By Jim Rossignol on October 27th, 2008 at 11:19 am.
Grand Theft Auto 4 is set to appear on our boxy electronic workhorses on the 18th of November (21st in Europe, mysteriously). I wonder how many of you will be getting this on PC? Did anyone miss out on the consoles and actually wait for the PC version? I’d find it hard to argue against this being one of the best games this year, and so I’m genuinely glad it’s going to hit the PC – with “newly expanded multiplayer” – this side of Christmas. But it does beg the question: where are we going to find to fit this in around everything else that’s coming out on the PC this year? A tough conundrum, I know…
Ah, screw GTA IV. I’ve already got Far Cry 2, Dead Space, Left 4 Dead, King’s Bounty and Mirror’s Edge to play.
A lame and quite frankly insulting console port is none of my concerns or interests.
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I’ll be getting this. I don’t have a console, but I rented it out on my brother’s 360. It’s good, but not great. The only reason I’m getting it is multiplayer.
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I’d find it easy to argue against it being one of the best games of the year. Regardez:
“It wasn’t”.
Simple.
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Played a bit on 360 (don’t own or wish to own a console myself. Not being anti-console or anything, just not my thing…).
Been waiting for this on PC, looking forward to it, should be good.
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I’ll be waiting a while to grab this. Already got Fallout 3 and Left 4 Dead to keep me occupied, and I suspect the latter will keep my occupied well past Christmas. I do want GTAIV, but as it’s been out on consoles for so long, it doesn’t feel new to me, and as such, I’m not keen on paying full price, or running straight out to grab it on day one.
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Yunno, the multi-player has already been done on mods.
I’ll get it cheap next year, looks quite fun.
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Insulting console port? What’s insulting about it, especially seeing how it’s getting a number of improvements (although mostly of a cosmetic nature)? Or is this the “consoles got it first so it sucks” sort of sulking?
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I’ll get once it drops below $50 on Steam, if rumor is it’s a competently done port.
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I doubt I’ll play this unless someone gets it for me or I happen to come across some way of acquiring it with limited or 0 expenditure – it just isn’t high enough on “THE LIST”.
(however, it does have an awesome acronym to go along with RA3, FO3 and L4D)
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I waited for the pc release because GTA is a pc game.
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I tried so hard to wait, but then the 360 price started to drop and I couldn’t help myself :(
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I bought it on XBOX so Rockstar wouldn’t see my money again….
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Anyone know if this is hitting Steam?
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I’ll probably pick this up around Christmas, I’ve still got Far Cry 2 to do and the, slightly disappointing, Dead Space to finish off.
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@Jay – can’t imagine it wouldn’t …. eventually. But it might not be there on release.
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If there are no surprises on the terms of use front and reviews don’t give me any significant reason not to, I’ll probably pick this one up, at very last to listen to Lazlow talk radio.
My shopping list for autumn/winter 2008, at last in terms of new, triple-A retail releases is probably way shorter than most others’ though, I’m almost done already ’til 2009 (Left 4 Dead, Neverwinter Nights 2: Storm of Zehir, A Vampyre Story, So Blonde and King’s Bounty: The Legend – if Impulse or Steam get it on their catalogues – are the new releases I’m keeping an eye on for what remains of this year).
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I don’t know why, but I just can’t generate any sort of enthusiasm for the game. Whether it’s the recycled setting, unlikable main character (nothing can even remotely touch Tommy Vercetti) or the fact they’re releasing into a crowded window, I dunno.
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Not got a console capable of GTA4 so have been waiting to run it on the PC. Even had to reinstall GTA:SA to get my fix. It’s been too long.
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I’ve managed to avoid all media and wiki pages of GTA so far so my GTA IV experience wouldn’t be ruined in any way. I even turned down an offer from a friend to play it on his PS3 for fears that playing it would spoil something for me.
Best part is, that it comes out a few days after my last uni exam for this semester, so I’ll have all the free time in the world to play this, Left 4 Dead and Tomb Raider: Underworld.
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Anyone else windering how stupid Rockstars must be to release both GTA4 and Bully for PC at the same time, and at the same time about 20 other AAA blockbuster titles come out?
As for playing it, I will play it…later.
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I waited for it to come out on PC. I don’t have a 360 or PS3, which helps. I have precious little time to play games now, so have to cherry pick which ones I bother with. Seeing as I’ve lost hours of my life on the previous GTAs, this is one of them. I’ll probably only buy this and FM2009 before the end of the year, and might pick up Left 4 Dead once I’ve done with these.
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I don’t have a 360, mostly because I like my PC better. I’ve being waiting for this game for quite a while, but I don’t know if my PC is up to the task, so I wouldn’t be surprised if I only picked it up on early ’09 after the proper PC upgrades.
But then again, I already pre-purchased Left 4 Dead and only recently found out its minimum requirements – which may lead me to upgrade my PC before planned. A PC which will be able to run GTA 4. Hot damn. :D
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I preferred Saints Row 2 tbh, it was all kooky and crazy like GTA used to be, GTA4 was a bit bland and empty by comparison.
I got both on my Hexbox.
