Grand Theft Auto IV Review
- Posted May 7th, 2008 at 16:19 EDT by Eric Blattberg
- 23,989 views
- 71 Comments
Review Score
- PSU Review Score
- 9.5
- Avg. user review score:
- 8.9
Summary
One of the greatest video game stories ever told. It may have its flaws, but it is the most ambitious game made to date and, without a doubt, the best game so far this generation.
We like
- The movie-caliber storyline
- The stylistically unprecedented recreation of New York City
- The vast online experience
We dislike
- The slight framerate dips and pop-in
- The lack of a checkpoint system
See PSU's review on Metacritic & GameRankings
Grand, theft, and auto. These three words, when separate, hold little weight. When conjoined, however, they represent pushing boundaries, confronting the man and provoking society at large. I’m talking of course about the most innovative and controversial franchise to date, Grand Theft Auto. With over 70 million units sold worldwide, the series is one of the most successful in the history of video games. It continues thriving to this day, with its latest entry, Grand Theft Auto IV, arriving with remarkably hefty expectations from millions of prospective owners. Is it even possible for a game to live up to such insane hype? To that, I respond with a resounding yes.
As you surely already know, Niko Bellic has one troubled soul. A veteran of the Bosnian civil war, this immigrant is lured to America by his cousin Roman, who spewed incessant lies about his supposedly extraordinary and glamorous life in the United States. After arriving, Niko (rather despondently) takes refuge in a modern day Liberty City and begins his own search for the American dream.
This search just happens to involve an abundance of car-jacking, gun-toting and cash-grossing. In fact, these three occurrences tend to transpire every few minutes. Niko just happens to be a determined guy who isn’t concerned if he lives or dies; if it pays, he’s the man for the job. What I love about Niko isn’t his awesome accent or unwavering daring, though; his flaws define him. His emotions manifest themselves throughout the plot in a subtle yet dramatic performance. He expresses his sorrow, he makes jokes, he becomes irritated – simply put, he’s not a cardboard cutout, he’s a human being. Not that the other characters are any less brilliant, but you develop an inexplicable attachment to Niko during the course of the game that you’ll discover yourself deeply concerned with his fate. This is an achievement in every sense of the word.
There is one more living, breathing being that must be mentioned, and it’s not human. Liberty City is an unprecedented, near-perfect recreation -- in a stylistic sense -- of New York City. The streets are covered in grime, the populace is plentiful and no two buildings appear alike. The city, not as massive as San Andreas or as modest as Vice City, contains more detail and care than both areas united. Familiar landmarks abound, from the Statue of Happiness (holding a coffee cup in lieu of a torch) to a rendition of Times Square as extraordinary as the actual place itself. The grand set pieces are accompanied by an ample amount of highly detailed interior areas that are easily accessible and free of loading, whether entering or departing. Integrate indoor and outdoor areas into a single seamless world by dashing the Cabaret Club to catch a show or heading back to your apartment to watch the latest episode of ‘Republican Space Rangers,’ a shining satire of both Halo and current politics.
It’s uncanny how lively the city can be. As you stroll down the sidewalks of Liberty City, you’ll encounter groups of friends having coherent conversations, citizens walking to work in the morning chatting vociferously on their cell phones, denizens hanging out in alleyways and the like. Run into a person and knock them over and they could have a myriad of different reactions. Is this person an inherently irate individual and searching for an opportunity to start a fight? Or is this a person intrinsically frightened by strangers and seeking to avoid conflict at all cost? Perhaps they’re in the middle of the road and will simply proceed to curse at you angrily in their native language (apparently Niko is “una puta” and several Chinese phrases I couldn’t even begin to comprehend). The inhabitants of Liberty City aren’t on, say, Shenmue level, but then again, that’s an entirely unjustified comparison of dozens to millions. They’re not always perfect, but the general public is as vibrant as diverse as Liberty City itself. It’s apparent that the folks over at Rockstar put an insane amount of effort into every asset of Liberty City. It shows.
