones are just textures? Life's too short to go around door-to-door to find which buildings I can go into. Are there any clues on the map or something? When I first moved to the Bohan safehouse it took me ages to find my flat.

[kerraig UK]

What is "fun"? Zookeeper is "fun". I've played that LOADS. Probably more than halo. Best game ever?? Katamri Damacy. Amazing fun. Not quite GTA though is it.

See you guys are not, quite, getting it.

What many "games" have become is entertainment experiences. They are no longer games. Even Halo, though rooted in a basic shooter, works wonders with it's atmosphere. The music, the story, the pacing. These are not about "Gameplay" are they? It's about the whole package.

So, you say nothing has come close to Halo. Thing is, Halo is very much a gamer's game. Sure it's drawn in a few more people due to it's massive popularity and the take up of the Playstation generation.

See Halo is popular with gamers cos it's space and monsters and it calls out to geeks. It's never going to appeal to a wider audience as much, and even if you were killing humans in Halo 3 you can bet it wouldn't get criticised like GTA does. It does not have that mass market appeal. That's what games often strive for, they talk about the "Mass Market", and yet only a few ever reach them. If at all.

The way I judge how a game has done on a global scale is simple. I ask my mum if she's heard of it. Halo, despite 3 versions - no. Grand Theft Auto. Yes, even before 4.

What GTA4 has achieved, as an overall experience is far, far greater than what Halo has managed. On every level GTA4 bests Halo 3...oh wait you may say that the "Gameplay" is not as rich, pure, whatever. Maybe so from your gamers perspective. But look at it from another two sides. 1) simulation of some aliens running around some rocks is easier than simulation a whole city 2) 3rd person character control, animation, etc, is harder to do than 1st person - and yes it gives a greater feeling of connection with the character.

See what 1+2 bring you in the force of GTA's world is that added experience. It combines to make it look and feel far, far greater than a Halo game. Now I'm sure I'll get Kerraig running in here going "NO IT DOESNT", but try to understand what I'm saying. I'm not taking it from my point of view, or yours, but what generally people would think.

Because the game IS made to appeal to as many people as possible. It has, and it will.

Let's put it like this Smit. Halo makes you feel a certain way. While core mechanics are oh, so, important, without the layers of art [+technical/engine], story, characters, music, etc - you'd have a pretty dull game.

Wait, not game. Experience. We make experiences for people, and thats exactly how it should be.

Otherwise, for it's core mechanics Zookeeper is the best game ever. I mean Bejewelled...whatever.

Actually, i think you'll find you've got Kerraig running in here going "what the fuck are you talking about?"

[SomeNaiveChump]

To be fair to the overall package, free roam online with a couple of friends, police turned 'on' and peds and cars on 'high' is the balls and warrants a straight 10 despite the single-player.

We just pissed off some feds, nicked a helicopter and got chased by a police chopper. So we parked our helicopter on the top of a skyscraper and had a shootout with the police chopper from the edge of the roof, eventually shooting the pilot in the face and watching the police chopper drop to its doom. It landed right on the head of another player and we could hear his protestations before it hit him.

TEN.

[Puck]

Also, I got a real-life taxi on Tuesday evening, and it felt sooo much like I was back in GTA.

Getting a cab whilst drunk on a drizzly evening and sitting in the back staring out the window all the way home. Never has a game felt more real to me than this. A genuinely spooky experience.

[Guest]

Actually, i think you'll find you've got Kerraig running in here going "what the fuck are you talking about?"

I have failed. I blame myself

[therev]

It's also interesting imo that every single one of these things that amazes me makes the missus roll her eyes and groan. This surely is the blokiest, blokiest game of all time.

My wife loves watching me play this, which is lucky for both of us.

[Guest]

you're seriously reaching now. Test Drive Unlimited is SO much more than a racing game. You havent played it have you? Only about 10% of the game is actually racing.

TDU is awesomeness.

It gives such a great experience, along with a real sense of ownership.

[Spacehost]

What's the highest fall anyone's managed any way? I jumped out of a CHOPPAH I stuck as high above Liberty as I could, and fell for a full three seconds before clipping the top of the Chrysler Building, and tumbled like a rag-doll for another four or so seconds before crunching into a building site at about 120 mph.

[Corky Romano]

My wife loves watching me play this, which is lucky for both of us.

My missus wasn't that impressed when I tried to bang Michelle. Mind you, I was drunk and had just dropped her off at home, so I thought it would be a natural progression. She laughed when Michelle said I couldn't go up for a coffee though.

It was only our second date, I will try to drill her tonight.

