Grand Theft Auto 4

[Bluejuice]

It's quite old now and you can pick it up for about a tenner if you shop around. Seems odd to think of the massive fuss that was made over it not so long ago and the anticipation all over the globe prior to its release.

But how far did you get with it?

See I really haven't done very much in my game. Whilst I played through GTA3, Vice City and San Andreas right to the end I just don't find myself as fussed by the latest incarnation.

This game is still rated as one of the greatest games ever released but for me it really isn't as good as it makes out. Does it really add anything new over previous GTA games?

I find a lot of the story missions too difficult, even with cheats enabled, and so inevitably I just run around killing people and smashing cars up until I get bored and the constantly ringing mobile phone gets on my nerves just as it does in real life if people keep calling me up in the middle of a killing spree. Then there's the whole dealing with girlfriends element which is just MORE hassle, again too much like real life.

So essentially every time I give it a bash I get bored fairly quickly and rarely make any progress. I'm sure there is so much more to see, do and explore but I'm just not feeling it.

Am I alone?

 

[sam86]

Got it with my PS3, have completed about 35%, and haven't played it in over 6 months.

Dull, dull, dull.

 

[mcshane in the 79th]

No you're not alone.

I loved Vice City and San Andreas was simply brilliant but having got GTA 4 two years ago I have probably played it for about 2 hours and never mustered up the enthusiasm to go back to it

 

[turienzo's lovechild]

it took me and my flatmates about 10 days of intense playing to complete it

the storyline element was fairly minimal imo, it's like the sacrificed a decent storyline for AWESOME gameplay

 

[Bluejuice]

I thought I was gonna get a right pummelling from fans of the game but it appears I am far from alone. This is slightly encouraging.

So why then did the gaming press go so nuts over it? Metacritic shows it is STILL the highest rated game ever released for the PS3, beating even the IMMENSE Uncharted 2.

And what can the makers do for the next instalment to make the game more like the cracking PS2 predecessors?

I just wonder if as a format they've simply exhausted it now

 

[JBizzleBeard]

I kinda agree, but it does play pretty nicely. San Andreas was my best GTA. On the upside, Red Dead Redemption is looking AMAZING!

 

[Husty]

It just wasnt as fun as the old one, i had more fun in Saints Row 2 because that was deliberately aiming for off the wall laughs.

 

[mcshane in the 79th]

Heavy Rain soon, yay

 

[Husty]

GTa4 was a flagship game for the next (current) gen consoles. It was most probably rushed into release. I think it was essentially to demonstrate the graphics and animation, which it does superbly. One of the highlights of the game for me was watching the stunning sunset in HD

Needless to say GTA 5 will be quality.

Although of course the game wasn't HD, many of the textures were very low rez and there was no anti aliasing which made it look like it was made out of lego

 

[Bluejuice]

Also I found that with the cars handling a little more realistically than in previous games they just weren't anywhere near as fun to drive. PLUS the dreary, rainy, grey drudge of it all wasn't very inspiring. Vice City on the other hand had bright colours, glowing sunshine, vibrant beaches and the icing on the cake was all the great 80s music accompanying it.

The radio stations are still well thought out in GTA4 but they don't capture the imagination like all the gold in Vice City

 

[seven stands]

Heavy Rain soon, yay

demo is on psn. looks quite good

 

[Mellotron]

EVERYONE

If you haven't done this, DO THIS.

I still play GTA4 every week and get a lot of fun from it....purely from the Online multiplayer mode called GTA RACE.

Do it. Trust me it's mega fun, like a way better version of Demolition Derby.

 

[Easy 10]

GTA4 is good, but it didn't grab me like Vice City did.
You just cannot beat that 80's retro, the radio stations and music absolutely MADE that game. The whole look of it is based on the film Scarface - quite funny watching that film nowadays and seeing how much of it went into Vice City.

 

[KneeOn]

GTA What? San Andreas is so good, I play MTA on the SAES RPG server to this day. Its brilliant! I've been dreaming of an Albion Shirt mod... might have a stab myself!

 

[¡Cereal Killer!]

Got bored of it quickly, to involving with mobiles and internet etc, loved SA though.

May try the GTA Race though when I get back home in a couple of months (Thanks Mellotron for the advice )

 

[sten_super]

I bought it on PC last month (on sale at a fiver on Steam) and I think it is superb. The story is pretty good (and the ending was fantastic, great twists whichever way you play it) and the gameplay is a notch up from San Andreas. It's not a massive step up from San Andreas, but then San Andreas wasn't from GTA III except for the larger (and thus more varied) land mass.

 

[Husty]

It was HD, in fact it was the only game out at the time that was 1080p. Many today are still only 720p.

I see your point that some of the textures were neglected, trees for example, but generally the atmospheric graphics are still superb nearly 3 years later.

The game ran at sub 720p on the PS3, much of the reason why the shadows look so crap, I have a PC that can run the game at near enough max settings and it looks stunning but for a game that was aimed at Consoles it was pretty poor, especially when you sit it down next to something like Killzone 2 or Uncharted 2

 

[Bluejuice]

demo is on psn. looks quite good

Oh f*** it. I really wanna give this a go but my poxy little PS3 hard drive is completely full and I've got NOTHING left I can get rid of to free up space. Gonna need to buy a new drive but I really can't be arsed with the hassle of shifting all my downloaded content, saved games and settings etc.

Back to GTA4 I must confess I've never actually played it online however that would seem to be the way forward. Might give that a go when I'm tired of Bioshock 2

 

[WhingForPresident]

It's quite old now and you can pick it up for about a tenner if you shop around. Seems odd to think of the massive fuss that was made over it not so long ago and the anticipation all over the globe prior to its release.

But how far did you get with it?

See I really haven't done very much in my game. Whilst I played through GTA3, Vice City and San Andreas right to the end I just don't find myself as fussed by the latest incarnation.

This game is still rated as one of the greatest games ever released but for me it really isn't as good as it makes out. Does it really add anything new over previous GTA games?

I find a lot of the story missions too difficult, even with cheats enabled, and so inevitably I just run around killing people and smashing cars up until I get bored and the constantly ringing mobile phone gets on my nerves just as it does in real life if people keep calling me up in the middle of a killing spree. Then there's the whole dealing with girlfriends element which is just MORE hassle, again too much like real life.

So essentially every time I give it a bash I get bored fairly quickly and rarely make any progress. I'm sure there is so much more to see, do and explore but I'm just not feeling it.

Am I alone?

Was just playing this a minute ago on my 360 actually for the first time in months. Completely agree. I'm about 30% of the way through, and i just end up running in the strip club and shooting the dancers these days. Or getting a chopper, standing on a building and rocket launchering the shit out of people. It doesnt do a lot to keep you interested, i agree.

 

[SNOOBS]

San Andreas was the best game for PS2 by far, never got bored of it as there was so much to do. Best single player game ever made. The maps were huge and it was like 3 or 4 games in one. One of the problems I think with 4 was it was the same city as 3, although obviously the graphics were much better.

Hope they make something similar too SA.