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Gone Gonzo  Posts: 4163 Joined: 23 Apr 2008     | |
Infamous Scribbler  Posts: 599 Joined: 27 Mar 2008     | My friend just picked it up from the midnight launch for me. I have GTA 4 now, i will get back to you at around 10 ish tomorrow to say my first impressions |
Red Guard  Posts: 2672 Joined: 16 Dec 2007     |
Great, remember to keep it spoiler free so those of us who haven't played get a chance to enjoy the wonderment. |
Pulitzer Laureate  Posts: 920 Joined: 24 Oct 2007     | I've nerver been a GTA fan because of the AWFUL combat system, but I'm aware that GTA IV has greatly improved on this (they actually overhauled it) so now it includes a targeting and a cover system that seems very intuitive; because of this I do plan on getting it and break my GTA ice. |
News Room Contributor  Posts: 152 Joined: 22 Aug 2007   | I'm very excited to hit Best Buy at midnight tonight with fellow people who don't care how much they hate waking up in the morning even when they go to bed at a reasonable hour, and proceed to devote countless hours (I've already taken off work on Wednesday) to this brand new world. I've been checking up on impressions, and I'm particularly intrigued by Stephen Totilo's war cry against the game, wherein he says that Rockstar's talk about the game being "revolutionary" for the game industry is pretty much all hype. And I'm thinking that, though I will have to see for myself, there is no doubt that a next-gen GTA has to be revolutionary simply for the experience factor, but not necessarily for gameplay elements (although if you've read anything about the multiplayer, you're probably salivating like a mad dog, ESPECIALLY if you're a PS3 owner because, as we know, we pay absolutely nothing for the right to kill). I'm pretty unshakeable when I get excited for something. Nothing's going to change my world -- no Stephen Totilo is going to be able to reduce my enthusiasm with his early nit-picking seemingly done for the sake of self-aggrandizing. Especially when at the bottom of his "article," he notes that, "As perfected as this "GTA" is, I must admit that I spent a good deal of Saturday tempted to return to playing "Super Mario Galaxy." Is there really an excuse for such a statement? Best believe I'm a ho for Rockstar, till the bitter end, and I am ready for the revolution. How about you? |
Gone Gonzo  Posts: 2487 Joined: 29 Nov 2007    | It would probably help video game culture for a developer to focus more on the experience a game provides than worrying about gameplay elements all the time. The only people who care about those things are rapidly becoming the minority. And frankly, they all seem to just be re-hashes or twists on old concepts these days anyways. It's the same GTA structure but with the incredibly polished and smooth experience of being a criminal in New York City. A game that devotes itself to that is revolutionary enough. |
Gone Gonzo  Posts: 1566 Joined: 5 Dec 2007  | I feel torn between picking it up at midnight (5 hours 15 minutes left in that case) or waiting until tommorow morning. But since i got the entire week off and havent had a proper nights sleep in to long i should wait. |
Gone Gonzo Posts: 4163 Joined: 23 Apr 2008 |
*grumbles* have to wait for the mail delivery *grumbles more about 10 am sortof time* |
Anonymous Source Posts: 6 Joined: 9 Jan 2008   | I'm looking forward to this game a lot, they seem to be a seriousness to the story and characters that was lacking before. I mean San Andreas was fun to randomly combine an entire crowd of unwitting people until you finally have swathed through 30 of them and a rain of blood and skin bits has caked them enough that they are weighted down, but CJ was a horribly shallow character just like the rest of them.. Especially Tony Vercetti or whatever the hell he is named. Nicko this time seems to have a really rich back story and some good lines, I assume he was in the Afghani war when he was just basically a kid, and his whole intro video explaining him really took me aback, especially when the quote "A creature that could do this, has no soul" came, it seems that the writers of rock star went back to high school again and picked up some short story tips. At any rate I am really looking forward to this one.. Except for how they want to make it more realistic.. So they took airplanes out right.. Well I actually have quite a few hours to my pilots license and a few to Helicopters.. Helicopters are several times harder to fly lol, which you can pilot in this game. |
