User Reviews (31 - 41 of 234)

Show these reviews first:

Highest Rated
Lowest Rated Newest
Oldest Most Helpful
Least Helpful

Overhyped and with a few flaws

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 6 / 9
Date: May 04, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Keep this short, the graphics and controls are disappointing - the driving and fistfights are terrible, for instance braking and cornering are insensitive, so you either go slow like driving Ms Daisy or fast and crash every five seconds. Fistfights are slow, lame and one-dimensional; takes the fun of the fight.

While the game undoubtedly has depth, the control issue makes for some frustrating gameplay. Controls are fundamental to any game, and this is perhaps the greatest flaw with GTA4, costing two stars in this reviewer's opinion. Regarding the graphics, although current generation, its nothing outstanding, still its understandable that in an open world game, the graphics can't be tip top.

If you can get pass these issues, buy the game, for the many hours that you'll be driving and running through the streets of Liberty City, sometimes frustrating countless repeats of failed missions, you can be sure you have your money's worth, none of that 4 hours of gameplay rubbish.

Its actually boring

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 6 / 9
Date: May 15, 2008
Author: Amazon User

This game gets repetitive and boring very fast.
I loved the previous games in the series, but
I can't even be bothered to finish this one.
Dont believe all the hype.

Very difficult to review...

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 13 / 31
Date: May 02, 2008
Author: Amazon User

This was a difficult review for me - I'm very torn as to what I think about the game...

Graphics - Unbelievably realistic. Controls are perfect. Sound is second to none. It is like you are 'really there'.

Gameplay - This is where it gets more difficult for me to review. The game is absolutely forthcoming about what it is about and how to "play". If you are a younger male, I am sure this has an extremely high appeal. You can do just about anything that you want, and enjoy the consequences one way or another. Sometimes things work out ok, sometimes you get killed.

But is is just so *real*. I'm not a prude, I'm not put off my M ratings, and I have a pretty open mind when it comes to things... This game is off the chart. You have to think "bad" to do well. I guess you have to decide how fun that is for you. For me, it was interesting so I could see what all the hype was about, and I'm glad I did, but I can't see myself getting into it like I did Call of Duty 4 or Asassin's Creed. Even though GTA's graphics and game were clearly superior, I just didn't have a whole lot of fun playing.

So the 3 stars is my opinion of the game for just me. I'm sure lots of people will rate it much higher.

Not what I expected

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 12 / 28
Date: May 01, 2008
Author: Amazon User

This Game is by far not what I expected. After waiting in a long line and 80 bucks it was a waste of my time and money!!! While the graphics are a step above the gameplay has somewhat diminished. The missions are boring and this game brings me no exitement. San Andreas and Vice city were good from start to finish and afterwards. But this I don't know what this is... It freezes quite often too while playing in multiplayer mode I know the problem has been acknowledged but O well it is what it is. Now I know the next series to come out I will buy off of amazon at a discounted rate!!!!!!!!

a videogaming achievement

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: August 05, 2008
Author: Amazon User

