Product Description

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 get dragged in 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.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #234 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: Rockstar Games
• Released on: 2008-12-03
• Rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
• Platform: Windows Vista
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, German, French, Italian, Spanish
• Dimensions: .46 pounds

Manufacturer's Description

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 past 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 clamoring 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 cutouts, 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 centered 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.

ZiT: We'll Spot The Song For You
When playing Grand Theft Auto IV, if you hear a song that you are interested in buying as an MP3, all you have to do is dial ZiT-555-0100 on your in-game mobile phone and a text message will be sent to you with the name of the artist and the title of the track.

Most excitingly, Grand Theft Auto IV for the PC offers players the chance to become the Cecil B. Demille of Liberty City via the all new Video Editor feature. Capture in-game footage (whether from single-player or multiplayer gameplay) and make real-time edits using a built-in suite of tools that can change the camera angle, audio, speed and depth-of-field or apply special effects to alter colours and add filters. Add in-game music, custom titling and transitions to polish off your masterpiece.

Customer Reviews

Just in time for Christmas - it's a massive TURKEY!
Note: Amazon Review requires at last one star, but this is actually a no-star product.

Rockstar have dropped the ball in the biggest possible way this time.

Since the very first GTA, I have looked forward to each new release with ever greater anticipation. No longer. GTA4 for PC is possibly the most cynical, botched, bloated, ill-conceived piece of junk since the Ford Edsel. The publisher will require a miracle to recover from this. To undo so many years of goodwill at one stroke will be (and deserves to be) a catastrophe for the company.

How it should happen.

1 Buy the game
2 Install it
3 Run it
4 Have many hours of fun

How GTA4 does it.

1 Buy it
2 Install it
3 Register online
4 Try to run - get BSOD
5 Try again - get cryptic error message (alpha code, no description)
6 Google message to discover it means the game won't run without XP SP3 (why couldn't the error say that?)
7 Download and install SP3, then reboot
8 Run it again
9 Create (unwanted and should be completely optional) logins and gamertags for both Windows Live and RS Social Club - after installing Windows Live software (and an immediate follow-on) update, then reboot again
10 Link the two tags - eventually, when both sites are available and accepting logons
11 Start playing - get woeful performance (OK, my PC isn't a great spec any more but it still ran Crysis perfectly well)
12 Get fatal crash that takes Windows out as well
13 Reboot, then go online to see if there are any tips or tricks to getting this monster to work even a little bit
14 Find, download and install slightly dodgy Nvidia beta driver which has been rushed out just for this game
15 Reboot one more time, then run it again. A marginal improvement but still not playable by any stretch of the imagination
16 Leave it for a day, then come back and try some more tricks
17 Run it, get about 5 minutes into the game (after waiting nearly that long for it to load) then get a different crash, again with a cryptic alpha code
18 Google the code, find out it is possibly caused by either the DRM (SecuRom) or faulty install disc with a corrupted .CAB file somewhere
19 Consider ordering RAM, CPU and GPU upgrades, then reconsider and write this review instead
20 [Tomorrow] Return the (so-called) product for a full refund

I'm not a game designer/programmer, but I have worked as a commercial software developer for over 20 years, so I have a rough idea about what makes a good piece of software and what doesn't. GTA4 has all the elements of bad software. It is unreliable, has a clumsy user interface, makes completely unreasonable demands of the user and system, is ill-concieved and atrociously implemented.

If you want my advice (and you wouldn't have read this far if you didn't) then avoid this like the plague. I will be returning my copy to Amazon, and I don't expect to be the only one.

Finally, unless they get on top of the situation in the next 2 weeks (i.e. before Christmas) I expect this to be the end of the line for the GTA franchise, and possibly Rockstar as well.

Update 1: The uninstall process ran perfectly and in just a few seconds. Perversely, it seems that they got that bit right...

Too much faffing, not enough GTA!
Basically, this game is full stuff that is doesn't need and without what it does.

It's full of bugs upon purchase, and the patch (1.0.1.0) doesn't do much to help anything.
There are alot of known drop-out and crash errors that are still to be resolved. Even on PCs that should be able to handle its requirements just fine, and do so with other games of the same calibour.

Secondly, the instalation process is very long winded. You will need service pack 3 which is causing alot of awkwardness, but it's what to expected of more and more modern games.
The really dragging stuff is the Rockstar "Social club" and Windows LIVE procedures. After finally getting Social Club on (which seems useless to me, we can all find news online right?) you get onto the game to find you need to log-in to Windows LIVE and to do so you will need a Windows LIVE (or hotmail) account and CANNOT proceed with out it.

If you choose to skip the online connections you cannot load updates and i don't think it actually lets you save your game and will be forever bugged by the program asking you to log-in and warning of the concequences of not doing so!

Basicaaly, this IS a good game, but this PC version comes with so much Tat that it's hardly worth trying.

Maybe when the errors are finaly resolved with up to date patches, the Social Club/LIVE nonsense will be worth it, but don't hold your breath.

Untill then, look eleware.

Fail of the epic variety
The game itself, apart from a couple of bugs (which will be worked out with patches!) is actually fine. Driving is a bit different than in the old GTA games. Other than the bugs (haven't encountered a single one, btw), it's fine. Somewhat.

However, there is one MAJOR thing that makes me recommend NOT to buy this game:

In order to save your progress you MUST sign into Windows LIVE. So, in order to save your game, you are forced to be online and to use a third party application! This is absolutely unacceptable and pure and utter garbage. I don't want LIVE, I don't need LIVE. I don't care about achievements. I only want to save the game! If you're playing the game offline, you can't save your progress. You are forced to go online and to sign up/into Windows LIVE. Absolutely ridiculous.

Now, when I decided not to save my progress and return to the game from the save menu... it wouldn't let me. Instead it started to lead me in circles through the "do you want to save" "you must be signed into Windows LIVE to save" "do you want to continue without saving" over and over again.

BTW, Windows LIVE also installs itself when you're installing the game. That's worse than any DRM (without DRM I can, at least, save the progress I've made in the game, without LIVE I can't do it in GTA4). And if you don't want/don't need LIVE, then you can't play the game without having to start over whenever you leave it (cause you can't save without LIVE).

And to think that Rockstar Games once made great things like Max Payne. Shame on them.

Windows LIVE has to go.

I've uninstalled the game and it will go back asap. I want my money back.