After returning from Iceland [1] last week, I've had some time to catch up on Grand Theft Auto IV lately. After this weekend I managed to make to the 25% mark at around eleven hours of play time. So, first impressions? Like everyone else, I'm enjoying the improved graphics and engine. The visuals in GTA IV allows for a more immersive game, there are many more little details in this game that Rockstar couldn't do in Vice City and San Andreas. The whole idea of the GTA series is that you are given an open world and you're more-or-less able to choose your own path. If you only have a few minutes to play, you can jack a car and go kill hookers. If you like Scarface [2] and have more time on your hands, you can do the missions and experience the full game. Both aspects are fun in their own right.
Revolution or Evolution?
Everyone that I've talked to about GTA IV has enjoyed the game. I haven't heard anyone say they were disappointed with their purchase. Most reviews of GTA IV range from saying it's the best game in the series to it being the best game ever. I'd say, at this point, it's technically the best game in the series. As far as the story goes, I've enjoyed it but I'm not sure the setting and characters are as fun to me as Vice City. San Andreas was enjoyable but less so than GTA IV, it felt more like a game that was made to prove a point about how large you can make a Playstation 2 game. GTA IV is definitely an evolution of the series. This is in no way a revolutionary game. Anyone who has played a Grand Theft Auto game in the past will be able to sit down and be pretty proficient within a few minutes. Not only with the controls, but the map, menu, physics, mini games and everything in between. That isn't necessarily a bad thing. It's nice being able to pick up an Xbox 360 controller and play GTA IV easily for the first time ever after only having played the series on a Playstation before.
Liberty City vs Vice City vs San Andreas
The setting for GTA IV is most similar to Vice City only because San Andreas had so much open space for forrests, deserts and mountains. Thus far, I've only seen urban areas in GTA IV and I've heard that the entire game takes place within the city itself. I don't have any complaints here after playing San Andreas, I didn't really enjoy having to get on the interstate and go through the countryside between cities. Hopefully this won't lessen the diversity of missions.
Dating? Really?
Yup, there is a dating mechanic in GTA IV. This was also in San Andreas but not nearly as fleshed out. At the macro level, all of your contacts are interacted with in the same 'dating' manner. Which is to say, a buddy will call you up randomly and see if you want to go to a bar or bowling or whatever. There are quite a few different activities, all of which are basically just minigames with minor consequences. Doing crap with people will make them more friendly toward you. After a certain point, these friends will give you access to their special function such as discount guns delivered to your location or taxi service.
The majority of communication in this game is done via a cell phone which you get at the beginning of the game. The phone will save appointments for you and you can use the phone book function to dial up mission givers and store cheats, which beats the shit out of having to enter R1, R2, L1 , X, Left , Down, Right, Up, Left, Down, Right, Up in the middle of a heated shoot out.
So it's a pretty good game...
There is a lot to like about GTA IV. After 10+ hours there is still a bit I'd like to see later on. I'm hoping you can buy additional safe houses at some point. So far, I've been tied to a single save point and with the bulk of the map unlocked, it can take quite a while to get back and save the game if you need to quit in a hurry. I like the TV concept but it seems like there are only three actual channels and whenever I bother to turn it on, it's the same crap: I'm Rich $, Men's Room and The Serrated Edge. I'm not too fond of the radio stations either... Vice City had the best music of course, but San Andreas wasn't that bad. GTA IV has a ton of crap I'll never listen to but there is a Dio song on the Liberty City Rock station. Heaven and Hell to be specific.
I really appreciate the lack of street racing in this iteration of GTA. I always hated being forced to do street races in the other games, which is odd because I really like racing games in general. I'm not sure what it is about GTA's racing mechanic but it just doesn't work for me.
Those are my main points of contention thus far. Nothing major, but I am ONLY 10 or 11 hours into it...