i'm a mature gamer who bought a dozen or so videogames with a new xbox just to see how the technology had evolved. (the digital animations in many recent films had piqued my interest.) some few important flaws aside, grand theft auto is in my view exactly where the medium is headed, and is head and shoulders the best game available today ... and i say that as a great admirer of half life 2, portal, assassin's creed, bioshock and crackdown. the point here is total, seamless, deep immersion in a world. not just an environment, not just a point of view or mission or skill set, but all the redolent layers of culture: people, infrastructure, authority, television, radio, internet, dating, sex, weapons, power, money, recreational activities, jobs, vengeance, justice -- and not just culture but a world where hydrants erupt when you drive over them, jetliners blink their slow trace across the night sky, the city breathes with distant sounds of traffic, disorder, and heavy objects, the light changes almost second to second with the time of day or the weather or the illumination of interior spaces, and your vision blurs and your driving becomes erratic if you have too much to drink. against this rich background of sardonic humor and social commentary in the guise of "urban landscape", the splendid graphical rendering and gritty art design, the two big flaws are the waxy and unconvincing computer animation in cutscenes, and the still less than lifelike animation of the wireframe action figures (those strip club dancers are not very enticing). but the depth of detail here is remarkable -- the way different weapons handle, the way different cars drive (carjack an ambulance or stretch limo, for example), the completely unique content on different car radio stations, the internet parodies, the cellphone text messages, and the sheer variety of characters in the mix -- all of it designed with unbelievable detail and dramatic interest. despite the segmentation of the game into separate missions, the narrative has a compelling overall architecture. as one example, i had early on tried to cross to the largest of the four islands of the city (blocked by a plot motivated police action), and had been shot or arrested every time. so as i worked the missions, one of the fortunate recipients of my gangster skills asked me to drive him home: and home was on the inaccessible island. crossing over the bridge, the light of late afternoon streaming into the car, the music on the radio playing a vatic beat, it was an emotionally rousing moment. i say "me" but of course it's really niko bellic, an eastern european thug on a quest that only gradually becomes clear as the plot unfolds; and it's a third flaw of the game that this quest, as important as it is to niko, does not seem very important in his unstructured and varied choices of dating, driving and drilling bad guys with high calibre. but that's because the richness of the storytelling has made all the conventional story lines of videogames obsolete. the essential point is that this videogame has i think crossed the milestone of creating a digital, full length feature film, with much more depth and detail than any feature film has ever had to come up with, and a film that is potentially open ended, multilayered and even life changing. (i've learned that the addictive effect of videogaming is considerable, which means there is power there to affect "plotted" change of all kinds in videogamers.) videogames can now be anything: the story of an individual's search for the meaning of life, non stop sex with a harem, fighting the revolution and constitutional wrangles of a new republic, solving a deep scientific mystery, getting married and starting a family, building a career in a corporation ... anything and everything, but computed in real time and with an open ended architecture. videogames can do these things with the compelling visual realism and depth of any major studio film with digital special effects, and with the possibility of a collaboratively constructed reality through network game play. the painting of light and visual objects is i think a trivial problem: the obstacles now are in managing the narrative complexity and event interactions, in building new narrative conventions or genres, and in the animation of life forms, in particular a speaking mouth and an exerting figure (for example, a figure that actually runs *on the ground*). the fourth and last flaw of this game is the gangster mentality of all the characters, which is not really a flaw so much as a genre convention (as in for example film noir or chandler novels). this gangster ethos actually reduces the impact of the violence, which i think motivates too much of the game. but grand theft auto prototypes a new cultural modality, the digital fantasy domain, which as fantasy can come very close to reality and as game can stimulate any perplexity of emotion. it's an achievement.

An incredibly stunning achievement

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 10 / 22
Date: April 30, 2008
Author: Amazon User

It's here, it's here, it's finally here. Grand Theft Auto IV has finally arrived after what seems like eons of anticipation, and Rockstar's flagship franchise doesn't disappoint to say it lightly. Putting you in the shoes of European illegal immigrant Niko Bellic, you are back in Liberty City, although this is a much different Liberty City than the one you remember. This Liberty City is so incredibly detailed and constructed that you will often find yourself in complete awe. Not since GTA III has an open world environment been so innovative in its scope, and never before has there ever been this kind of interaction. At its core, the tried and true GTA gameplay remains, but there is so much more to do: ranging from dating (yes, dating!), surfing the in-game internet, seeing a comedy show, watching TV, and listening to the radio among other things. Besides all that, there is a story here, and it is indeed one of the most engrossing and compelling stories you will ever find in a video game. Niko is no ordinary crook like we've seen before, and ends up being one of the most fully realized video game protagonists in quite some time. The rest of the residents of Liberty City are wonderfully designed as well, all helping Liberty City feel like a living, breathing place. Gunplay elements have been much improved upon as well, as have the driving mechanics and overall controls. Combined with a 16 player multiplayer mode, Grand Theft Auto IV is a glorious, instant classic that more than deserves your attention. If there are any downsides to GTA IV, and this is just me being nitpicky for the sake of being nitpicky, is that there are a few graphical hiccups to be found now and then, but definitely nothing major or all that noticable. Other than that, GTA IV is nearly perfect in every regard. All in all, Grand Theft Auto IV is an incredibly stunning achievement of modern gaming that must be played to be believed. Ranking as possibly one of the finest and most immersive video games to ever see the light of day, Grand Theft Auto IV is a masterpiece that should be checked out in the very least, even if you aren't a fan of the series. Yes, it is that good, now go play it.

