The Checkpoint 5.12.08: Will Anybody Be Honest About GTA IV?
Posted by John Curry on 05.12.2008
One the most anticipated games of the year is Grand Theft Auto IV. Almost all of the reviews for it have been perfect. The question is will anyone have the balls to say what is wrong with this game? The Checkpoint does.
One of the biggest games of the year was just released, GTA IV. The game was considered perfect before it was released which has only been solidified by the constant 9.5/10 and 10/10 ratings it has received. But what about all of the things that are wrong with this game, will any of the game reviewers have the balls to say what is wrong with this game or will they just follow suit and save face? I originally planned on buying this game at the 59.99 price tag with no hesitations, but with the financial issues this month decided to rent the game. I spent the five days playing it almost nonstop. I played normal, I played with cheat codes, I played this game inside out, outside in, and actually found myself a little let down with the game. I had extremely high expectations for this game, especially after San Andreas. So let's break down the problems I had with the game.
1. The story doesn't seem to have the same flow as previous games
In GTA IV you play as the fresh off the boat immigrant Niko Belic who has a secret life of his own that he is running away from. You arrive in America to stay with your cousin Ramon who runs a cab company and is obsessed with "American Titties." The story focuses on you trying to make money doing work for people that just so happen to need it while you search for someone from your past. I am not going to get into the specifics of the story as I don't want to ruin the game for you.
The issue I had while playing is exactly what I foresaw a few weeks ago when I wrote "Are cut scenes the lazy way of telling the story?" Yes the cut scenes are lazy ass way of telling this story. I don't mind having cut scenes as they are an important part of the fluidity of a game but when you are sitting there for ten or fifteen minutes just watching the scenes it does get a little old after a while.
The other issue I had with the story is the fact that you go from person to person trying to progress in the story, even though most of them have little to nothing to do with it. The first half of the story focuses on Dmitri has relevance to the overall story but after you hit a point nothing really moves the story along.
2. The driving is horrible and way too much
Before everyone starts jumping my ass and leaving comments about me being a moron, YES I understand that the game is Grand Theft AUTO IV, so the focus is on the cars. I understand that the game is detailed and the cars are done beautifully, you can tell what the cars are representative of. The issue isn't with the details of the cars, it is with the camera angles that follow the cars, especially when you make turns. One of the highlights of this game was the ability to press the B button and enter cinematic mode, which is cool except for when you do it, you will damn near crash every time.
The other issue I have with this game is that there is an assload of driving you have to do. I mean A TON! While I expected this going in to this game I really did not think it would be the sole focus of the game. I began to get frustrated with some of the chase scenes, one in particular where I had to chose between executing a woman or letting her live, by the time the cut scene ended and you made it to a vehicle the guy already got away. I finally beat it after 3 or 4 times. The problem I have is that after sitting for 10 minutes to watch a cuts scene to just jump in a car to go to another cut scene to get into another car, rinse and repeat, shit gets old.
3. The add-on's such as the cell phone are not as important as the game makers would like you to think it is.
One of the things I was really looking forward to with this game was the innovative idea of the cell phone. I could play my own music through it, call to speed up missions, take pictures, send messages, and more. What happened in the game? I can't play my own music at all. When you call to speed up the ability to get more missions, you often get some often funny voice mails and answering machines. Although your phone is equipped with a camera you can't take pictures and send them to anyone. The phone does not add as much to the game as the makers would like you to believe.
Oh, and for the love of god, it takes forever to make a freaking call and put the damn thing away that you can end up paying for it with your life.
You receive calls quite frequently throughout the game although many of them have nothing to do with the missions, some of the activities you do are actually quite entertaining. My favorite has to be the getting a lap dance at the strip club. It is hilarious to get to the third dance and see two chicks gyrating on each other while "Shake your Ass Watch yourself…Shake your Ass…." plays.
One of the things I did like about the phone came when I tried the cheats out. In order to put a cheat into this game all you have to do is call a specific number which will activate the cheat. If you want to use the cheat at a later date it is stored under cheats on your phone. Now speaking of cheats.
4. There are some glitches in this game
Part of reviewing a game means reviewing all known aspects of the game, this includes cheats. I understand that many people use cheats, and many choose not to use them. This game is not without its cheats. You can spawn cars, helicopters, motorbikes, weapons, health and armor, and more. The issue with the cheats is that sometimes you spawn a vehicle and it doesn't appear. At least you may not see it appear. If this happens just look up as it is probably hovering in the sky above you.
