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: #30 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
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: 2.65 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

A Masterpiece, so why am i disappointed
Many reviews have highlighted the plus points to this awesome game, the inclusion of the mobile phone, the much improved combat and the friendships that you have the time to cultavate and which can serve in making the game eastier or at least a little different.

But, there is something missing and that something is ambition. San Andres may have been all over the place but the sandbox was large and encompassed many ideas. Niko is a mission machine who will work for anyone but he makes no headway in any organizations and more importanly there is nothing to spend your money on making side missions pointless.
Gone are businesses you can buy and cars you can modify, gone are gang wars and the ability to alter your charactor beyound his clothes, gone to is the ability to buy your own safe houses.

Instead this is a hollywood production. It is a great story with the first really good leading charactor of the GTA series but it is nothing new and maybe even a little less than what came before it.

GTA III with all of the fun and humour sucked out of it
I have grown fed up with the hype that surrounds the release of video games these days, so I now wait for a few weeks after launch and then decide whether or not to buy. I decided that amongst the gushing reviews from young manboys who desperately want to play gangsters to the moral outrage in the press that there might be a game in there worth playing.

I put GTA IV into my PS3 (knowing full well that there would be a long install time) and kept an open mind. The first thing that struck me about the game was the graphics. They may not be the most technically brilliant graphics for the PS3, but the level of detail is impressive. More than any other GTA game before it, this really feels like (If you'll excuse the cliché) a living breathing city. However, play for more than a few minutes and the fact that you can only wander into certain shops and buildings starts to jar. Still, I understand the limitations of the technology, so I can excuse that minor disappointment.

The next aspect that struck me was the story and the characters. In a gangster-themed story, you expect characters that do or say unpleasant things, but this lot really are the most unpleasant, unlikeable characters I have ever seen. None of them have an ounce of soul - they're all just two-dimensional caricatures of characters from other gangster movies. The dialogue reads as if it was written by a 15-year-old. It is peppered with swearing but not in any kind of artistic way - it's as if it's desperately trying to ensure the game gets the coveted 18 certificate it thinks it deserves. I actually enjoyed GTA III and Vice City because the plot didn't take itself too seriously and the characters were funny. There's just nothing funny in this game at all - it's rather like playing GTA III with all of the humour sucked out of it.

Once the story got underway and I was carrying out the missions, I became bored and frustrated. Your ability to explore Liberty City is severely restricted by the fact that locations only open up once you have already visited them. The missions are all "go to point A and meet someone" which inevitably leads to point B where you have to shoot some people and then go back for another very similar mission. It's all extremely slow and laborious - not in any way fun. It seems that Rockstar have finally run out of ideas.

The driving aspect of the game is the worst yet for any GTA game. The cars handle like shopping trolleys and the "behind car" cameras are very sluggish to respond, which means quite often you will turn a corner and have no idea what you're going to hit because you're effectively driving into the camera. Fortunately, you can save yourself a lot of frustration by getting a taxi to most locations.

The police chases have been toned down to the extent that escaping the police is extremely easy and they don't often notice your crimes. I actually welcome this change, given the vehicle handling is so poor.

So, is it fun? Not really. I enjoy the sandbox-style play area, and I actually like the graphics and sound a lot, but the actual gameplay, missions and storyline seem pitched at sad lonely teenagers; If you're one of that crowd though, I'm certain you'll have a ball. If, however, you want something a bit more grown-up and genuinely funny, find a copy of GTA III and Vice City and play them a second time instead.

GTA 4 Review
The good........

The graphics of GTA4 are simply outstanding, especially in high def. This is best illustrated when flying in a helicopter or viewing the city as a passenger in a taxi cab.
On the subject of taxi cabs, their enhanced capability's make for much better gameplay. In such a complex city of narrower and more congested roads, driving across liberty city can be a time consuming task. Taxis allow one to either get in and allow the driver to take care of the road, or even better get in to the cab and then select skip journey. From a to b in the tap of a button.
The new shooting options are excellent. Drive by's now require a bit more skill as you need to manually aim. On the up side, you can now shoot at a much greater range of targets in front, behind, on either side, high, low.
Also the new blind fire, and shoot behind cover techniques make for much more exciting and skillful battle. The tossing of grenades to lure people away from cover is particularly clever.
The auto save. How many times have you just completed a hard mission on GTA SA, only to get attacked on the way back to your safe house by a rival gang, get killed and lose a wonderful and expensive hoard of weapons. Now your game just auto saves after every mission.
Friends / girlfriends - The special skills of friends is very useful, particularly little Jacob who sells you cut price guns near your location (he could park closer though).
The car damage / explosions. The car eventually catches fire and you can watch as it slowly gets engulfed in flames and explodes. Even better is to sit on the highway, wait for the car to ignite before speeding off and watching the action in slow mo. Fantastic.
The railway system, its brilliant with interchange stations, and different lines. It might not be the quickest way to get around, but its scenic and just fun to do.
The decision making processes. Being able to choose your final ending to the game is genius. I have chosen the Deal ending, and the story has been absolutely pulsating. Having the finale over 3 missions also makes sense.
The revamped police vigilante missions are brilliant, and there is not the annoying 12 consecutive mission constraint like in previous games. Now one can attend to normal crimes, or carry out special assassinations on criminals on the 'most wanted' list. One can even call for (not always helpful) backup.
Random characters provide a humorous and refreshing break from the main story, brilliant.
New online multi player mode is brilliant, allowing fierce battles with friends to take place within the grounds of the alderney prison. Or perhaps a race across the streets of broker? The choice is vast.


The not so good.....

Sometimes the game gives you a bit too much help, like telling you the locations of Brucie's cars he asks for via e-mail, directing you to most wanted characters etc. The traditionalist in me would rather the player has to find the car (or check it up in a guide).
No aeroplanes, I guess that as it is just one city, and not the vast state of SA it makes sense. However aeroplanes were great fun, and always a welcome addition to any GTA game.
Sometimes the missions do not always feel like they fit into the overall plot. Niko does many missions just for money which are not directly related to the plot. Whereas characters like CJ or Tommi V seemed to often be working towards a goal in addition to the money.
Statistically I believe there are less missions than in SA, and the size of the city is slightly smaller. Critics of SA argue that there was too much dead space like the deserts, however I think that sense of openness and size of area to explore was part of the brilliance of SA.
Player cannot buy safe houses or property. Once the safe house in Broker is closed, there are no safe houses on the entire island. The property and entrepreneurship of previous GTA games was a fun extra.


Conclusion......

An absolutely awesome and outstanding game that will be noted as one of the most successful and advanced games. It really has set a new level in open world gameplay. It is a game that is brilliant for the occasional gamer or the hard core GTA master alike.



Overall : 5 Stars



Gameplay: 5 Stars

Graphics: 5 Stars

Plot: 4 Stars

Online Capabilities: 5 Stars

Realism: 4 Stars