Gone Gonzo Posts: 4163 Joined: 23 Apr 2008 |
Erm... I'm just curious, but why do you think he was involved in the Afghani war? Not to rain on you parade or anything, as I think your right about the changes to the story, although I found that the characters in GTA Sa were alright (maybe playing the earlier ones fill in the back storys - that assumes you didn't play them...?) Anywho, Nicko is definitely from the Balkanlands, (I think Albian?) which is in east-Europe, and has had its only set of wars, so of them genocidal (although my history of the area is patchy so I don't know if Nicko could have been involved in any). |
Copy Clerk  Posts: 115 Joined: 15 Feb 2008   | Re-posting this from another thread on request to keep GTA4 in one thread: With GTA:IV coming out I've been thinking all about video game censhorship which is something I'm sure most gamers get pretty passionate about. I'm forced to consider it more than I used to having moved from the UK where is hardly any really severe censorship (except for Manhunt 2 and a couple of others) to Australia where quite tame games such as Dark Sector aren't getting released either and even GTA:IV will be watered down a tad. They only have a "Mature 15+" rating here as opposed to 18 in the UK, R:17 in the US and "Anyone can play anything anytime" in Japan. It's really really annoying that as a 26 year old I am restricted in what I want to play because of a ridiculous law like this over here and so I read a comment piece on video game censorship with great relish today and thought I'd post it here. It said all I'd like to say and more! Enjoy! ----------------------------------------------------------------- "I'm talking to you, you self-righteous politicians and newspaper columnists, you relics who beat on computer games: you've already lost. Enjoy your carping while you can, because tomorrow you're gone. According to the UK Statistics Authority, the median age of the UK population is 39. Half the people who live here were born in 1969 or later. The BBC microcomputer was released in 1981, when those 1969ers were 12. It was ubiquitous in schools; it introduced a generation to computers. It introduced a generation to computer games. Half the UK population has grown up playing computer games. They aren't addicted, they aren't psychopathic killers, and they resent those boneheads - that's you - who imply that they are addicted and are psychopathic killers. Next year, that 1969 will be 1970; the year after, it'll be 1971. Dwell on this, you smug, out-of-touch, proud-to-be-innumerate fossils: half the UK population thinks games are fun and cool, and you don't. Those born in 1990 get the vote this year. Three years from now, that 1969 will be 1972, then 1973. Scared yet? You should be: we have the numbers on our side. Do your worst - you can't touch us. We've already won. 15 years from now, the prime minister of the day will have grown up playing computer games, just as 15 years ago we had the first prime minister to have grown up watching television, and 30 years ago to have grown up listening to the radio. Times change: accept it; embrace it. Don't make yourself look even more 20th Century, even more public school, than you do already. You've lost! Understand? Your time has passed. This anxiety you sense, this fear of what you don't comprehend: hey, it's OK. Parents who didn't play computer games do feel alienated, do feel isolated from their children; they do feel frightened, and naturally so, because they can't keep their children safe if they don't understand what they're keeping them safe from. It's transient, though. Upcoming parents played games themselves, or if they didn't, their siblings did, or their friends did. They're no more concerned about "moral decay" or "aggressive tendencies" or any of the other euphemisms for "ohmygod I don't understand this" than you are about soap operas. They're the present, not you: you're the ever-more-distant past. Gamers vote. Gamers buy newspapers. They won't vote for you, or buy your newspapers, if you trash their entertainment with your ignorant ravings. Call them social inadequates if you like, but when they have more friends in World of Warcraft than you have in your entire sad little booze-oriented culture of a real life, the most you'll get from them is pity. In March, the Byron Report came out. How pleased the government must have been with itself! By appointing a parenting expert to lead it, they were practically guaranteeing they'd get 266 pages of ammunition to use against computer games. Just