[Dimahoo]

I know none of you care but i got 3 stars today and hid in the train tunnels near middle park. Having got to North Park station, i found out the trains don't stop when your wanted.

Just like in my real life career. I have to make that decision. W00t.

Its worthy of a new thread really, but does IV do anything the same as in your life?

Do you use a broom, or are you a gipsy with a fairground that doesn't work? I mean, the potential is endless!

My missus wasn't that impressed when I tried to bang Michelle. Mind you, I was drunk and had just dropped her off at home, so I thought it would be a natural progression. She laughed when Michelle said I couldn't go up for a coffee though.

It was only our second date, I will try to drill her tonight.

I drilled her on her second date?!!?

Also - you know the manny mission, you notice how the in car speech changes when your tailing the dealer from "the CIA advises" to "when i'm stalking girls"?

[biglime]

you're seriously reaching now. Test Drive Unlimited is SO much more than a racing game. You havent played it have you? Only about 10% of the game is actually racing.

This you're right on.

TDU is the most underrated game of this generation. No doubt. An incredible achievement.

[Spacehost]

Also - you know the manny mission, you notice how the in car speech changes when your tailing the dealer from "the CIA advises" to "when i'm stalking girls"?

Isn't the whole "when stalking girls, the best distance is two car-lengths" thing a quote from Entourage?

[Rowan Morrison]

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.

Oh yeah, I think you may have misinterpreted what I was saying, or else I've put it badly. I thought San Andreas was far more arcade-like in its cornering, in that I can generally take a corner at very high speed in a lot of cars in SA and it pays little heed to your momentum / intertia - just apply the handbrake and steer out of the skid correctly. IV is clearly more 'realistic' or at least less arcadey because you do have to think about how fast you're going, which play a huge part. That's not a complaint about how it does it, it's just that it does things differently from SA. In SA I had no fear of a police chase because it was a piece of piss to get away. In Liberty City that's no longer the case - if you panic during your getaway you can easily total the car or at least get yourself into a jam. It makes things more exciting. I am getting the hang of sliding around corners now, but at first I was all over the place because SA had given me too much faith in the power of the handbrake.

My only remaining concern with the cars in IV is that they bounce around a little more than I'd like, and leave the ground with very little encouragement. But I'm sure I'll adjust to that shortly and it'll feel as natural as slinging a Blista around in SA did.

[geldra]

This you're right on.

TDU is the most underrated game of this generation. No doubt. An incredible achievement.

Ask kerraig how his copy of the game is.

[Parappa]

Couple of questions, does the theme park ever open so I can go on the rides, and is there a way of grabbing onto cars, trains etc to be dragged along like some of the NPC's.

I feel were all getting a little ahead of ourselves with things that we haven't seen yet. Im really enjoying just sitting back and playing this, and im looking forward every day to going home and playing again. Now if they only get the online aspect up and running ALL the time, with a lot better system to play agains friends (yes PS3, im looking at you) then I will be more than happy.

I understand what people are saying that this perhaps isnt the revolution that we all expected at first, but this is just a huge step towards something massive in the near future. I suspect now they have the engine up and running, that we may very well see a GTAIV: Vice City - or similar in the not so distant future.

I have just been reading a rumour thought, that GTA IV: London is more than 6 months in development. Could this be the DLC..? If it is it means me buying another 360.

[ras el hanout]

Here's another nit pick. Swearing when done properly is AWESOME(Trailer Park Boys, Trading Places). When every other word is a swearword it's very childish and uncool and has no impact and makes me embarrassed to play in when my third wife is around.

[SM47]

The swearing's fine. So shut up. You big gay.

[Talk Show Host]

you're seriously reaching now. Test Drive Unlimited is SO much more than a racing game. You havent played it have you? Only about 10% of the game is actually racing.

Of course I have played it and loved it! But only 10% of the game is racing? You are being ridiculous now. Most of of it is racing and cruising. I used it as an example to show you how many opportunities were missed with TDU, just like people claim the same with GTAIV. It's wrong to focus on such things when the experience on offer is revolutionary.

Dead Risisng completely innovated the way adventure games could be told and played. Theres almost nothing else out there with the same game structure. maybe steel battallion...

And still it bows itself humbly in the GTAIV social/mission structure which interconnects your friends (who the player creates!) in the grand scheme of things. No other game has ever done that in such a convincing manner. It actually opens an amazing new path for storytelling and relationships in games.

Rock band is another next gen game that pushes things forward drastically.

Rock Band can not be compared to GTAIV, it's an entirely new genre, not just a game. It's like me telling you that F1 cars have had some amazing new technologies built in them and you replying with a "they are really worse than the ones they use in spaceships". They are not even comparable by any measure.

