Product Description

The most anticipated game ever, Grand Theft Auto IV will revolutionize gaming. You play as Niko Bellic, an Eastern European immigrant to Liberty City with a murky, violent past. Hoping to start a new life in a new country, Niko arrives on the docks and is met by his cousin, Roman. Roman’s promises of ready wealth and easy women turn out to be exaggerations and Niko must quickly adjust to a hard life. But this is America, and Niko wants his slice of the American dream. With perseverance and hard work, he just might grab it.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #391 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: Rockstar Games
• Released on: 2008-04-29
• Rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
• ESRB Rating: Adults Only
• Platform: PLAYSTATION 3
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, German, French, Italian, Spanish
• Dimensions: .26 pounds

Amazon.co.uk
What does the American Dream mean today?

For Niko Bellic, fresh off the boat from Europe, it is the hope he can escape his past. For his cousin, Roman, it is the vision that together they can find fortune in Liberty City, gateway to the land of opportunity. As they slip into debt and are dragged into a criminal underworld by a series of shysters, thieves and sociopaths, they discover that the reality is very different from the dream in a city that worships money and status, and is heaven for those who have them and a living nightmare for those who don’t.

Beginning with the 1997 release of the original Grand Theft Auto, the GTA series has been one of the most prolific, controversial and down right entertaining franchises in video games history. This pedigree of success guarantees that the highly anticipated eleventh game in the series, Grand Theft Auto IV, will garner at least as much attention if not more.

Return to Liberty City.

The dream as Niko expected it. View larger.

There's always a catch. View larger.

But some skills are international. View larger.

The Plot
Grand Theft Auto IV is a brand new adventure in the GTA universe following the experiences of Nikolai "Niko" Bellic, a new immigrant from an undisclosed eastern European country whose troubled pa st and the persuasion of his cousin Roman have brought him to the fictional Liberty City. Unfortunately, Niko’s search for the American Dream and a much needed fresh start, hits an immediate snag when the rags to riches story Roman spun to pique Niko's interest is exposed as not only a complete fabrication, but a ploy to enlist Niko’s well-known skills as a tough guy against the ample list of enemies clamouring for Roman’s debt-ridden blood.

Because Roman is the only person Niko knows in Liberty City he begrudgingly accepts his role as Roman’s protector despite the deception. But as time goes on Niko comes into his own, and his experience on the wrong side of the tracks proves more valuable than he could have ever imagined as he fights for survival and later supremacy on the crime ridden streets of Liberty City.

Game Environments
Based on several of the boroughs of New York City and parts of New Jersey, Liberty City, familiar to players of previous games in the series, has been entirely redesigned for GTA IV. Players can expect visible detail down to the weeds growing in the cracks in the sidewalk, cars and buildings of visibly different ages and a much greater level if verticality in the buildings and bridges that they are able to explore as Niko moves through the city streets. In addition, pedestrians in GTA IV are much more realistic. No longer simply moving cardboard cut-outs, these NPCs are intelligent, modern, human representations that laugh, cry, eat, drink, use cell phones and ATMs, and talking amongst themselves regardless of Niko’s interaction with them.

Gameplay
Historically GTA games have focused heavily on mission-based play, requiring successful completion of fixed tasks in order for players to progress through the game, but this has changed to a great extent in GTA IV. Players will experience an entirely new and exciting emphasis centred on the blending of on-mission and off-mission play, resulting not only in an increased sense of realism, but more interesting and unrestricted gameplay.

Features
Aside from the car jacking and a detailed city environment here are the new features for GTA IV:

• Improved combat system - Now you can use cover and also a target lock system, which allows you to take out targets with greater ease and accuracy. Plus, you can engage in some hand-to-hand combat if you can't get your hands on a piece quick enough.
• Cell phone - Not just for basic phone calls anymore. Use your in-game cell phone to receive missions via SMS, snap photos, and ZiT (tag) songs that can be downloaded exclusively on Amazon.com/mp3.
• Free time - In between missions you can take advantage of "me" time. There are gentleman's clubs, comedy clubs, bowling alleys, and bars, which all house unique activities.
• Take a break from the storyline - A variety of side missions allow you to help run a car service, "borrow" cop cars, assassinate targets, help solve problems for those on the street, or take to the air with stunt jumps that are scattered all over the city.
• Control your own fate - Throughout the game choice moments will arrive causing you to make a decision that will affect relationships and money.

