Here is my first impressions of GTA IV.
Let me start off by saying that ign.com gave this game a 10 and they
actually they had a disclaimer at the end of the review explaining
that...while not 'perfect', for what the game does...in thier eyes
it earned a 10....good save.
I am about a good 1/2 way thru the first island's missions and I
have:
beat up gangsters threatening my cousin
thrown a man out of a window 3 stories to his death
Went bowling and played darts
Watched the cops arrest a guy for illegal credit cards
said no to weed from a ganga smoking Rasta
had warm coffee...hint hint...
played darts
Wrecked enough havoc with the LCPD to make any criminal blush....and
got away...
Made it with some random ho in a park and blew her away
Of course, checked out the Strip Club
Watched Katt Williams on TV (for some odd reason, not a funny as it
could be...lol)
Saw a magic show
Accidentally ran my car into the river and survived!!!
Now guess which ones were in a mission and not!
I am going to start off some of the cons of the game and get it over
with because while expectations are high, let's bring it down a few
notches and make sure people don't get too overly hyped about the
game.
- display issues: I am not sure what happened here but some some
reason Rockstar decided to run this game at 720p. When displayed on
my TV, The rght portion of my screen is partially cut off...I can't
really see how many stars I have and sometimes it's a tiny bit of a
challenge telling what weapons are being used or how many bullets
you have left.
- ducking the cops: Ok....this is a mixed bag of a new innovation.
While I do like the idea of any trouble you start brings up a
proximinty circle of where the cops will come to the scene of a
crime, sometimes it's far too easy to get away, even when you have
done something that warrants the SWAT team to come in. Even still if
after you lose them and come back in almost immediately after the
circle disappears, there is no particular reason for the cops to
continually be on the lookout for you....maybe I am nitpicking but
at least in other iterations, when you have set off every possible
alarm, it was nearly impossible to shake the cops and made getting
away very harrowing....because once you got up to 5 and 6 starts the
cops were very poersistent....but then...with as apathetic as cops
really are, this may be real...LOL.
- Speaking of, no real reprecussions and consequences for actions in
some cases: One thing I think I would like to have seen more of is,
if you do something, the is a bit more of a reaction for the crowd.
For instance, I was at a club and some bouncers tried to jump me, I
went to town with my shotgun...maybe 2 or 3 people moved. With the
way that the AI was hyped in this game, I was hoping more for a
stampede for the doors and maybe a 911 call. Same with being out on
the street, I robbed and shot someone in broad day light....now
while a few people ran, most still carried on thier business and not
one frantic call to 911...but again...this may be sad testimony to
what kind of empathy to people...LOL
And that pretty much are my only issues with the game...as far as
everything else well:
I am very impressed with the storyline and voice acting. This has
always been a very top notch standard with Rockstar and GTA games. I
also like the fact that if you are with characters during missions,
the dialogue doesn't just happen in the cutscenes, it also flows
with you and the NPCs as you travel. For instance, you find out more
about what Roman has gotten himself into, Michelle asks about your
stay in America, Little Jacob, if you can understand his heavily
West Indian accent explains why he needs someone he can trust to do
his errands and so forth, so count on interactions like that
throughout the game beyond cutscenes not to mention most missions do
seem to run a little differently and sometimes have added twists
I was also graphically and aurally with the environment. The game
really pushes the 360's power! No matter what GTA you have ever
played it has always looked kinda sterile despite the grittiness. In
this iteration, all you need is smells, good and bad. When you are
nicer lookng neighborhoods, you can really tell...when you are in
bad areas...ditto.
And aurally, with all the ambient noices...second only to Assassin's
Creed (despite all the shortcomings of the game, really listen to
the background chatter!) in quality to make you almost feel like you
are 'there'.
Everything else that IGN touched on as far as getting around,
getting missions and so forth is on point.
The control, once you get the hang of it is fairly decent. The fight
controls could have been a bit tighter, but it works.
Now while I did talk a bit down about the AI, let me tell you how it
is when it really does work. You can sometimes go along and see some
really random occurances in a course of the day.
There is more traffic on the street at 2pm than there is at 2am and
this is still depending on what part of town you are in. I saw a
random instance in which a cop chased down a thief and held him at
gunpoint. I saw people use thier cell phones. I saw where early in
the morning you see people out sweeping the sidewalk. I alos noticed
that late at night you see more garbage trucks...but what was most
priceless was a womon walking along sipping a soda...walks PAST a
trashcan...and drops the cup in the street....yes...she litters!!
Yes, there are so many little nuances in this game that can be
picked up on and so much randomness going on that it does make it
seem 'alive' but you still kind of wish for more but.....that's not
what the whole game is about.
As far as multiplayer, it's a lot smoother than I thought it was
going to be, I really haven't had a chance to delve estensively into
it as of yet but I played around in a set up with 10 people and
noticed no lag whatsoever...it's smooth like butter.
What I will say, and this is one of the reasons why I am not big on
doing multiplayers with a whole lot of strangers, is that the kids
and the knuckleheads that have gotten this game will abuse the
language more than what it needs to be abused. If you got sensitive
ears...just be prepared..otherwise I recommend that you find a group
of friends and set up your own private match and play.
All in all, GTA IV is the must play game of the year, I can't fully
endorse the 10 unless you count the story and all the random mini
games but, so far the game is so tight , that I do believe that
Saint's Row II will have it's work cut out for it.
SO pick it up, go bowling, make sure you watch TV, and listen out
for Jack Thompson's being a stripper reference!!
------------------------------------
____________________________________________________
Copyright (c) 2000-2008 Yahoo! Xbox community Group
(http://gamesource.groups.yahoo.com/group/Xbox/).
All rights reserved.
Operated by 'The PogoWolf' and ToddATV
Affiliate Group(s):
http://www.Gamersvue.com
http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/gamers_for_life
Tell your friends. ;)
___________________________________________________
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Xbox/
<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional
<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Xbox/join
(Yahoo! ID required)
<*> To change settings via email:
mailto:Xbox-digest@yahoogroups.com
mailto:Xbox-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
Xbox-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
No comments:
Post a Comment