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If the multiplayer is done right on the pc I’ll buy it, even though I have a 360 and GTA IV.. I don’t like Xbox Live seriously its awful… Also it’ll rock so hard over LAN
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I mirrored Mickiscool’s actions. I adore GTA games and can’t wait to devour it in full on the best platform. I just bought Bully on Tuesday and could hardly put it down, finishing it yesterday. My appetite for Rockstar is officially whetted.
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I don’t have a HDTV so I don’t feel the need to go out and buy a 360 just to pay even more for games when I can’t afford all the ones I want for PC anyway.
The hype for this game was ridiculous, so it’ll be interesting to play it outside the context of that (I mean just look at its metacritic, it’s just pathetic). I hope I didn’t get too much of it spoiled though
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A general sense of “meh” has taken over GTA4 it seems…
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I have been waiting for this to come out on the PC as i do not own a next-gen console. But until recently i didn’t realise that so many games that i’m interested in are released around the same time. I am currently playing Far Cry 2 and when i finish it i will likely be moving onto Left4Dead.
So perhaps it may be a game i pickup mid-late December/early 2009, if rockstar were to delay the game to around that time i’m sure it will do a lot better in sales.
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any word on what multiplayer will actually involve? i’m mainly fishing to see if theres a possibility to play with a few friends on a LAN…
i can envisage 3 or 4 players doing a bank job and getaway or somesuch against the AI cops could make a great alternative to left4Dead in LAN matches this winter…
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Having played it on PS3 and experienced the shockingly rubbish framerate, I’ve been waiting dutifully for the PC version. I’m hoping it’ll run similarly smoothly to GTA:SA (which was also shockingly stuttery on the PS2).
GTA:SA was also vastly better on PC thanks to the mouse aiming, so hopefully GTA4 will benefit in a similar manner, although I’ve read some previews that state that it’s far better on a 360 pad, which is a bit odd. Perhaps that’s just because the journos doing the previewing have already played it for months on 360/PS3 and are too used to that to use keyboard/mouse properly?
I’d rather not have to buy a 360 pad to get the best out of it, especially as gunfights in the PS3 version were every bit as awkward as I expected them to be on a pad.
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Easily the most overhyped game in recent years.
Played this on the PS3. Repetitive missions, no checkpoints and no restart on missions (need to drive/walk/whatever all the way to the mission start if you fail – hi, I am the year 2008), annoying tamagotchi “friends” calling you all the time and whining for attention, forcing you to lose “faction” with them if you ignore them, uninteresting characters (and too many of them; tiny mobster boss, small mobster boss, not-so-small mobster boss, bigger mobster boss, biggest mobster boss: they are all the same). I only finished it due to my stubbornness.
Gervais’ standup comedy, the nicely done cinematics and the pleasant driving mechanics pretty much the only redeeming features. Too bad really, cause the city is indeed quite spectacular and could have been the foundation of a better game.
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I don’t own a next gen console myself, so haven’t played GTA4. But from hearing people talk about it, it seems to lack the fun of San Andreas (which is my favourite in the series).
Depends how much Fallout etc. occupy me over winter, I might just wait a bit till it’s cheaper.
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Sadly, I fear my 6-year old PC won’t even play this on the lowest settings; she’s had a hard year with games as her ailing AGP port just can’t cut it any more. I’m therefore planning to get a new machine but this won’t happen quickly. I haven’t decided if I’m going to buy from a retailer or assemble my own this time around.
Sorry, Rockstar, guess we’ll have to wait until sometime in 2009 to shake hands
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Currently my game of the year this, although Fable 2 is pushing it bloody hard at the moment. Can’t say I’ll be picking it up for the PC as well though.
@ Optimaximal: Vercetti was likeable? That git almost ruined the game for me.
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GTA IV single player got a bit old for me a while ago. Roughly around San An – however the multiplayer mod was a freakin’ laugh so I’m thinking this may be worth picking up for that alone.
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Gameplay questions aside, Niko Bellic is probably one of the best, most human characters ever realised in a computer game. Sometimes I’m half-convinced people maul games just because they got high review scores.
Also, it does have instant-mission restarts. And you don’t have to walk or drive anywhere you don’t want to outside of missions – that’s what taxis are for.
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I’ve never actually played a GTA game before. Oh sure I’ve tried them, but the emphasis on being a juvenile criminal was never really my thing.
The recent trailers though depicted this as being a more story led experience and for some reason I’ve become a lot more interested in the game and the main character, he just seems more sympathetic than the previous hooligans that had been the series’ main protagonists.
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I enjoyed the pre-GTA 3 games in the series, but can’t warm to the newer incarnations. I tried playing San Andreas, but the atmosphere alienated me, and I couldn’t help feel uncomfortable with the stereotypes presented, even if the game was attempting to satirise them.
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I’ve been waiting for this, so I will be playing – though perhaps not on release.
nabeel
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It won’t run on my PC, otherwise I might be interested (and no, I don’t have a console).
Not overly enthusiast, though… I never really got into GTA games… missions usually bores me, and I prefer to mess around… more a toy than a game to me. But an impressive, gigantic toy :p
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@Dolphan:
When a game is reviewed as “the Citizen Kane of gaming” expectations scale accordingly. And if Niko is “one of the best, most human characters ever realised in a computer game” then I can only weep for gaming.
And, yeah, I used taxis exclusively towards the end, which only underlines the problem. Which leads to another funny (minor but curious) point: it is better to DIE in this game, than get BUSTED (you lose less money that way). Talk about realism.
