User Reviews (51 - 61 of 213)

Show these reviews first:

Highest Rated
Lowest Rated Newest
Oldest Most Helpful
Least Helpful

Unbiased review of GTA IV's single-player mode

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: June 19, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I want to preface this review by saying that I've never played a GTA game until GTA IV. After hearing all the hype and hoopla about what a great game this is, I decided to see for myself. Does it deserve a 10 that all the game reviewers have been giving it? Certainly not. To me, a 10 means that game is flawless and a joy to play from start to finish. The last game that left me with that impression was Resident Evil 4. That isn't to say that GTA IV isn't a great game, but it has far too many annoying and frustrating moments to warrant a perfect score.

*** SPOILERS AHEAD ***

PROS

* The city itself is a stunning achievement--a living, breathing, interactive entity. And with real-time lighting and shadows, you feel the passage of time as it transforms from day into night. Each neighborhood has it's distinct flavor. If you go to a poor neighborhood, you'll find graffiti on the walls and thugs loitering on the street. If you go to a wealthy neighborhood, you'll find fashionable, young ladies yapping on their cel phones, and people driving expensive sports cars and SUVs.

* Great voice acting and an epic story.

* The cel phone is a very clever, non-obtrusive interface.

* Some spectacular shootouts, particularly the bank heist.

* If you get tired of driving (it does get tedious after a while), you can use a taxi or call your cousin for free car service. There's also a fully functioning subway system, but I hardly used this.

* The dating and mini-games are pretty fun, but bowling seems clumsy if you're used to using the Wiimote for Wii Bowling. (And speaking of dating, was anyone able to score with Kate McCreary?)

* A lot of the side missions, like Brucie's carjackings, are a lot more fun than some of the main missions.

CONS

* NO CHECKPOINTS - This is my single biggest complaint of the game. If you fail at any point in the mission, you have to start all over. This maybe fun the first few times, but it gets annoying very quickly and drags the pace of the game down, especially for the longer missions.

Almost all the missions are structured like this:
1. Go to a person to get a mission briefing.
2. Go to a location or chase an enemy down.
3. Eliminate your target(s).
4. Evacuate the area and ditch the cops.

Why not have a checkpoint after each portion of the mission? Maybe the programmers didn't have time to implement this, or the designers thought it would be "fun" dying and playing the same thing over and over again.

* THE CHASES - With the exception of "Not on the Subway," I disliked most of the chase missions. Why? Because if you lose your target, the mission ends abruptly, and you have to start all over again. I would have liked the chases more if they continued indefinitely. Or if you do lose your target, you should be able to steal a cop car, use the computer, and track them down again.

In some instances, I tried setting up blockades of stolen cars to slow down the enemy, but that didn't seem very effective. There were times when I completed the driving portion of the mission only to be killed during a shootout. In my next attempt, I would try taking a shortcut to the destination instead of weaving in and out of traffic, but in most cases, the mission would end because I was too far away.

For a game that claims to have an "open world," you still have to accomplish the missions in a very rigid and linear fashion. And there doesn't seem to be a way to end the chases prematurely.

* SHOOTING WHILE DRIVING IS CLUNKY - Although it sounds fun on paper, the controls for driving and shooting are a bit challenging. Use R2 to accelerate, L2 to break, the left analog to steer, the right analog to adjust the reticule, and L1 to shoot. Now try doing all that at 60 mph with multiple enemies, traffic, sharp turns, and the cops on your tail! Good luck!

FAVORITE SUPPORTING CHARACTER: Brucie. He's muscular, he's funny, and he rules. Stay alpha, bro! Honorable mention goes to the driver for Roman's car service, who constantly insults you for taking advantage of his free service.

LEAST FAVORITE SUPPORTING CHARACTER: Bernie or Carmen. They're both annoying, but they do have benefits. If you finish Bernie's missions, he gives you a sports car, which comes in handy for Brucie's races. If you get Carmen to like you enough, she'll give you a heath boost.

FAVORITE MISSION:
"Three Leaf Clover." By far, the bank heist is the best mission in the game. It's suspenseful, relentless, and action-packed. Unfortunately, it's in the middle of the game, and subsequent missions pale in comparison. I'm surprised the developers didn't save this one for the climax.

