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