In the game I had, some of the cut scenes had glitches in the voices. This does not happen often but it does happen. Sometimes it is actually fun to watch the glitches.
5. The side activities are not that fun
One of the fun add on features for GTA IV is the ability to have side activities or dates. These can involve bowling, darts, billiards, drinking or the strip club, going to dinner and more. The fact is that bowling takes a little to get the hang of and really isn't much to speak about. Darts is fun but way too damn easy if you know how to play. Billiards is standard 8 ball but nothing to write home to mom about. The strip club and drinking, however, are hilarious. These activities are not nearly as enjoyable as you would be led to believe. If you want to see hilarity, go get a hooker and set your camera above your car. That is hilarious. Talk about attention to detail.
I understand that many people will think I am nitpicking about the game, and I probably am. I enjoyed this game; I will probably enjoy this game for a long time. I still play all of the originals. I am just making the point that there are errors in this game and aspects that are detrimental to the game. Does the game deserve a bad score? No. Does it deserve a perfect score? No. The issue is that many of the people who will review this game will fear the fallout they will receive from their readers and choose to omit these problems because they don't believe that they are that detrimental to the game. I just wonder if anyone is going to write about these problems. Too often in game reviews do the reviewers feel the need to worry about what their readers will think and prevent themselves from giving fair reviews that talk about the shortcomings of games. The truth is GTA IV is a great game. It has its faults and most importantly it doesn't really bring anything new to the series itself. Will you be disappointed if you buy this game, I doubt it. Just know that there are issues with this game regardless of what reviews you read about the game.
I agree with most of your points. I've detailed din my column before how I also dislike the driving. While I do think GTA4 needs cutscenes, I do agree that there are too many and that some of them are useless. I found myself not caring about a lot of the characters *everyone in Packie's family outside of Packie*. You basically have the same stance I do. It's a great game, but it's far from perfect. Reviewers had way too much of a hard on while playing GTA4.
Posted By: Mark Salmela (Registered) on May 12, 2008 at 12:16 AM
Nitpicking indeed,in the end the good far outweighs the bad, does it deserve the perfect scores? Well the Halo trilogy recieved a good amount of them, and I'll easily put GTA IV over them! This isn't the only game to recieve a hefty amount of perfect scores, Mass Effect, and Bioshock come to mind, now were those games perfect?
Posted By: kurruption (Guest) on May 12, 2008 at 01:18 AM
Thank you! I got the game i love it but driving every were can get old and there were some problems. I would give it a 9.5
Posted By: Paul (Guest) on May 12, 2008 at 01:28 AM
yeh i agree with your article. there is way too much driving and you kinda get sick of it after a while and it does have its glitches thats why ive been using the massive list of gta 4 cheats at http://www.squidoo.com/grandtheftauto4cheats
Posted By: steve (Guest) on May 12, 2008 at 01:30 AM
Both my boss and i agree that the game isn't perfect but i'd say it deserves at least a 9.5, i felt that the cars handled better and were less twitchy than previous iterations. The phone, while cumbersome, it makes sense to be just that as it feels as if you are multitasking. The cheats are quite an issue too but no 3d gta has been free of glitches in that area. Still, decent article
Posted By: Hadlee (Guest) on May 12, 2008 at 01:41 AM
You forgot the freezing issue. I still can't play because of this unresolved issue.
Posted By: FLM (Guest) on May 12, 2008 at 02:26 AM
I didn't have any problems with the freezing but I will make sure it is noted.
Curry Man
Posted By: John Curry (Registered) on May 12, 2008 at 02:36 AM
I do agree that the story does slow down a lot, I found my self asking when it was going to get done, not that it was boring or repetitive, it just didn't make sense for niko to be doing all this stuff just for money. I really like the phone and think it was implemented well. The driving can get a little overbearing, but the numerous cabs are the answer for that, it takes 2 seconds and $50 max to get anywhere in the game. I really like the way the cars handle, it makes it more of a challenge that you have to think about, just a more involved feel, less of a casual feel like in the old games. and its not to hard to get in the habit of using both thumbsticks to turn the camera as your turning to get a better view of the turn ahead.
Posted By: go niko (Guest) on May 12, 2008 at 04:30 AM
I think many folks have pointed out the flaws with this title. There are still others issues that many choose to ignore.
I agree that there is a lot in this game that does not need to be there or kinda kill the fun, there are other pieces from the originals that are missing, but not necessarily missed since GTA IV has enough crap to do to keep you engaged.