thinking about the popularity boost from cracking down on this evil would have had them salivating with glee! Except Dr Tanya Byron was born in 1967. When the Sinclair ZX Spectrum came out in 1982, she was only 15. She knew what the government didn't: computer games are here to stay. So long as parents understand the dangers, they can make informed decisions. She didn't recommend lining computer game designers up against the wall and shooting dead every last one of them. Her report was balanced and fair. She suggested education as a solution. That's a level of reason rarely seen in the context of UK government. So we've won: accept it. Huff and puff if you must, but your audience grows smaller by the day. Your views are mortally wounded, and soon they will be dead. Games are mainstream. Drown, or learn to swim." From The Guardian ----------------------------------------------------- :) |
Gone Gonzo Posts: 4163 Joined: 23 Apr 2008 | I have to say, I love that article - Its sad though that the gutter papers still try and pin things on video game. And I do feel sorry for Australian gamers who have to put up with that BS from their government |
Paperboy Posts: 25 Joined: 9 Apr 2008   | The problem with GTA and the media is, well, it's just so easy to criticise that game in particular. Most of the (very positive) reviews I've seen have been full of random shootings, prostitutes, gangs, running over pedestrians and shooting cop cars. Sure, it all makes sense when you're actually playing the game in context... sort of. I've played games for years and years, including more than a few violent ones, but even I'm almost instinctively repelled a by people who think it's hilarious when they mow down bystanders left, right and centre. Sure, people over 18 should be able to play it uncensored. But I don't expect, in any way, for mainstream society to react very well to the game. Creating a controversy sells copies too, of course... |
Muckraker  Posts: 236 Joined: 22 Feb 2008   | I feel, honestly, that on first impressions I'm torn. I like the control system, the phone idea seems a good one and the graphics are stunning as are character animations but good god almighty I do not like the way the vehicles handle! On the point of vehicles, I like the crash damage and take a look at your bonnet after a hit and run. Now that's detail. I found the camera was a bit annoying and slow but I noticed that less and less as I played. The cover system seems to work OK and overall it's a solid effort though all the 10/10's seem a little OTT. What does everyone else think? |
Paperboy Posts: 25 Joined: 9 Apr 2008 | Yeah, all the 10/10's did seem a little strange. But it seemed to be even from reputable sources so maybe the game is just that good. Scores are kind of poor at saying what a game is like, though. |
Beat Writer  Posts: 167 Joined: 24 Mar 2008  | i liked gta 3 (although a lot of that was probably due to the fact that my mum said i wasn't allowed to play it. now i'm legally allowed to it doesn't seem as cool anymore.) and i liked vice city justas much, if not a bit more, because it was pretty much the same exept it had a cool 80s theme. san andreas was the same game again but without the cool 80s theme and with a "you must get a new haircut before you can attempt this mission. bitch." theme. from what i've heard gta iv brings no major innovation to the series and so i see no reason to buy it because i've already played the other games and got bored of them. |
Beat Writer Posts: 167 Joined: 24 Mar 2008 | oh yeah and gamespot gave the game 10/10, which, according to their scale means it's perfect. but in the review they list quite a few faults and actualy say "gta iv is not perfect" |
Pulitzer Laureate  Posts: 887 Joined: 9 Jan 2008 | I'm playing it right now, IT'S AMAZING! |
Gone Gonzo Posts: 1566 Joined: 5 Dec 2007 | I like most of the stuff, the characters, story and celphone are all great fun. But the controls feel rather dull. It might be that im used to playing GTA on the pc but this will take some time getting used to. The city is sort of overwhelmingly large at first, but it's always been like that. |
BANNED  Posts: 102 Joined: 1 Mar 2008  | I'll be playing it in just a few hours. Can't wait.... How has this thread not exploded yet? User was banned for: Zero Punctuation: Mailbag Showdown. (Permanent) |
Red Guard Posts: 2672 Joined: 16 Dec 2007 |
Because we're all still playing ;) |
Gone Gonzo Posts: 4163 Joined: 23 Apr 2008 |
