002 Grand Theft Auto IV

As I have been writing these first couple reviews and have been playing the first handful games, I've noticed that the reviews for these first few games are going to be relatively short and sweet. Just like in the previous review of Portal, this review of Grand Theft Auto is going to highlight a fantastic game and aim to point to the inner-workings that make this game successful.

For starters, we have the basic movement and driving mechanics. They're responsive and well made, but that is to be expected from a AAA title like this. My only complaint is rather minor, but I would much rather prefer that the character run or jog automatically. Perhaps the designers wanted people to seek out cars or other forms of transportation with this peculiar mechanic; that is the only justification I can think of currently.

When you are walking around, however, chances are you'll be shooting something or somebody. The shooting mechanics serve the game well. Believe it not, senseless violence is not the only way to play this game. Though the design of the weapons and their use caters well to this kind of play, the shooting mechanics better serve the progression of the overall story. Because the focus of this game is on the character development of Niko, the ever-present violence must be both responsive and simple. Rockstar did just this and managed to produce the best game of their flagship series.

Something new spawned out of this game: Multiplayer. The multiplayer manifests itself in two versions essentially, competitive and casual. The former version is something like out of a Call of Duty  game; the player is matched with other players and the objective of the particular mode is defined. The latter, casual, is virtually identical to single player with a handful of smart differences. First off, and very obviously, you'll be with other people. Secondly, because you do not have access to cheat codes in this game mode, weapons are scattered around the world with greater frequency. And lastly, the spawn point is the same for everybody regardless of where they died. This last feature is particularly nice because it does not lead to players trekking through the massive world of Liberty City to find each other.

 

As some closing comments, some things that could have done better need to be brought up. Firstly, the friend side quests should just be done away with. As intriguing characters within the plot, they are fine but if you are roaming around the world shooting pedestrians and avoiding the police, those calls and texts from these otherwise good characters are annoying. On a somewhat of a similar note, the story can be completely forgotten as soon as the entirety of Liberty City is unlocked. Without a real solution to this problem, it is hard to criticize much, but this aspect had to be pointed out. Perhaps the reason behind the annoying NPCs was to remind the player that the story still has not been completed, but one can only speculate.

All in all, Grand Theft Auto IV is the best game in the series. The mechanics serve each other well and the variety of game modes allows for any gamer to enjoy this game.