Multiplayer
Give Niko a rest and create your own multiplayer "hero." GTA has added multiplayer modes allowing you to take your creation out to play online in competitive, co-op, and free form modes. Competitive mode has you fighting against the cops, jacking cars, or racing to finish odd jobs. Co-op challenges you and your friends with various tasks including Hangman's NOOSE where you are responsible for escorting a wanted kingpin to a safe extraction point. Freeform lets you and 15 others lose on Liberty City. Use this mode to hit up the bar and play virtual darts versus each other or head out to the streets and set up your own drag races. If you can dream it, you can do it in Freeform mode.

Customer Reviews

Amazing...but does it live up to the hype?
GTA IV- arguably the biggest game of all time delivers in almost every way.
Just don't get swept up in the hype, this isn't the best game ever made, not even the best in the series. But there is lots to love, though somehow it never meets the scope and variety that San Andreas had so much of. It took 45 hours to complete the main story and begin to get bored, which is large enough.
But unlike past iterations, the desire to go back and finish EVERYTHING just wasn't there. Then again, GTAIV has an online mode to rival anything else available, with a nice selection of game types and a refreshing amount of freedom.

It was inevitable that reducing the customisation options would disappoint some fans. Admittedly, most of it was pointless anyway.
Yet it does feels like every new addition has replaced something else. Tattoos and casino gambling would have fitted perfectly with the realistic tone. Disappointingly, theres also no car modding, despite street racing being available.
But these are small gripes, and when GTA IV gets so much right they are easy to dismiss. The shift in focus towards realism is admirable. The relationship system works, but does feel like the dating game from San Andreas. Build friendships for rewards, like gun toting thugs, police bribery and car bombs. Most of these are genuinely useful, and this whole aspect is worth perservering with, despite the repetition.

The audio in IV is certainly the best ever. Theres around 20 radio stations to suit all tastes. Favourites include Liberty Rock playing classic Rock & Roll, Electro Chocs Dance, hosted by Francois K. The Vibe plays Soul/RnB, playing my favourite tune to perform a drive by; Criticise by Alexander O Neal. There are even 2 talk stations, and an Eastern European channel! The humour is darker and more satirical; with nothing escaping Rockstars savage sense of humour. Designer babies, prostitutes and Rockstars competiton all get torn apart, amongst many others. Broadcasts after missions describing your actions are as good as ever. The new Zit text service, which sends the artist and title of any track, is a brilliant addition. The way character dialogue changes after repeating a failed mission is ingenious.
The TV programmes are also sensational, and genuinely funny. The advert for Piswasser beer had me in tears of laughter. Ricky Gervais even makes a guest appearance with a stand up comedy act. It all adds to the illusion this is a living, breathing city.

The apparent glitches which have unfairly dragged this games score down, were virtually non existent when I played. Graphics do glitch occasionally, particularly upon entering a building. But this doesn't make the game a one star. I've seen far worse.

Honest review
Hype is hype, people get drawn in and then are dissapointed as soon as they play the game because it's not the "simply perfect" in every way game they were promised. Of course the game isn't perfect. But if you love GTA then there's no question you will love this game.

The positives?

Well the map is great. Graphics are fantastic, I did find the city a little dark for me and my tv so I simply changed the in game brightness to a level my eyes liked.

If you have played GTA before you will know the mission layouts. Go somewhere and kill a guy or two. We all know that. But Rockstar have tweaked things a little this time. The missions can overlap, some take time to complete. In that time you can choose to go off and do a different mission. Also at times in the game you are given personal choices to make on who lives and who dies, sometimes that choice can be a pretty tough one too! There is also an alternate ending to this game, depending on what choice you make in the last mission.

The main thing I have enjoyed so far is the storyline itself. The common theme of GTA games is to start from the bottom and finish at the top. This is still the same but it's not so easy this time to get from one to the other. You will suffer setbacks along the way and at one point you are actually in a worse position than when you started. I liked that.

The social aspect of the game has been hugely improved. You can still take your girl out on a date like San Andreas. But this time round you can take your friends out. As you progress you pick up a fair few friends and taking them out for a drinking session or perhaps a game of darts can really benefit you. Get your friends to like you enough and you will unlock their special talent. One friend will sell you guns at cheap prices, another will provide you with a few goons for back up if you need it.