LEAST FAVORITE MISSION:
"Smackdown." I died quite a few times on this mission. Not only do you have to fight bad guys, but the cops are shooting your back.

MOST UNDERUSED GAME MECHANIC:
In the mission "Truck Hustle," I was able to grab onto the rear bumper of a moving van, climb on top, and then kick through the window on the passenger side. It felt like a moment from "Raiders of the Lost Ark." I was only able to do this once in the entire game, so I'm not sure if this was mission-specific or an ability you have throughout the game. It was certainly a lot of fun, and I wish there was more of this.

OVERALL SCORE: 8.5 out of 10 (9.0 if the game had checkpoints during a mission)

My favorite among the GTA series

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: August 03, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Pretty deep, especially for a videogame.

I don't want to tell any spoilers, so here's the gist. You play as Niko Bellic, a veteran soldier from the genocidal war in Kosovo. While fighting in the war, Niko, his cousin, and their platoon mates are betrayed by one of their members, leaving only four soldiers alive. Niko's cousin Roman goes to the US to seek a better life following the war, but ends up becoming a cokehead with a lot of gambling debts. He entices Niko to come to the US with tales of the American Dream, but when Niko arrives, he discovers the truth about his cousin's activities.

Niko has only two reasons to come to the states... to start over, and to find the remaining two soldiers from his platoon: Darko and Florian. There are no riches or comfortable accommodations for Niko, only the hunt for the betrayer.

Niko rampages through the streets earning money for himself and his brother. All the while, he meets a few characters along the way and tries to cope with his past.

In GTA3, you were a nobody. In GTA Vice, you were a tool. In GTA San Andreas, you are caught up in the worst storyline ever. In GTA LCS, you were Tony C. In GTA IV, you are a real, original character.

Not only is your character genuine, he is also one hard-boiled mofo. His soldier background is present in the gunplay of the game. Niko can duck behind walls, blindfire, take cover, dive across gaps for cover, the whole shabang. Aiming is much improved from past GTA games. You can screw people up pretty badly if you want. Grenade tossing is spot on. The AI isn't too dumb either.

Perhaps the most notable upgrade is with driving. You have a little GPS locater in your car and you can set your own waypoints. You can also take taxis to all marked locations and waypoints, very nice. The radio stations are brilliant as always. Car selection is sweet. Just be careful while driving...lots of terrible crap can happen to you. Sudden stops will send you sailing out of the windshield, and if your car begins billowing even a little bit of smoke, it will blow up eventually with wear. Lucky for us players, cars in GTA4 take a pretty long time to blow up once they catch fire. Just dive out of the car if it does.

Finally, the graphics. The game is beautiful. The Liberty City skyline has never looked so alive. Take some time out to look around from a high perch or while driving across a bridge. You will be pleased with what you see. I was actually able to use this to demonstrate the next generation of urban environmental modeling. Yeah it looks great.

I would have liked to see the same variety of available vehicles that was present in GTA San Andreas. This was the one downgrade that bothered me about the game. But the improvements in gameplay more than repaid for that change.

Right direction, but still needs tweeking

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: August 11, 2008
Author: Amazon User

First the positive. This game had better "big" missions than the previous games (like the "heat" one). The minor missions were a little better. The shooting improved, but I liked that in san andreas you can increase your skills (like shooting and driving).

I played GTA IV mainly because I expected it to be awesome. It is a great game, but it lacks in what makes it what it is: being a sand box game. I was disappointed by its lack of customization. I liked how San Andreas (besides the fact it was too big, but with the new taxi feature it would have great) gave you the option of buying things. However I found that I had no need for money in IV resulting in an obvious choice between the two endings. In the previous games i felt like I could do whatever I wanted. In this one (and like the food, territories, and working out in san andreas) I felt totally stuck in doing what the game wanted instead of what I wanted. The driving and shooting also have something to be desired. The storyline produced no emotional attachment to any of the characters. The minor missions (especially the minigames, which fortunately they didn't force you to play to often) were better. I missed the ability to gain new skills from the ambulance, fire truck, etc. missions (not the missions themselves). I wish their were more missions like the hitman and most wanted ones, to help you gained those abilities. I also didn't like that they took out the airplane and parachuting abilities from the game.

