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The American Dream is sometimes a Nightmare
Niko Bellic found that out first hand in Grand Theft Auto IV. His cousin Roman promised him fast cars, hot women, and mansions. What he got was a single bedroom apartment, strippers, and bullet wounds. Not quite the American dream he was hoping for. It would make anyone disillusioned. But really though, that was only part of the reason he came to Liberty City. Niko was also looking for someone, and to make amends for something that happened in his past.
Niko was likable as a main character, and was by far my favorite of the GTA main characters. His cousin Roman was also quite amusing. He was always getting himself in trouble so Niko can come in and bail him out. That part never actually got old. It didn't happen too many times, and every time it did it was always amusing. However, I do feel that the game did kinda drag on a little bit too long. It could have easily wrapped up about two hours or so before it actually did. The ending was rather satisfying, if a bit sad. There are actually two endings; I only got one and watched the other on Youtube. Both are somewhat sad.
There is also a bit of a social aspect to the game. Throughout the game people who Niko works with might become his friend, and every so often he might get a call asking if he wants to take a break from busting heads to go bowling, or grab a bit to eat. While it is kind of a neat addition, I rarely found myself doing this. I was more concerned with just doing the missions or causing mayhem.
With that being said, let’s get down to the part everyone actually cares about with Grand Theft Auto: stealing and killing. As with every other GTA game, you're pretty much free to do your own thing. Sure, there are missions and a story, but if you're anything like me you'll spend most of your time just driving around doing stunts, or performing random acts of violence.
Combat was improved slightly from the last GTA. It has a better target lock-on system, and also the ability to dive behind cover with the press of a button. This is a nice addition, as it really helps in intense firefights. As for the new lock-on system, it's controlled with the left trigger; press it down for lock-on, and press it slightly for free aim. Then press the right trigger at whatever it is you want to die. It’s just that simple.
Liberty City looks absolutely gorgeous. Everything from the grimiest slum to the tallest skyscraper is a sight to behold. The character models aren't as pretty as the backgrounds, but it’s always been like that. It's not to say that the character models are ugly, they just don't look quite as good as the scenery.
The audio aspect is quite good too. Just as Liberty City looks and feels like an actual city, it sounds like one as well. Your usual mix of people talking, cars honking…you know, city ambiance. The voice work was also well done. There were also quite a few good songs for the radio stations that you find in all vehicles, though most of the time I just listened to the talk radio stations, as some of their programs were really funny.
I put around 30 hours into this game. There was a lot to do, though I can't say how many of those hours were spent just playing around and not doing missions. I have that trouble in open world games. The more stuff they give me to do, the more time I spend not doing anything at all. Well, guess it just matters if those hours were fun, and they were. For the three people who haven't actually played this game I suggest you get out there now and get a copy of it.
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System: |
Xbox 360
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| Genre: |
3rd-Person Action
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| Experience: |
Spent around 30+ hours with game and finished with the “revenge” ending. |
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