June 10th, 2008

Grand Theft Auto IV

Where are you going? It doesn't matter if it's a date with Joe Black, Britney or Shrek himself, but it surely can wait. Why? There's still a lot to say about Grand Theft Auto IV, and today I'll leave aside the cheats and cars, because I want to tell you about the major features of the game, and highlight those reasons that make Grand Theft Auto IV a "must play" game, but before anything else, I must add that despite the fact I only played Vice City for a few hours, I will surely spend a lot of time with GTA 4 when I'll get my hands on it...

GTA 4 Multiplayer

This time, your character comes from Europe, and that's the first reason for me to feel closer to the game. Niko Bellic, an immigrant from Eastern Europe with an ominous past, arrives in the US in the search of the "American dream." Unfortunately for him, things are not as bright as expected, so instead of having a peaceful life on American soil, he gets back to doing "dirty" jobs that he thought now will be able to leave behind.

The best part about Grand Theft Auto IV is that, while GTA: Vice City and GTA: San Andreas had the same graphics engine, similar characters and mission style, being parts of the GTA III trilogy, now we're talking about a whole new game. Why? Everyone seems to consider Grand Theft Auto IV a fresh start for the series, and that becomes pretty obvious once you start playing the game, because Grand Theft Auto IV is heavily focused on realism and storytelling, and since I mentioned "realism..."

GTA 4 Pedestrians

...think about pedestrians that don't simply walk around, but smoke cigarettes, read books and newspapers, drop litter, talk on mobile phones, walk in and out of buildings, acting like any normal real-world pedestrian. The story is less linear, and you have plenty of choices to choose from.

Arriving to the technological part of the game, it's enough to say that the RAGE game engine takes weather effects a few step further, also bringing more varied textures, model pixel shaders, while characters can hang on to the back of vehicles, and those falling down are more than lifeless ragdolls.

GTA 4 Cars

At last, I must tell you something about the official soundtrack of the game. As a side note, you should know that the Grand Theft Auto IV special edition also includes the soundtrack, and while some of those names are completely new to me, here you have the most notorious artists and songs I spotted: "Take The 'A' Train" - Duke Ellington, "Move" - Miles Davis, "April In Paris" - Count Basie, "Injustice System" - Sick Of It All, "Victim In Pain" - Agnostic Front, "1979" - The Smashing Pumpkins, "Heaven And Hell" - Black Sabbath, "Jailbreak" - Thin Lizzy, "One Vision" - Queen, "Where's My Money" - Busta Rhymes, "Dirty New Yorker" - Mobb Deep featuring Havoc & Prodigy from H.N.I.C Part 2 Sessions, "So Much Trouble In The World" - Bob Marley & The Wailers, "Bump N' Grind" - R. Kelly, "It's Only Love Doing Its Thing" - Barry White, and many others, since Liberty City has 18 radio stations, most of them having at least 10 tracks, and going as high as 22, for the LRR 97.8 LIBERTY ROCK RADIO "Hosted by DJ Iggy Pop."

Do I have to say more? I love this game already, and I hate my geek friend more and more for playing it all day long, but don't worry - I'll go visit him one of these days, and apart from playing GTA 4 myself a few minutes, I'll get some new car information from him, I am sure he does more than just playing with that game...