Grand Theft Auto IV (GTA IV Dated April 29th)

[FAMOUS]

http://www.rockstargames.com/IV/

[Slate]

What is this? Is it a Timer counting down until the trailer comes out?

[cyberfluxor]

That's what it'd appear to be. Very interesting to see what the hell they're doing because I can't stand the same GTA3 engine and crap. I hear they're doing the top-down 2D or 3D perspective interface option. (This comming from a GTA 1 & 2 fan)

[PallarAndersVisa]

yeah, I'm expecting something big. But I really don't like this franchise. Once I got tired of doing the missions, I found the game to be a half assed driving game, half assed shooter, half assed action game with half assed controls and a half assed camera.

[Richter Belmount]

3 years? Ah damn it

[scooterb23]

3 years? Ah damn it


/me suggests going back and counting the numbers again.


That looks like 3 days to me :D

I hope it is something special. III kind of soured me on the GTA series.

[Neil Koch]

Well it should look nice at least since they're using the graphics engine from the Table Tennis game.

And supposedly, it will not take place in the current GTA "universe".

[FAMOUS]

I really hope it just blows every other GTA out the water! I really want to explore EVERYTHING go ANYWHERE! I cant even imagine what achievements there going to have, I have high expectations for this game and i hope this damn trailer isnt a 20sec teaser, i wanna see lots of gameplay! Oh well 3 days ehhhhh

[ShenmueFan]

yeah, I'm expecting something big. But I really don't like this franchise. Once I got tired of doing the missions, I found the game to be a half assed driving game, half assed shooter, half assed action game with half assed controls and a half assed camera.

I was one of the people initially impressed by GTA III but, like you said, once you did *some* of the missions and realized the controls were spotty when you needed them accurate, along with the camera actin' funky and other things like that, usually players just ran around and killed pedestrians and picked up hookers. And lordy, that didn't get old fast, did it? :roll:

[djsquarewave]

I still put San Andreas in and screw around for a while once or twice a week. The bike jump glitch in particular is a ton of fun once you get it down.

Hell, half the fun of these games stems from how poorly-made they really are.

Here's hoping for one of the following in the upcoming game:
a. Character customization -- you get to pick the race, sex, physical appearance etc of your character ala your average MMO.
b. Return of the silent protagonist. Probably goes hand-in-hand with the first one...
c. Takes place in the prohibition era with missions like rum running and radio stations that play campy getaway music.

My bet's on none of these!

[AMG]

I can't wait to see this trailer.

[Nebagram]

b. Return of the silent protagonist. Probably goes hand-in-hand with the first one...


Urgh, god no. Part of the appeal of the GTAs for me was that you were actually playing as a character, rather than a faceless, personality-less goon like Claude from 3.

[heybtbm]

Playing Crackdown recently has reinvigorated my interest in the "sandbox" genre. I'm really looking forward to what Rockstar has in mind for this release.

My only wish is that they abandon the "gangsta" shit. Gunning down cops and killing civilians is just plain pathetic and most of all...not fun.

[Nebagram]

Playing Crackdown recently has reinvigorated my interest in the "sandbox" genre. I'm really looking forward to what Rockstar has in mind for this release.

My only wish is that they abandon the "gangsta" shit. Gunning down cops and killing civilians is just plain pathetic and most of all...not fun.

Couldn't agree more. You sound like someone who wasn't hugely enamoured with Saints Row, perhaps?

If they don't want to abandon the gangland mentality, they could at least recontextualise it. There's a rumour GTA IV could be GTA London, only in hi-def... GTA+Ronnie+Reggie? Tell me that's not a winner. :)

[cyberfluxor]

Here's hoping for one of the following in the upcoming game:
a. Character customization -- you get to pick the race, sex, physical appearance etc of your character ala your average MMO.

That was just making me think, what if it were a MMORPG. Toss it onto an online server and have everyone interacting and joining online gangs. I can see the media backlash on that.

[agbulls]

That was just making me think, what if it were a MMORPG. Toss it onto an online server and have everyone interacting and joining online gangs. I can see the media backlash on that.

That's an interesting thought. And if there is one thing we know about Take Two and GTA specifically, it's that they love the media hate. It's free advertising. Even their board and corporate issues are getting publicity nowadays. They just can't seem to get any good PR. I wonder why? ;)

Whatever this winds up being, I fully expect it to be huge. Here's hoping it is not GTA London.

[LiquidPolicenaut]

Here's hoping for one of the following in the upcoming game:
a. Character customization -- you get to pick the race, sex, physical appearance etc of your character ala your average MMO.


I really hope they dont do this. I just don't like the whole self- cusotmization character. Not like in San Andreas mind you, but like Saints Row. I always liked playing a specific character who has a universal name and identity, no matter who owns the game. What I DO hope they fix is the horrible flying controls from San Andreas. Those were just ridiculous. Almost made me stop playing the game for good....

[64Bits]

On Friday or Saturday night, I wasn't sleeping very well, and was flipping through the channels at 2 in the morning. On cable tv (channel 36, FX) they had that same exact GTA IV counter on. I have no idea why it was on there, or how long it stayed on, but whatever. I haven't bothered with GTA since III/Vice City. We'll see what this one has to offer.

[Slate]

My only wish is that they abandon the "gangsta" shit. Gunning down cops and killing civilians is just plain pathetic and most of all...not fun.

Oh, Come on.. Running around with night vision goggles on, A chainsaw in hand, Walking into pizza hut without people caring about what you're doing... What more could you ask for? LOL

[jcalder8]

Personally I hope that they make the city half or a quarter the size of Saint's Row but make it fully interactive. I'm sick of seeing buildings with doors that you can't open, I mean they might as well be blank boxes. If I want to go into someone's apartment and rob them I should be able to. Also how about being able to shoot out some windows on these buildings.

[Nature Boy]

I loved GTA III, didn't care much for Vice City, and loved San Andreas (although I agree with the previous comment about the flight controls - they weren't exactly simple).

I'd love IV if it takes SA to the next level (like how I feel SA took III/Vice City to the next level). I don't know what that would mean, though the MMO idea above aren't a bad start.

[BHvrd]

Hope it lives up to what people are expecting and then some.

Only multiplayer, plus 4 player splitscreen....pleeeeeeeeeeeeease!!!!!!!

[Frica89]

I'm pretty exited about this, especially hoping they add some sort of decent multiplayer.

[FAMOUS]

almost............"bump"

[FAMOUS]

5 hours to go!

[heybtbm]

5 hours to go!

I'm pretty excited for this...especially considering that we haven't seen 1 screenshot or bit of game art yet (except Peter Moore's fugly tattoo, I guess).

[jajaja]

I wonder if the site will go down due to the massive bandwith use hehe. Hopefully they have lots of mirror sites =)

[Drag0nsfyre]

ha! ha! I was just thinking the same thing.

I wonder if the site will go down due to the massive bandwith use hehe. Hopefully they have lots of mirror sites =)

[FAMOUS]

that would suck..lol

[Neil Koch]

I'm sure it'll be on Youtube about 5 minutes after its' release, so I wouldn't worry too much.

[agbulls]

This had better be one amazing trailer. I wonder how this trailer is going to affect the hostile take-over at Take Two.

My prediction? Modern America and absolute 100% interactivity with all objects you encounter. Let me walk in every door I see dammit!

[agbulls]

30 minutes to go baby!!!!!!

[hezeuschrist]

10 minutes.

I wonder how it'll stack up to Crackdown, if at all. It's got big boots to fill for me to entice me to want to play a sandbox game without being able to climb buildings and leap massive distances.

[Nesmaster]

10 minutes.

I wonder how it'll stack up to Crackdown, if at all. It's got big boots to fill for me to entice me to want to play a sandbox game without being able to climb buildings and leap massive distances.

+1

I had so much fun with Crackdown, GTA4 better blow me away.

[agbulls]

30 seconds!!!!!!! :D

[Leo_A]

"My prediction? Modern America and absolute 100% interactivity with all objects you encounter."

Doesn't even sound possible to me. So if there was a flower box on a window on a house in the game, you're expecting to be able to walk over to it, rip it off the house, pick the flowers, and throw the dirt out?

[Anthony1]

WOW, Amazing trailer, lol!

[agbulls]

just have a black loading screen---anyone else?

[jajaja]

Site is already timing out lol. No suprise there tho ;)

[Ponyone]

April Fools!

[Anthony1]

just have a black loading screen---anyone else?

Damn, you missed it, it was awesome!!! Couldn't believe they decided to set it Brazil in 1955

[Nesmaster]

Dead. Fail. Game Over.

GRATE TRAYLIR R*!!!1!

[agbulls]

Damn, you missed it, it was awesome!!! Couldn't believe they decided to set it Brazil in 1955

wow. that was excellent

[cyberfluxor]

Site isn't loading. :( :( :(

[jajaja]

www.gamtrailers.com also got it up now, but its also damn slow/timing out :(

[Anthony1]

My first impression:


I need to see more of this game to really give it a fair assesment. If I'm only going to judge it based on what I've seen in this trailer, then I would have to say that I'm pretty dissapointed. My expectations were certainly off the charts, but I must say that it just appears to be a graphical upgrade on a normal type of GTA game. So, it's a story about a Russian dude going to Liberty City. Hmm. I wonder what made them decide to do a game about a Russian dude? I guess the main character doesn't really matter all that much, but I'm thinking the storyline is going to be one of the weakest parts of this game.

Again, this is just stream of conciousness, first impressions off a few seconds of trailer footage that doesn't really show any of the actual gameplay.

[JustRob]

daaaaaamn...time out city.

[cyberfluxor]

True that. Gametrailers.com just gave me an overloading usage error. :p

zomigodz!!!1 GTA4 lags the internets!

[djsquarewave]

My bet's on none of these!
Oh hey I was right! Yay!

That said, it looks pretty nice to me. Not the earth-shattering ground-breaking reinvention some people seem to have been hoping for, but...nice, all the same. Looks like we'll probably see a full-scale replica of NYC, and I for one like the new (presumably playable) character.

Hopefully we'll get some more details in the coming weeks, gameplay shots, maybe word on if they're rebuilding the actual game engine. They're using a new graphics engine so it's entirely possible -- not like there's only one way to build an interactive city. Though...I wouldn't put it past them for it being just another tweak on top of the GTA3 engine. Which would put this squarely on the Sonic The Hedgehog fast track to mediocrity.

