Grand Theft Auto IV for Xbox 360 Reviews by Gamers

At this point, I really have no choice but to say that all the critical praise this game got was due to nothing but hype. I just don't understand how GTA4 can be classified by some sites as THE best game of all time.

The strongest point, as always, is the presentation. The writing is spot on with great choreography and voice acting. Whoever is heading Rockstar's production team has a long career ahead of him.

But that's as far as the praise goes. As a game, GTA4 falls apart in so many aspects.

I held a grudge against Twilight Princess for having a painfully long opening, giving tutorials for upwards of 30 minutes. GTA4 has you doing tutorial missions for FOUR HOURS. You have missions teaching you how to drive, use gadgets, fist fight, take cover, use guns… and it's not in the same vein as previous games. GTA4 assumes you have no experience with the franchise whatsoever, and runs you through every little thing in the easiest way possible.

What's worse is that none of the missions propel the plot. You'll be told to steal a car, collect money, or help a druggie, but all of these are literally side missions. You don't meet anyone important, and you're not given any incentive to keep going. Once you're done with a mission, it's over and forgotten.

The third problem is the relationships. In the game's defense, you no longer have to worry about taking care of your character, like in San Andreas, but you're still expected to uphold friendships in GTA4 along with taking girlfriends out on dates. This is just absolutely pointless. It's not fun, and usually just winds up being a driving mission where you go from point A to point B and back again. There's no real reward for doing it all in the end anyway.

Overall, though, GTA4 is not a bad game. It's a solid game, but is incredibly bogged down. There's just too much micromanaging. What's worse is that to get to the core of the game, you need to commit to it. This is not for someone who wants to play in short bursts

Ive been playing GTA since the old days of GTA3 & have played every one since then.Heres my review on whats good & whats bad in GTA4

Pros
1.New engine adds more realism
2.Larger city to explore
3.16 player online play
4.Added details & graphics
5.New cheat system allows you to only enter a cheat in once then stores it to be used for quick conveniance

Cons
1.You die too often(WAY to often) & die easyer than previous GTAs
2.New Liberty City is just a cheap knockoff of New York
3.Lack of different weapons
4.Lack of cheat codes which decreases replay value and can make the game more difficult
5.Added "realism" gets frustrating especially the slower cars & your character moving slower & flying through the windshield happens too offten
6.Classic GTA fans might be disapointed with it(like i was)
7.Lack of different flying vehicles(no planes and only a few helicopters)
8.Lack of customization(you cant customize cars anymore & there are barely any clothes to choose from)
9.Cops attack you for every little thing you do & theres no cheats to disable them
10.Free aim system doesnt allow you to free aim unless you go to the menu & turn off lock on(classic controles)

All in all,if i had to pick which is better,GTA4 or Saints Row(both for the 360),id go with Saints Row,or,better yet,go play the older GTAs like San Andreas or Vice City or even the third was better than the disapointing 4th.The only reason id recomend buying or renting this is for the online play.

Graphics- Excellent Graphics

Sounds- The Cast Of Grand Theft Auto Iv is Excellent when it comes to their roles

Controls- Great Controls For Walking, Rampaging, flying,etc

Visuals- Liberty City Is Beautiful

Value- A Must Play,GREATEST GAME OF ALL TIME !!!

Overview

Quite like its predecessors, the core gameplay of GTA IV consists of giving the player a large, open world environment in which to move around freely. On foot, the player character can walk, run, jump, climb over obstacles and swim, as well as use weapons and perform basic hand-to-hand combat. Players can steal and drive a variety of vehicles, including automobiles, boats, helicopters, and motorcycles. Grand Theft Auto IV takes advantage of Natural Motion's Euphoria engine, which combines artificial intelligence, bio-mechanics and physics to make NPC behaviour and movement adaptive and more realistic.

The open, non-linear environment allows players to explore and choose how they wish to play the game. Although storyline missions are necessary to progress through the game and unlock certain content and parts of the city, they are not required, as players can complete them at their own leisure. When not attempting a storyline mission, players can free-roam, giving them the ability to do activities. Side missions such as locating and destroying criminals in the police car database or participating in street races can keep the player occupied for hours.

It is possible to have many active missions running at one time, as some missions run over the course of several days and require the player to wait for further instructions or events. The player can also attempt a variety of optional side missions. Grand Theft Auto IV also contains morality choices at many points throughout the game, which alter the storyline appropriately depending on the player's choice. Which of the game's two different endings occurs is determined by one of these choices.

