Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #207 in Video Games
• Brand: Rockstar Games
• Model: 15782621
• Published on: 2008-04
• Released on: 2008-04-29
• ESRB Rating: Mature
• Platform: PLAYSTATION 3
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: .59" h x 5.42" w x 6.74" l, .30 pounds

Features

• Carry on the Grand Theft Auto tradition playing through the single player campaign as Niko Bellic
• Get cars and other modes of transportation anyway you can
• Interact with various colorful characters who give you various missions to engage in
• Engage in multiplayer challenges ranging from cover matches to shoot-outs
• Game Rated 'M' due to Intense Violence, Blood, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content, Partial Nudity, Use of Drugs and Alcohol

Amazon.com
What does the American Dream mean today?

For Niko Bellic, fresh off the boat from Europe, it is the hope he can escape his past. For his cousin, Roman, it is the vision that together they can find fortune in Liberty City, gateway to the land of opportunity. As they slip into debt and are dragged into a criminal underworld by a series of shysters, thieves and sociopaths, they discover that the reality is very different from the dream in a city that worships money and status, and is heaven for those who have them and a living nightmare for those who don’t.

Beginning with the 1997 release of the original Grand Theft Auto, the GTA series has been one of the most prolific, controversial and down right entertaining franchises in video games history. This pedigree of success guarantees that the highly anticipated eleventh game in the series, Grand Theft Auto IV, will garner at least as much attention if not more.

Return to Liberty City.

The dream as Niko expected it. View larger.

There's always a catch. View larger.

But some skills are international. View larger.

The Plot
Grand Theft Auto IV is a brand new adventure in the GTA universe following the experiences of Nikolai "Niko" Bellic, a new immigrant from an undisclosed eastern European country whose troubled pa st and the persuasion of his cousin Roman have brought him to the fictional Liberty City. Unfortunately, Niko’s search for the American Dream and a much needed fresh start, hits an immediate snag when the rags to riches story Roman spun to pique Niko's interest is exposed as not only a complete fabrication, but a ploy to enlist Niko’s well-known skills as a tough guy against the ample list of enemies clamoring for Roman’s debt-ridden blood.

Because Roman is the only person Niko knows in Liberty City he begrudgingly accepts his role as Roman’s protector despite the deception. But as time goes on Niko comes into his own, and his experience on the wrong side of the tracks proves more valuable than he could have ever imagined as he fights for survival and later supremacy on the crime ridden streets of Liberty City.

Game Environments
Based on several of the boroughs of New York City and parts of New Jersey, Liberty City, familiar to players of previous games in the series, has been entirely redesigned for GTA IV. Players can expect visible detail down to the weeds growing in the cracks in the sidewalk, cars and buildings of visibly different ages and a much greater level if verticality in the buildings and bridges that they are able to explore as Niko moves through the city streets. In addition, pedestrians in GTA IV are much more realistic. No longer simply moving cardboard cutouts, these NPCs are intelligent, modern, human representations that laugh, cry, eat, drink, use cell phones and ATMs, and talking amongst themselves regardless of Niko’s interaction with them.

Gameplay
Historically GTA games have focused heavily on mission-based play, requiring successful completion of fixed tasks in order for players to progress through the game, but this has changed to a great extent in GTA IV. Players will experience an entirely new and exciting emphasis centered on the blending of on-mission and off-mission play, resulting not only in an increased sense of realism, but more interesting and unrestricted gameplay.

Features
Aside from the car jacking and a detailed city environment here are the new features for GTA IV:

• Improved combat system - Now you can use cover and also a target lock system, which allows you to take out targets with greater ease and accuracy. Plus, you can engage in some hand-to-hand combat if you can't get your hands on a piece quick enough.
• Cell phone - Not just for basic phone calls anymore. Use your in-game cell phone to receive missions via SMS, snap photos, and ZiT (tag) songs that can be downloaded exclusively on Amazon.com/mp3.
• Free time - In between missions you can take advantage of "me" time. There are gentleman's clubs, comedy clubs, bowling alleys, and bars, which all house unique activities.
• Take a break from the storyline - A variety of side missions allow you to help run a car service, "borrow" cop cars, assassinate targets, help solve problems for those on the street, or take to the air with stunt jumps that are scattered all over the city.
• Control your own fate - Throughout the game choice moments will arrive causing you to make a decision that will affect relationships and money.