[Anthony1]

I'm suprised we don't have like already 20 something impressions of this trailer so far. Hasn't everybody seen this by now?

[heybtbm]

Facts:

Protagonist: Russian immigrant (who's "killed, smuggled and sold" people)
Setting: Modern day Liberty City (NYC)

Looks pretty cool. The official word (via IGN) is that everything is in real-time using the in-game graphics engine. If that's true...wow. I love Crackdown, but there is no comparison graphics-wise. I guess we'll find out if it's going to look this good for sure in the next few months.

[hezeuschrist]

what happens next month?

[heybtbm]

what happens next month?

Nothing specific. I just meant we'll probably get more info, screen-shots, etc. I'll change the phrasing.

[jajaja]

I just saw it. The trailer looks nice, great gfx. But damn, i expected more than this, especially since i waited many weeks for it. They list it as a trailer, but imo its more like a teaser. Not even 1 sec of in-game gameplay and all looks so dark (i know its at dawn/night, but i would like to see another time of the day also). No demonstration of the Euphoria physics engine either :( I read somewhere that they promisted more than a teaser, will more stuff come real soon?


For people who cant stream from gta4.com, try this site:

http://www.gamershell.com/news/37479.html

Alot of fast mirrors there, atleast for Europe :)

[scooterb23]

Man, I was hoping at least for a little something, one gunshot, a touch of driving...one hooker in the backseat scene.

So far all I know is they can make NYC look shiny.

[cyberfluxor]

Thanks jajaja! I got into a mirror in Russia and it's downloading now. I guess it'll take another 8 minutes before I see it.

[jajaja]

Thanks jajaja! I got into a mirror in Russia and it's downloading now. I guess it'll take another 8 minutes before I see it.

No problem :)

[Drag0nsfyre]

I wish they would have shown some in game footage. :(
and speaking of Crackdown I sure the hell hope they make a 2nd!

[agbulls]

I just walked in the door from work and saw the trailer from the official site. My first impression? Look at the quality of the entire city. Everything looks to be textured up to the highest quality.

Anthony, what would make your initial impression be that the story would be lousy? If anything, I think its a really welcome concept. Play as an immigrant in an American city. Not to mention, the Russians in general are some of the baddest mother fuckers on this planet. I'm thinking you're going to work your way up maybe in a Russian gang in Liberty City?

Its impossible to say if this is going to play like the other GTAs. Of course the expected things are going to be there. But, considering the quality of the intial visuals (watch this on HD if you doubt it) and HUGE investment Take Two has put on this game's success, I'm expecting some big gameplay improvements too.

There is only one thing I don't understand. Considering the trailer had no violence, no sex and no language---why have the age requirement to view it? I guess it's no secret it'll be rated M...a very hard M. :evil laugh: :evil laugh:

[jcalder8]

Yawn, maybe the next one will actually show something exciting and GTA like.

[Vinnysdad]

I thought it looked good. Its a huge leap over San Andreas in the way the graphics look. The trailer really didnt show any gameplay though.

[ShenmueFan]

City looks nice...

But...


Awwwww, forget it. There's plenty of time for my GTA rants... :)

[FAMOUS]

dont doubt just yet, lets wait for a week or two till some screen shots or a better trailer comes out... i liked it

[diskoboy]

Best trailer since Gears of War.

My 2 cents....

So is the protaginist supposed to be Russian or Middle Eastern? He sounds like the Russian general from '24'.

[cyberfluxor]

It wasn't anything revealing other than a completely new graphics engine, which really looks promissing and is a large leap from the recently released games. We'll be seeing more content being shown in later teasers.

[kainemaxwell]

The GTA series should jump to the future, like GTA IV: 2199, or something.

[djsquarewave]

The GTA series should jump to the future, like GTA IV: 2199, or something.
...don't the first two games take place in the "near future" anyway?

Besides, that would just be a cheap cop-out. GTA isn't about aliens and robots and spaceships and lazerbeamz. Let GTA keep its identity, and let's have a new franchise if it is to expand into sci-fi realms.

Spacejackers!

...Rum Runners?

[AMG]

The game looks good, great graphics for a game this size.

I can't wait to get more details about the story and some action in future trailers.

[Lothars]

Looks alright, I don't know what else to think about it but I will wait and see...

though I am excited for GTA IV anyway, the trailer was meh at best.

[cityside75]

Let me be the first to say that it's homage to the Chronos/Baraka style of cinematography makes me love it so much more. The fact that they can convincingly create that look with in-game graphics is amazing to me.

[gepeto]

I tell you I think they took the seedest aspect of just about every culture. What culture is left? looks great

[le geek]

I liked the trailer a lot. I like the idea that the game may be more dramatic and less scenery chewing satire. But I got bored with San Andreas and actually prefer the Getaway so YMMV...

Cheers,
Ben

[Neil Koch]

[QUOTE=agbulls;1156935]Anthony, what would make your initial impression be that the story would be lousy? If anything, I think its a really welcome concept. Play as an immigrant in an American city. Not to mention, the Russians in general are some of the baddest mother fuckers on this planet. I'm thinking you're going to work your way up maybe in a Russian gang in Liberty City?
[QUOTE]

If the game is to take place after GTAIII timeline-wise, then it would make perfect sense for the Russian Mafia to be moving in.

The leaders of the three major gangs (Mafia, Yakuza and Columbians) are dead, and the other gangs like the Diablos aren't really all that powerful, which would make Liberty City prime real estate for the Russians.

I'd like to see things changed with the usual formula, though - instead of some nobody, have the main character be a major player in a gang already, and have the game be more of playing off of the other gangs, police, politicians, etc. (kind of like Mercenaries, but more in-depth).

[Kovacs]

GTA IV is the big story for next months Game Informer, so hopefully that'll have some surprises in it and will make up for the underwhelming first showing of the game.

Click for the cover. (http://www.gameinformer.com/NR/rdonlyres/EB74A936-8CE8-44E9-846E-ABE766AA1BE6/12021/cover_ed.jpg)

[agbulls]

GTA IV is the big story for next months Game Informer, so hopefully that'll have some surprises in it and will make up for the underwhelming first showing of the game.

Click for the cover. (http://www.gameinformer.com/NR/rdonlyres/EB74A936-8CE8-44E9-846E-ABE766AA1BE6/12021/cover_ed.jpg)

Interesting. Great great find. Our main character looks much younger in that picture than he does in the initial trailer. Maybe he was much older in the trailer...and that quote is from the end of the game?

Either way, this pretty much confirms our main character is a Russian bad ass. :vamp:

[Neil Koch]

The GTA character art often doesn't match the actual character models, so I wouldn't read much into it.

[agbulls]

Actual update from Game Informer:

The latest news from good ol' GI is actually some really good stuff. And by stuff I mean junk. OK, here are the details on Grand Theft Auto IV that have been revealed:

* The protagonist's name is Niko Bellic, which we believe is Croatian or Serbian.
* Multiplayer is set to be announced.
* You can use a cellphone to call your contacts.
* Apparently there are no planes because there is only one city in the game.
* You have a lot of choice over what you want to do. You still have to take orders from people during missions, but you can also choose how you want to spend your time, e.g "I want to hang out with him, or her... I want to go see this guy 'cause he always has something to do..."
* The story unfolds in a number of different ways. R* is giving people more freedom, more choice and more sense of control over their destiny - the structure of the storyline is quite different to previous games.
* The demo which Game Informer played was for the Xbox 360 version of the game.

[Anthony1]

Actual update from Game Informer:

* The demo which Game Informer played was for the Xbox 360 version of the game.


can you say...... lead sku?

[djsquarewave]

can you say...... lead sku?
SKOOOOOO~ (http://www.insertcredit.com/archives/001670.html)

*cough*

Some of these bullet points are rather curious. What will a (presumably) nonlinear story do to those people who want to 100% everything?

...and what the heck does "multiplayer is set to be announced" mean? That they said it's there but they disavow its existence even though they said it's there? Or it's not implemented and the rep said it'll be going in but not to say anything?

Some of these things make me far more worried for the future of this game as something I'd actually want to, you know, buy.

[Neil Koch]

I haven't gotten my GI yet, but I read in another forum that only the 360 will have downloadable content.

Also, as to why multiplayer hasn't been confirmed yet - apparently the map will be as big as San Andreas, but just one city. Anyone who's played the multiplayer stuff on LCS or VCS know what a pain it can be to find your opponents, and those cities are going to be like 1/10th the size of this new one.

[ShenmueFan]

SKOOOOOO~ (http://www.insertcredit.com/archives/001670.html)

*cough*

Some of these bullet points are rather curious. What will a (presumably) nonlinear story do to those people who want to 100% everything?

...and what the heck does "multiplayer is set to be announced" mean? That they said it's there but they disavow its existence even though they said it's there? Or it's not implemented and the rep said it'll be going in but not to say anything?

Some of these things make me far more worried for the future of this game as something I'd actually want to, you know, buy.



SKUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU........ :puke:

[LiquidPolicenaut]

I haven't gotten my GI yet, but I read in another forum that only the 360 will have downloadable content.

This would make absolutely no sense if they do this. You have the opportunity to entice people to buy the game and have more downloadable content afterwards. Why alienate the PS3 users? I understand if they did different downloadable content for both systems, but NOTHING for the PS3? Hmmmmm

[GrandAmChandler]

Game has been dated April 29th:

http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/01/24/1459256&from=rss

-GAC-

[heybtbm]

I can't wait for this damn game. The excellent gameplay previews that IGN and Gamespot posted yesterday (Jan 23) makes the following 3 months that much more torturous.

[Nesmaster]

The next 3 months are going to be complete torture, but the feeling I get when ripping into a game like this after months of waiting is unmatched by anything other than sex itself. I think the date will stick this time, and with rumors of Mercenaries 2 being delayed AGAIN I want something to do until that comes out.

[heybtbm]

rumors of Mercenaries 2 being delayed AGAIN I want something to do until that comes out.

Mercenaries 2 is now on track for August 25th. It's a blessing in disguise if you think about it. Plently of time to savor each game to its full extent.

[Nesmaster]

Mercenaries 2 is now on track for August 25th. It's a blessing in disguise if you think about it. Plently of time to savor each game to its full extent.

Except Saints Row 2 will probably come out around then, as well. :P

We're just getting too many sandboxes this year.

[heybtbm]

We're just getting too many sandboxes this year.

There's no such thing as "too many" sandboxes. Bring 'em all on.

[Joker T]

I am really looking forward to GTA IV, hope it isn't too glitchy.