Combat and police response

Gunfights in

Grand Theft Auto is probably the greatest achievement by Rockstar. Updating the realistic features in the game since it was on gameboy made it addicting to game nerds wanting to live life through a handheld. Grand Theft Auto 4 (though not better than San Andreas) is a excellent game. Why not better than San Andreas you ask? Well in San Andreas nearly anything was possible whether it was jumping out of airplanes, shooting thugs off of bridges (while dual wielding a tec-9), and customizing Carl with bangin clothes and hairstyles. Grand Theft Auto 4 on the other hand is kinda the same as GTA: SA but there are a little less customization options and there are no planes, "AT ALL!". Really the best reason to buy this game (or rent from Gamefly, Blockbuster, or Food City) is the almighty xbox live. I would really recommend buying this games cause it is the shiznite!

This wasn't a bad game. True to GTA form in most aspects. Sweeping environments, cool cars, involved cinematics and subplots, etc. Unfortunately, this game doesn't have what was so enticing about all the previous installments: there is absolutely no character evolution. No increased skills to wield better (or more) weapons, no change in physical nature, not even a decent plot to carry him through. It's pretty much a bunch of very loosely connected mobsters getting you to make nonsensical hits and robberies. It feels like the plot driven almost movies that were the previous installments took a back seat to idiotic new features. Yes it has cool graphics and a new useless GPA system, but, it was pretty boring.

I may be crazy, and possibly the only person to not want to marry the GTAIV game. But I found it pretty boring at times to very boring at other times. At first it was fun, but the endless driving around (or taking cabs) to missions got old and consumed time. Always running back to the ammo store for body armor adding just another stop to my 'Errands'. Not to mention you'll be in the middle of going somewhere and someone else calls you to go eat or drink or bowl or whatever and if you just hang up or refuse to eat with them, then they dont like you anymore. If you enjoy time consuming missions, and numerous options, then you'll like this. But for me it just got old. COD4 and R6 2 is just run around and kill people that has great online multiplayer featuers. GTAIV is run around and kill people and check your email and go to a diner and check your voicemail and check your text messages and go run a race and go steal this car and go to this bowling alley and go to this bar, etc etc etc. The point is lost really and loses it's playability for me in the end. Not to mention the online multiplayer really isn't that fun.

GTA III set a standard for open-world games. San Andreas improved that standard. But what is the anomaly that is GTA IV??

My friend and I both cracked open GTA IV and were unimpressed by the graphics. The animations are puppety,and there is a lack of detail in the clothing and faces when compared with games like Bioshock, The Darkness, Devil May Cry 4, Condemned 1 AND 2... in fact, most of the 360 and PS3 games out there have superior graphical detail to GTA IV.

The story was moderately intriguing, but when put into the control of Niko Bellic the hit detection is terrible(punching the air, much?); Niko plods along on foot, even when sprinting; and for some reason pushing is a popular thing for him to do. I don't want to push anyone in a game like GTA.

Additionally, the driving was very squashy. We just finished playing Burnout Paradise(again, graphically superior game), which has both tighter and more forgiving controls, and it was painfully clear that GTA's cars seemed to float along(does everyone have hydraulic suspension?), easily popping wheelies at speeds of 30mph, fishtailing all over the road, and couldn't even get very high top speeds.

It also seemed that anytime we tried a car door handle, we were instantly wanted by the police and chased all over town. I'm all for realism, but it gets old when all you want to do in the game is not walk somewhere at Niko's lumbering, sloth-like pace.

Are the reasons of why this game is rated so highly everywhere is because the hype tells us to love it, and because the predecessors were all grade A games, plus the fact that now, oh, whoop-dee-doo you can play online with other GTA IV lovers?

Even after completing the first four missions, I feel this way. You can berate me all you want for this review, but let my truth be shouted from the mountaintops: THIS GAME BLOWS. Glad it was a rental.

To be fair, let me start by saying that I've never been impressed with the series. Each time a GTA is released, I pick up a copy and hope for the best and each time the sloppy controls, lame storyline and pointless vulgarity cause me to shelve the game not long after opening it.

This is the case with Grand Theft Auto IV. Every time I started to find something to like, the game got in the way. For a game whose primary means of getting around the (amazingly detailed) city, one would think that the driving engine would be worthy of being called a, "DRIVING" engine. Handling cars in this game is an experience not unlike walking across wet tiles with bars of soap strapped to your feet—you suggest and 'coax' the vehicle to get where you want it and hope for the best. In short, driving Liberty City's cars around is an exercise in frustration.