Outside of the physical world comes the nearly as meaningful universe of media. Rockstar has always nailed the city radio stations and it’s no different in this iteration. The assorted stations ... (continued on next page)
Comments
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snake_eater |
MetalGearHMN- 4:40pm BST - May 7th, 2008
- 5
i think 9.5 is too high, do you guys just like to run around blowing things up. compare the content to san andreas. after you're done with the storyline what else is there left to do? when you have $100000000 what can you spend it on? NOTHING, except two clothing stores and some fake dates. No property to buy
No cars to buy
No car modifications to buy
Small collection of clothes
Small collection of guns
That being said, it was a fun game and I enjoyed playing it, but it didnt' live up to the hype content wise. The gameplay was excellent though, and so were the physics
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I95SOUTH |
I95SOUTH- 4:41pm BST - May 7th, 2008
- 6
Cons
- - Slight framerate dips, pop-in
- - Shooting mechanics could benefit from minor tweaking
- - Lack of a checkpoint system
I'm sorry, but who ever wrote this is an off person. When did gta ever had a checkpoint in any of the gta games. All I remember is safehouse. the shooting is great, and who ever looks at a frame that hard. I think that the view of the city at night from one of those tall building is nice( i know I sound a little sofe right now) But its one of the best game ever. 1.gta4 2.shenmue 3. FF7
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Dreamseller21 |
Dreamseller21- 4:50pm BST - May 7th, 2008
- 7
I didnt find anything wrong with the shooting mechanics and checkpoint system? after you sucessfully complete a mission it autosaves and if you fail you can easily restart it.
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DARKBLADE1 |
DARKBLADE2- 5:04pm BST - May 7th, 2008
- 8
in multiplayer, y does your moneynot save when you exit? i have to start all over again every time. its really annoying
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Odium_Generis_Humani
- 5:10pm BST - May 7th, 2008
- 9
How can it get a perfect score with its bugs? Maybe the 360 version can get a 10, but not the PS3 one. The "cons" section is dead on. You don't give a 10 to games that suffer from that, period. Not only that, I just ASSUMED that you could buy property, I didn't know you couldn't! This is just hype. How do you give a 10 to a game that took a content step BACKWARDS. 9.5 is fine (if not high). I KNEW IGN was just a bunch of blind fanboys. Those are serious issues, man! I also noticed that they wait longer to post a review than other sites. You know what that means don't you? Other sites are giving you reviews with little time playing the game. I remember IGN's 5.5 for MLB the Show 07 (total BS). Early review...the guy didn't even play it. Good on you PSU, kudos.
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I have MORE respect for this site now that it was bold enough to point out these things. I didn't know what to think about their reviews until now. Go PSU!
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zombieking36
- 5:31pm BST - May 7th, 2008
- 12
LOL, it should have been a ten! Go by fun man, not popins and framerate issues that are scarce compared to the 360 vers.
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Die-romantic |
Demon_King- 5:49pm BST - May 7th, 2008
- 16
8.0 it should've been Many features on San Andreas left out No abilty to buy properties WTF! Could've been on ps3 but no Microsoft ruin it with the crashbox pleasecutme H3ll planes could have been possible greedy B@stards Microsoft: your frustration our fault Microsoft: your potential our passion Im now waiting for the review of Iron Man which got 3.8 by a bunch of idiots @ ign
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Xdeth |
Xdeth- 8:09pm BST - May 7th, 2008
- 20
I love this game and think the 9.5 is right on. I've been playing GTA sinc it first came on on the PC and this game pushes the bar higher. The one thing I disagree with is the check point system. It saves auto after any mission or event. What more do you want? You want it to save it right as you go to pull the trigger? That is someone who is just to picky. When it comes to GTA their are 3 types of people. Those who are true fans, those who are posers and buy it for the hype, and those who will never like it.
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Babiloo |
XavierHarkonnen- 8:38pm BST - May 7th, 2008
- 23
not perfect but still great, and why does it matter if its 10/10? its just a number and their opinion, chill out guys there are downsides to the game althoguh checkpoints are not one, thats why theres autosaves :P. there are minor framerate problems to be sure and the shooting could use some work. also seeing as GTA:SA was released in 2004, dont you think they could have drastically improved the graphics over 4 years? anyways nuff said.
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Psypathic |
Psypathic- 8:57pm BST - May 7th, 2008
- 24
Emm am I the only person who thinks this game is a step backwards not forwards for GTA.They took what made GTA a GTA game and removed it.Yes it looks pretty and the story is ok if not pointless overall after you finish it.But the GTA feel is lost the little touches that made GTA fun.No property to buy.Lack of clothing shop sand different styles.Aiming is Terrible.Auto aim online(WTF).Framerate dips.If this game had a different name and not that of GTA it would of gotten a 8.5 maximum.Say it like it is, this is less of a game since GTA:VC back in 2002.Funny thing is this feels more like a GTA clone than an Actual GTA game.Most online modes is an after thought at best.Co-op missions take 5-10 minutes to finish tops.Even on hard they are easy.Dont get me wrong its a fairly decent game but a GTA it is not.