And on a side note "sandbox games" seems like a strange term to me, I kinda prefer "free-roaming".

[heybtbm]

And on a side note "sandbox games" seems like a strange term to me, I kinda prefer "free-roaming".

I think most developers and reviewers are calling them "open world" games. "Sandbox" should probably be on its way out.

[Nesmaster]

There's no such thing as "too many" sandboxes. Bring 'em all on.

Perhaps I should have said more than usual. They can give me 50 in a year and I'd probably try them all.

I usually call games like this part of the "open-world genre", I don't know why I said sandbox before. :P

[Streetball 21]

Sweet, cant wait. Hopefully it will be better than GTA San Andreas. I wonder if there will be a collectors edition?

[Nesmaster]

Sweet, cant wait. Hopefully it will be better than GTA San Andreas. I wonder if there will be a collectors edition?

Announced long ago. Includes lockbox and key, keychain, duffle bag and an artbook. Soundtrack too.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v297/Nesmaster/grand-theft-auto-iv-200706261154345.jpg

[Joker T]

The Collectors Edition looks pretty cool to me, better than the Legendary Edition for Halo 3..

The lockbox seems wierd though.

[Nesmaster]

The Collectors Edition looks pretty cool to me, better than the Legendary Edition for Halo 3..

The lockbox seems wierd though.

And considering it's only $20 more than the regular edition, it beats Halo LE in terms of value too.

[Trevelyan]

Just found this link explaining a GTAIV & PS3 bundle pack that plans to be released (In Europe anyhow) :D

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/retail-confirms-playstation-3-gta-iv-bundle.

I'm planning on buying a console for this game, I still don't know what I am going to do. Also, I stumbled across this piece of news...

http://kotaku.com/383455/pirated-ntsc-gta-iv-leaked-online-early

Oo ar me hartys. thar be Fools gold a foot on that ther bay.

[heybtbm]

Has anyone seen the in-game footage? Rockstar has a tight leash on Youtube right now, so that place is pretty much a bust. However, Gametrailers.com had some incredible (off-screen) videos yesterday. This game is going to be legendary. It's the first game I've ever considered waiting in line to pick up at midnight.

The reviews so far are indicating this could be the best video game ever made. I love pre-release hyperbole...then again, from what I've seen so far, it's very possible. It blows my mind that they could make an open world game look this good.

[gepeto]

And considering it's only $20 more than the regular edition, it beats Halo LE in terms of value too.



The price I believe is 89.99 30 more. I still think it looks good well see.
Better than Altair that piece of shiznit.

[GrandAmChandler]

SPOILER VIDEO:

http://www.wegame.com/watch/GTA_IV_real_gameplay_x360_today_not_Saint_Row/

-GAC-

[98PaceCar]

Is the limited edition really going to be limited or will it be another Halo Legendary which is still on the shelves around here?

[digitalpress]

SPOILER VIDEO:

http://www.wegame.com/watch/GTA_IV_real_gameplay_x360_today_not_Saint_Row/

-GAC-

Is that really GTA IV? It doesn't look very good, granted it's taken from an angled television and contains mostly just driving around but the jeep he takes in the beginning is all over the road like he's driving a moon buggy. The framerate looks a little weird at times too. Not what I expected.

[carlcarlson]

I haven't been following this game at all because I've got a ton of 360 games yet to play. I saw a commercial for it the other day though and was pretty disappointed. I was hoping it was for one of the "Stories" games, and not IV because it looked like the exact same thing I've already done numerous times on the PS2. And what's with the main character being some skinny white kid? I thought we were supposed to be playing an immigrant or something? Is this indeed more of the same or did the commercial leave out all of the good stuff?

[Vectorman0]

I haven't been following this game at all because I've got a ton of 360 games yet to play. I saw a commercial for it the other day though and was pretty disappointed. I was hoping it was for one of the "Stories" games, and not IV because it looked like the exact same thing I've already done numerous times on the PS2. And what's with the main character being some skinny white kid? I thought we were supposed to be playing an immigrant or something? Is this indeed more of the same or did the commercial leave out all of the good stuff?

Hear me out on this. That was a Gamestop branded commercial, and I am guessing Gamestop had Rockstar change the main characters appearance for this commercial specifically for their target market.

[Leo_A]

I thought that video looked decent, I didn't see any frame rate issues and I think the weird handling you noticed only happens after his vehicle gets damaged. And he's driving a top heavy vehicle at high speeds, so its not going to be handling very well.

[briskbc]

Video of driving, shooting, missions and police chase.

http://www.wegame.com/watch/GTA_IV_gameplay_april_23_2008_ingame/

[Nesmaster]

Video of driving, shooting, missions and police chase.

http://www.wegame.com/watch/GTA_IV_gameplay_april_23_2008_ingame/

Definitely not GTA IV.

[briskbc]

My bad. Apparently it's Saints Row. I never played it.

[digitalpress]

I thought that video looked decent, I didn't see any frame rate issues and I think the weird handling you noticed only happens after his vehicle gets damaged. And he's driving a top heavy vehicle at high speeds, so its not going to be handling very well.

OH STOP FANBOY!

"A top heavy vehicle"? C'mon. Watch the car before it's damaged. Watch the framerate as it cruises down the street. That's not supposed to happen on a 360 game. I never saw that happen on NFS: MW or Forza or Burnout or even CARS.

[Leo_A]

heh

I'm no fanboy, I don't have this preordered and don't intend to purchase it until its twenty bucks someday, and I doubt I've progressed further than about 20% in any previous GTA (That one being Vice City, I'm barely into any other).

I just plain didn't see the issues you were talking about. I can't go back and check since the video was removed, but I didn't see any frame rate issues (Doesn't mean they're not there, my eyes might be more tolerant of such issues than yours are), and the car handling looked like traditional GTA to me, its always been rather floaty and arcadey.

[Nesmaster]

IGN video review (as well as text review) up, with some NICE in-game footage. They scored it a 10, the first 10 since Ocarina of Time. (EDIT: Soul Calibur in 1999. Wrong is me.)

http://media.xbox360.ign.com/media/827/827005/vids_1.html

...Any IGN insider here at DP want to Rapidshare the HD version of the review? :P

4 MORE DAYS I'M GOING TO DIE.

[digitalpress]

IGN video review (as well as text review) up, with some NICE in-game footage. They scored it a 10, the first 10 since Ocarina of Time. (EDIT: Soul Calibur in 1999. Wrong is me.)

http://media.xbox360.ign.com/media/827/827005/vids_1.html

...Any IGN insider here at DP want to Rapidshare the HD version of the review? :P

4 MORE DAYS I'M GOING TO DIE.

Now THAT looks MUCH better than the previous video link. Alright, I'm excited again. Thanks for sharing!

[Sudo]

Is there a limit to how much you can upload with a free account? The video is about 232MB, I'm willing to do it if there's no size limitation.

[Leo_A]

IGN video review (as well as text review) up, with some NICE in-game footage. They scored it a 10, the first 10 since Ocarina of Time. (EDIT: Soul Calibur in 1999. Wrong is me.)

http://media.xbox360.ign.com/media/827/827005/vids_1.html

...Any IGN insider here at DP want to Rapidshare the HD version of the review? :P

4 MORE DAYS I'M GOING TO DIE.

Been more than that. Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons both got 10's from IGN in 2000. Link's Awakening got a 10 from IGN a couple months after Ocarina launched.

[Nesmaster]

Is there a limit to how much you can upload with a free account? The video is about 232MB, I'm willing to do it if there's no size limitation.

Rapidshare supports 100 mb per file, so you'd have to split it.

http://www.rarlab.com/

If you're still willing. :)

[Sudo]

Rapidshare supports 100 mb per file, so you'd have to split it.

http://www.rarlab.com/

If you're still willing. :)

Yeah, I checked Rapidshare after I made the post and saw. I have it uploaded in three parts, enjoy:

part one (http://rapidshare.com/files/110434569/gta4_review_042508_wmvhd.part1.rar.html)
part two (http://rapidshare.com/files/110441120/gta4_review_042508_wmvhd.part2.rar)
part three (http://rapidshare.com/files/110442292/gta4_review_042508_wmvhd.part3.rar)

[Nesmaster]

Thanks a lot Sudo, I appreciate it! :)

[Joker T]

I am very excited for this game, it looks like a revolutionary game.

A 10/10 from IGN is ridiculously impressive too.

[fuchikoma]

I honestly can't remember the last time I've been so excited about a game.

[heybtbm]

I honestly can't remember the last time I've been so excited about a game.

Exactly what I was thinking.

[jcalder8]

I've got my pre-order in but I wasn't that excited about the game until reading the review last night on IGN. I never kept up with what the game included but after hearing all about it I can't wait to play.

[carlcarlson]

That does look pretty sweet. I'm not as excited as some of you are, but I definitely will own this within a year. The multiplayer should be fun.

[Oobgarm]

First IGN review I've read in a long time.

I need this game, NOW.

[diskoboy]

God dammit - will someone please make it Tuesday, already!! :D

I want that lockbox!

[evil_genius]

So do we think the duffel bag is gonna come in the lockbox or vice versa?

[Nesmaster]

So do we think the duffel bag is gonna come in the lockbox or vice versa?

Everything's in the lockbox.

[SkiDragon]

I haven't really been following this game, and I only recently decided I might get it. So, can the entire game be played multiplayer or just certain modes?

[Nesmaster]

I haven't really been following this game, and I only recently decided I might get it. So, can the entire game be played multiplayer or just certain modes?

There is a co-op mode, but it's not full story co-op. As far as I know there's only the one mode with one mission that can be played as co-op, something to do with escorting the mob boss. Then there's race mode (2), deathmatch, cops n crooks, free roam, team based modes and a few others. All modes have the entirety of Liberty City open to everyone, with loads of toggle options. GTA (single player) is a game that really needs to be experienced by yourself and at your own pace. I'm glad Rockstar thinks the same way. Players itching for full fledged co-op play will have to wait until the last week of august for Saints Row 2 and Mercenaries 2.

NEAR 2 YEARS OF WAITING, AND WE'RE DOWN TO 48 HOURS. WOOHOO!

[CelticJobber]

This game looks like it'll be great, but its already stirring controversy as FoxNews did a feature on it earlier. It was just the usual stuff about how it should be sold behind counters and kids shouldn't have access to it. They also referred to it as "Grand Theft Audio" several times. LOL

The only thing that really concerns me a bit is that I think the soundtrack might be a total disappointment. From the list circulating online, it seems to be the worst GTA soundtrack since GTA Liberty City Stories.

