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Home » Reviews » XBOX360 Gaming » GTA IV Single Player
GTA IV Single Player
By: Avinash Bali   |   May 03,2008
  • 4.5
Most realistic depiction of NYC ever
Revamped combat system
Takes away some frustrating aspects of previous GTA games thanks to autosave and retry mission functions
Stellar voice acting
Awesome plot
Killer physics
Vehicles don't feel tight
Radio stations aren't all that impressive

The reason peds are a bit more intelligent this time round is because of Natural Motion’s Euphoria Engine that not only fuels the game’s physics but also controls the AI’s (artificial intelligence) behavioral patterns. Unlike previous physics engines like HAVOK, Euphoria generates player movements in real time, meaning diverse and varied animations for NPCs (non playable characters) as well as the player.

This engine also adds in a high sense of "self preservation" to the AI, which means both pedestrians and other NPCs will fiercely guard their lives. For example, if during a firefight you shoot someone on the hand or the leg, not only do they crumple to the ground in a most realistic manner, if they aren’t fatally wounded they’ll try and limp their way toward a weapon. Nothing is more satisfying than following these poor saps for a while, only to bludgeon them to death moments later.

But GTA is so much more than just killing, robbing, carjacking and maiming people; it offers players a highly robust and enthralling storyline that’s brilliantly executed thanks to some stellar, (yet relatively unknown) voice acting. As most of you already know, GTA IV chronicles the journey of Serbian immigrant Niko Bellic who’s just arrived in Liberty City to experience the American Dream and enjoy the good life that’s apparently been promised to him by his cousin Roman.

Unfortunately, when he lands up in LC, he realizes his cousin is a big pile of lies and the only reason he’s been called to LC is to help Roman clear his debts. One thing leads to another and before Niko knows it, he’s involved in some serious sh*t that has both him and Roman fighting for their lives.

In true GTA tradition you’ll come across tons of 'interesting' folk, but before we discuss the nutjobs of GTA IV, I’d like to take a moment to introduce you to the game’s protagonist, Niko, who unlike previous GTA leads comes across as a very likeable fella immediately. Even though he does joke around from time to time and has a wicked sense of humor, he doesn’t mess about when it comes to getting the job done. He’s always there for his friends and family, and will go to great lengths to ensure their safety. Here’s one guy you really want to sit down and share a beer with... pity he’s fictional.


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the game was supposed to release on 27th may after a long delay, but still hasn't. so i had to get it imported from australia from some gaming shop. i had to pay an extra 500 bucs. but the game rocks on the 360. this is the first game i ever bought for it.
klb @ May 28,2008
finally finished gta 4

presentation wise, its fantastic, the city is the star
people say gfx is kinda ok, but i feel its fantastic, sure textures are blurry but the sheer amount of detail is amazing, the most detailed level design u can gorge upon, this one time in a crap street i saw a cute grafiti, never saw it anywhere else, dunno if these guys used a random city simulator or designed each and every street, and the lightin, my god wonderful, gr8 wrk R*
start to end the presentation is spot on, the cutscenes, the characters all top notch

now the story is pretty mediocre, there isnt any, u play some immigrant searching for sum1, who ironically isnt even in america and do crap jobs to help ur cousin in need. the thing is who do owe money too, all these people u kill eventually, still its so lame to see the motivation of the lead character u play, all the missions gimme money
for wut, u dnt even lend the money to ur cousin, wtf
in the end u find ur guy and u kill guys who betray u
as in all gta games the story is presented via the cutscenes and missions. the cutscenes though beautifully presented are very lame, they offer titbits bout the other characters, in a 3 min cutscene the mission is told only in the last 30secs, rest all filler crap, there are so many that u dnt bother to watch anymore

i also feel the gta humour isnt there anymore, the radio station jokes are ok, nothing like maurez chavez or laslows new beginnings from the old games. just or unjust is cool, most of the jokes are just stale, same goes for the story
the radio automatically adjusts to a start of a show if ure playing that after a long time, which is really irritating coz u listen to the same crap again
as far as the tracks go , i liked vladiostock fm, rest all have 1 r 2 good tracks but not all, in the end i connected a usb and listened to my own music
but on the upside, the street comments from the npc's are funny , but overall a letdown