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NoMercy666 |
Ask me...- 9:35pm BST - May 7th, 2008
- 28
I agree with 9.5, rating shouldn't be how much better it is than other games. This game doesn't deserve a ten, it has CONS. It would only deserve a ten if it was PERFECT, which it isn't.
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evilmonkey501 |
evilmonkey501- 9:58pm BST - May 7th, 2008
- 29
They left out a few simple things that would really have polished it off....car mods..property buying...garages....(i dislike my curb parking...)....for some reason, I was expecting more little stuff...but, this game is great otherwise.
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chomperbull
- 11:35pm BST - May 7th, 2008
- 31
i didn't like the game i felt the graphics were cheezy or blurry. the plot was the same as the old games. had this been a ps exclusive im sure the 50gig disc would have given the game better graphics and more depth into a characters actions. overall this game was missing alot of things that couldn't get compressed into an 8gig disc. in my opinion this game deserves an 8 since it had nothng innovative
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ps3ruler24 |
crazymofo24- 11:39pm BST - May 7th, 2008
- 32
was the game really that hard for you that you couldnt just restart the mission? having a checkpoint system is completely idiotic.
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AclayPS3
- 11:57pm BST - May 7th, 2008
- 33
I agree with the Review Score. I don't care what anybody says, GTA4 DOES NOT deserve a 10/10. The typical things that are in GTA games like Pop-in, and Framerate drop are in GTA4. And I was somewhat disappointed with the graphics. I know that graphics aren't everything in a game, but whenever I compare the graphics of Uncharted to GTA4, it's like night and day and whenever you get used to seeing a certain level of graphical detail, it's just hard to adjust to something that's not as good looking.
But, the gameplay in GTA4 is very fun. The story in GTA4 is "alright" but basically you just end up doing other peoples dirty work and they pay you... and that's really a lot of what the story consists of.
If I was to rate GTA4 on a scale from 1-10, I would give it a 9.0/10. Anybody that gives GTA4 a 10/10 isn't looking at the facts and getting too caught up in the hype to realize the truth because how in the heck does GTA4 deserve a 10/10 with slight framerate issues and some Pop-in? If a PS3 exclusive like Resistance 2 had framerate issues and Pop-in, the review score would probably be instanty bumped down by 0.5 or 1 point because we all know how critical the gaming industry (Gamespot, Gametrailers) is when it comes to PS3 exclusives.. I know that my opinion may not be the most popular, but I speak my mind.
I'm glad that PSU.com didn't give GTA4 a 10/10 just because almost every other reviewer did.
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Sorgan
- 1:25am BST - May 8th, 2008
- 34
I honestly think the 9.5 is quite generous. For a game to get that high of a rating, it would have to be one of the best games I've ever played and also would have great re-playability.
I haven't even finished yet and I'm finding myself getting quite bored with it. If GTA 4 had of been PS3 exclusive with the extras that they cut out from SA then it would definitely be a better game in my opinion.
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Smegwitch |
smegwitch- 4:22am BST - May 8th, 2008
- 37
I'm really enjoying GTA 4. Taking my time and soaking up all the hard work Rockstar put into the game. It hink alot of these comments are misplaced in terms of stepping backwards from GTA San An. if you think about it all the changes make sense tot he story being told. If you wanted more guns etc go and play Saints Row. With the level of thought and execution in a world created on so many levels i think the game is worth the score given.
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D3v1lwqer23 |
smegwitch- 4:59am BST - May 8th, 2008
- 38
Ok to argue their cons. 1. Framerate...its a giant freakin world with no loading screen...what did you expect exactly? 2. The shooting system has been rebuilt, and took little to no learning curve. 3. What other GTA had a checkpoint system? The challenge is to start over if you are "knocked out", thats part of the game, man you guys are more nitpicky than IGN.
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chelseapaul |
ChelseaPaul- 5:29am BST - May 8th, 2008
- 39
good review, its deffinatley not a 10, i bet metal gear will be better but on sites like IGN it will not get a 10 because of minor problems, so why should GTA be any diffirent!!!
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Neameto |
Neameto- 5:50am BST - May 8th, 2008
- 40
Nice review PSU. Thanks for reviewing the game a rate it according to your standards and not following the ´´perfect score`` other sites did. I dont thinks this game deserves a 9.5 though. I think its way too high considering the gameplay mechanics and the step back from features introduced in San Andreas.
This games is like Dragon Ball Z!!! With ever new console release they makes 3 games for it. One ends in the Cell saga, the 2nd ends with the Buu saga and the 3rd ends with all the characters from the original story plus the extra chars form the movies. They did this with the PS2 and they are going to do it in the PS3.