[Sudo]

This game looks like it'll be great, but its already stirring controversy as FoxNews did a feature on it earlier. It was just the usual stuff about how it should be sold behind counters and kids shouldn't have access to it. They also referred to it as "Grand Theft Audio" several times. LOL

The only thing that really concerns me a bit is that I think the soundtrack might be a total disappointment. From the list circulating online, it seems to be the worst GTA soundtrack since GTA Liberty City Stories.

I agree with soundtrack part. If the list on Wikipedia is accurate, then it's an epic failure, IMO. I think I've heard maybe 3 or 4 of the songs on there total, only one of which (Smashing Pumpkins - 1979) I'd care to listen to.

[CelticJobber]

Someone on Gamefaqs posted these scans showing the full soundtrack, it seems like the Wikipedia list is accurate. Unfortunately...

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc162/kev25b/gtamusic1-1.jpg
http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc162/kev25b/gtamusic2.jpg
http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc162/kev25b/gtamusic3.jpg

I haven't even heard of most of the artists.

[dcx516]

ive been playing this game since friday and i have to say it is fucking amazing. Rockstar really out did themselves with this one. The visuals are stunning. I couldnt believe that how much detail they put into the game. The multiplayer is kind of confusing at first but i think people will eventually get used to it.

[heybtbm]

For the last month, I've been preparing for GTA4 by finishing a bunch of games that were almost beat, but not completely. I wanted to buy GTA4 on Tuesday with a "clean gaming slate", so to speak.

Has anyone else been doing this?

[RadiantSvgun]

For the last month, I've been preparing for GTA4 by finishing a bunch of games that were almost beat, but not completely. I wanted to buy GTA4 on Tuesday with a "clean gaming slate", so to speak.

Has anyone else been doing this?

Yeah, but only with stuff like Ninja Gaiden and Assassin's Creed. I need those RPGs to last the summer.

[skaar]

There is nothing wrong with having a ton of "no-name" artists on the soundtrack. There is EVERYTHING wrong with no complete story mode co-op. I've been waiting for this one to play through with my friend and now we get this!?

Weak.

[Nate Nanjo]

So, is the special edition going to be worth it? I'm still debating on getting it or just picking up the regular instead.

Considering, I'd probably never use the extra stuff.

[Nesmaster]

Gametrailers.com now has a TON of HD videos, as well as an HD review. Getting them as we speak.

Gametrailers 9.8/10. :)

[mnbren05]

Tomorrow is going to be a long day and I'll be distracted during my classes counting down the hours. Put my pre-order down at GameStop (since Game Crazy made me wait about 2 hours to get my Halo 3) and I plan to play the game for a good few hours. Thankfully I have no classes Tuesday, geeze they had to make the launch a week before finals grrrr. Oh well I'm still eagerly anticipating the launch.

[diskoboy]

Gametrailers is the lowest score I've seen, thus far.

It seems to be getting perfect 10's across the board.

http://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/27/metareview-grand-theft-auto-iv-xbox-360-ps3/

[Nesmaster]

http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/xbox360/grandtheftauto4

Perfect thus far. I doubt it'll stay at 100, but I have a feeling it'll top The Orange Box and BioShock. (both at 96)

Less than 27 hours until I hope to get my copy. If not at midnight, 7:30 AM Tuesday. ~34 1/2 hours.

[exit]

Well I had completely no interest in this game, but a friend convinced me to get it and I'll probably pick it up tomorrow. It's really the multi-player that I'm interested it, but if they can bring back the magic GTA3 and Vice City had, I'll be happy with it.

Since we have very few copies for the PS3, especially compared to how many we got for the 360, I'll either drop my work around 11 to score a copy, or just simply stash one behind the games nobody will ever touch. Really the only advantage of working in retail and in electronics.

Also what's the complaint about the soundtrack? From what I remember GTA3 didn't have well known artists on it at all, that really didn't happen until Vic City when they had an all 80s soundtrack. I honestly would rather have some fake bands made for the game, or just some unknowns, since that's really what helped set the atmosphere for GTA3.

[Drag0nsfyre]

Team Xbox (http://reviews.teamxbox.com/xbox-360/1501/Grand-Theft-Auto-IV/p1/) posted It's review as well. with a 10 :) :cool:

OOps Just seen that posted on the metacritic link.

[segagamer4life]

man this game is going to be sweet, I am excited for both the single player and multiplayer modes of this game... see you all online. :-)

[diskoboy]

13 hours to go.

*sigh*

[mnbren05]

About 7 and a half left, the waiting is killing me. On a side note, a guy a know from college claims he got a copy early and is playing it on his 360. He isn't worried about reprecussions as his account was already banned for achievement cheats. Not sure I believe him, but these last few hours are taking forever.

[Nesmaster]

Just over 8 hours if I can get it at midnight, otherwise it's 15 1/2. I can't believe how SLOW today is going, sheesh.

[segagamer4life]

yeah today was dragging at work, but I sadly will be getting this tomorrow and have to wait until tomorrow after work.. :-(

[zemmix]

I have a feeling that the rest of this week will be pretty dead on my Warcraft server.

[diskoboy]

4 hours and 15 minutes left.

I'm getting giddy, already.

Theres not even gonna be an XBLA release, this week, because of this game. Knowing my luck, I'll bring it home, and my 360 will red ring, right when I fire it up.

[zemmix]

Twas the night before GTA IV and all through the dorm,
not a student could sleep, anticipating the following morn.

With their laptops a'glow they laid awake in their beds,
while visions of ghostriding motorcycles danced in their heads.

All papers were turned in weeks before due,
and all absences saved for this gaming debut.

The hallways were empty, the RAs were gone,
they camped out at Best Buy 'til it opened at dawn.
So I stared out my window and gazed at the stars,
dreaming of beating pedestrians and stealing cop-cars.

---------------------

Not mine but I thought it was pretty good.

[Nesmaster]

bought another Special Edition, just so I can get it at midnight. Waiting for Tuesday 7:30 AM would NOT bode well.

[Kejoriv]

Gonna pick this up on Friday after my finals. Because if I got it at midnight, finals would not go well.

[Nesmaster]

Gonna pick this up on Friday after my finals. Because if I got it at midnight, finals would not go well.

More control than I'd have in that situation. :)

Just over 4 hours..

[exit]

Well just got back from picking my copy up and now it's installing. I'll probably only play for a few minutes and then goto sleep, got work early tomorrow. For those who went, how was the outcome? My store had a small little line in it, but it's expected since we're usually the last place people check. One guy was talking about how his friend was waiting at Gamestop since 8pm and he was probably waiting at the counter for an hour.

This is really the only midnight release I've ever waited for and if my store wasn't right around the corner from me, I probably wouldn't have even bothered.

[gepeto]

I just got back from the store I picked up the collectors edition. I will open it tomorrow morning. I will say the box feels heavier than I expected. I hope that is an indication of good things.

I will give my impressions tomorrow morning.

[diskoboy]

This game is EPIC. I've already gotten in a few games of Bowling.

[Nesmaster]

All I can say after about 3 hours of play, is that I can not wait to put more time into the game. Impressive physics, lighting, and voice acting so far. Little more pop-in than I had hoped for, but not really bothersome unless you are looking for it. Might jump online when I wake up tomorrow (or later today....). :)

[slip81]

man I want this game. Any advise as to weather I should get the 360 or PS3 version? I don't have either system, but was going to pick up one in June when I got my free government money.

Or are both versions pretty much the same, not considering the DL content?

[DigitalSpace]

For those who went, how was the outcome?

I didn't buy the game, but I went to GameCrazy and hung out with a friend who had a preorder there. They let everyone hang out in the store and it was pretty packed (note that the GC I was at wasn't your typical "fenced off in a corner of Hollywood Video" kind of store, and though it was attached to an HV, it was larger - the size of your typical mall retail space), but it wasn't too long before my friend's number was called up and she got her copy (a 360 special edition), a faceplate, and a strategy guide.

[Oobgarm]

man I want this game. Any advise as to weather I should get the 360 or PS3 version? I don't have either system, but was going to pick up one in June when I got my free government money.

Or are both versions pretty much the same, not considering the DL content?

If you're not interested in DLC, the PS3 version is a bit sharper and has less pop-in from what I've read.

...but if you don't have either machine, the 360 is the way to go.

[Dangerboy]

From behind the counter;

Despite the weather going to crap, we did pretty well. Had about 80+ people, all rung up and out in 30 minutes. I was the bouncer / line organizer, and from the door I looked in and saw all three co-workers frozen for a second.

Turned out a customer was there to pick up his Major League 2K8 pre-order.

Seriously.

At Midnight...two weeks too late.

Good times.

On an unrelated note, Kotaku's Maryland GS midnight opening story featured the GS I used to frequent all the time when I live in MD back in 1999/2000. Good times.

[Sudo]

So apparently, according to Kotaku (http://kotaku.com/385046/buy-gta-iv-get-xbox-live-free-for-a-month), every copy of GTA IV comes with a free month of Xbox Live Gold. Mine didn't for some reason, though. I don't have a Gold account, so it would've been nice if I could avoid paying for a month.

[Vectorman0]

The picture kotaku has is of a card from another country (Asia maybe?). I'm guessing this promotion doesn't include the US.

[gepeto]

So apparently, according to Kotaku (http://kotaku.com/385046/buy-gta-iv-get-xbox-live-free-for-a-month), every copy of GTA IV comes with a free month of Xbox Live Gold. Mine didn't for some reason, though. I don't have a Gold account, so it would've been nice if I could avoid paying for a month.

My collectors edition came with a 1 month gold card

[heybtbm]

I picked up my copy (regular 360 version) this morning before work. Now the game is sitting here on my desk and I can't concentrate on anything. Most of the people on my friends list have been playing this since last night. This is torture.

[mnbren05]

I believe only the US release special edition came with the one month trial as, I did no receive a trial card either. Other than that went to the GameStop release (after my nightmare at Game Crazy for Halo3 and SSBB) and probably about sixty kids there. They were checking ID's at the entrance, turns out I was the fourth oldest person in the store (90% of the kids were the 14-18 year old crowd). So I got to listen to their mindless chatter about it would be so cool if you could upload your fuckin WoW character into GTA and then fuckin destroy stuff.