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GTA has been stuck in a diminishing returns death spiral since Vice City, which was the last ace GTA game.
San Andreas was overwrought and unbalanced, and GTA IV is drab with a story that degenerates with each mission.
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Dismissing the GTA games, particularly this one, is ludicrous. Meat: I accept that you have dubious tastes – hell, most of us do – but I think you’re just being stupid and contrary now.
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I have Vice City. I love GTA:VC. Especially since I got a C64, and the beginning of VC is just so wonderfully done.
Anyway. GTA4 is a step up. Definitely. I can only recommend this. And I played through it twice (2nd time because of that special achievement.)
The curious thing is. I got me a cheap XB360 because of Braid (and Castle Crashers). And one additional incentive was GTA4. Of course now my XB360 has the big Freezing after switch-on. And my PC is over 4 years old and probably not even able to load GTA4.
I need a new PC.
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GTA4′s the only one I’ve really liked. I’ve recognised how accomplished they all are, but 4 was the first where I cared about what happened. It’s interesting how VC captures what some people want GTA to be, and 4 does the same for others, but few share the common ground.
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I preordered GTA4 on pretty much the day it was announced for PC. I’ve always loved the series, and the appeal of raising chaos in a recognisable version of NY was too much to resist.
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Oh I’ve been waiting for this one for a long time. I don’t own any consoles and I have no interest in owning any of them (except maybe a DS for sheer dinky cuteness).
As I’ve just purchased Multiwinia (+Darwinia Free for extra W!n), am still playing through World of Goo (which is choc full of joy) and recently received a copy of GalCiv2: Endless Universe (thanks RPS) I don’t know when I’d have time to play GTA or Dead Space (which I’m increasingly interested in) or Mirror’s Edge, or FarCry2, FallOut3 or X3:Terran Conflict and still work/eat/sleep. I’m not getting anymore games until Christmas. GTAiV is on that list, of course.
Though, if I was unemployed and had no social life I’d be having a wonderful two months full of murder, madness and general mayhem… though mostly out of frustration at not being able to afford the games.
Roll on Winter-een-mas.
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I know I’ll end up getting it at some point, and it might make a Christmas wish-list, but I’m not going to rush out and buy it on day of release.
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I thought PC gaming was supposed to be dead?
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GTA 2 was great. Best explosions of 1998, although Freespace came a close second.
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All I can say is I loved GTA IV it was genius and if you think otherwise you clearly have no idea how games are made and how stories are told. Gameplay wise it was nothing really new granted, but its story telling and its use of characters was worthy of Hollywood! Then the game engine…they remade New York in mind blowing detail! Just an awesome achievement, it deserves all of its hype unlike many other games (cough Halo cough)
However, doesn’t new DLC come out soon for the 360… will the pc version be able to get this?
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@ subedii:
If you don’t play GTA as a hooligan, you’re gonna be missing out on a lot (everything).
Anyway, I’m one of those who thinks Vice City was the series’ peak. Everything I’ve read and heard leads me to believe GTA4 won’t change that. No doubt I’ll buy it at some point though, but there are others things taking my time right now.
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I must say, I haven’t really seen much of a reason for the “GTA4 for PC” backlash, just lots of “meh, who wants it anyway”. Personally this game has me more excited than many of the other big titles, mainly because Rockstar’s never disappointed me so far. I liked each of the previous-gen GTA titles, but I never got the veneration for Tommy Vercetti, a fairly stereotypical (though nicely performed) psychotic thug. And the new game’s protagonist sounds like a more fully realised, less cartoony character, which could be quite cool.
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What’s the point of releasing games 6 months after the intial release? Who’s really interested in bad ports? Either develop simultaneously or leave it be, especially for the PC, since we’re all pirates anyways, acording to the industry.
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What’s all this talk of bad ports and who cares?
WE AIN’T SEEN THE PORT YET! AND I CARE!
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I was so tempted to buy a console just for this game. As a discriminating PC user I couldn’t bring myself to get one (360, PS3) because that both suck in different ways.
I love me some GTA. And playing IV on the PC, with hardware that makes your console cry will be worth the wait.
Oh, and Mods. Yay mods.
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Yes, I care too.
A six month delay is better than nothing at all.
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I disagree, Skillian. Release the game at the same time as the rest of the gaming world or not at all: it’s insulting watching the rest of the world go nuts playing the thing and generally being a part of the event while we have no recourse but to settle in for a wait of several months.
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…several months before we even know if the thing is coming to our platform, let alone waiting for the game post-announcement!
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Bah.. I’ll already be using obscene amounts of time on Football Manager 09 and Left 4 Dead, and almost certainly some time on other games, like Fallout 3.
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I’m sorry, but this whole “The console gamers got it before us, boohoo!” thing is childish beyond belief. What do you do when you get a movie released after some other country – boycott it because others have enjoyed it first? A good game is a good game is a good game, whether someone with a PS3 or XBOX360 has played it first or not. Yes, it might be fun to be “part of the event”, but that strong a reaction? Petty doesn’t even begin to describe it. (Added to which, I’d rather have them take their time and release a port that actually adapts the game to PC. Many synchronous releases end up being shoddy, minimal ports.)
