No one is going to argue the fact that Grand Theft Auto IV is one of ,if not the biggest game of this console generation thus far.It's already been confirmed that the OG sandbox game broke all previous records in the UK.Every time I turn on my 360 everyone is playing it.
But something keeps bugging me;the critical acclaim.Before I go into this let me just say that I have played a very,very small amount of GTA III,GTA:VC and GTA:SA and this is the first GTA I have ever purchased (my best friend is a huge fan and the previous games I played belonged to him).
First let me start by saying that I have been really enjoying the game so far.The main character "Niko" is certainly more appealing than the main charcters in the previous games.The shooting portions are much improved also and I'm really enjoying the story so far.
With that said I have to wonder about all the perfect scores the game has been receiving.Now I'm not a paid game reviewer but it is my understanding that with most mags/websites a perfect score means that whatever flaws the game may have are so insignificant that they are easily overlooked by the player.But the flaws that I have found as a newcomer to the series aren't insignificant at all.In fact,I think they are quite significant.
The first thing that stood out to me was the camera.In any game (other than FPS)the camera is a very important part of the game,yet in GTA4 I constantly find myself fighting with it.It seems the most apparent when driving.Considering how much driving there is in this game, I found that the camera really takes me out of the experience.Everytime I try to turn my car the camera does not follow until I'm halfway down the next street.I play alot of racing games and they have no problems making the camera follow me around turns.
My next issue is with the vehicle controls which are,in a word,aweful.I suppose they are ok for driving at casual speeds but for highspeed chases (which there seems to be alot of)they can really be a pain.Regular breaking barely works and handbreaking spins your car out of control.Now I know that there are different types of cars that all feel differently,but when I have to retry a mission over and over again until I find the right car then something is very wrong.
Next is the "evolution" of the game.I remember when the game was first announced the the big deal was that this was not GTA:Alaska or GTA:Mars,this was GTAIV.The reason given for the number was that this was gonna be from scratch,a complete rethinking of the series.What I've been playing seems not much different from the little bit I played of the previous three games.When I first heard that GTAIV would be a smaller game in landmass I expected something big.I was hoping for a game where I could enter every building,do anything I could possibly imagine.GTAIV is still great but it is far from revolutionary.
My last complaint (and this is less of one)is with the graphics.While I think the graphics look good,there are many games out there that look better.And I don't just mean recent games,I'm talking games that have been out for some time.Now I'm not gonna go on about the graphics because I do like them and there is a lot of stuff going on in the world.But if the rumors about the development costs are true (I've heard $100 million or more) then I think they could have done better.
Now before everyone gets out their flamethrowers let me just say that I am really loving the game so far.My reason for writing this is not to piss on Rockstar's parade but rather to point some noticable flaws in what is being proclaimed to be a flawless game.Are these problems that have always been in the GTA games?If so then maybe thats why none of the reviews really talk about them,because they are used to them.
The role of a reviewer is to rise above the fanboy inside of her/him and give a completely objective review of the game for people who aren't sure why they should or shouldn't buy it.But it seems to me that many reviewers are giving in to the fanboy inside them and simply gushing.All the GTA fans are gonna buy the game regardless of the score it recieves and therefore a review should be written for those people who are unsure about the game.
I bought the game based on all the praise I was hearing from everyone that bought it on day one.What I found was better than it's predecessors in many ways,but overall felt very much like the previous games.
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