Then there's the wide variety of radio stations available when driving about. The music range is decent enough but someone at Rockstar thought it'd be more fun for every radio station to be a "talk radio" station with music played as an afterthought. This wouldn't be so bad except for the ridiculously vulgar content that serves no point beyond getting this game its M rating.

The great disappointment here is that this is one of the first GTAs where the story is truly compelling. Unfortunately, getting to the heart of the truly complex character that is Niko requires wading through juvenile missions, pointless, meaningless side-violence and vulgarity. It's almost as if Rockstar didn't want us to look too closely at Niko and his story so they keep you at arm's length with horrible controls, witless ambient dialog and their trademark "mature-content-for-the- sake- of- mature- content" hi jinks.

Kudos to Rockstar for once again creating a game that illuminates the possibilities of what a game can be and then burying it in the mud instead of letting it shine on the merits of a good story.

One step forward,
Three steps back.

SO far everyone here has given the game a perfect 10. I agree this game is very good and it is without a doubt the best GTA game to date. But there is still a few issues which in my mind keep it from reaching a perfect 10, which is supposed to be for games which do not need any improvements and have reached true game nirvana. GTA IV has done allot of great things, Liberty City is one of the most "alive" cities I have ever run around in. You can practically feel the ooze of reality and ruggedness of the real world seeping through your TV. But here are the few things I have noticed so far.

1. At least on the Xbox360, the shadows are blurry and flicker allot.

2. You don't have as much free camera control as you have had in previous GTA titles. There is auto centering in a few places you can't turn off and it makes it hard to look around your world while your walking down the street sometimes.

3. With games like Gears of war and Oblivion having previously been released, some of which were more then a year ago, why does textures in GTA IV look bland? Not all of them, but peoples faces, building textures, they all look flat. The lighting, at least outside and weather effects make the game look nice, but when you look at peoples faces or textures close up, they are ugly.

These are fairly small complains compared to what the game does have to offer, but they are enough to keep this game from a perfect rating.

That said, GTA IV is still the best GTA to date and any fan of the series or even new comers will have a blast for hours.

I have never been a fan of the GTA series. Never thought it would be my "thing". However after playing the latest installment for awhile I have to admit (grudgingly) that the game can be fun and engrossing. The storyline isn't much but the environment and satire is incredible convincing. The ability to watch tv in Roman's apartment or listen to music while cruising in the taxi is addictive. However the fact that as you drive the camera slowly slides down until you are staring at the rear bumper necessitates that you play with the right thumbstick constantly shoved back. Perfecting good controls on a third person shooter is always tough for a developer, unfortunately I don't feel that Rockstar spent enough time on it. Aiming is sluggish, even when sensitivity is adjusted. This is most glaring while playing multiplayer. I don't expect Gears of War control perfection in this game, but I do expect to aim a rocket launcher at someone 20 feet away and hit them. The game has some of the typical problems to expect on the Xbox 360 since Microsoft won't allow installation of any portion of the game. The animation is stilted which ruins the otherwise excellent voice acting, the draw distance is incredibly short causing people and vehicles to suddenly appear as you drive, pilot or boat around the city (I encountered this the most while on a boat during a free roam multiplayer session). Mostly Rockstar is able to portray what is a believable living world within the limits of the system I played it on. Overall due to my general dislike of third person games and the poor control scheme I give this a 7/10.

This game is by far the best GTA to date. But I don't know why some critics are giving it a 10 review. In my opinion there are a few things that keep me from giving it a perfect 10.

Such as:

- While driving, sometimes it gets really annoying because you keep hitting everything, and some cars are not realistic, they make 10 feet jumps and when they land they crash with everything.

- Another thing, when walking the controls feel a little bit weird especially when trying to move the camera to look around your character. It centers it automatically and it gets annoying.

- I don't like the idea of having to tap the A button to run. They could have used another button to make it run, kinda like in Assassin's Creed. I feel like I'm playing Mario Bros. tapping that button all the time. It's 2008 !!

- Some people say that this game has the best graphics but it doesn't. Yea everything looks good but they're not the best. When you look closely you can clearly see some flat and dull surfaces. But you have to give Rockstar some credit for the graphics, I mean the city is huge! and that takes a lot of memory and space to make true next-gen graphics.

- Another small thing. When the cops chase you with a 4 star and above, it gets really annoying when 5 or 6 cars try to block you and they all surround you and you feel like you are in a bumpy car game. You can't even move a foot without being hit with a police car, and they don't even try to arrest you, they just keep on bumping you. If they wanted to make it realistic they could have made it like in real life when they surround you and the cops get out and take cover.