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On Topic:
I found being in shiny Liberty City spellbinding, watching that trailer /\up there/\ reminded me that I should revisit soon. The city, the people, Niko, I think they have great depth, but, I agree that the ‘top-up your friendship bar’ mechanic was a chore and that some of the missions could have benefitted from being a bit more open.
Anyone who has yet to play should take the plunge, it’s epic.
Off Topic:
@ Kismet: You mentioned ‘So Blonde’ there, and I won it the other day. In judging it on it’s cover (what a bastard I am), it looks horribly banal and empty, so I haven’t played it. Is this a title you are looking forward to? Should I play it?
Anyone know anything about ‘So Blonde’ for PC? The blurb tells me that author Steve Ince of Broken Sword is involved with some aspect of it.
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Agreed. I can understand console-exclusitivity where one format has it over another, but the PC isn’t really a rival format for any of the console platforms – it’s just an excuse for the publishers to make more money.
But then I suppose it’s also an excuse for piracy…
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I haven’t played one since 3 so I think I’ll get this. Waiting for mouse control was not a problem. I’m probably more excited about GTA: Chinatown Wars though, that looks like some proper explodey fun whereas 4 seems a bit serious.
We might be generally more interested in Fallout but I bet in pure PC sales GTA4 will do better.
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So would people prefer it not be released atall, rather than released late?
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This game sould be modable, to be able to remove the friends (That seems a anoyance on the console version), and to add important stuff like a tank.
It also will get enhanced view distances. On the PS3 the view distance was maybe too low.
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Hopefully I’ll have polished off Farcry 2 and Fallout 3 by the 21st, and despite the backlash I’ll be getting this for sure, if nothing more than to embrace the environments.
As GTAIV is on the GFW label I don’t think it will be coming to Steam unfortunately. I might be mistaken in that respect, but that’s the word on the street.
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@Dolphan “Sometimes I’m half-convinced people maul games just because they got high review scores
You’re only half convinced?
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GTA IV was the reason I bought a 360. There was no way on earth my PC would be capable of playing it without ploughing serious cash into, so I went ahead and bought one about this time last year (when GTA IV was originally scheduled to appear). I loved it when I played through it, but I’ve not touched it since then. It has bags of polish and it does some things very, very well, but ultimately it feels a little too constricted by it’s gritty setting. The story and characters (despite what most people seem to think) are not entirely superlative and while Liberty City feels like a living, breathing metropolis it’s just not that fun a place to be. So, that was it, one playthrough, a few goes on multiplayer and I’ve not touched it since.
To put this into some sort of context, I spent a truly absurd amount of time playing all the other GTAs and I loved San Andreas. The thing is that while IV has pushed the story, characters and setting to new heights, it’s still got some broken gameplay that should have been fixed a long time ago and relies to heavily on the story and characters to carry it. This is fine when you first play it, but it kills the re-playability a bit.
Honestly, I prefer Saints Row2. It’s far, far more ropey and buggy, the story is crude, the characters are cutouts, the city is nothing to write home about and the car physics are like something out of GTA3. It is however much, much more fun than GTAIV. It’s sense of it’s own absurdity and the fact that it isentirely happy with how ludicrous and contrived some of the gameplay elements and tropes of the genre mean that it’s never trying to shove it’s itself down your throat. It just gives you a toybox and lets you have fun. GTA IV to me is so concerned with being serious that it forgets this a little bit.
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I don’t have any current-gen consoles unless you’d count the DS, so I have been waiting to plug GTA IV into my powerful PC. I am particularly excited for the in-game environmental audio sourcing and emergent stories through play, but I am a little skeptical about how scripted missions will contrast with these kinds of sandbox features.
Yes, this is a packed fall season already for PC gamers, but that doesn’t mean we can’t look forward to its release. I’ll make room.
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I loved every single “3D” GTA game except this one. This one sucked massive donkey balls. The engine was great and fine except they forget to add a story, script, writers, fun, humour, anything. Tedious repetitive nonsense. I guess it may have got better after the third base you get but I wouldn’t know because I stopped playing it 5 days after release and I have no desire to waste another second of my life with this steaming turd of a game and frankly the suggestion that it is in anyway GOTY material is mind boggling except possibly in respect to lovely environments.
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I just realised that I was one of the few people who bought GTA2 on release, and I’ll probably, looking at this thread, be one of the few who buys GTA4 on release.
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mrrobs:
So Blonde is a game I’m keeping an eye on mainly because of Steve Ince involvement but, as for most adventure games released nowadays, it didn’t get much press coverage and informations are hard to find, which is part of the reasons I’m holding back on purchase.
The cover style reflect the main character: the fact that a spoiled 17-years old stereotyped blonde ends up a few centuries in the past on a tropical island should be an integral part of the title humour. Playing with stereotypes can be a risky path, but I’m willing to give the author the benefit of doubt (the game script has been nominated for the Writers Guild of Great Britain Awards 2008 in the Best Videogame Script category, by the way).
There’s an optimistic preview on Adventure Gamers and a pessimistic review on IGN if you want more informations on So Blonde: personally I’m waiting for a couple of reviews from certain sources (and for another game I already had to ask to be sent again to reach by mail-box) before placing my order, if I had it already in my hands though, I wouldn’t see any reason not to try it. :P
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GTA IV without the console performance dips and clunky controllers? I’m in!