If they could find some happy medium between all the gta games then they would be perfect.

Great game, too bad it locks up!

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 12 / 36
Date: May 04, 2008
Author: Amazon User

The game seems real fun, but it is unplayable because it locks up constantly. I have even heard reports that after playing this game, some people have experienced lock ups on other games, so it could be that this game fries your PS3. STAY AWAY FROM THIS GAME until the lockup issues have been resolved.

Cousins, are you not having FUN?

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 5 / 10
Date: May 12, 2008
Author: Amazon User

The top down GTAs were my favorite I dipped my toes into the other incarnations but tired of the shooting system. The newest entry fixes what I considered to be the weaker points of the franchise and evolves what a GTA gameplay experience can be. After many hours of straight mission runs and overall experimentation everywhere else this GTA will leave you out of breath. Just visually appealing enough with rare cross hatching graphics popping out on occasion, IV looks good but requires alot of BRIGHTNESS?CONTRAST manipulation during some of its exceptionaly darker corners and hours of day. The police pursuits and mayhem factor are much easier to control this time around and you will often find yourself escaping and finishing missions that older games would have had you replaying for days. The music is a nice varied lot as usual and a high point at moments when it meshes with the voice acting and SFX to perfection. The detail to player experience and ambiance is unparalled throughout other than the eventual repetition of the media on TV and Radio which is only a testament to how many hours your spending in LC, also no custom ST? The driving controls feel especially nice on the DUAL SHOCK 3 trigger buttons and the included Six Axis controls for HELICOPTER BIKE BOAT are another PS3 bonus and are tuned just right once you practice. When are games worth $60? When they are so rich with content and development that almost all those moments in every other game where you said " I wish I could try that" are fufilled.
***** I do not have my 60PS3 highspeed ready so I cannot vouch for the quality of the mutliplayer content which looks to outstanding if it runs.
My system has run this game perfectly other than one cutscene going mute.

The Rockstar Revolution... The Next Generation

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 10
Date: May 05, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Nowadays in gaming for a verification of quality all I have to do is look for the little R* symbol on the bottom right hand corner of a game box, and automatically I know I'm in for a heckuva ride. So naturally I approached GTA 4 with a built in optimism, and I'm happy to report said optimism is still, after all these years, greatly justified.

I think the thing which makes me leap towards all of R*'s titles is the promise of a game possessing a new a unique storyline with the characters to match, and GTA 4 delivers that in spades. In the past the protagonists of each of the GTA games have been cold (Claude in GTA III), ruthless (Toni Cipriani in LCS), hypocritical (Vic Vance in VCS), Twisted (Tommy Vercetti in Vice City), and even sympathetic (CJ in San Andreas) but in the case of newcomer Nikolai 'Niko' Bellic we have a character who is quite tragic and surprisingly endearing whose motives and actions are wholly justified by the knowledge that he is a man with a past which has been tarnished by death and betrayal, and escapes his native country to find peace in America only to find a new war to fight. The war of survival for both him, his cousin, and as the story progresses those who become close to him.

The game actually lives and breathes Niko's conflicts, his woes and his desires. For the first time in GTA history the decisions you make actually affect what transpires. there are moments where you can actually decide if someone you pursue should live or die, and it doesn't stop there. As the story progresses you meet many people who begin as business acquaintences, and in time they become your friends, which you can contact on your cell phone when you're not on a mission. With the sel-proclaimed "Alpha-Male" muscle-head Brucie you ultimately start joining him in street races for big bucks. With the Jamaican Dealer Little Jacob, his friendship will mean obtaining weapons at a discount rate. Many times you just meet people on a freelance basis and actually go to internet cafes and hook up with a girl (or a guy) online and you can take them out on a series of dates whether it be to a bowling alley, the club, a bar, etc. and humorously enough many times you can exit a bar totally inebriated and risk getting busted for drunk driving which is a blissfully manic experience trying to outrun the cops while under the influence. Of course driving drunk is only a smidgen of the things you are capable of in this new improved Liberty City.