Anyway these are just some things I thought kept me from giving it a perfect score. Some people may hate me because of this review but it's just my opinion.

Besides that, the story and everything else make this game so amazing and you have a lot of fun with it! plus the achievements are so easy!

The graphics of the game is nice, but as far as play I don't like it. To me it's just not as fun as the other GTA games.

GTA IV will knock your socks off. The entire game is so different because of the way the game looks and feels. Plus, some of the nuances from previous GTA titles have been fixed, mostly. The targeting is still a little, "Don't shoot the people that are trying to kill you, shoot the hobo who's trying to run for his life." I especially like the way cars handle and drive. That is one of my favorite aspects about this game. This doesn't really matter, but I am not too ecstatic over the HUD redesign because it looks too plain and the sound that notifies you of things, like when you pick up a weapon (in San Andreas, it was the "boep" sound) is "different." Although the things that I don't like, another one being that he walks by default, are tiny and insignificant, the core gameplay and the overall way the game presents itself is more than enough to keep you playing for hours on end.

This is a hard game to rate, there's some elements that are outstanding, but then there's some fundamental things are still issues despite complaints. This game feels like a 10 when you are playing it except those few moments when things really bug you and you have to be honest with yourself.

The level of detail is outstanding. Voice acting outstanding. I really liked the story. Even though the missions were pretty much the same as previous games, they never really got old because they were done in a unique way with such awesome scenery. This is by far the best GTA in the entire series. They basically fixed everything that was wrong in previous games, but some things they didn't fix enough.

Combat scenarios are MUCH better. It was impossible in previous games. This one still has auto-aiming that can actually be harmful and frustrating in certain situations. Can't they just copy any old 1st or 3rd person shooter? Even the bad shooter games have better controls!

The driving is supposed to be much more realistic, in a way it is, but in some ways it's not. It still feels laggy and much harder to drive. Again there's plenty of racing games to copy for this technology, shouldn't be that hard.

The mobile phone was an AWESOME addition to the game. Made getting missions and keeping in contact with people much easier and more modern, huge fan. (It's impossible to drive and read text messages at the same time).

You could also call a cab or get a ride from a friend which made things easier too, but sometimes it was tough to get in a cab. Why make the steal a cab and ride in a cab the same button?

The autosave feature was very nice, but they still need mid-mission checkpoints. Most of the missions didn't need it, but there was a couple that I was about ready to throw the controller when I had to start ALL over because I goofed just a little bit. It's much better than the past, but this is something they really need.

Graphics still need work...

this is by far the best gta ever! the missions are so fun to play and the guns and graphics are amazing! The game is very realistic, for example if it starts to rain ppl put up their umbrellas and if u punch a pedestrian they fight back. i definitely recommend this game to anybody who likes the gta series

to tell you the truth most of what is grand theft auto is still there (Drugs, murder, mayhem, ladies of the night, girlfriends) and yet they manage to add a new level of things to the game (pool, bowling, darts, cabaret shows), also they borrow from the real world with lil things that immerse you deeper in the game (Katt Williams performing comedy simply took me by surprise) the graphics are great and for those who complain about lil jagged edges on their cars maybe they should buy an xbox with an HDMI output (yes I was mad when I replaced mine, but otherwise I would be seeing jagged edges too) at 1080i this game looks amazing, not the best graphics, but a top contender on that department (kinda hard to compete with gears of war there), the tweaks made are for the better (targeting, aiming, the new wanted circle) at the least you must rent it to experience Liberty City, and for those who complain about how the cars handle probably haven't stolen a turismo or a buffalo FBI car, and if you are still complaining, remember you bought GTA IV and not GT 5 Prologue. Now I have to go enjoy this game some more, if you read thru this I would suggest you do the same.

I say this with no exaggeration whatsoever, this is the best game out there for any system. The graphics are unreal, the gameplay is just great and the storyline is immersive. This is the perfect game there arent any small things that are annoying its just great. if you dont have this yet BUY IT.

Hot cars, cool radio and big guns... And that's the first hour of playing! Unfortunately, it doesn't get much more involved. Repetitive "find X and whack him" missions differ only by how much chasing you have to do. It's pretty lame to chase a guy in a big circle, hit his motorcycle with your car at 40-50 mph, trap him in between a building and your engine, pepper him with bullets, just to watch him drive the bike OVER your hood and continue driving in a 10 block circle.

Aiming controls are very iffy. Auto aim is horrible: staring at the only guy visible on your screen and pulling the targeting trigger usually results in you turning around and aiming at some hobo as opposed to the person in your sight.