Haven’t touched anything GTA4 related ever since I heard it’s coming out on PC.
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I really think that developers need to bring their PC release dates more in line with the console release dates. GTA4 for PC might have sold a lot more copies if it came out even a month ago, now it gets to be Just Another Holiday Release. They should have taken advantage of all that free publicity, but now it’s too late for that. I know that piracy is always the big excuse for delaying PC releases now but I think the whole Fallout 3 thing proves that console titles can be pirated too (as if we didn’t know that already).
As it is, I’ll pick up GTA4 once it goes down in price — I have a lot of other stuff I want to play first.
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I really enjoyed GTA IV multiplayer on the PS3 but it was ropey as fuck so I’ve preordered the PC version to get back into it, hopefully they’ll had more variation to the coop missions :D
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@Ergates: I’m fighting a constant losing battle with pure cynicism.
@Strelok: I do weep for gaming. Most games characters would look wooden and empty in a children’s cartoon. There are only a handful – Niko included – who I’d class as on a par with halfway decent characters from other adult media. It’s just that if you think Niko is a bad character, I’d love to hear where the good characters are …
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@edosan:
The delay for GTA IV has nothing to do with piracy. It’s an exclusivity deal (albeit a watered down one considering it’s shared over two consoles this time around) and has a big, fat wad of cash behind it.
This is something that PC gaming is pretty much powerless against, since the PC isn’t a brand; no-one owns it and no-one can call dibs for it with a couple of million dollars.
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Certainly not game of the year, but honestly the people who say it’s not any good are only saying so in reaction to the overly-enthusiastic reviews it got – there may be irritations, but it’s hard to fault the game mechanics on any fundamental level. Certainly the more po-faced elements might be a turn-off to those who preferred the camp Scarface-aping antics of Vice City, but in terms of creating a very well realised game world that was both a lot of fun to explore and cause chaos in the developers were entirely successful. If there’s anything that convinces me that PC gamers are amongst the most petty and elitist, it’s the way they react to games of GTA4′s calibre. By rights feel insulted by all the hype, by rights choose not to take the 10/10 reviews at face value, but don’t go in with your own preconceptions of the game just so you can shun it.
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Also, 2560 x 1600 resolution enabled, how I envy those lucky few with 30″ monitors.
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“Certainly not game of the year”
what would you say is the game of the year?
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“If there’s anything that convinces me that PC gamers are amongst the most petty and elitist, it’s the way they react to games of GTA4’s calibre. By rights feel insulted by all the hype, by rights choose not to take the 10/10 reviews at face value, but don’t go in with your own preconceptions of the game just so you can shun it.”
Most of these aren’t pre-conceptions, they are opinions formed after playing the console version. Even if the general consensus is “not as good as the hype or reviews made it out to be” it seems more than a little unfair to see those opinions as evidence of pettiness or elitism.
That is, of course, unless you don’t believe anyone’s reasoning and think people are just saying this because we got the game late. Because that would be petty, obv.
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@Thirith
I’m not sure if my comment is included in those you are attacking, but if it is I’d just like to clarify. My reasons for disliking the recent GTA incarnations are personal ones, and have little to do with its review scores or its period of console exclusivity. I’m also not saying that it is a bad game, just one which isn’t to my tastes.
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Seems like every time Rockstar revisits Liberty City it makes a series duffer.
I’m not even going to concede points for the engine like others are wont to do. It’s just another average-for-the-day as all GTAs have been. Nothing to weep over either way.
My tears are reserved for the slow death of fun/story/atmosphere since the VC peak.
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James G:
Nope, I definitely wouldn’t include you in this. I think you present your opinion in a perfectly valid way. I have no problems with people not liking a game or not warming to it; it’s comments like “this game sucks donkey balls!” and those amounting to “it’s coming out after the consoles so it’s crap and Rockstar sucks!” that I find very hard to read as anything else than childish footstomping. There’s a difference between disliking a game for personal reasons and pouty temper tantrums.
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@skillian: Do you speak for everyone who has formed a negative opinion on the game? If so, that’s quite a remarkable talent. Also, I’ve yet to actually see any concrete reasoning as to why the game isn’t any good. Being that you speak for all those who negatively received the game, what are the problems people have with it?
@El_MUERkO: Tempted to say World of Goo, but really I should concede I meant to say not game of the year yet. I’m pretty certain Left4Dead ought to prove tough competition.
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I can’t in good conscience play a game with first-person shootery segments on a console.
I’m playing San Andreas for the first time on PC and minus a few glitches that require the framerate limiter, it’s a really solid port. And a super-fun game. That has the NRG-500 superbike.
Please tell me that there are really fast bikes in GTA4?
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The most fun you can have with GTA4:
Get a few friends who’re not gamers in front of your 360, make them drunk/whatever, pass them the joypad, give them a few basic instructions and then watch them wreak havoc. Good times!
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I was interested until I heard that it was Games for Windows Live exclusive, then I lost all interest on principle alone.
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Yes, I waited for it to hit PC before playing it. Though with Far Cry 2, Fallout 3, Red Alert 3, Left 4 Dead and then Christmas, I can’t see how I can possibly afford it. I’ll have to go back to stripping in the evenings, I suppose.