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itr855pr |
Sotehhh- 7:33am BST - May 8th, 2008
- 41
i think the game is overrated, it did not feel next gen to me... i mean i felt i was playing a cut-down version of san andreas with slightly better graphics. The player models are awful i mean look at their arms they look like mannequins... the characters do not look life like whatsoever a huge dissapointment. Yes it is a fun game, but the lack of check points is a killer... Yes GTA- San Andreas Had Checkpoints, everytime you took on a mission and you failed instead of starting the mission from the beginning (if you had to drive logways, it gave you an option to skip the driving and get going with the action!, remember that not all of us are video game freaks who can be 24/7 on a tv playing games and everytime you take on a driving mission and you fail it takes you about 10 minutes to get from point A to point B. 10 + 10 + 10= 30 mins wasted and this is not CHALLENGE...I see no challenge on driving from here to there.. i See a waste of unnecessary time, maybe they did it to make the game feel longer.. example of this The Bank Robbery Mission). i think the game is a slimmed down version of san andreas, no properties, no cars, no modifications, a huge dissapointment. This is a waste of space on a bluray..and all of us know that if rockstar would have kept this game exclusive to ps3 it would have been much better more content etc, now weve got to live with spending 10 bucks more or whatever money they want to get from us on psn upgrades! I liked the game... but i did not loved it ... if i would rate it i would give it an 8!
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1MoreRound
- 7:40am BST - May 8th, 2008
- 42
U have to realise the fact that this game is on de xbox 360 aswell whose discs are only 9 gigs...this is a technological masterpiece.....to be able to fit all that content on to a dvd and only have slight problems with framerates and pop in. Rockstar have also admitted that de ps3 version runs smoother and i'm nearly 100% sure that the DLC for this game has been confirmed 4 ps3 also. This is a fair review imo as some features from SA have been left out and i'm guessing its because of lack of space. If ps3 sales continue to grow, i believe de new GTA will be an exclusive as if they want to continue raising the bar 4 this game they're gonna need de space of Blu-Ray.
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itr855pr |
Sotehhh- 7:45am BST - May 8th, 2008
- 43
1more round i agree with you. But i believe that thanx to the 360 the games 10 point score got tarnished. We demand more content on bluray, if we do not get more content on those discs then, why in the world i spent 100 bucks more on a system when the 360 gets the same content... i dont get it. Hopefully in the future we will see the light.. lol I think the PS3 holds some misteries that developers still have not found.. :) i will keep praying :)
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psycho_mantis |
makaveli_71- 10:37am BST - May 8th, 2008
- 44
9.7 is just right, but its no way near a 10/10......MGS4 could be.
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woodcock_ps3 |
WALL-MARTshinobi- 11:35am BST - May 8th, 2008
- 45
to start things off i thank psu for giving this game a 9.5 because turly only a game with high calibur deserves a 10/10. by that i mean no cons even if they are as minor as frame rate or lack of checkpoint sys. but to all of u who think this is a 10/10 go play vice city or gta3 then say which is realy inovative or fun, these games pushed the bar. like everyone els who said gta4 took a step back i cant agree with u guys more, because i was a bit let down on a game like this. dont get me wrong its good but if look back on other last gen titles they make this game look like nothing because Resedent Eive4 and Ninja Gaiden are far better games then this so to those who think this game is the best look at it again, in another perspective dont look at the hype or the name gta look at it as a game.
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christianpachon |
crisisaxis- 1:47pm BST - May 9th, 2008
- 48
9.5 hey man is a 10 and everybody knows it
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bracomadar |
bracomadar- 3:01pm BST - May 9th, 2008
- 49
There's really only three things I was let down over.
1. I'm having trouble playing on some of the multiplayer games, like TeamDeathmatch. It keeps kicking me off saying I'm lost connection to a player. I can join a party and play with my friends, but I feel like I'm missing out.
2. The music in the game could have been better. There are some good songs there, but for the most part, not as good as some of the previous games IMO. Hopefully sometime in the near future we will be able to play the music from our PS3 on there.
3. There is not a whole lot on modifying your character. While Niko is a cool character, the poor guy looks like a meth addict. Give him some more clothes, some options on some tattoos, jewelry, or different hair styles. Can we get this guy a facelift? This guy looks worse than Steve Buscemi. No wonder I'm having such a hard time gettin' any with Kate. The mulitplayer options on customizing your character are kind of slim too. I know there are a bunch of different looking civilians in the game, so why can't we play as one of them?
Maybe we'll get some awesome update someday, but other than that, the game is still loads of fun and is still worth worth what I payed for it. It's not perfect, but it's pretty darn close.
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