The graphics are beautiful, and the New York skyline looks good, but the lighting is horrible and makes walking into walls at night / in shadow a constant reality. The voice acting is really good, and the story moves along quick enough, but there's just not enough substance in the game, and mini games (beach bouncy ball, anyone?) just don't make me want to play this again.

THe shooting is as good as any shooter specific game I have ever played, the driving is as good as any driving specific game I have ever played, and the story is as good as any game I have ever played, and when put all together it makes as close to perfection as I have ever seen in a video game.

I just got my GTA IV and I'm already amazed after about 2 hours of playing everything is awesome, different, but awesome. I'll be putting away every game I own for the next couple of weeks, maybe not COD 4 but everything else has to go.

Lets star with the good things.

1. The Cell Phone. An absolutely brilliant idea. the way of calls and turn off and whatnot make the mission/free roam transitions very fast.

The Bad.

1. Graphics are horrible. the graphics are comparable to the first saints row, not COD4 as the magazines said.
2. Driving physics are in the trash. the car is always loose in the rear when the brakes are applied (which is always nessecary because the cars handle like s==t and can barely pull a 4 degree turn).
3.The quick select d-pad functionality will make you believe you need a new controller. It took me about half an hour to realize which button pulls out the shotgun. I had already hit the button numerous times and nothing happened.
4. The cover system. Wow. I was promised a gears of war like style of cover and simple button pushes to attach myself to a wall. This was not the case. At all. It's auto attach system leaves you in extreme frustration in heavily boxed areas.
5. Iron Man. The cops in this game, must all have alter-ego's and have three foot thick iron plates underneath that bulletproof vest. I will never forget the time i stole one of the big bus things from the airport and rammed a cop off a bridge i watched him plummet the entire distance. I got out and looked over the edge. Only too find him swimming back to shore. I shot him three times before he stopped.

So do not, under any circumstances, rent this game. Wait for GTA V.

This has got to be one of the most frustrating games I've ever played. Just driving around town is a chore. Niko walks like he's on valium!!! I read just about every review, watched all trailers. I was so looking forward to play this game. I could not be more disappointed. Gamefly- expect this game back very soon!!!!

GTA 4 is the first GTA on the new gen consoles, and with that comes much better graphics, and higher quality (Frame rate keeps up and stuff).

As always, it is full of violence, explosions, as ign puts it "Ladies of the night", and it has many jokes scattered throughout.

The city is great. Liberty city is based off of New York. It has many landmarks such as the Empire State Building and the Statue of liberty, all with a twist. In the day it's just a big city but in the night the city is all lit up and it really does look like New York City.

Now the combat - The combat is great. It has been greatly improved since the past GTAs, and I think it needed it. It now has a cover system which is the best part. You can pretty much hide behind anything in the city. If you need cover for fighting a gang or something, you can swerve the car around and hide behind it. The AIs also have a cover system, so they are much more intelligent.

Now as I said before, the graphics are much better on this one. IT is the first GTA on the new generation of consoles and Rockstar really took advantage of it. You won't see any more frame rate problems like you might have before.

The campaign is said to take up to 30-40 hours to complete. Normal for a GTA in my opinion, and I'm glad it isn't short.

The multiplayer in this GTA is very interesting. You can have up to 16 people in the city with cops, pedestrians, and traffic on. Everything in the campaign - the story + 16 people pretty much. There is so much going on in this game, even if you don't think the campaign is worth buying I'd get it for the multiplayer.

IGN Gave this game a 10; the first in nearly a decade. It deserves it too. GTA4 goes beyond any other GTA and it really does play well.

Also the physics are improved. So, for example if a car explodes near you, you will be knocked off your feet and go end over end for like 15 feet. Very realistic.

Overall: 10/10, definitely a buy.

Maybe Im too old. I actually have the ability to get up off the couch and go do most of the things in this game. Yes the city is huge. Yes you can do alot of stuff. The disappointing thing is a total lack of fluidity. To me this game tries to do too many things at once. I'd rather do fewer things well than many poorly. Combat is tedious and a real bore. Shooting is lame. The physics of the vehicles is awful. Its a re worked copy of vice city. Rockstar needs a new idea. I dont buy games to go to a comedy show. Theres one in my neighborhood. Yes, we have bars and dope, too.
This game just doesnt hold my attention. Its not compelling play at all. Yawn.... I play games to be entertained. I live in a large city. We moved to the suburbs to avoid that junk. This game is for 13 year old white kids who've never been anywhere. I'm sorry, Rockstar. Its time to move on.