Multiplayer
Give Niko a rest and create your own multiplayer "hero." GTA has added multiplayer modes allowing you to take your creation out to play online in competitive, co-op, and free form modes. Competitive mode has you fighting against the cops, jacking cars, or racing to finish odd jobs. Co-op challenges you and your friends with various tasks including Hangman's NOOSE where you are responsible for escorting a wanted kingpin to a safe extraction point. Freeform lets you and 15 others lose on Liberty City. Use this mode to hit up the bar and play virtual darts versus each other or head out to the streets and set up your own drag races. If you can dream it, you can do it in Freeform mode.

ZiT: We'll Spot The Song For You
When playing Grand Theft Auto IV, if you hear a song that you are interested in buying as an MP3, all you have to do is dial ZiT-555-0100 on your in-game mobile phone and a text message will be sent to you with the name of the artist and the title of the track. The next time you log in at the Rockstar Games Social Club, you will find 30-second previews of all the songs you have ZiT'ed while playing the game. You can add them to your basket there and click to purchase at Amazon MP3, or you can find them all at www.amazon.com/gtamusic.

Customer Reviews

A Masterpiece. Video Games as Art.
Let it be said that I've never liked GTA. But I decided to get GTA4 after reading several articles about the change in direction they were taking and my god, has it paid off. This game is PHENOMENAL.

The Good:
Graphics-
Even though this game is running at 640p and is upscaled on PS3, this is a BEAUTIFUL game. It has some of the best and most natural looking water and light effects I've ever seen that appear photorealistic at times. I often stop and just stare at the waves or park and watch the sun hitting the road as it sets.

Story-
The voice acting is top notch and the cast has some truly memorable characters. This is one of the few games where I actually have an emotional response when things happen to the main characters...which is no small feat. Sometimes you have to make choices whether someone lives or dies and I found myself really struggling with the decision I thought was appropriate to my character. The pacing is great too. Just as you are getting satisfied with a particular location, you get access to a new islands and contacts so things always feel fresh.

Gameplay-
Thankfully, they eliminated all the things that made past GTAs tedious. No more going to the gym to lift weights, no more being forced to drive twenty minutes across town to do a mission. Finally, you can take a cab and opt to skip the driving when you are in a rush. They've also added a much needed cover system where tapping R1 will let you take cover behind virtually any object. This leads to some truly epic shootouts that will literally have you diving for cover.

They also made your cell phone the menu for the game and you rarely have to leave the game world immersion. Just call up your friends for missions or hanging out and watch Niko talk to them while he walks around the city. You can even buy ringtones, themes, and even get a camera phone and organizer.

There are also 200 music tracks on a dozen radio stations with great music and talk shows on all of them. You can waste hours watching TV at your house, going on dates to see shows or play pool and darts, or you can fool around on dozens of webpages at the internet cafe. Basically, there is a ton of depth here that will give the game dozens of hours of extra traction.

Multiplayer-
Just whip out your cell phone in the single player and hop right in to over 14 online game modes. Imagine running around New York with 15 friends and playing paintball in the streets. To just be able to hop into the whole of Liberty City and do ANYTHING is so fun and chaotic words can't describe it. Just last night, I joined Free Mode, where there are no rules. I proceeded to blow up 3 cop cars and run over a flock of pedestrians before getting plowed over by another player who had stolen a commuter bus and was on a rampage in Times Square. That was just the first 10 minutes. And I was having a blast that even my wife couldn't turn away from.

The Bad:
Other than minor framerate and A.I. glitches, my biggest complaint is that the game does some unnecessary forced loading. When you die on a mission instead of just asking you if you want to retry it, you die, it loads a respawn at the hospital and THEN you are asked to retry the mission, which leads to another load screen.