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i don’t like games like gta…too much freedom for me. a bunch of optional secundary tasks that make the game fill more like a mmo.
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*feel, hehe
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To the guys doubting the porting quality on GTA4, you need to remember that even if Rockstar’s games have a consoly quality to them, the porting itself has always been excellent, almost bug free and very well optimized; So there’s really no reason not to give them the benefit of the doubt. So even though i played most of it on the 360 i eagerly await the PC version.
@ El_MUERkO:
Well, i don’t know about his particular opinion, mine were TF2 (200 hours of pure, concentrated fun so far), then Portal, then STALKER, then Bioshock, then CoD4, then GTA4
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Pags, it’s kinda hard to hold a back-and-forth when all the timestamps are off, sorry.
Anyway, I obviously don’t speak for all, but I had noticed that most of the criticism in here is from people with experience of the game. I’m sure you don’t really want me to list criticisms of the game as most of them are here already, but a focus on seriousness instead of fun is a general observation that seems to resonate with a lot of people.
And if you are criticising those who are saying “it’s shit ‘cos it’s late”, then I’d agree, but I wouldn’t say it’s evidence of the pettiness and elitism of PC gamers, as you hear the same complaints from console gamers over the same issues (console gamers are, of course, much worse when it comes to this).
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@Kismet:
Thanks for the quick response/info! OK had a quick look at those sites you linked to (although reading most of what’s on IGN is akin to pushing my thumbs into my eyes) and I’m hoping it’s a title served with a side helping of irony, and that there’s a decent moral to the tale (Elite Beat Agents for the DS has some appalling morals, i.e Money keeps rich old men and their moneygrabbing wives together for longer).
I’ll (like, totally) fire it up and give it a go!
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Nahual – All those games are from 2007, unless you meant Clear Sky. GTA 4 is 2008. Some of them are from more than 12 months ago if you intend some kind of rolling “game of the year” system.
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@Thirith
You have misunderstood the “Console got it first” thing completely. Its not a childish whinge because “they got it before us :(:(:(“. Its the fact they sell a game on Consolea few months before selling it on PC totally cutting the PC sales (as many people will play it on consoles and not wait around for the PC).
Theres also the point of view that if a game was made for a console then ported to PC, it will have console limitations in the games mechanics.
When a game is ported from PC to a console it is normally a complete game on the PC then cut down for the console, as oppose to a “console-type” cut down game ported onto a PC, which results in a rather cut down, poor quality PC game.
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i will probably get this as a gift. played a bit at a friend’s house; was sold on the eerie simulacrum-y nature of some of the layouts (astoria beer garden? wow!) and the fact that they have douchey dudes in puff vests wearing ipods and snotty girls with white belts so it’s basically the sims: nyc with a bit of BLAM BLAM wish fulfillment.
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I am a sucker for well executed hype just like with Oblivion and the hype for GTA IV was mindblowing. Whether GTA IV is the best GTA yet or not, I don’t care, I think I’ll have lots of fun with it.
Hopefully Rockstar has paid attention to the needs of the PC audience, that Games for Windows Live marker certainly doesn’t make it appealing but on the other hand it would be quite ridiculous if Microsoft wouldn’t get the announced GfWLive PC interface revamp ready by November 18th.
And yes, I don’t own the current-gen consoles, I’d dare say I am bit proud of it even.
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Just to be predictable, and because no one else has said it, World of Goo is clearly the game of the year. GTA4 ain’t bad though.
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Cataclysm: The same could have been said (and probably was) for GTA: SA before it came out – and that was an amazing game (if you didn’t mind the setting) and decent port. If people waited for reviews and then, on the basis of those, said, “Crappy port,” I’d understand. But at this point the bile seems largely a kneejerk reaction, at least to me.
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At this rate of decent games coming to the PC, I say I buy GTA4 about… my birthday next year so it been released after a whole year for the console. Might be cheaper as well.
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@Thirith
It is my opinion that describing it as “sucking donkey balls” is actually probably more accurate a description of it than calling it a game.
I think I got more “fun” out of that “game” by looking at a blog where somone clearly bored of the “game” had decided to just wander around the gorgeous city and see some sights then go take pictures of the inspirations and references around real life NYC.
The engine gets props from me just because you rarely see the same building twice anywhere. Now that’s an achievement. Giving people the ability to change their clothes then only 3 or 4 shops to buy loads of identical stuff just in different shades of drab colours is not an achievement. It’s rubbish.
Someone better at words than me said somewhere that the difference between US developers and the rest of the world seems to be that US developers think “mature” is grim gritty with tits and fanny and other developers allow stuff such as adults themes that don’t revolve around cock, fanny, shit, blood, cum and piss to enter into games.
Now IIRC and I concede I may be wrong here but wasn’t GTA4 the first of these games Rockstar developed away from Scotland and in the US?
Don’t actually know why I care to be honest. I guess I was just a little shocked at Jim mentioning as GOTY.
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I was really looking forward to GTA4, but it looks (based on five minutes on the internet) like it’ll have the version of SecuROM with the limited activations, so now I guess I’ll wait until it’s cheap enough to be like the rental it is.
Between this, FarCry2 and Dead Space PC gaming is getting cheaper for me all the time. Luckily there’s still L4D and Fallout 3 coming up to buy.
