P3. Grand Theft Auto IV

System: PS3
IGN Score: 10
Year Released: 2008

Grand Theft Auto games are not known for their graphics, but GTA IV looks spectacular. What comes to mind is driving around at night while it is raining. The reflection from the headlights off the wet pavement is spectacular. Obviously it is unfair to compare a PS2 game to a PS3 game visually, but this game is by far the best looking GTA game to date. The PS2 GTA games were behind other PS2 games visually, but this game is right up there with the best-looking PS3 games. Liberty City looks amazing. It feels like a living, breathing city. The way people walk on the sidewalks, the way people drive, the heavy traffic that plagues all metropolitan areas, Times Square...everything about this virtual city feels like a true city. And therein lies my major issue with this game. Liberty City, driving mechanics, everything feels a little too real. Much like a real city, it is a pain in the ass to get around in this city. There is always so much traffic to get around. I feel like you are always looking for a bridge to cross or waiting at a toll booth (you have to wait or the cops start chasing you every time). Thank God they finally came up with the GPS feature or otherwise it would have taken me probably twice as long to beat the game because figuring out how to navigate places is painful. Remember on my GTA III post I mentioned another feature that was a big negative for the game that was shared in another GTA game? That feature was Liberty City itself. The LC is worse in GTA III because there is no GPS feature. I failed several stages in GTA III because I ran out of time because I couldn't figure out how to get on the bridge to cross a river. If you look at all of the cities in San Andreas, and Vice City, Liberty City is by far the least fun place to play a game.

It isn't all bad, though. Niko is probably my second favorite GTA protagonist, behind Tommy Vercetti in Vice City. After a bad experience in the Bosnian War, Niko leaves Eastern Europe in pursuit of the American dream. He arrives in Liberty City in hopes of finding the man who betrayed his unit in the war and with promises of riches from his cousin Roman. When he arrives, he discovers Roman has lied to him and that he is really quite poor, owing much money due to a bad gambling habit. What follows is a long, confusing story where Niko and Roman make names for themselves getting involved with the Russian Mafia and meeting numerous drug dealers, crooked cops, and Liberty City players. Most of these characters are quite entertaining at the time, but also quite forgettable. None of them really stick with you too long. Overall, the story is fantastic. You get quite involved in the Liberty City underworld, quickly making a name for yourself. Niko is a genuinely likable guy, and you find yourself wanting him to succeed and find the person who betrayed him. For more on the plot, see the wiki article. It is too long and complex to get into too much detail here.

I really like the moral choices this game makes you make. There are several opportunities to either blast a guy or let them live, and depending on what choices you make the game actually has a different outcome. This is something unique to the GTA series.

Overall this game is fantastic - a must play for PS3 (or Xbox 360) owners. Besides Liberty City itself (thank you for the GPS!), the game has a weaker soundtrack than the other games (excluding GTA III) and I get kind of annoyed by all of the random phone calls you get while trying to play the game asking you to go play pool. But the storyline is fantastic and Niko is a genuinely likable character.