*nods* Yup, loving it (curse McDonalds for turning that phrase evil). Better characters with more deep, tighter controls, very pretty graphics (although not 'Crysis on a 12 terraflop supercomputer' level, but what is (aside, obviously, from Crysis itself)?). Plus, its full of wonderful details like... Anywho, the game so far is great to me. People who hated GTA3/VC/SA still won't like it, I think, but maybe I'm wrong. |
Gone Gonzo Posts: 1566 Joined: 5 Dec 2007 | I love the dating part, only spent time with the first girl but they sort of have a cutsey relationship. Im trying out multiplayer now, it takes ages to get the random games set up, nowhere near as easy as in Halo or CoD. |
Gone Gonzo Posts: 4163 Joined: 23 Apr 2008 |
Same here, but I found I'm getting the hang of them quickly - gun combat is easier with the lock-on system. |
Gone Gonzo  Posts: 1214 Joined: 9 Dec 2007    | I've just been discussing the IGN review with some journalist friends of mine - the majority of which have a copy of GTAIV themselves. Now, is it just us but does it seem it reads like a 15 year-old GCSE student wrote it? I know its kind of unrelated to the game itself, but is still relevant on a forum about a gaming magazine, after all. It really has the structural fluency of a screamo score, and appears the reviewer (the head at IGN, I believe) has simply let enthusiasm overwhelm him. I'm not just talking about the score, either, but it just seems he jumps from topic to topic, often repeating himself a bit too many times: 'OMFG CHECK OUT THE STORYLINE, AND THE MULTIPLAYER, AND THE STORYLINE AGAIN AND THEN THE SIDEQUESTS AND THE VIEW AND THE STORY AND THEN THE POLICE-WHICH-DO-WHAT-THEY'VE-ALWAYS-DONE AND THE STORY AND THE MULTIPLAYER AND THE MULTIPLAYER!'. Its strange, and I don't think he's been paid-off or anything, just that his integrity slackened and it appears he thought we all wouldn't notice because 'OMFGITSTHEFIRSTREVIEW!'. /rant |
Red Guard Posts: 2672 Joined: 16 Dec 2007 | Coming home from work on the train yesterday was the longest hour and sixteen minutes I've ever spent reading a game manual. Then a strange thing happened; I got home and I sat down and didn't put the disk in. It hit me that no matter how good this game actually was it wasn't going to be as good as I had built it up in my mind. I took some time to check the forums, close some extraneous "GTA4 IS (THE) SHIT" posts and drink a cup of tea. That's how I plan to digest the rest of this game too; slowly and with biscuits. So far I am enjoying the two hours I have played it. The reasons I like it are not the same reason a typical GTA fan would. There is a lot more depth to everything in the game when you hold it to GTA: San Andreas. Mechanically the game shines, cars feel right, the minigames are presented well, and the shooting is pure bliss when you compare it to older iterations. Regardless of polygon count or blood-to-bullet-wound-ratio, the real improvement is that they finally wrote their characters deep enough to appeal to adults who want more out of a game than a "hit and run" simulator. I plan to spend the next month playing this game for a few hours a week. Perhaps play some online matches with my friends or just walk around Liberty City seeing what there is to do. I spent so much time thinking about this game it would be a shame to finish it so fast. P.S. Melasis, excellent point about the IGN article, poorly balanced to say the least. The 1up article is quite a bit better in my opinion. |
On the Record  Posts: 6226 Joined: 10 Mar 2008   | I'm sort of torn between getting it this weekend because i have tests or getting it the week after because of homework and a trip Hell, i might not get it until the end of the month because of exams! God damnit! |
Gone Gonzo Posts: 1566 Joined: 5 Dec 2007 | I am not sure if this qualifies as a Minor Spoiler But the end of the first island is worthy of The Godfather. |
On the Record  Posts: 6480 Joined: 24 Apr 2008    | Well, i hated the tiny hairless balls off the crap-shack of a game. My opinion, no-one here is forced to agree with it, and i'm not trying to make them, but this is the GTA 4 discussion thread, and thats my discussion. For me its a pus-bag filled with the semen of the devil himself. (opinion again) |
Gone Gonzo  Posts: 1465 Joined: 2 Jan 2008   |
This comment is useless unless you say why you don't like it. I was on the fence yesterday but did end up buying it because I had trouble finding a comprehensive list of flaws about the game. There were people who liked it and gave reasons, and there were people who hated it and... didn't. - J |