I thought Halo 3 was overhyped.

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: May 29, 2008
Author: Amazon User

GTA 4 is the 7th in the series(if you include GTA london). So how has the game "progressed" since GTA San Andreas? Actually it has regressed and shoved a new gimmicky gaming aspect down your throat. When I heard about the announcement of GTA4 I was skeptical. I believed that GTA San Andreas had such a level of depth that GTA4 couldnt possibly exceed. So I figured i'd just get GTA SA with a new coat of polish. BOy was I wrong.

Size and Scale:
At first GTA seems huge. Once you get around however the game just feels a lot smaller than San ANdreas. There isnt much variety between areas of town as compared to the LA/Las Vegas/Area 51 areas of San Andreas.

Gameplay:
Driving is now more difficult. Especially for motorbikes. Motorbikes a deathtraps. Which I guess is realistic but in the heat of a chase far too often you go flying off the bike into a wall and dying. Just to repeat the mission over. Repeating quests is as great as the developers made it out to be. Here's a scenario. Get a call from quest giver. Drive all the way across town or grab a taxi and teleport to your destination(a truly excellent addition to the game). Meet quest giver, watch cut scene then drive or taxi all the way to quest. Do section A of quest. Do section B of quest. Die. Rez at hospital. Receive the text message via cellphone to repeat quest but you still have to drive from the quest giver to the quest all over again. THis may sound silly but it is a huge waste of time and rage builder when you die several times do to the spotty(However the best in GTA history) combat system. Missions also are less inventive. They're 50% car chases where you have to follow a target(but not kill them) to a safehouse then take down a whole gang, 45% car chases that end in killing the target and about 5% "drive to this building, clear it out and bring me back something that someone stole from me"
SA included missions like stealing a damn Harrier Jet from a battleship. Wheres the imagination?

Graphics:
Graphics are pretty good for GTA series but not jaw dropping at any moment. SOme pop up but all in all a decent effort. Some character face models are hideous though. Not giving anything away but one of the main love interests are completely hideous.

Sound:
This is the worst soundtrack since before Vice City. There are a few gems and easter eggs(like the song from Silence of the Lambs that the killer dances too naked) All in all the soundtrack is forgettable. Most of the voice acting is great. Many of the characters are likeable and the voice acting is well done.

GTA: The Sims....

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: May 31, 2008
Author: Amazon User

this game does a decent job at capturing the feel of New York and all its different areas. the structures of the buildings and streets scream NYC. you get used to the handling of the cars. creativity went into the media aspect as far as internet websites, tv shows and so on..but thats expected from Rockstar for this series. the prostitutes are back...and this time, they actually show them performing sexual acts in the car...so points for realism. iv only handled the 9mm but it feels pretty realistic...but u get shot about 5 times, your dead. basically, the fun comes from Living this game like you do your actual life. its not over the top or exagerated, its designed to be realistic...and i love that about it. kind of like GTA meets the Sims.

i will say that it doesnt hold a FLAME to GTA:SA in ANY way...which incompassed so many things on the side to keep you interested in it. i am also busy playing The Godfather right now...which is better than GTA4 by a longshot. True Crime: NYC, in my opinion, does a BETTER job of capturing the actual FEEL of New York City. not saying GTA4 isnt a good game...but i can only play it for short periods of time before im on to something else. i play sparingly but i dont see myself keeping it much longer.

overall, pick it up if you like gta. but get THE GODFATHER...

iLL .

Good....but not great

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 10 / 24
Date: April 30, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I waited along time for this game. I took off from work bought a 12 pack and planned on playing the best gam ever. Im not going to say Im disappointed. Maybe after the last 3 GTA's I was expecting to much. The game looks beautiful, the voice acting is excellant but the missions are already becoming boring. They seem to lack creativity, every mission I have done so far has been pretty much - find the target and kill them or give someone a ride. The online game is insanely fun but seems to lag alot. I think 16 players may be too much for the server. Alll in all, I would recommend buying this game. It is a fun game but just not as fun as I would have liked. I will probably be back to COD4 very soon. Also, I think alot of reviews up here are tempted to give great reviews because they have convinced themselves this game was going to be great before it came out. I dont know...seems like GTA 3 was better, but I havent finished this one so maybe Im jumping the gun.