Aside from the gameplay, the missing features, stupid police AI (still don't chase you for violations like running a red light, speeding etc. Driver was able to do it the first bout 10 years ago). Plus all the unnecessary obstacles and boundaries and distance to ensure you do not progress further than the story wants to take you....It has other issues that I think are more important to concentrate on.
The people that purchased this product have spoken out about it. The product was rushed out to the market just like a Microsoft OS and just like a MS product it had all those typical side effects.
I like this game a lot but it does not hold down as one of the "greatest games". No way. Especially when it craps in your mouth when you turn it on for the first time and freezes when loading, or has other noticeable flaws graphically or via the internal instruction side of things that often cause some sort of odd lock up or other error.
Again, many spoken out in regard to the flaws of this title (although we still hold it in high regard), but it seams that only the major media publications have a opinion that is worth hearing.
I am one of those old school gamers whos work evolved from playing video games. So maybe it is just me, but I notice all the shortcuts and patch work both with the product and with the globalization/distribution effort before I see my inner fan crying out "perfection".
Don't settle for a cup cake with shi7 sprinkles. This game should have been fully tested and polished before it hit the street. You cannot give a product that requires an update (essentially unfinished) a perfect score or 10's especially when some publications note the technical problems and IGNORE them.
If you chose to accept this type of production quality, then you can kiss quality and the ideal of product integrity goodbye.
Still a damn fun and impressive game though, and that matters.
Posted By: mastershredder (Guest) on May 12, 2008 at 04:56 AM
I thought it was a great story.
Jump in a taxi if you dont like driving...
The phone i quite liked, it was a clever idea.
Small glitches are in every game, no big deal.
The side activities are optional.
This is really just focusing on five minor points that dont affect the game which i find pointless, a column on the positives would be 1000 times longer than this and more appropriate.
Posted By: MGB (Guest) on May 12, 2008 at 06:22 AM
Really great contribution from kurruption; the game deserves perfect scores because other games got perfect scores?
That's the mentality that makes review scores a joke to begin with.
Thanks for lowering the bar.
Posted By: Colin (Guest) on May 12, 2008 at 08:47 AM
In response to your complaints in section #2:
a) Don't use the replay cam when driving if you don't want to crash. It's an option for certain things, but it can't predict where you want to look. I don't find it helpful in most cases either, but it's not going to get in the way and detract from my experience. I use it when the time is right, and I have no complaints.
b) If you don't like driving, get a taxi. It's instantaneous.
c) You can skip cutscenes.
d) You're supposed to get on the motorcycle right in front of you in that mission.
Posted By: James (Guest) on May 12, 2008 at 08:54 AM
well seeing as its the 1st gta for the ps3/xbox 360 the are bound to be problems, but the only problem that i see is that the radio stations leave a lot to be desired, the only highlight being that iggy pop is the Dj for that classic rock station, and they have way too much rap for my taste. mabey they will get the next gta right this time.
Posted By: L (Guest) on May 12, 2008 at 10:48 AM
I give them a by, only because they didn't just build upon the previous San Andreas. Rockstar made an entirely new game from scratch, and when you think about that and then think about all this game has I think it's worthy of it's 10 rating.
however, the DLC better pony up some of the stuff I miss. Like more clothes, weapons and cars.
...oh and I'm in agreement, the car camera angle (while workable)is terrible.
Posted By: L (Guest) on May 12, 2008 at 11:12 AM
Cutscenes aren't lazy, what a ridiculous thing to say. And none of them are 10-15 minutes in this game.
Posted By: Wade (Guest) on May 12, 2008 at 11:56 AM
I am sick of every review site giving the game a perfect score. The driving may be more "realistic" but it is NOT more fun than the previous versions. The aiming STILL sucks after how many versions now? The frame rate is too low, the pop-in is too obvious, and I feel like I have played this game way to many times before. This series is NOT evolving.
Posted By: Archer (Guest) on May 12, 2008 at 12:01 PM
Will their be any compatibility between blue tooth headsets as a clone for your cell in GTA4
Meaning could you use your real cell as a clone for the GTA cell.... I.E dialing numbers ringtones ect. this would be a great feature that would start to encompass all of the electronics in your home? just a thought
Posted By: kanzasss (Guest) on May 12, 2008 at 12:50 PM
I've said for years that while fun, GTA in general is overrated. a game doesn't have to cuss every sentence to appeal to the masses (or does it?). its fun sure, but Bioshock and COD4 are better. I say no higher than 8.5 but for me, 8. for me, the physics of the game were the best part.