Anyway, they released right at mindnight and everyone was out of the store in 14 minutes. I got my copy and was at my car by 12:04. Played for three hours when I got home, loads of fun. I'm not loving driving as much as I thought I would and finding buildings to go inside is ridiculously difficult. Other than that amazing.

[Cinder6]

If you're not interested in DLC, the PS3 version is a bit sharper and has less pop-in from what I've read.

...but if you don't have either machine, the 360 is the way to go.

The PS3 has free online services as well. If you're not into paying for Live, that's another plus (and what just sold me, heh).

[Vectorman0]

I just picked up the normal 360 copy, and I got the free month card.

[xtremegamer]

My collectors edition did come with the 1 month trial. Can't wait to play this tonight.

[mailman187666]

a bought the PS3 version and its sitting in my truck right now, waiting for me to drive home to start playing. How the hell am I supposed to sit here for another 2 hours until I can even go home. So how is it in comparison to the other GTAs (3 and up). I just want to see how much different/better it is now than before. I guess I'll find out in a couple hours though.

[spoon]

My girlfriend picked up my Special Edition last night. It came with a free month trial for Live.

Gina showed up at 12 to pick up my copy. Didn't want to wait in line cause she was the only girl there, but she did anyway. When they came around they said "Oh you are here to pick up for Ricardo." They let her cut through the line and get her copy and go. I used to work there. Told her I was a nerd VIP and I "knew" people. That's sad.

Anyhow, after working a ten hour shift from 4:30 pm to 2:30 am, I stayed up and played the game for nine hours until noon. Although work is gonna be hell, it was worth it. probably do it again tonight.

I am almost fifteen percent complete with the game. Below are a list of things I like and don't like

Like

Special Edition Packaging- Box, although over sized, is very nice looking and even the normal packaging has a nice look to it with it's raised lettering. Artbook and keychain also display well. could have used nicer packaging for the soundtrack though.

Driving-At first I hated it it, but, the more I have played with the braking and cornering, the more it grows on me. Able to put the car through some very tight spots.Also, no more instant fires and explosions once a car flips over.

Shooting/Targeting-Much improved imho.There are a couple of ways to do this,I myself prefer to hold down the left trigger and aim with the right stick in free mode.

Relationships/Mini games-Fun stuff here. calling your friends or vice versa and going out to plays games and chit chat. Not only do you get to play a mini game, but, you also build relationships with the characters which can lead to bonus' and support later in the game. darts seem too easy, bowling is just right, and I haven't got the hang of eight ball yet.\

getting hit by cars/ejected from cars- Impressive non ragdoll physics on characters. First time I was ejected from a vehicle was my first ZOMGBBQ GTA moment.

Walking drunk- Haha, so funny to watch your character, and maybe even another one, try to maintain their balance while slurring their speech. I've been hit by a car a few times because of this.


Dislike

Driving Drunk-Everytime I do this, It starts to make me sick to my stomach after watching the screen for more than twenty seconds. I think I'll be taking a cab from now on.

Hand to Hand Combat-So far not a fan of this. I think I need more practice. Seems to be a bit of a delay when you push the button and when your character swings. Less noticeable when armed with a weapon. Seems counter attacking is the main draw here. I also hate when I am trying to hit someone and I push them instead. To be fair, you can push someone to the ground and wail on 'em.

Walking-Sometimes it seems as though Niko walks a bit slow. Just something I noticed at first and has become less and less apparent.

Am I a Vampire?- I dunno about anyone else, but, I had to go into the display settings and crank up the contrast and brightness. Almost pitch black at night out of the box. Also had to change surround setting from side to rear.

I haven't really found many hidden things to do yet. I'm guessing this opens up later in the game. I have found one stunt jump and also found out you can shoot the birds throughout the city. Apparently there are 200 as it says flying rats remaining in the city 199 after you kill the first one. I've found 2. one on the expressway and one in the park. I wonder if they move or are in set places?

Also, I wonder if the choice you are asked to make in one of the earlier missions will come back to haunt/reward you? I took the high road.

All in all, I am impressed and enjoying my stay so far in Liberty City.

[segagamer4life]

so far I have not played the 360 version I picked up today, but I have been reading all the hype and comparisons between the two. So far the oddest report from kotaku, was that the ps3 version runs at 630p, while the 360 runs at 780p??? that to me sounds odd, but whatever, its also been said that the games are pretty much identical, with some, albeit minimal pop-in/up on the 360 version, but both versions are guilty of the same, just a lil moreso on the 360. Hell to me they are the same, and I am just happy to be able to finally play GTA4.... SUPER SWEEET!!!

[norkusa]

Wow, this is the last time I ever use 'super saver' shipping on Amazon. I pre-ordered the 360 Collector's Edition last month and my order info says it's shipping May 5th with an estimated delivery of May 12-16.

I think I'm gonna rent it from Blockbuster to hold me over until then.

[diskoboy]

I'm such a pimp....

Not even 2 hours into the game, and only 2 dates, and already, I got the 'Warm Coffee ' achievement.

;)

[gum_drops]

Wow, this is the last time I ever use 'super saver' shipping on Amazon. I pre-ordered the 360 Collector's Edition last month and my order info says it's shipping May 5th with an estimated delivery of May 12-16.

I think I'm gonna rent it from Blockbuster to hold me over until then.

That is pretty lame. Is is possible to cancel the amazon order, they shouldnt of charged your card yet.

Newegg.com has it in stock with 3 business day shipping and 3 day UPS guaranteed delivery. So it should take 6 days at the longest. It may ship out even sooner, I ordered the regular version last night and it already shipped this morning.

[Overbite]

As soon as I was able to save the game for the first time I jumped into multiplayer and played that. With a group of people it's great! We all just drive around and do whatever.

[exit]

I played it for about an hour last night and for a little bit today, so far it's superior to the other GTA games (especially San Andreas) and seems like a step in the right direction. I just went on a date, picked his cousin up from the hospital, then beat up the guys that were fucking with him and pushed one of them out a window. Good times.

I also like how they used the Police radar as seen in Scarface, which really did make improvements in the genre and in some cases was superior to the source material, so it's nice to see Rockstar was taking notes.

I haven't tried Multiplayer yet, I'll probably do that tomorrow when everyone gets on to play, but so far I've only heard good things.

[Dastardly Dylan]

I can't BELIEVE this but... JACK THOMPSON GIVES IN!

http://kotaku.com/385459/rockstar-makes-a-grand-theft-auto-iv-fan-of-jack-thompson

[diskoboy]

Man.... WTF is up over at the Rockstar Social Club?

It's been hit and miss all day.

[Nesmaster]

~17 hours in, about 31% done. Living up to my expectations overall, slightly annoyed with the amount of pop-in, though from what I've read it might be the BenQ drive's fault for that. Still, there's WAY too many times that the textures are really slow to load. One time I walked into my safehouse and walked up an invisible flight of stairs (and everything else in the building was invisible too)...

Also a side note, the physics for the pool game are a joke. Took me EIGHT games to finally win one thanks to the goofy physics (or lack of). Bowling seems to be based on how you throw the ball and the curve and such, and not on the physics of the pins. Getting a turkey was rediculous, took about 10 games of 10-frame bowling. Funniest thing to happen while bowling? The guy in the lane beside me, a couple of his pins flew over into my lane and knocked down some of my pins as I threw my ball, which ended up counting as a strike LOL (but sadly did not help me get my turkey).

Overall I'm very happy with the single player, and haven't even "cut my teeth" on the multiplayer yet. :)

[segagamer4life]

so far I have barely scratched the single player, but I am enjoying it all the while, I have to say, the online, is pretty damn sweet, with a ton of new options, and alot to do, having played 5 online matches, with no lag, or any disconnects, this game is sweeetness online and off... kudos, Rockstar!

[heybtbm]

~17 hours in, about 31% done.

Don't you people have jobs?

/sitting at my desk, wishing I was playing GTA4.

[segagamer4life]

i know damn, I was lucky to scrape together two hours of gameplay last night....lol at this rate I will have the game completed a LONG time from now!

[Nesmaster]

Don't you people have jobs?

/sitting at my desk, wishing I was playing GTA4.

Booked the week off, solely to play this. ;)

Another small, minor complaint about the wanted system... It works REALLY well up to 4 stars, but I find that the cops/FBI/N.O.O.S.E. get a little goofy at 5 and 6 stars (aka too many, wanted area is HUGE). I haven't tried escaping 5 and 6 stars by boat or helicopter yet, but in a car seems VERY hard to say the least.

[diskoboy]

Don't you people have jobs?

/sitting at my desk, wishing I was playing GTA4.

I took the rest of the week of, as well. Used a week of my vacation time. Fortunately, I still have 2 more weeks of vacation time left, for the year.

I should've told my boss I was going to spend a week in Liberty City, just to see what his reaction would've been. :D

[Bluteg]

Wow, this is the last time I ever use 'super saver' shipping on Amazon. I pre-ordered the 360 Collector's Edition last month and my order info says it's shipping May 5th with an estimated delivery of May 12-16.

I think I'm gonna rent it from Blockbuster to hold me over until then.

This is exactly what I did and I got it on the morning of the 28th :) and it said May 5th on amazon.com so I guess their shipping is really screwy.

[norkusa]

This is exactly what I did and I got it on the morning of the 28th :) and it said May 5th on amazon.com so I guess their shipping is really screwy.

Ugh. Yeah, I'm now convinced that Amazon has the most fucked up shipping department ever. The last couple dvd's I pre-ordered from them, I paid extra for the standard 3-5 day shipping and both times my discs were shipped out late with USPS media mail. Now this.

I'd cancel my order and get it from some other place like Newegg, but I really want that Amazon-exclusive Liberty City license plate.:bday:

[heybtbm]

I live about an hour from one of Amazon's distribution centers. The free "super saver" shipping only takes a day or two at most. I'm geographically lucky I guess.

[gum_drops]

I live about an hour from one of Amazon's distribution centers. The free "super saver" shipping only takes a day or two at most. I'm geographically lucky I guess.

Same here, I live 35 minutes from the Federal Way warehouse. The quick shipping is nice but the %8.8 sales tax is usually a deal killer unless its a real good deal.

[Kejoriv]

Picked up the last copy today from blockbuster to buy, received a free picture with it. Looks just like this.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Grand-Theft-Auto-4-Blockbuster-PROMO-Picture-and-Frame_W0QQitemZ180238023622QQihZ008QQcategoryZ3762 0QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[zektor]

Stopped at Coconuts after work tonight with a $50 gift card I had for them from trading in some crap awhile back. Of course they had no more copies of the game...except one last super sweet Special Edition package that I quickly snagged. Nice lockbox :) Overall a very nice looking collectors edition if you ask me.

