Sorry to drone on about something you all probably completed/abandoned/got over months ago, but I can't believe how good GTA4 is. Now I know I shunned the excitement of it's release, neglected to even give it a go even though it was sat under my telly for six months and generally bad mouthed the franchise, but if you know me well that's about par for the course.Whilst I drooled with anticipation for Umbrella Chronicles and I've still not completed it, chewed my nails off waiting for Soul Calibur IV, only to play it intensely for a couple of weeks before losing interest and currently have Smash Bros (purchased by Gaming Ginger Ninja, Big Mart - 14) without even having given it a look, I've just realised why everyone was so stoked about the release of GTA4...
The back story of Niko Bellic and cousin Roman's rise to notoriety, form the backstreets of "Fuckknowswhere, Eastern Europe", to the seedy, stinking, shit lined streets of Liberty City draws you in from the very start. Characters such as Vlad, Dimitri, Faustin, Little Jacob etc seem realistic (in a Gangster B-Movie type of way...)
The free roam 'sandbox' environment (which originally put me off the Vice City incarnation - as my then eight and six year old sons just used to drive around pointlessly smashing up vehicles, but having a wail of a time...) now seems enthralling and liberating at the same time.
Grabbing a quick police chase for no apparent reason at all, and getting away is a great distraction!
I like the health power ups (burger bars and restaurants), shopping for clothes or weapons, watching the TV and whiling away the hours playing pool, darts, watching a show at the cabaret club, playing the tetris style video game, meeting with Michelle or just cruising around listening to the highly entertaining talk radio shows! The music on offer is great (I find myself choosing the Tuff Gong station mostly...) But I also love the linearity of the missions!
In short, it has everything a game should have, in my opinion. It'll take me an age to complete (and there's no garantee it wont be abandoned, as so many other games I've raved about in the early stages have been when the going gets to tough...) If I've got one small gripe, it's the character rendering that look like they could have been better served by the Dreamcast. Compared to the graphically gorgeous setting of Liberty City, Niko et al look very "uncanny valley" if you get my drift...
If you're wondering where I'm up to in the game, I've just killed Faustin and been set up by Dimitri. Fortunately my bredren Little Jacob helped me kill off all Dimitri's henchmen and we wasted the pigs before fleeing... I was just on my ay to the safehouse when my stupid cousin Roman rang me. Then Mrs. K came in from work and I had to turn it off...LOL!
Still, it's got me looking forward to my next session, if Mrs. K is not demanding the TV to watch "Diagnosis Murder" when I get in from work tomorow...
I'll keep you posted! :P
5 comments:
I wont have time to finish this one. Probably have to catch all the cut scenes on youtube sometime....
Glad you liked it, Father. You sound like me a lot of years ago when I first played GTA3. It was awesome back then, but after so many years with this type of games I got tired of the genre.
After the initial surprise of how big and detailed Liberty City is, I got bored of playing the same mission types all over again. And the cops are just fucking annoying! One time I accidentally shot one in between killing two enemies and it was all cool, no problem. Most of the times, I just shoot to the sky, harming no one, and there's already a couple of cops on my trail. What. The. Fuck?!
I have to start from the beginning with my one because I blocked my XboxLive account.
It's a long story.
But after watching that video (I've seen it a million times already, but I still like it) I wanna play it again.
Koobs
Hello there father! Now you know why I scored this GTA 4 a perfect score on my blog. I told you it is much more than having sex with prostitutes and getting lap dances from exotic dancers. I can't wait for GTA 4 bonus content. Now that you have discovered the greatness that is GTA 4, it is time to draw your attention elsewhere. If I can only persuade you to play Metal Gear 4 and Halo 3, then my purpose in life will be fulfilled.
I'm still loving the game, Roman's business and flat have been raised to the ground and we've moved to another part of the city. Currently trying to wipe out Lyle Rivas for Bruce...
I have dabbled with Halo 3 and indeed Halo 1 this year and I'm still not drawn in... However, the closest I've come to MGS4 is buying a Bleem disc for MGS on the Playstation so I can play it on my Dreamcast. Good to see you here Funnyman!
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