Posted By: JP (Guest) on May 12, 2008 at 02:30 PM
I disagree with the comment that the aiming is terrible. The new targeting system is awesome, nothing like moving just an inch to the left to hit an enemies arm and then using a kneeshot to drop him before finishing him off.
Posted By: Anthony (Guest) on May 12, 2008 at 04:17 PM
Sounds to me like a lot of opinions are being made not facts in this. I for one like how the driving changed, It took some getting use to though. As for too much driving, any of it, I don't know about the rest of you but I didn't buy this to fly thru and be done within 5 days. If I did then I could understand why this would all be so annoying, Shit man just smoke a bowl and drive around check stuff out. Relax this game is awesome
Posted By: Guest#5159 (Guest) on May 12, 2008 at 05:11 PM
are there any car up grades for the vehicals
Posted By: lastangel (Guest) on May 12, 2008 at 05:21 PM
People just like to complain. When something is widely liked by a lot of people, there is always going to be a smaller group of people who will complain all the small things, or claim that its overrated. I agree with the last poster that most of these complaints are related to opinion and not facts about the game. Complaining about the more realistic driving is merely an opinion and not a fault of the game. Disliking the music is the same thing. No game is every going to be perfect. There are always going to be things that people don't like or wish was done differently. I think most of the perfect 10 reviews are looking at the whole package and experience of playing the game start to finish. Are the minor problems and things that could be a little better? Sure, but are any of those things enough to detract from the experience? Most of the reviews say no, thus the perfect scores.
Posted By: Chris (Guest) on May 12, 2008 at 05:25 PM
I agree with reviewers fearing the fallout of giving this game less than a perfect score.
San Andreas had twice the features of this game (Including shooting with two hands!!) and this gets a higher score?
Oh well, I still enjoy the game, but it's no San Andreas thats for sure.
Posted By: Ant-LOX (Guest) on May 12, 2008 at 06:05 PM
I am officially the only human and/or android on earth who does not enjoy ANY of the GTA games. Sorry every one, but I am not interested in any of em.
Posted By: daniel (Guest) on May 12, 2008 at 06:10 PM
biggest problem in my opinion is that you cant purchase property or invest money into business, once youve made 500000 there is nothing to spend it on but hookers, drinking and cab rides
the mansion they talk about in the beginning and all the early trailers, where is that at least?
i prefer san andreas personally
Posted By: tp (Guest) on May 12, 2008 at 07:16 PM
I think the longest cut scene is maybe 5 minutes. They average about 2-3 minutes each. How did you expect them to tell the story? I do agree that some of the missions didn't really have anything to do with the story.
At first, I really hated the driving. Now I'm at the point where I can tolerate it. The driving is a little too realistic. If I wanted to have to break half a block before I got to the turn I'd play Forza or PGR.
I thought the phone was implemented perfectly. Sure, you're going to fumble around a little bit if you're trying to do something while in the car, but that happens in real life as well.
I didn't really like San Andreas because it just felt like too much stuff. I was kind of overwhelmed by it all. I'm glad they trimmed out some of the extra stuff, and left you with just the core gameplay and a couple of extras (Brucie car emails for example.)
As for " stupid police AI (still don't
chase you for violations like running a red light, speeding etc. Driver was
able to do it the first bout 10 years ago)." I think that statement is absolutely ridiculous. This game would be no fun at all if you had to obey all traffic laws. Hell, I would have more fun puttering around in traffic in real life than playing it in a video game.
A couple of final thoughts...the frame rate for me is not up to par. It feels like 15-20 frames per second. Also I have a little bit of texture pop-in on my 360, but that could just be because of my shitty DVD drive. Oh, and jump in a taxi if you don't like driving. I have about the same amount of taxi miles as I do car driving miles.
Overall, it's a 9.5/10 for me.
Posted By: Andrew (Guest) on May 12, 2008 at 07:20 PM
actually it is the best driving of the entire GTA series, certainly an improvement, and the crap about the story and the cutscenes? well frankly you're just plain wrong, none of them really go over a minute, at most, they are easy to skip, and tons of storyline happens in text messages, phone calls, in car and mid-battle speech
maybe you need to play more of the game?