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You call that honest. I call it hyperbole.
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GTA IV? Sacrifice is the game of the year, obviously. It borrows from lots of other games but the ideas are put into one package rather well. I also like how they kept lower system specs in mind.
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I can’t wait for it, I love the GTA games and this is the first one I didn’t own a console to play it on. So it will be my first GTA on pc and I look forward to seeing it on widescreen and hi-res :)
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Sacrifice didn’t come out this year?
Also, to equate GTA4 with some idea of American ‘mature’ meaning grim with violence etc rather than sophistication seems a bit odd. I’d associate something like that with Gears and the like, whereas GTA4 at least makes an attempt at infusing its characters with moral ambiguity. Fine if you don’t think it succeeds (I think it does succeed, impressively but there’s little objectivity here) but the developers clearly weren’t going for that kind of childish ‘maturity’. Whereas they were in Vice City, and probably GTA3. Maybe to a lesser extent in San Andreas.
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The quality and breadth of writing in GTA4 – especially the first half – is up there with The Wire.
Also, one of the most gut-wrenching ends to a game a can remember (and dressed in a Happiness is… T-shirt too).
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“I’m sure you don’t really want me to list criticisms of the game as most of them are here already, but a focus on seriousness instead of fun is a general observation that seems to resonate with a lot of people”
Surprised to see that. In my playing on the work PS3, it’s seemed every bit as gloriously silly and OTT as the previous games. In fact, it’s felt like pretty much exactly the same game, just in a new setting with a tweaked driving model. Just like San Andreas felt like the same game in a new setting with a tweaked driving model.
I’ve enjoyed all three of them and am surprised to see people split between them so vociferously. Vice City was my ‘least favourite’ due to the whole Miami gangster setting being a bit tired, but I still absolutely loved it.
GTA4 too serious? C’mon…a game in which a copy shouts “I’m going to shit in your mouth!” while chasing you is not serious.
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Me needs a new pc first, mine is from 2004/5, once I get it though my ‘List’ will be as long, as well, round about 4years worth of gaming…gtaIV will be up high, but fo3 – if its any good, will surely beat the shit out of it, gamehour wise.
I certainly need a break from TF2…
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They improved the overall gameplay but lost ALL of the delicious humour of the previous titles. But then I prefer the stupidity of Crackdown, which scored almost universally lower across the board, so clearly I know nothing.
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GTA on the PC is much better than any conosle I have tried it on, for sure.
Out of curiosity, why are people still calling the 360, PS3 and Wii next-gen consoles? People, they’re current-generation. They’ve all been in the wild for a long time now.
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*meaning console, of course
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I don’t own any of the current generation consoles and I’m a fan of the series, so I most likely will be getting it. Not sure about the more serious approach of the game, but I’ll try it myself.
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@Fumarole
Because “next” sounds loads cooler than “current”.
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Vice City is still my favorite of the series. Rockstar did a fantastic job of capturing a time and place; looking back on the 1980s through a lens of nostalgia and pop culture, I picture something totally like Vice City.
San Andreas is a fine game, but at times it feels overwrought, a bit too serious for its own good. The eating and workout requirements are completely unnecessary, too.
In a way, the VC to SA comparison reminds me of the HL1 to HL2 discussion of a few weeks back. When pressed, I would probably concede that both SA and HL2 are the better games, based on presentation, design, graphics, etc., but I enjoyed VC and HL1 immensely more.
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My favourite part of the GTA4 storyline was when Niko moped about wanting to reform and live a straight life, immediately after I had mowed down a dozen civilians with a semi and sniped a handful of cops from a rooftop.
It’s nice that they wanted to go down a more mature road for the story, but it was completely and utterly disingenuous with the GTA gameplay. This, combined with the many gameplay annoyances that have already been mentioned, wrecked the game for me.
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Living in NYC, I am interested in seeing it represented in GTA4. Also I like Ruskies so Niko is alright in my book. I didn’t particularly care for San Andreas, being a young inner city minority living (somewhat) around gangs, it should be my kind of ‘thing’. Sometimes I play games for escapism, and escapism that ain’t.
I did like GTA3, and while I have Vice City, I have yet to give it a good try.
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I’ll definitely be buying this at some point, though probably not until 2009 and I’m bored of this years games.
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Specifically waited for this to hit the PC. Hoping I’ll be able to empathise with the lead character – this was the only area I felt let down San Andreas.
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@skillian: yeah the timestamp thing threw me off too. Either way, in regards to the people on here who did criticise the game, most of them that did say the game wasn’t their cup of tea usually put it down to subjective experience; meanwhile, the argument you outlined about the game being too serious in relation to it’s chirpy predecessors is again not exactly objective. Granted the moral overtones sometimes sit awkwardly next to the kill crazy gameplay, but that’s what you get when you give players freedom to do as they wish.
Agreed that console players can be just as childish when it comes to things like release dates, exclusivity etc. but in my experience console gamers are less likely to write off a game because it appeared on PC first or because they think it’s overhyped. Of course, you could argue that they’re less likely to do so because they’re not as well informed as PC players or more willing to buy into hype, but then that would kind of go some way to proving how PC gamers are elitist anyway.
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I think a natural ‘next step’ for the GTA series is to offer some proper choice for the player. Not to the degree of an RPG, but at least give people the OPTION of making a more moral choice.