The gameplay mechanics make an almost seamless transition from one platform to another. The game will start you off with a brand new control scheme. However if that isn't to your liking, R* had the considerate foresight to allow the player to go old school and use the classic control scheme. Which all things considered made my ability to drive a heck of a lot sharper. I purchased the PS3 specifically for this game because GTA and the Playstation controller are a match made in heaven. A new addition to the control style is the SIXAXIS system which allows the operation of certain vehicles (like helicopters, and motorcycles) to be motion sensitive to the way you handle the controller. Once again however if that is not to your liking, luckily R* is flexible, and I'm glad because I didn't want the controls to interfere with my ability to drink in the atmosphere.

Speaking of atmosphere, this is bar none the richest, meticulously detailed, and most beautifully rendered environment I've seen in a video game to date, many times I accidentally crashed into a cop car (leading to another tricky one star level chase) because I was overcome by the sheer grandeur of this brand new Liberty City. After the epic size of San Andreas I seriously did not think it could be topped... I spoke to soon, because not only did GTA 4 dwarf San Andreas in scale it trumped it by giving it life. Many times I was walking the streets deliberately to take in and enjoy the local color. The variety of clashing personalities of the random people wandering the streets is simply mind blowing and I'm still discovering new aspects. Now other drivers are just as crazy and as reckless as I am, the police no longer scrutinize you alone. It actually scares me when I'm driving along and their sirens sound off when they start to pursue another suspect!

Which leads me to another element of the gameplay. the AI on your enemies and police are deadly, the tenacity of Liberty City's finest knows no bounds and they will chase you through hell and back if they have to and it's not as easy to shake them as it was in the old days. Even the trusty Pay 'N' Spray has it's limitations when you're being pursued by the cops!
As for the shootouts. Your enemies are far more organized than they used to be. Though Niko is now able to find cover by pressing R1 that is still not enough, you still have to ward off snipers while fighting off thugs on the ground and many times they got better guns than you do. The most rewarding aspect of this is that if you survive and take the time to salvage the bodies, not only do their guns become yours but many times you get them in bulk. So many times you're never short of ammo for an AK47. Also the targeting system (notoriously has always been the most troublesome aspect of the GTA franchise) has reached a new level of efficiency, refining many of the aspects left over from San Andreas, and enabled you to engage multiple targets at once without becoming too scattered.

Another unique element here is in the almost infinite array of vehicles to choose from. The driving mechanics have been rendered to a point where it almost feels like real deal driving, which makes the experience of driving each vehicle more challenging and urges you to develop a subtle touch with the controls which keeps the gameplay consistently spontaneous an unpredictable. Much like GTA 4's predecessors, however you begin to develop preferences to specific cars and motorcycles, which is both a blessing and a curse, mainly a curse during a police chase or a tailing mission. Oh, also the act of stealing cars has been given a whole level of tricky realism. This time you can't just jump in front of a car to make it stop, this time a car will hit you if you try to stop it out of the blue which will take it's toll on your health so be careful! Luckily, in the end, all these new challenging elements are never a hindrance, and never detract from the overall experience.

Ironically I've barely even scratched the surface of all the brilliant aspects of R*'s next generation debut, but I'd rather allow you to be surprised yourself... also I'd be typing forever if I did go on. Sufficed to say R* still leads the way for relentless, innovative, entertaining video gaming experiences and for the new gaming platforms it seems that they were only getting their feet wet with the PS2.

I wonder if they'll make a Bully 2?

A great game, but worth the wait?

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 9 / 25
Date: April 30, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I went to a midnight opening to make sure I had GTA4 as soon as it was released. After all, it had been three(?) years since the last game. I thought San Andreas was about as good as it could get, as far as plotlines, backstories, and free roaming actvities. So when this release was announced, needless to say, I was extremely stoked.

First, the positives. The storyline of the game is very intriguing. Niko, "running away" from his home country, hoping to make it big in America with his cousin. It has all the makings of a great movie. And the beginning cutscenes treat it as such. I like the fact that on some missions you have a choice about the outcome (for example whether to kill someone or let them go) can change the way the game will progress. That gets you even more involved with the game. The free roaming parts are still top notch, as many other reviewers have pointed out. And I am sure after more playing, I will find even more.