No, it isnt perfect, but 10/10 really doesnt have to mean it's flawless, because only an idiot would think a perfect game will ever exist
this is by far one of the best games to come out in years, and most definitely one of the very best in this generation
Frankly I am very impressed with the physics and the mechanics of the cars, I mean the game does put some effort into realism(asides from hot dogs healing bullet wounds, of course) but really, these cars handle a lot more like real cars do, than in most games, even my beloved Burnout series
and seriously, if you dont like driving that much, take a cab, it's practically a teleportation system for people who dont want to drive that much
the story and the main characters are for the most part interesting(asides from Brucie, of course, who is just plain nuts) but really it's a fantastic story, and they do a wonderful job making the player empathize with Niko, even though I doubt even 1% of the people who will ever play this game, will be able to sympathize with his types of situations.
I agree there are some problems, I have encountered a few glitches and annoyances of my own(I really hate mini games of all kinds)
but frankly, you dont HAVE to do the mini games, nor do you have to do half of the crap you complained about
dont want to drive? 75% of the time you can take a cab and skip it, dont want to watch a cutscene? skip it
this game was designed with a gamer in mind
as a lifelong gamer and someone who can take the problems with a grain of salt, I am comfortable saying that this game is fantastic, and considering the other games that have received a near average of 10/10 I think this one can most certainly rank among them.
Posted By: Drue (Guest) on May 12, 2008 at 10:55 PM
As for " stupid police AI (still don't
chase you for violations like running a red light, speeding etc. Driver was
able to do it the first bout 10 years ago)." I think that statement is
absolutely ridiculous. This game would be no fun at all if you had to obey all
traffic laws. Hell, I would have more fun puttering around in traffic in real
life than playing it in a video game.
Wow, you sure told me off.
Chill out dude, for all the realism that the game tries to capture I would have expected better/intentional police AI. If you can't handle more challenges in you gamplay, then a police AI/increased awareness option, would be a cool feature to toggle on and off.
I for one happen to enjoy the police chases.
As it stands it is so clunky that sometimes even after I hit a cop and kill him in front of the station, in front of onlooking officers, there is no reaction. 95% of time yes, but all the drivers in this game are a heck of a lot friendlier than in the previous versions where a slight fender bender could turn into a full blown roadrage incident.
Anyone else notice the huge loss of traction in the Strip club shoot out level?
Posted By: mastershredder (Guest) on May 13, 2008 at 02:48 AM
Sorry, I hit post before I finished. The level is "Undress to Kill". It's the Job you pull for Dwayne to get his strip club back for him by taking out the 3 managers.
For some reason no matter what, I could not kill all three inside the club and one always gets out (even if I shot the third one several times). Once the third gets out the door he and a partner speed off in a SUV and you must pursue them. No matter the weather conditions, what car, tuck, bike you take, flat tires or not...the car is hard as hell to control during this session. It's like they rubber your tires down with vegetable oil.
And why can a small little SUV plow through a garbage truck and toss it aside like a rag doll during the chase in this part of the game?
I tried to be sneaky and parked several vehicles at the entrance to the stairs behind the club to buy me time catching up to the last manager. No matter what you put there, the rules change to ensure that the SOB gets some distance from you.
This is on the PS3 version.
Posted By: mastershredder (Guest) on May 13, 2008 at 03:13 AM
" stupid police AI (still don't
chase you for violations like running a red light, speeding etc. Driver was
able to do it the first bout 10 years ago)."
If you listen to people talking on the street, listen to the radio, or watch Katt Williams on TV, they kind of try to explain that everything is a bit more lenient in Liberty City. They never come right out and say it, but do a lot of hinting about all the things you can get away with in Liberty City that you could not do anywhere else. Just thought it was interesting that they at least try to explain why you can smash cars up and run red lights and stuff like that.
Posted By: Toddo (Guest) on May 15, 2008 at 12:02 PM
all i am going to say is that i am glad for the glitches. like take GTA 3 when it came out on the PS2 and compare that to san andreas about 3 years later. the point i am making is that its the first GTA on the nex gen consoles and from here it can only get better and more"perfect" i loved the game a lot and really the good does outweigh the bad.
Posted By: zain46 (Guest) on May 17, 2008 at 11:26 PM
I agree with all of it. I bought PS3 just for GTA4 and after playing it for a week non-stop, I beat the game. Its to short for a GTA game...the side missions suck and I expected alot more and basically got shit on.
Posted By: Swiatek (Guest) on May 19, 2008 at 04:48 PM