u do get a lotta money in the game, but wut u do with it, hmm pay medical bills and buy hotdogs, thats it, gta3 had this issue, vice had business u can buy and sa had clothes and other crap but here, nothing, its so funny in each mission ur niko bellic begs like a dog for getting money

now to the most irritating part the missions,
there are nearly 90 odd missions of which only a handful i found interesting
75% of the missions are same, yea same, let me elaborate

u travel to the mission marker and get mission after a long cutscene, then travel taking him/her with u to the taget location. now the target is either 1-2 guys or a bunch, if its a bunch u elimiate all but the main guy, now the main guys starts to go mobile and u chase, because of the super game scripting for most of the time hes in a tank meanin all ur bullets does nothing to him (funny thing even if u can shoot tires, it has no effect, in one mission i shot both tires in a bike and he still had better handling than me)
now during the chase all sort of stupid scripted stuff happens were cars block u in junction or cars flip towards u, and afer a very long chase, the superhuman opponent suddenly has a lapse and crashes, now he starts running, now u abandon ur companion and chase him until his death. then u return back to ur companion and then drive him back home, phew
im not joking 75% of the missions are like this
either chase or kill lotta guys and then chase, very very irritating, wtf R*, wtf is this
the missions wich are differnt are very easy wich is even more irritating
as mentioned b4 travel time is 90%, not to mention the retarded traffic ai coupled with super realistic driving, this game is a nightmare to play and if u fail u repeat
i agree some missions are nice but they make up 5-10% thats it, rest all same retarded crap

now u might think gta is not only about missions u can do other stuff, yea read on
races are the lamest in the series, the stupid racing ai is still there, they wnt even make the first turn, also they come in suv's while i have a super car, so yea i get 1 lap leads all the time
all the races are laps, retards didnt even include a marathon race like vice city
next up assasinations, according to R* assaninations mean again chasing guys or killing lotta people, yes u do the same crap again!! , this one time it asked to kill 3 people, so i went there and scouted all teh buildings so i can snipe, from 1 building i can kill2 then from another the next, cool i thought, in ur face r* im smarter, but once i killed the first guy, the rst wholed up in teh building, so u go in and kill all, gr8 assasination indeed
then u have relationships, with buddies and then girls, the minigames are cool but thers no real challenge here, the romance stuff is crap, if u crash in a bike, they break up with u, if u dial dump girl by mistake in ur mobo but cancel immediately even then call goes thro and ure dumped

this is by far the most irritating game i have played on the xbox
wtf r*, wtf reviewers, wtf people how can u all enjoy this, how can u all rate this 10/10, do tell me why
i know i am overreacting but wtf man, this is gta not saints row or just cause, heck i enjoyed saints row so much, never in a sandbox game have i felt travelling such a miserable chore and dnt throw "its realistic" crap to me, i loved mafia and the cars there does 10 miles an hour
this game clearly suffers from the "assasins greed" syndrome, a gorgeously designed world with retarded missions, there was so much potential here, was there any real need for 3 islands, even 1 would have doen the trick, it was soo detailed, they cud ave focussed more on teh missions.
R* for ur next game, dnt design another city, this one will do fine.
7/10
Madan @ May 27,2008
Nope you can't get the Limited edition GTA IV PS3 pack in India...as of now.
Avinash Bali @ May 21,2008
avi can u plz answer my question!!!!!!!!!
Suman Saurabh @ May 20,2008
i have one question .

can we get limited edition pack of GTA 4 for ps3 in india ?? if we can then from where ?