The overflow of GTA

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 6 / 12
Date: May 04, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Luis Mejia (son) - Regardless how much the game has been expected, and regardless any comparisons and expectations, GTA IV is certainly a difficult game to review. Why? For all of us who expected a San Andreas part II (which I assure were my expectatives) the game is partially fullfiling, but not the masterpiece hoped. The game centers on Niko Bellic, a Balcanic character, and his personality in the game is somewhat charming (not as CJ which was breathtaking). But anyways:

1) The game overall: the graphics were completely arranged, a perfect example of the third generation of consoles, and the details were so masterfully crafted that the game is almost perfectly designed, and around Liberty City (New York) the buildings are abundant, and I can easily say the whole setting was around 3 times expanded than San Andreas.

2) The engine: this has been the problem of GTA for all their games, and IV almost escapes to this, but not completely; while the loading is really tolerable, and the entering to buildings and others is now automatic, instead of waiting to load, but the cons are fastidious: the movement coordination is terrible, SA was so easy to handle and learn it wouldn't take long to memorize, but here, the controls are too tight, the character movement is too slow and for sprinting is frustating, while driving is even worst, the car has a very low sense of direction, and both breaks are almost useless. By the other side, the whole setting gets invisible for a while, like you turn your head and it will take 2 seconds for buildings and details to appear, and this was already frustating in San Andreas. And one hughe mistake; the automatic saving doesn't really save, you still have to go to your home, so don't be surprised.

3) The story development: as playing becomes easier and comprehensible, adaptating to the new story won't take long, the whole plot carries out through really interesting stories, even better than SA, flowing in your family business, associate to works that will pay, killing, making important decisions (a real characteristic of the sandbox), getting involved with principal antagonist who later doublecross you, mafia business, and even once again (but less fun) the goverment pissing your life off! While you go playing, places unlock, and this is less inspiring, as, instead of having the whole map displayed weather you can access to it or not, you don't know what to expect, the safe houses, the food places, the clothings, etc, and some are even present but are not real places. Meanwhile, the off-the-story game is so polished that I don't know what to comment, sure the gameplay is better than the outside of SA, but too complicated or tiresome, now you can go to places; play bowling, pool, helitours, races, drinks, and you can even hang out with the selected friends, and later on this can give you benefits, also you can date and find dates on internet (even with other men...).

The two most radical changes of the off-the-story game are two: now you have your cellphone, from which you can contact people, organize, and it even got themes and ringtones, but this operative system could've been much better done, leaving a 50/50 judgement, and second, you can use cabs, you'll have to pay and you can even skip the road, but this is really usefull, at first, drive a lot for you to master this tight difficult skill. Also, you can use a computer, but once again, it is useless and polished, leaving my 50/50 judgement. Different fron SA is the player doesn't learn features; you don't learn to have better arm hability, driving, flying, swimming (you can't even submerge!) or even get muscles by going to a gym, which is not present, and cutting your hair, I mean, where is the improvement here? Plus, the story is aprox 3 times longer than SA, so you have a lot to play, which is really fun.

4) The comparisons/expectatives: this is the most delicate theme of the game, in a one line resume, everyone can fall in love with San Andreas, just most will love IV, but not everyone. Why? is really simple, SA had a feeling of completeness, it was far from being the best developed game, but the big gig of the game was the parody of life itself; uniting San Francisco, Las Vegas and Los Angeles with all parodied features, and adding a hughe forest, beach and desert to separate them was the sorry of an excuse for a respectable game, but this is what made it loveable; every line was memorable, it was long, and the errors; now that I notice; the HUGHE errors were just what gave the game flavour!

All the rumours and myths! the coincidences and failures, filled the wholes for the game to give off happiness, but now, IV got perfectly designed; precissely, a completely respectable game, but not a completely loveable game, maybe the only lovely error left is that you can steal the passenger seats of taxis! even though you can do many other things, the helicopter/flight access is really difficult and less fun, no airport, you don't have fabulous forests or exentric deserts, you don't have either an area 51, all you have is New York,so the case is the possitive stress one, for example, why people live so unhappy in perfect countries like those from Europe?

In a hughe conclussion, the game is perfectly respectable, but not perfectly loveable, its improvements made it an artful game, but don't expect San Andreas II, find the new setting acquireable, and enjoy being part of the once again present GTA experience.

Review Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next 

Actions