The negatives. I think the graphics, while very good, could have been better, especially since it is supposed to be played in blu-ray format. I think the earlier missions are too similar to the previous GTA versions. Was hoping for more creativity there. While I do understand that the early missions SHOULD be easy, so the gamer can get familiar with controls and so forth, the missions could have been a little more challenging. I was pretty bored in the beginning. I hope with further play, it will hold my interest a little more.

Was this game worth the wait? The jury is still out. I think that it is showing a lot of promise. But I can't say this game had the same hold on me like San Andreas did early on. So, I don't know if that is a sign of things to come. Stay tuned.

Nothing new here, tedious elements, value is subpar 8.5-9 only

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 5 / 11
Date: May 17, 2008
Author: Amazon User

This game is awesome, but it is also way over hyped by the video game junket, i.e. everyone who depends on VG's to pay their salary.

This is not a 10, I'd give it an 8.5-9 at most. There is just not much to do that's all that fun other than the missions which get repetitive and due to the horrible handling vehicles can be a tedious lesson in frustration. I can count at least a couple times I've tried all the missions available and found all of them this way, this one doesn't keep you playing like SA did. The motorcycles are almost un-ride-able and you are forced to use them in at least 5 missions.

So handling sucks the fun out of it a lot. Also the character is so slow in almost everything he does, running,changing weapons, stealing cars, etc. The cell phone is more annoyance than anything, you are constantly inundated with calls for non-story things, if I wanted the Sims I'd play that! Ditto for Gran Turismo/Forza!

This is like a product with a very sexy package only to be just a generic inside, not worth close to $65 this just turns me off of Rockstar in the future, it seems like no one remembered what made GTA so fun to begin with. After a few years of waiting it's a real let down, yes RockStar got it's $500M on this one from everyone, but the next one I'll pass on buying new. My advice is to wait till this comes down to it's actual value, about $35.

Most Expansive Console Game Ever Made

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 8
Date: April 30, 2008
Author: Amazon User

WHAT AN EXPERIENCE

Out of all the many games I've played GTA4 beats them all for me. Attention to detail is what wins me over in most cases. I bought this the day it came out and couldn't put it down until 18 hours later. SERIOUSLY, I was that enthralled in what this game had to offer.

The constant parodies of our modern culture & society are displayed ALL OVER this game. I find it hilarious but a bit disturbing as well(mainly 'cause everything is sound irony compared with today's culture).

A ridiculous amount of hard work and detail was put into making this the pinnacle of all virtual cities ever created in a video game. My escape in this game was so real that I literally dreamed about all of the high-octane situations I'd just encountered in GTA4 as if I were really Niko Bellic or something(haha, you're thinking 'therapy'). Kinda like when you come home from a hard days work and think about the many pressured conversations you've just had with your superiors. I think my brain needed to sort out all of the madness I'd just encountered.

I have a 60GB PS3 and I had no issues with this game. Worked seamlessly after the initial install and ran smooth for a straight 18 hours!
UPDATE: ONLY IN SINGLE-PLAYER MODE(Online Untested)

This game has SO MUCH TO OFFER. I'm not even a gamer per say(few hours a week), just got caught up in the hype in which the gameplay itself far exceeded. Play it while it's still fresh, the newness always wears off. go go go

If this is not your genre- you will not like it!

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 4 / 8
Date: April 30, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I want to make this clear to everyone- I already posted a review on Amazon for this game- I gave it the same amount of stars and they removed it. I did not curse or say anything inappropriate. To me, that makes all the other reviews here less credible if they can pick and choose what is posted.
Anyway, back to the review. I was never into Grand Theft Auto games. To me they were boring. I play games like Call of Duty, Brothers in Arms and Medal of Honor.
My friend told me to try the game out- he said read the reviews- its going to be awesome! So I did. I got it the day it came out. To me its exaclty what i thought it was going to be- Boring.
The first five minutes of it are fine- you can drive around, run people over and kill them. That gets boring very fast. There are too many dark spots and the story is so slow.
The graphics are good but good graphics alone does not make a video game. This review is not for the usual Grand Theft Auto fan- i am sure those guys love driving all these cars and running into people for months and months- but for those of you who like me wanted to try it out and see if the hype is real- don't- you will not enjoy it. If your used to Call of Duty type games this game will be a complete bore for you. I recommend renting it first before you buy it- You will see you saved yourself $60.

Review Page: Previous 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Next 

Actions