becoz my friends want it he has a ps3 ?
Suman Saurabh @ May 18,2008
i meant spot on!!
mparshanth @ May 14,2008
awesome review mr avinash bali. your reviews are always spot and detailed.Keep up with the good work:)
mprashanth911 @ May 14,2008
i have to say hells ya to kennyc comment the game is pretty sweet and i like it alot more the the past games, yes the game has some problems but alround its a pretty good game, good job Rockstar you win again.
Gamertag: xXllg Fury @ May 13,2008
No matter what , the game kicks assssssss.
kennyc @ May 13,2008
Now because of the install on the hard disk the loading time on the ps3 is far better than that on the 360. now people are talking about he new missions which will be available for download on the 360 and the smother graphics make the 360 version a better buy but personally I prefer the ps3 version as it has a smother game play, better load times, free online play versus the paid service of the live , plus the feel of the game pad in my hand. The whole look of it on the ps3 gives it a more realistic feel versus the plastic smooth unreal feel on the 360. i don’t own any of the above mentioned consoles but have played both the versions intensively in a gaming parlor, played both the versions side by side and found the ps3 version a winner. Ps I don’t own a ps3 but own a copy of GTA4 for it.
kennyc @ May 13,2008
well there is no definitive answer to your question it varies from person to person, but to put it into perspective the 360 has 2xAA and ps3 has none so the graphics look more smooth as compared to the ps3 which adds a blur filter to soften the edges plus the ps3 has an added color filter which gives a warmth to the overall look of the game, the frame rate is better on the ps3 as it has no AA where as the 360 suffers from major slow ups during extensive explosions, try pilling up cars in a single place and blow them up, it looks like ur watching a slideshow , the ps3 doesnt suffer from this problem too this extent. then you have the annoying pop ups buildings cars ect now the ps3 doesnt suffer from this as it installs the game on the hard disk while it is a regular feature on the 360.
kennyc @ May 13,2008
which is better the 360 or the ps3 ver of the game. a lot of people are saying the 360 ver. looks better but the ps3 one plays better as it has a blurred look to it where as the 360 is much sharper. so which is a better one ?????
confused @ May 13,2008
Honestly, I think the Radio Stations are very good. The very fact that you may not listen to hardcore Punk or Dark Ambient music makes you say such things.
And if that isn't variety, then what is? Def Leppard and Rancid on the same radio station? Is that all the variety you want?
I mean an Eastern European Radio Station for a game that's dominating US market is not clever, but hell, it fits the character! and that's the best part about GTA IV, a bigger, better Soundtrack.
Anirudh @ May 12,2008
its a good game with many new features like mobile and cover taking
sac grover @ May 11,2008
IT,s a totalyyy realistic game. I can spend my whole life playin this game. hats off to rockstar games.
Gaurav Tanwar @ May 09,2008
is it avilablle for the ps2......
Amit @ May 06,2008
iam buying an xbox360 just to play this game....wheeeee!!!!
klb @ May 06,2008
price 2499 lol

don't care abt price.just release the dam game now..any news on release date [india] ?
udit @ May 06,2008
Hey wtf..from where u guys got the gta 4 copy :( :( to review gta 4 ?
udit @ May 05,2008
it's an fab game n it's graphic's r too kool
rohan @ May 05,2008
i am very fond of games mostly rockstar ...very cooooll guys game "I am big trouble dont make me proove that"
harpal @ May 05,2008
good game
manoj @ May 05,2008
When will its PC version be launched in India. What is the minimum PC system requirements for this game....
N:$h:+h @ May 04,2008
i am bored of the vehical contols already.
Rajj @ May 04,2008
I want this game
Sukhman @ May 04,2008
Yeah.. Multiplayer review will be up as soon as GTA IV becomes available in India.
Avinash Bali @ May 04,2008
Finally a review from you guys!!! I don't have a console yet, but got to play it on my friends PS3 ..although the game delivers,i'll agree about the negative pts u made..the driving feels kinda floaty and yes i want to listen to some some meshuggah or opeth while running over pedestrians.. BTW u gonna do a separate review for MP??
PC @ May 04,2008
Sounds perfect to me as far as games are concerned. I cannot ask for more. Looks like time for me to get a PS3
Ratan Koduru @ May 03,2008

Genre:
Action
Developer:
Rockstar Games
Also available on:
PS3
System req:
N/A
Price:
2499
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