Every time you launch the game, you are forced to sit through a 2 minute intro movie. I suspect this is to distract you while the game loads in the background more than it is to set a mood, but it would still have been nice to be able to skip it sometimes.

Other than that, the clothing selection feature remains terrible. You have no way to quickly cycle through your wardrobe without having to spend 2-5 seconds loading each new outfit. If you're like me, you bought every outfit as soon as you could only to learn that you had to cycle through every single one anytime you wanted to change clothes. And other than buying clothes, money has absolutely no value in this game. For some reason, they didn't include a casino or the option to buy property, so you amass all this wealth and have virtually nothing to spend it on at the end of the game's main story.

The Verdict:
That said, the sheer freedom and realism of this game signal a landmark in gaming and anyone who likes video games should buy this game. It is the most fun I've ever had with a video game and provides 100+ hours of entertainment for sixty bucks. Despite a few flaws, the amount of content, fun, and depth of this game make it virtually flawless and worth your money.

Not as wonderful as I had hoped

Usually, when they make a highly anticipated sequel to a much-loved video game franchise, the list of available activities goes up. It seems to me that with GTA IV, that list actually went down. Anyone agree?
I waited anxiously for GTA IV just like many other gamers. I have only been playing it for a few days, and I am already 50% of the way through. After playing GTA: San Andreas for a few days, I was thrilled to discover that I was only about 20% of the way through and still had not revealed the entire map! More detail at the sake of less space to explore = "Looks great. Sure wish it was bigger."
One of the most exciting moments in my video gaming history was discovering that you could finally steal the airplanes in GTA: San Andreas! One of the most disappointing moments in my video gaming history was discovering that they had eliminated this from GTA IV! What a perfect opportunity to make the flight ceiling higher and the destinations more interesting! Sorry, turns out it's back down to one smallish city. Plus, realizing that you could jump of of planes and sky-dive was freakin' sweet! Not happening this time around.
The controls for the various vehicles seem to have become more difficult. (More realistic?) I preferred being able to grab the handbrake and execute crisp turns and 180's to the new "touch the handbrake and spin out" scheme that exists now. And the motorcycles? It seems they've switched the reasonably grippy tires they normally used with tractionless rings of plastic.
And where have the fire-truck and ambulance missions gone? What about the ability to swim under water? Why haven't I been able to carry around a samurai sword or a chainsaw? Where is the flame-thrower? And what a great location the new Liberty City would have been for a jet-pack!
GTA IV seems to be a lot of "been there, done that" with very little new to keep the legions of fans happy. It will sell a billion copies because of the name it carries, but overall, this game is a disappointment.

A Thinking Man's GTA?
Just when you think you have Rockstar Games and their legendary Grand Theft Auto series figured out, they pitch you one heck of a curve. Speaking as a guy who spent so much time running amok in Vice City and San Andreas that I practically had to file tax returns there, I have been consistently surprised by the depth of play in GTA IV. Yes, it's true that the character modeling and some of the action moves are a little choppy, but most of the game looks great. Far more interesting, however, is the fact that this is not a video game per se - it borders on an interactive movie. The crime and violence in fuzzy-lit, pastel colored Vice City is practically cartoonish compared to the gritty reality of life in Liberty City in GTA IV. You're not just a thug with a bat trying to decide which car to lift, you're an immigrant with plenty of emotional baggage, forced into a series of moral quandries the outcomes of which carry implications throughout the entire game. Things you do even turn up later on the in-game radio stations!

Every generation of game console, some game is proclaimed the next coming, be it of graphics, or gameplay, or some other measurable category. GTA IV is different. You can wallow in the muck of street violence and prostitution as always, but there's a deeper moral play going on that feels unlike anything else I've encountered not only in GTA, but in video games in general. Rockstar Games may have finally located that most ephemeral of experiences - one equal parts game and cinema, without belonging entirely to either. It's going to be interesting to see how many critics and politicians seize on only the overt, adult content, without grasping how far more creative and artistic this "game" is than your average deadening FPS or racing game. Rockstar Games is to be commended for what truly deserves to be called "genius."