Unfortunately I cannot play the game until later tonight, after my 4 year old goes to sleep..heh :) I do have off tomorrow however, and it has already been designated a GTA 4 day for me!

[digitalpress]

I'm about six hours in, 12 percent according to the game, so consider this a "first impression".

This game is no better than any PS2 GTA game I've played. Yes, it looks a LITTLE better, but not significantly so. At this point it's what Beautiful Katamari was for the 360 - a nice version of the older game on a current gen console. I love the characters and the story so far, but the gameplay is way too familiar. Bowling, Darts, even "Drinking"... yawn.

I haven't done any online stuff yet, which I'm sure will improve my opinion, and here's hoping for some crazy-fast planes or something to get me around faster, because this slow traveling thing is the main thing that's annoyed me most in this, one of my most beloved series to date.

Remember... this is an EARLY opinion and I haven't given up, I expect great things as I dig deeper into the game but so far, it's the same old game with a nice paint job.

To be continued.

[exit]

I just got done playing multiplayer with my friends and it's what Portal is to Orange Box, well worth buying the game alone for. It's fun being able to freely explore the city, kill civilians and then get in a crazy car chase while someone is shooting at you from a helicopter.

Only problem is that people kept on leaving when we had an open game going, but I think it was because they were getting dropped, because I kept on getting dropped a few times and had to be re-invited. Which brings me to another problem, sometimes when I got (re)invited it said the game no longest existed, even tho it was just created moments before, it may just be another small bug that can be easily fixable via update.

I'm sure there will be more things added in future updates, I wouldn't mind having a more detailed character customization and a custom radio station that plays music you have on the HD.

[Cinder6]

Played for about an hour. It feels (to me) to be more story-oriented, but maybe that's just me looking for things to like. I don't like the sluggish controls (compared to the earlier games), but I assume that I'll get used to them pretty quickly, so I give that a pass.

What bothers me a LOT is how taxi/vigilante/etc. missions are handled. No longer can you just get into a cab and start taxi missions. You first have to progress a certain amount through the game (small amount, from what I've read), then you have to call a guy and ask for it as a job. And apparently the jobs he gives pay next to nothing. Lame. I really hope Rockstar releases a patch; I can't believe they handled it that way.

I really don't see how the game is getting perfect 10s on so many review sites. From my very early impression, it feels like an 8. At least you can escape the police in a sensible way. Hopefully online is really fun...

EDIT: Oh yeah, and the HUD is way too small. On a 50" screen, I have a hard time reading some of it.

[Oobgarm]

I've enjoyed what I've played, but my copy has frozen every time I've played it.

I returned my initial copy for a new one, but I don't think that's going to solve the problem. Gonna give it a try this afternoon to see.

[Lothars]

Remember... this is an EARLY opinion and I haven't given up, I expect great things as I dig deeper into the game but so far, it's the same old game with a nice paint job.

To be continued.

Honestly I agree it's a updated GTA III

Which is not a bad thing but it's the same old game with that look better looking but I do think it's fantastic though.

[mnbren05]

Vigilante missions are handled through the computers in the police cruisers. You select which mission you want and then off you go. Taxi missions are slightly boring and not as easy to access as before. About 17.5 hours in and 34% complete, finally got used to the controls driving wise and figured out which cars to stay away from. Other than that the only problem I have now is hand to hand combat which if you lose your timing is a mess. Has anyone else had the hitting invisible blocks problem? I will be driving through street to lose my wanted level and I will suddenly hit an invisible block sending my vehicle flipping, spinning, etc out of control. It seems to be a very random and rare happening, but its happened four times in 17 hours. More annoying than troublesome I suppose.

[gepeto]

Quick question a friend of mine says he and his friend both bought collecters edition. When they got home his friend gta game had a cover over it like bioshock\star ocean. His did not. I told him mine just was the game to wrapped no slip cover. . He was surprised


Anyones collectors edition have a slip cover?

[Nesmaster]

Here's hoping for some crazy-fast planes or something to get me around faster, because this slow traveling thing is the main thing that's annoyed me most in this, one of my most beloved series to date.


You can hail a Taxi to take you to the mission giver, and sometimes you can take a cab to the mission destination after starting it, if that'll speed up the game for you at all.

73.11%, 80 missions complete, 35:10 on the clock. I'm going to be sad when the game is done, like I usually am with this kind of game.

Gepeto: No cover on my copy of the SE. They were supposed to have included that with the SE but I guess not all of them ended up with one. :(

[Kintaro56]

Hope this is on-topic:

I bought Saints Row, and got tired of it very quickly...is the targeting system/controls for GTA IV similar to Saints Row?

[Cinder6]

Vigilante missions are handled through the computers in the police cruisers. You select which mission you want and then off you go.

How do you do this? I've stolen police cars, but didn't see a way to do this.

[Captain Wrong]

I'm about six hours in, 12 percent according to the game, so consider this a "first impression".

This game is no better than any PS2 GTA game I've played. Yes, it looks a LITTLE better, but not significantly so. At this point it's what Beautiful Katamari was for the 360 - a nice version of the older game on a current gen console. I love the characters and the story so far, but the gameplay is way too familiar. Bowling, Darts, even "Drinking"... yawn.

I haven't done any online stuff yet, which I'm sure will improve my opinion, and here's hoping for some crazy-fast planes or something to get me around faster, because this slow traveling thing is the main thing that's annoyed me most in this, one of my most beloved series to date.

Remember... this is an EARLY opinion and I haven't given up, I expect great things as I dig deeper into the game but so far, it's the same old game with a nice paint job.

To be continued.

OK, I was beginning to think I'd lost my mind. I mean, everyone and their dog declaring this BEST GAME EVAR!!! PERFECT 10!!!! etc., etc.

Is it fun? Yeah. Is there a lot of good to it? Sure. Is it perfect? Nope. I don't know what exactly I was expecting, to be honest, but, yeah, at 20 hours and <30% in, it feels like a prettier game from the GTA3 lineage. Not a whole lot I haven't done and seen before. It's still fun, but it's not amazing. It's not blowing my socks off like GTA3 did.

And, can someone explain to me why there are no in mission checkpoints? OK, I'm not the greatest gamer in the world. I'm fine with that. What I'm not fine with is having to re-do driving half way across town, getting in this car to pick up a weapon, going over here to take this guy out, etc., etc and then getting to the end, having one guy getting the drop on me and having to do the whole shit over again from the top. Again.

At the very least, let me start at the actual place where the mission starts rather than putting me back at the house of whoever I'm doing the mission for and making me drive, drive, drive. Even better, just let me start off at the part I fucked up. These missions all are multi-stage events. Gimme a goddam checkpoint! Fucking Godfather had checkpoints in the missions and it was only 75% the game this is.

Also, why do all the cars feel like they are driving on streets made of ball bearings?

The drunk driving screens almost made me chuck too.

[Sudo]

How do you do this? I've stolen police cars, but didn't see a way to do this.

Hit LB after you come to a complete stop.

[mnbren05]

How do you do this? I've stolen police cars, but didn't see a way to do this.

press the left bumper if you are using the xbox 360 version while stationary. It brings up a list of things like search criminal database, current crimes etc. Go to current crimes and it will have things like vehicle theft, robbery, etc.

Side note- today I was evading a four star police wanted level and I was out of the search range when I swerved to attempt to go to the docks, and swim away to avoid being caught by police, and hit something. After crawling off the ground and the police catching up, I had hit an invisible tree. WTF mate. Seriously officer, that tree came out of nowhere.

[Nesmaster]

Just finished the storyline. 80.08%, 39:10 on the clock. Rockstar really knows how to tell a story. I think I have a new favorite GTA game now.

Fantastic game, I don't care what anyone else thinks. Sure it still suffers from a few problems that have plauged the games in the past, but at least the combat works now. It could stand alone well enough without the cover system, but its addition is nice. Improved visuals, AWESOME physics, excellent voice acting, top notch car damage modelling and the most detailed open-world game to date.

Does it live up to the hype? I'm not sure how to answer. On one hand I've been waiting nearly two years for the game, and on the other hand it's the most fun I've had with a game in almost 3 years. I'll say yes, based on my single player experience alone. Still haven't tried multiplayer.

[Captain Wrong]

Ars Technica has a pretty fair and even handed review up: http://arstechnica.com/reviews/games/gta-4-review.ars

[LiquidPolicenaut]

I'm about 33% into the game (according to my game progress) and I'm liking it a lot. I love the feel of the "new" Liberty City. The original Liberty City will always be special to me but I love this one as well. The really nailed down the feel of the specific areas of NYC even the area I'm from! Does the game deserve a 10? No, but I also think that San Andreas didnt deserve a 10 as it had a few things that pissed me off (like the horrible flying controls). Both games are great to me though. Car controls did take some time to get used to, but I mostly got the hang of it now. I do like the new aiming system imo.

The thing that gets me about people hating on the game is that...what were people expecting out of this new GTA? It has to be new but still be "GTA"....which is excactly what it accomplished I think......

[SaturnFan]

Hey can you still beef your guy up at gym's like San Andreas, or is that gone in GTA4?

[Sudo]

Hey can you still beef your guy up at gym's like San Andreas, or is that gone in GTA4?

No, the RPG aspects are gone.

[Trevelyan]

My 1st impressions are pure superlatives. It's a breathtaking game imo :D Can't wait to see how the story ends, & how the multiplayer plays out. I hope the updates are cool too.

[zektor]

I've been getting alot of playtime with the title thus far....well, as much as I can get during my off hours. At first, the game felt like the old GTA's with a new coat of paint, but after playing more I am truly amazed. The amount of time (obviously) and effort that went into the game is enormous...much more so than any of the previous games. The missions are fun, the exploration even more so. And, my own car (Monte Carlo) is in the game...and it kind of looks like mine too :) Hah...great game...easily the best I have played this year.

[Nesmaster]

Jumped into multiplayer all day today. Don't quite care for the deathmatch modes, and the one game of turf war I played didn't go too well. Yet to try race, but I do enjoy the three co-op modes, quite a bit. Seems like a good way to earn a lot of money quickly as well anyways. Then there's free roam which is an absolute blast. This could very well become my most played game, ever. Well worth the $60 entry fee (or $90, because I bought the SE).