The crazy-criminal gameplay is great fun, but it also feels a little uncomfortable for me. It’s the main reason I lost interest in the Vice City storyline – I just didn’t enjoy being a mobster with no conscience.
I’m not saying I want to remove the OTT criminal element, because it IS great fun, and clearly loads of people love the escapism. But if they gave people different story routes they could take, it would help to support the different styles of gameplay. ie, people who go on crazy rampages would have a story that suits it, and people who actually try to drive carefully would as well.
The story has always been an odd inclusion in the GTA games, precisely because they’re so linear. You can’t be anything other than the extreme criminal they depict. That seems completely at odds with the freeform ‘do what YOU want to do’ nature of the actual gameplay.
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You don’t have to kill bystanders in GTA4 though, you don’t have to kill anyone outside of the missions. Any bystanders killed are surely down to the player’s choice? In which case its a bit off blaming the game for allowing that kind of thing.
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@terror
Doh, you’re right, i guess i got my dates mixed up given we went through a dry patch again this summer and i was relating GTA4 with the other games released before it.
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I’ll probably pick it up in January when I’m over some of the better games. I want to play it, but I feel no need to pick it up at launch, seeing as it’s already 6 months late.
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I’ll definitely get it. I am not the biggest fan of the series, and haven’t finished a single one, but funnily enough, all of the negative comments (and there has been quite a backlash) have almost convinced me it might be the first GTA I’ll properly love.
It looks to me like they focused on the main game elements this time (driving and shooting), and I always thought they were lacking in the earlier games, and all the minigames and silly stuff never really made up for it.
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I don’t know, I don’t think it comes anywhere near living up to the hype. And I was one of those people who waited outside GameStop at midnight to buy it on the Xbox 360. It’s a decent game with great characters, but I still haven’t finished it, and that’s a pretty bad sign. I think one of the main problems is that any freedom the game has disappears once you start a mission. For example, some missions start out with you chasing a guy in a car and end with a shootout at the guy’s hideout. But if you decide you want to kill him by blowing up his car with an RPG before he makes it to his hideout you’ll find that his car is indestructible. Once you get to the shootout you’ll also find that there are no opportunities for interesting gameplay. All the missions are played strictly by the book; it’s a linear game with an open world attached to it. And while the character driven cutscenes before and after the missions are really interesting, the mission gameplay is formulaic, repetitive, and lacks both the creative combat elements of Far Cry 2 or BioShock and the spectacular setpieces of Half-Life or Call of Duty. Plus, the shooting mechanics were very sub-par, although the the driving was excellent. And all of that was very disappointing.
P.S. : The ‘friends’ in the game were probably the most annoying thing in the history of video gaming. NO ROMAN I DO NOT WANT TO GO BOWLING PLEASE STOP CALLING ME!
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I will probably grab this. Haven’t played it on console, but have followed the series on PC and really enjoyed it. I didn’t play GTA 3 (somehow it flew under the radar), but I loved Vice City and San Andreas. If this latest instalment is anything like those games then I’m sure I’ll get more than enough fun out of GTAIV to warrant shelling out the required cash.
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Well, my criticism sounds extremely harsh when I read it over again. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a good game it’s worth getting. It’s just extremely overrated.
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I don’t have a PS3 or 360 so I’ll likely get this.
Primary reason it’s superior by default, Mods.
Nothing was more awesome than downloading the Back to the future car for GTA Vice City and the same will apply here.
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Haven’t had a chance to get a next-gen console, but I’m a GTA fanatic, especially with regards to San Andreas (easily my #1 game of all time, and I’ve played many). My expectations are high, but I don’t expect it to top SA because I don’t really like the direction they took on this one. Luckily, aside from seeing the few trailers, I’ve managed to dodge most of the hype, and I know little about it despite it’s pervasiveness on this years scene. Maybe I’ll yet be surprised.
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I played GTA4 for a few hours, and watched a friend play a bunch of later missions. The plot, script and characters were interesting and deep, for a game, the little details were wonderful, and as a technical achievement it’s simply astonishingly impressive. But I simply didn’t have much fun playing it. It offered nothing new in that regard, and felt less fun than a couple of the previous games.
Compared to the hours I spent on Saints Row last year, which is a far less technically sound game (indeed, it’s pretty buggy and there are a lot of video issues. Although it’s worth nothing that many of GTA4′s minor design improvements were lifted directly from Saints Row) and has probably less than half the content, it just doesn’t stand up as a worthwhile purchase, especially given the many positive things I’ve read about Saints Row 2. It isn’t a bad game by any means – indeed, it’s good, but I’ve played it a dozen times before, and had more fun doing so.
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Yes, i’ve been waiting all along for the PC version, a shame it took them so long to make it, anyway im sure it will be a much better game than the console version, less buggy, moddable.
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Bully has apparently had a stealth-release, with a big obvious ad on the back of PCG. The website says it was released on the 24th. But….where the hell is it? Not a single shop has had it in.
This probably means they will appear this thursday or friday. Retailers sometimes refuse to take deliveries on any other days. Perhaps the dispatch was left too late because of piracy fears.
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waited for the proper PC version :)
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It’s coming to Steam December 2nd.
News You Can Use™
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