The mobile phone! I love this new way of connecting with the GTA world. You can do everything via your phone. Call your friends for nights out, call them for jobs, call them for guns or back up like I said above. You may also use the internet. You can apparently date girls off networking sites (haven't dabbled too much into the net myself). But I love the way I can prepare for a mission by calling my man Jacob up and requesting him to meet me somewhere so I can buy a collection of guns and grenades off him.

An if you haven't got a car to go meet Jacob with? hail down a taxi. This is actually something I find myself using alot more than I would have thought. They really are a great way of getting around. You can skip the taxi journey by pressing X. Also in the early days when your bank balance is not so large you can call your cousin Roman up and ask him to send you one of his cabs to pick you up and take you to your destination for free, as he owns a taxi company.

The cover system is a great addition too. It takes getting used to. But give yourself time and you will be using it very effectively. Shooting itself has been improved too. Also if in a gunfight or just beating up a poor bystander you can leave them half dead. What I mean by this is you can beat them up until they have only one bar of health left and then sit back watch them as they stagger this way and that and then fall over in a heap. They don't die until you finish them off but it can be a great feeling playing out a mission, chasing a guy all over the city, killing all his goons and then have him half dead in an alleyway, unable to move and just begging to be shot one last time. Maybe I'm just cruel.

Multiplayer!!!! Finally GTA has the ability to go online and it's pretty damn good on first impressions. You can choose different gametypes etc. You've got deathmatch, team deathmatch, cops and robbers just to name a few. I went straight into a team deathmatch and loved it. We were able to go anywhere on the map and cause as much chaos as we liked. You generally start off with an uzi gun and have to search for other types. But don't worry about that as there are plenty of weapons around every corner. The team deathmatch can be summed up by the vision of a team mate pulling up his car to pick you up, you get in and go commit a drive by shooting on the nearest enemy on the map. Great stuff. Also I got a thrill out of playing "cops and robbers" and the racing was interesting lol

Positives? man I feel like I've forgotten some. Oh yea, the games are quite good. Darts, bowling and pool all serve as nice additions.

OK negatives.

Business owning. I always loved having a business make money for me in the past GTA game. It's not been put into this one so I'm a little dissapointed with that and I'm kind of left thinking there is less to do after completing the missions, compared to previous GTA's where I never felt bored of the game even after completion. There is a feeling of "well what do I do now?" once you have completed the game.

Safehouses - Now I've done all the missions I'm a little confused as to why I don't have more safehouses than I do. After San Andreas where you have houses all over the map. That's not the case here and you never really achieve that mansion style house we all want.

Driving? This to me isn't a negative. But I'm going to put it in the negative pile because I think most people won't enjoy the driving on this one (until they get used to it). It's basically more realistic. You can't fly round a corner so easily. You have to slow down and turn with caution. The cars themselves are fantastic. They take damage brilliantly and the "flying through the windscreen" is a nice touch. Also people will get killed in car crashes now, just tonight I hit a car side on at full speed. I was ok but the other driver slumped out of his car door and died on the pavement.

Review long enough? lol overall a great game. Definately worth buying and I have had no problems with bugs at all. I think after completing the missions there may be an issue with if there's enough in the game to keep you playing. But it seems Rockstar have sacrificed that for a very good online multiplayer. So if you do play your console online that's where the longetivity will come from I believe.

Grand Theft Auto IV
I'm not going to go into too much depth with this review as I imagine within a few weeks this'll be just one of about 300 reviews on here for the new GTA. What I am going to say is that this game is great. And it is BIG! The city (which is closely based upon New York City) is absolutely massive with so much stuff to do while you are not doing the main missions, such as bowling, darts, pool, arcade games, as well as all the usual driving and exploring. You'll also go on dates, work for a taxi firm and do some dirty work for the local mobsters.

When I first started playing this I wasn't too impressed with it, maybe it was just too hyped and I had my expectations set a little high, but now that I've had a good 15 or so hours on it I've "settled in" to Liberty City and and absolutely loving this videogame nasty even more than I did with all of the previous GTA outings. The controls, although not been changed as much as I'd of liked, are great on the PS3 with most of the mini-games that can be used with the SixAxis settings. Driving takes a little while to get used to but once you get the hang of it you'll be racing around the city at top speeds in the best cars knocking pedestrians out of the way and getting away from the pursuits of the police.

Great gameplay, awesome graphics, amazing soundtrack and decent controls make this is without a doubt one of the best games on the PS3 so far and is going to take a lot for a game to better it.