Once I tire of multiplayer I'll take a break by beating the story again, or finishing my current save to 100% :D

GOTY 2008? Early, but a strong contender I think.

[diskoboy]

Is it me, or does anybody else wish there was a shaving option (for Niko) in the game?

It's just weird -you can buy new clothes. You can get them dirty, then clean again. But Niko can never shave.

[Flack]

I picked this up today (PS3) and, like others have mentioned, I'm sitting around patiently waiting for my kids to go to sleep tonight.

[sisko]

OK, I was beginning to think I'd lost my mind. I mean, everyone and their dog declaring this BEST GAME EVAR!!! PERFECT 10!!!! etc., etc.

Is it fun? Yeah. Is there a lot of good to it? Sure. Is it perfect? Nope. I don't know what exactly I was expecting, to be honest, but, yeah, at 20 hours and <30% in, it feels like a prettier game from the GTA3 lineage. Not a whole lot I haven't done and seen before. It's still fun, but it's not amazing. It's not blowing my socks off like GTA3 did.

And, can someone explain to me why there are no in mission checkpoints? OK, I'm not the greatest gamer in the world. I'm fine with that. What I'm not fine with is having to re-do driving half way across town, getting in this car to pick up a weapon, going over here to take this guy out, etc., etc and then getting to the end, having one guy getting the drop on me and having to do the whole shit over again from the top. Again.

At the very least, let me start at the actual place where the mission starts rather than putting me back at the house of whoever I'm doing the mission for and making me drive, drive, drive. Even better, just let me start off at the part I fucked up. These missions all are multi-stage events. Gimme a goddam checkpoint! Fucking Godfather had checkpoints in the missions and it was only 75% the game this is.

Also, why do all the cars feel like they are driving on streets made of ball bearings?

The drunk driving screens almost made me chuck too.


Couldn't have said it any better myself. The game is good, but not great.

I prefer to spend my time with Mario Kart Wii online.

[G-Boobie]

Has anyone else noticed that the Republican Space Commandos, viewable in the first safehouse and on the Weazel channel, are dressed in Halo style Spartan armor?

I was entertained.

[Flack]

I got my first two hours of GTA4 (PS3) in last night. I wouldn't call myself a huge fan of the series, so here's a brief assessment from a casual gamer.

Right off the bat, let's talk about the install time. I wasn't aware that was coming. I've read reviews of the "five minute" install time but I swear mine was closer to 10. I'm running a 60 gig (launch) PS3. I've also read about people experiencing lock ups, but I never did.

I enjoyed watching the early cut scenes and was almost disappointed when they ended and I had to start playing. While the graphics are still stylish (ie: not super realistic), after watching it for a while you kind of forget it's a game. It seems more like a movie. Maybe that's from watching so many CGI shows on television with my kids over recent years.

The new targeting system, at least with hand-to-hand combat (all I've done so far) is much improved. The most frustrating thing in any game for me is trying to do something and not knowing (or being able) to pull it off with a controller. I like being able to target people and kick their asses.

I tried out over a dozen cars and they all drive like ass. Seriously. Maybe I've been playing too many racing games but every car I drove handled terribly. Maybe it takes some getting used to. I tried drifting/sliding around corners with the handbrake and ended up doing a u-turn almost every single time. Likewise, I tried slowing with the regular brake and slid past every intersection and couldn't turn at the same time. The key to getting away in high speed chases (at least so far) has just been going fast and straight.

I enjoy the amount of radio stations in the cars but I need to figure out how to turn the radio off or at least down.

My wife got jealous last night when she asked me where I'd been and I told her I'd taken Roman's friend Michelle out bowling.

If I get a chance tonight I'll try out the online stuff.

[kaedesdisciple]

I tried out over a dozen cars and they all drive like ass. Seriously. Maybe I've been playing too many racing games but every car I drove handled terribly. Maybe it takes some getting used to. I tried drifting/sliding around corners with the handbrake and ended up doing a u-turn almost every single time. Likewise, I tried slowing with the regular brake and slid past every intersection and couldn't turn at the same time. The key to getting away in high speed chases (at least so far) has just been going fast and straight.



Similar to Crackdown, I found the police cars and the high end sports cars to handle the best. Most cars, though, are complete boats.

[mailman187666]

I think as far as the game design itself goes, I'd say this has to be the most detailed game, graphically, I've seen. With the amount of different looking people walking around. Street signs and building signs pretty much everywhere. I haven't found any secret missions or anything though. Like when you jump into a random parked car in a big open parking lot which throws you into a mission. Maybe I haven't looked hard enough or something. I know there are the flying rats and stunt jumps. I was a little sad when I saw they removed those tiny RPG elements of the last one. I liked knowing that by running around aimlessly, I was gaining progress in the game. I guess to play a game like that though, I'd just go for Oblivion. Seriously though I think its my favorite game on PS3 so far. Just the detail in the city itself blows me away. I guess I could say that this game amazed me more than seeing a portable version of Liberty City on PSP, but it didn't amaze me as much as GTA3 did when it first came out.

[Oobgarm]

I tried out over a dozen cars and they all drive like ass. Seriously. Maybe I've been playing too many racing games but every car I drove handled terribly. Maybe it takes some getting used to. I tried drifting/sliding around corners with the handbrake and ended up doing a u-turn almost every single time. Likewise, I tried slowing with the regular brake and slid past every intersection and couldn't turn at the same time. The key to getting away in high speed chases (at least so far) has just been going fast and straight.

Driving in GTA certainly has it's quirks. I too had some difficulty at first, but I've warmed up to it nicely and have little to no trouble now driving right through crowded intersections with nary a scratch. Drifting is still pretty much non-existant for me, though.

I suggest driving the more modern luxury-types and sports cars to really get a good feel. (that's what I did)


I enjoy the amount of radio stations in the cars but I need to figure out how to turn the radio off or at least down.

On the 360, you cycle through the radio with the d-pad, and turn it off by holding left for a second or two. I dunno how the PS3 works, but I'd assume it's somewhat similar.

[mailman187666]

I enjoy the amount of radio stations in the cars but I need to figure out how to turn the radio off or at least down.

you can just turn the music level down through the sound option menu, just not while driving like you could with switching the stations.

[diskoboy]

Is anyone else's ZiT feature not working correctly?

I've tagged about 6 different songs, and one of them are showing up on my Rockstar Social Club profile.

And is anyone even using Rockstar Social Club?

I want that Barry White song, dammit!!! :D

[Captain Wrong]

The Social Club is buggy as hell. I've seen reports of people's stats in the Marathon section going up and down with no rhyme or reason.

I'm a little bit farther in the game now. I still think the vehicles drive on marbles, but you do learn to compensate. The auto-aim is a ton better. I still think the lack of checkpoints in the mission is dumb. The cops seem much easier to out run. The story is very well done. I have to admit, the missions are getting a bit repetitious.

Still fun. Still not a 10/10.

[diskoboy]

The Social Club is buggy as hell. I've seen reports of people's stats in the Marathon section going up and down with no rhyme or reason.



That's true. The other day, I had the gold certificates for running and driving. Now, I'm back to 3% for both.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

Driving in GTA certainly has it's quirks. I too had some difficulty at first, but I've warmed up to it nicely and have little to no trouble now driving right through crowded intersections with nary a scratch. Drifting is still pretty much non-existant for me, though.

I suggest driving the more modern luxury-types and sports cars to really get a good feel. (that's what I did)



On the 360, you cycle through the radio with the d-pad, and turn it off by holding left for a second or two. I dunno how the PS3 works, but I'd assume it's somewhat similar.

Yes, you can turn off the radio by holding left on the D-Pad.

I picked up my copy yesterday, and I'm similarly under-whelmed by the overall "evolution" of the series (or lack thereof) in this installment (or at least in the beginning of the game), however, it does appear to remain true to the series' roots, is graphically impressive (1080p HDMI on a 42 inch Panasonic LCD) and from what little I played, the multiplayer modes were exactly as I'd been fantasizing they would be whilst playing Vice City and saying "this series needs to go multiplayer online".

I don't feel like I've wasted my money, and even if the story mode doesn't draw me in I'll probably spend a healthy amount of time online, though I think it will keep me interested ... as I do dig "Russian Mafiya" (Eastern Promises FTW!) gangsters MUCH more than "Boyz N' The Hood Gangstas" (a major reason why I couldn't get into GTA San Andreas).

Keep your eyes out for me online on PS3!

FlyingBurrito76

[Kejoriv]

Played my first 2 hours of the game tonight. I really like this game everything except the god damn driving. Taking turns suck big time.

[Sudo]

Played my first 2 hours of the game tonight. I really like this game everything except the god damn driving. Taking turns suck big time.

Try switching to classic controls, it makes it a lot easier.

[TheDomesticInstitution]

Finally taking the plunge and buying a PS3 (and this game today)... I would assume that both the 360 version and this one are similar... Oh well... I'll see how I like it- i loved San Andreas (although I never fully finished it).

[diskoboy]

Finally taking the plunge and buying a PS3 (and this game today)... I would assume that both the 360 version and this one are similar... Oh well... I'll see how I like it- i loved San Andreas (although I never fully finished it).

Actually, the 360 has one advantage.... Downloadable content. From what I'm hearing, it's not gonna happen for the PS3 versions.

But the PS3 version has the advantage in loading times.

And the ps3 version runs in 680p, and is upscaled to 720p. The 360 version runs in full 720p

I own a PS3 and 360. I chose 360 from the get-go, simply for the Achievement Points and DLC. I never even gave the PS3 version any consideration.

[Kejoriv]

Actually the PS3 may get downloadable content...

http://www.videogamer.com/news/07-05-2008-8220.html

[TheDomesticInstitution]

Actually, the 360 has one advantage.... Downloadable content. From what I'm hearing, it's not gonna happen for the PS3 versions.

But the PS3 version has the advantage in loading times.

And the ps3 version runs in 680p, and is upscaled to 720p. The 360 version runs in full 720p

I own a PS3 and 360. I chose 360 from the get-go, simply for the Achievement Points and DLC. I never even gave the PS3 version any consideration.


Ok, so I just got back from Circuit City... with the 40gb unit and GTAIV.

We have satellite internet so Downloadable stuff isn't something we're gonna use much (or online play for that matter) because we have a cap on how much we use (15GB download and 5GB upload per month). That and we have a lag so online play would really suffer.