You are really reaching. GTAIV is more ambitious than anything that have appeared in the next gen machines. The only two games I can put up there with it are Wii Sports and TDU.

It fucking needs mid mission-checkpoints though.

The swearing's fine. So shut up. You big gay.

If it was on the Wii though Ramone would see the swearing as an amazing step towards hardcore gamers!

[Wickedkitten]

Ah these are some true Gems on the radio

"ah, what you have there are Al con Queso, spanish terrorists"

that and the alcopatches

[footle]

I have just been reading a rumour thought, that GTA IV: London is more than 6 months in development. Could this be the DLC..? If it is it means me buying another 360.

The answer is "no".

[kerraig UK]

Going by all the moaning in this thread it would be hilarious to see the reaction had GTA4 came out last year when it was initially scheduled to.

I was talking to one of the writers at the midnight launch (Dan Hauser and a bunch of Rockstar North were at the Kingston store midnight launch) and he said that they totally lost all perspective and dint realise just how unfinished the game was around October last year. the NYC ofice basically pulled the plug. he said those last few months were unbelievably contructive.

[Dimahoo]

sn't the whole "when stalking girls, the best distance is two car-lengths" thing a quote from Entourage

Nope. I haven't reached that mission yet.

[Guest]

I was talking to one of the writers at the midnight launch (Dan Hauser and a bunch of Rockstar North were at the Kingston store midnight launch) and he said that they totally lost all perspective and dint realise just how unfinished the game was around October last year. the NYC ofice basically pulled the plug. he said those last few months were unbelievably contructive.

Did he confirm the PS3 version was playing like a dog too?

[Dimahoo]

erm...ERROR!

Whats contructive?

You mean constructive? I actually meant that as contructive sounds like a work in itself. you know...like "Contrusive". Which isn't a word either.

[kerraig UK]

Ask kerraig how his copy of the game is.

Go fuck yourself

in other news, last nights online session had some awesome GTA races. Loved seeing pompey by the side of the oad and pulling over going "hop in mate" and as he grabbed the handle burning away at full speed leaving him scraing the tarmac

Also on cops n robbers, instead of just rushing for the getaway vehicle, I just grabbed a rocket launcher and waited. 2 minutes later a cop car with the whole enemy team came screaming round the corner, guns blazing to meet death at the hands of my instrument

[ras el hanout]

If it was on the Wii though Ramone would see the swearing as an amazing step towards hardcore gamers!

You seemed to have completely failed to read what I wrote.

I love swearing, I'm a bit of an aficionado, to be honest. Swearing is important to me and in the right hands it can be an devastating tool. Think Glengarry Glen Ross. Swearing done badly is GTA4, apart from one bit, where the swearing was delivered excellently. I'm not saying there should be no swearing in the game, just that the swearing should be kept to realistic levels otherwise you'd think the script was written by a 15yr old.

Travis Touchdown on the Wii, now that guy knew how to swear and that game was an amazing step towards hardcore gamers.

[Dimahoo]

you'd think the script was written by a 15yr old.

Thats how people act in America.

HAVE YOU NEVER BEEN ON XBOX LIVE?

[df0]

HAVE YOU NEVER FUCKING BEEN ON THAT FUCKING XBOX LIVE SHIT MOTHERFUCKER?

Fixed

[kerraig UK]

Of course I have played it and loved it! But only 10% of the game is racing? You are being ridiculous now. Most of of it is racing and cruising. I used it as an example to show you how many opportunities were missed with TDU, just like people claim the same with GTAIV. It's wrong to focus on such things when the experience on offer is revolutionary.

And still it bows itself humbly in the GTAIV social/mission structure which interconnects your friends (who the player creates!) in the grand scheme of things. No other game has ever done that in such a convincing manner. It actually opens an amazing new path for storytelling and relationships in games.

Rock Band can not be compared to GTAIV, it's an entirely new genre, not just a game. It's like me telling you that F1 cars have had some amazing new technologies built in them and you replying with a "they are really worse than the ones they use in spaceships". They are not even comparable by any measure.

You are really reaching. GTAIV is more ambitious than anything that have appeared in the next gen machines. The only two games I can put up there with it are Wii Sports and TDU.

It fucking needs mid mission-checkpoints though.

If it was on the Wii though Ramone would see the swearing as an amazing step towards hardcore gamers!

erm, nobody is arguing with you that GTA is pushing boundaries. I said myself it is the most innovative game in existence. i was just taking issue with your point that no other game this gen has innovated. There have been loads.