Paperboy  Posts: 20 Joined: 30 Apr 2008  | I don't understand the hype behind the game to be honest. In fact, I didn't see any except for the hype in NYC they showed during "Attack of the Show" the day before it's release. I played Liberty City and Vice City, and never enjoyed it, even though I mowed down about 150 different civilians and racked up a 5 star warrant in less than a minute. The plotlines behind those games never amused me. Basically, I'm a guy, who wants nothing more than to ruin a city by robbing, stealing, and killing as much as possible. Oh, and an organized gang of people. My brother on the other hand wouldn't stop drooling, and due to the fact that I didn't have work the DAY of the release, and he had school, he would incesantly bother me to actually wake up at 7AM to go drive to GameStop, stand in "line" and buy the thing for him. Amusingly enough, I ended up working that day, and I was 5 minutes late. Why? I dropped off my stuff at work at 9.55AM, headed out the door to stand in front of GameStop (literally a 40 second walk), and waited until the doors open at precisely 9:59.43AM (and two people had joined me in line: a private school student who had class in roughly half an hour, and a mother who probably had nothing better to do than to purchase this game for her 14 y/o son). I was first to purchase that game in the store that day, and forced my brother into waiting longer than he wanted. The game was in my works locker until 8.30PM. He got home at 3.15PM. He complained: THATS OVER FIVE HOURS OF GAMETIME I LOST. So now I'm a "sick son-of-a-bitch" who wants nothing more than preventing his brother from having sex in a car, or watch two women "play" with eachother. I am real sick. |
Beat Writer Posts: 190 Joined: 13 Dec 2007 | I think the key thing here is GTA 'IV' or Four, or 4. It's no longer GTA3:That Next Installment, it's a completely new game. It's still Grand Theft Auto though. It feels a lot different but it's still GTA, the attention to detail is immense and where the graphics aren't Gears of War, the detail, care and work that's gone into the game is far greater. I'm loving this game, a friend and I played Free Roam on Multiplayer for 4 hours lastnight, just annoying the police, brilliant. |
Red Guard Posts: 2672 Joined: 16 Dec 2007 |
Well put, I am finding most of the negativity aimed at this game has less to do with the actual game and more to do with people not liking the genre. Remember that 1up review where the reviewer just complained about leveling up and customizing your character in RPGS? A lot of people got swept up in the hype, but truly the newest installment is quite good when you compare it to some of the other games in the genre. |
Copy Clerk Posts: 92 Joined: 7 Dec 2007 |
Your post is so far the only one that makes me want to play it. I'm on the side of gamers that actually want some character and story depth rather than pure run and gun lets kill the hookers for no good reason action. I actually just bought fallout 1 and 2 recently because I wanted a game that had some point to it... I'm waiting to hear some reviews that aren't completely fanboy obsessed before making up my mind, but if the story and character aspects of the game are improved I might go for it. |
Gone Gonzo  Posts: 3387 Joined: 23 Oct 2007  | I'm livid, due to the hugely irritating fact that they never release a GTA game on PC until everybody on consoles have played it, completed it and got sick of it. What makes it even worse is the 100 score on Metacritic for the PS3 version, even though the PC versions of GTA games have always had something superior to the console versions (it's probably to compensate for the fact that they make us wait so freaking long to play them). Will they have to make a "101%" rating when the PC version comes out? I'm looking forward to it, but I expect I'll be waiting a long time. I don't plan to buy an Xbox 360 any time soon, and it would take an almost-perfect Gran Turismo 4 to make me forgive Sony for the PS3. |
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Heh, me too. I was hoping it'd arrive today (twas dispatched Saturday on first class), but unless its going to come this afternoon (along with a squad of flying pigs) it looks like I still have to wait 20-whole-hours! The horror!!! THE HORROR!
(Legal statement: The author reckonizes that 'the horror' of the scenario is small relative to real horror, and it was entirely for humour. By reading this statement you have directly sold your soul to satan and caused the deads of over 100 especially cute puppies and kittens)