We also have a 46' 1080P Sony LCDTV and (I ran it HDMI)... and the box says its supports 1080P... do you only have a 720P television? Or is that the max res it will run? Anyway, after setting it up I was the gentleman and let my girlfriend have the first go at it... It looks pretty good (but not amazing) visually- especially the lighting when it starts out at night.

I'm really excited about the blu-ray capabilities, so we bought a few movies too...

It'll probably be a few days yet before I dive into it, but when I do I'll give my thoughts.


EDIT: So I played the game for 15 minutes tonight and noticed something... Although the game says it supports multiple resolutions (up to 1080p). When I 1st started the game the TV's display said the signal was 720p... so is it a misprint? I haven't researched the game that much... Know anything about this Disko?

[robotriot]

Despite saying it supports 1080p on the box, it runs native in 680p on the PS3 and 720p on Xbox and is being scaled up to whatever resolution your TV is set to. So no 1080p.

[gepeto]

I was looking at the sales numbers and I think this might be the death blow to 3rd party console exclusitivity. I really can't see no high profile game being contained to one system at launch anymore.

ON another note It is amazing how they took a franchise that wasn't that great(to me) and made it into a blockbuster. I was thinking back to when gta 3 came out and how I couldn't stand the overhead view of the first 2. A friend was hyping gta 3 but I was taking a wait and see approach.LOL

[Flack]

I don't know if this is a sign of things to come, but I fired up GTA4 (PS3) last night and got my first patch (1.01, I think it said). The good news is the patch was only 18 meg and both downloaded and installed in less than a minute.

[heybtbm]

I'm surprised so many DP'ers bought the PS3 version. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Does anyone have a link to the 1st week sales numbers?

[PapaStu]

Only sales numbers i've seen is 500 Million in worldwide sales, giving it the top game $$ release of all time. Halo 3 was the previous winner with 300 Million in sales.

[Neil Koch]

I don't know if this is a sign of things to come, but I fired up GTA4 (PS3) last night and got my first patch (1.01, I think it said). The good news is the patch was only 18 meg and both downloaded and installed in less than a minute.

It's to help some of the slowdown/freezing issues, which are supposedly brought on by the PS3 uploading game stats and refreshing multiplayer stuff. I wasn't getting freezes, but the game was taking forever to load, so I turned PSN auto sign-in off and I haven't had any problems since.


I'm surprised so many DP'ers bought the PS3 version. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

I got a PS3 for this game because MS isn't getting any of my money right now after dealing with Vista, their shitty customer serivce while trying to cancel my Xbox1 Live account, and continued RROD issues.

(Please note that I'm really not a MS hater, don't want to start a flame/system war, and probably will eventually get a 360, it's just at this point handing $300-400 over to MS wouldn't sit well with me.)

I'm a huge GTA nut, and I was still contemplating getting a 360 for the downloadable missions. But from what I've seen, the PS3 will be getting downloadable stuff as well sometime down the road, just not those particular missions.

[Berserker]

In the future history of GTA titles may there never, ever be another toll bridge.

Also, I miss the more forgiving driving from earlier titles. Rain + Banshee = RAGE.


Fun game overall, but not the next coming of Christ that all these reviewers were making it out to be. Seems like a step backward in some respects from San Andreas.

[Flack]

I'm surprised so many DP'ers bought the PS3 version.

Constant drive loading just sounds like a recipe for the RROD, which is why I went with the PS3 version. That, and free online play were the two deciding factors for me.

[diskoboy]

Just finished the story.

[digitalpress]

I'm surprised so many DP'ers bought the PS3 version. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Does anyone have a link to the 1st week sales numbers?

By all (customer) accounts, the PS3 version flows much better. Less pop in and faster load times. I kinda wish I had started with the PS3 version myself. It's not a big deal but it's a little annoying that this game, rated a 10 out of 10, has objects suddenly appearing in front of me a second after I bust through a door.

And a question for PS3 gamers that I have yet to get a clear answer on:

You're looking for a car, there's none in sight. You turn around to see if there are any behind you, nothing. Then you turn back and BAM! Suddenly there are five or six cars there. Were they hiding around a corner waiting for you to turn away for a second? That smacks of PS2 technology and it's an annoying glitch on the 360... or does PS3 do that as well? I wonder what the extra hard disk caching of the PS3 offers that the 360 cannot.

And I'm now 40 percent through the main story. It's absolutely TEDIOUS. Love the story, look forward to the cut scenes but typical GTA annoyances like making me have to travel half an island just to GET to the mission and making me do it all over again if I fail just seems like stretching a game for the sake of stretching it. Give me mission-sensitive save points or at least give me an option to try the mission again at the destination. I'm really bored with driving over and over in a game that sucks at driving.

End rant, I still plan on finishing the main story but other than graphics San Andreas is a better game.

[Captain Wrong]

And I'm now 40 percent through the main story. It's absolutely TEDIOUS. Love the story, look forward to the cut scenes but typical GTA annoyances like making me have to travel half an island just to GET to the mission and making me do it all over again if I fail just seems like stretching a game for the sake of stretching it. Give me mission-sensitive save points or at least give me an option to try the mission again at the destination. I'm really bored with driving over and over in a game that sucks at driving.

I think I mentioned this earlier, but if not, let me agree with you 100%. in a game this big, I can't think of any reason they'd need to stretch it, and yeah, that's exactly what I thought too. Luckily for me, I seem to not be sucking as bad as I was a few days ago. Still, there was one mission I about threw my controller on as each time there was one different thing tripping me up, often out of my control, and I was really starting to resent having to do it all over again, starting with a lengthy and boring drive.

And the driving sucks. Yes, you can learn it, but come on. The cars drive like a shitty PS1 racer. The GTA3 cars didn't flip randomly and skid like you're on skates.

I think I mentioned this earlier too, but I bought the 360 version (and a 360) because no one I know has a PS3 and if I want to play online with my friends, I had to go 360. For a 10/10 game, there's way too much pop up, draw in and frame rate issues. Not to mention all the times I manage to put Niko's arm in a wall or I see one of his buddies head sticking through a door. I don't know if this is just a 360 thing, I've heard the PS3 is slightly better. But I'd just got done playing Call of Duty 4, which is a pretty great looking game, and GTA4 has some issues on the graphical front that I'm a little surprised to see.

Still enjoying the game though. The story is great and the basic game play is still fun. There's a ton of detail in the city and it's still fun to just go exploring or causing random chaos.

[briskbc]

This is the first new game I've purchased new since Vice City. That's not including clearance titles of course. I'm not that far into it yet. I made the make of starting Bully for the PS2 a week before I picked this up. I'm enjoying Bully more.

I don't know what to add that hasn't already been said. It feels just like a PS2 GTA title made pretty for this generation. Certainly not a 10/10 title. Probably 8.5 to 9. Don't get me wrong, I like it so far but maybe I was expecting the sort of feeling of greatness I got from GTA III.

[Sudo]

By all (customer) accounts, the PS3 version flows much better. Less pop in and faster load times. I kinda wish I had started with the PS3 version myself. It's not a big deal but it's a little annoying that this game, rated a 10 out of 10, has objects suddenly appearing in front of me a second after I bust through a door.

And a question for PS3 gamers that I have yet to get a clear answer on:

You're looking for a car, there's none in sight. You turn around to see if there are any behind you, nothing. Then you turn back and BAM! Suddenly there are five or six cars there. Were they hiding around a corner waiting for you to turn away for a second? That smacks of PS2 technology and it's an annoying glitch on the 360... or does PS3 do that as well? I wonder what the extra hard disk caching of the PS3 offers that the 360 cannot.

And I'm now 40 percent through the main story. It's absolutely TEDIOUS. Love the story, look forward to the cut scenes but typical GTA annoyances like making me have to travel half an island just to GET to the mission and making me do it all over again if I fail just seems like stretching a game for the sake of stretching it. Give me mission-sensitive save points or at least give me an option to try the mission again at the destination. I'm really bored with driving over and over in a game that sucks at driving.

End rant, I still plan on finishing the main story but other than graphics San Andreas is a better game.
I hated the driving as well until I switched to classic controls. It made the driving feel like the PS2 games, and not like you're pushing a shopping cart with broken wheels. ;)

[robotriot]

I've written a kind of review (http://www.elitepigs.de/blog/archives/26) of the game with the things that annoy me, if anyone is interested.

[Neil Koch]

I agree with the puzzlement over the spate of perfect reviews. I love the GTA series, but I still find GTA3 superior to this because there's more variety in the missions, and the game is more open as to how you can complete them.

I read Game Informer's review last night, and they said stuff like "revolutionary". Um, no. This is a very good game, but not as ground-breaking as GTA3, and certainly not perfect. But considering how much GI is in bed with Rockstar, the perfect rating doesn't surprise me.

[Sudo]

Achievement unlocked 50G - Endangered Species. Man, that was a pain in the ass. I was at 199/200 pigeons because I somehow managed to miss one along the way, and had to go back and recheck just over 100 to find out which one it was. :embarrassed: Worst achievement since Treasure Trove in Lost Odyssey, which also took me forever.

[Captain Wrong]

I've written a kind of review (http://www.elitepigs.de/blog/archives/26) of the game with the things that annoy me, if anyone is interested.


I was going to blog this myself, but you said pretty much everything I would have.

[Nesmaster]

Achievement unlocked 50G - Endangered Species. Man, that was a pain in the ass. I was at 199/200 pigeons because I somehow managed to miss one along the way, and had to go back and recheck just over 100 to find out which one it was. :embarrassed: Worst achievement since Treasure Trove in Lost Odyssey, which also took me forever.

Congratulations. I found around 40 before I lost interest. I really wish they would have handled the hidden stuff like Bully (marked right on the map when you pull it up). I'm sure I'll unlock Key to the City one day...

[Berserker]

I hated the driving as well until I switched to classic controls. It made the driving feel like the PS2 games, and not like you're pushing a shopping cart with broken wheels. ;)

It'd be great if there was a way to keep the old driving controls, and new everything else. If I wanted ultra-realistic driving, I'd pop in Forza. Hopefully they're taking notes for the next one.

Is anyone else finding all of those perfect 10's we saw around release time highly fucking suspect? The words "bought" and "paid-for" spring to mind.

[TheDomesticInstitution]

So I guess they took out all the "RPG" elements of the game that I thought were a welcome addition to San Andreas. Like the whole- the more you drive the better the cars handle. The cars do feel very boat-ish but it's kind of fun to get them rocking back and forth (sometimes). I'm used to the Xbox version of the game, so the controls are still throwing me for a bit of a loop.