Grand Theft Auto 4 Review

Rockstar games are getting closer and closer to the ultimate crime simulator as continue to produce Grand Theft Auto for a multitude of platforms. The original was for the PC and PlayStation (one) and despite the 2-D graphics were instant hits due to their mature and violent content.

The first Grand Theft Auto to hit the 360 & PS3 was number 4, putting you in the role of Niko Bellic, an eastern soldier with a criminal past who arrives in Liberty City on a boat. Here, he is met by his cousin Roman, who is up to his eyeballs in debt, this forces Niko to resume his life of crime on a different shore.

Grand Theft Auto 4 is a 'sandbox' game like its predecessors, Liberty City (a rip off of New York gone bad) is at your disposal with 3 islands to explore. It is hugely interactive, with strip clubs, burger joints, bars and clothing shops.

The story revolves around Niko resuming his life of crime as his cousin is in a lot of debt, you'll find yourself working with Russian gangsters, Jamaican drug runners, and the Italian mafia. Each mission will begin with an introduction video which is superbly acted and looks like it's straight out of a gangster film.

My particular favourite is when Niko and Roman kill the associate of the local Russian mafia. They are taken to 'the Don's' basement where Niko proceed to taunt them as they threaten to cut his leg off.

This is a crime simulator, the action has really advanced from the likes Vice City on the Playstation 2. Niko is free to move around the enviroment, if there is a car he wishes to steal he can do it in a variety of ways, for example pulling a gun on the owner or kicking the window in.

The gun combat is fairly standard, but this does not make it any less enjoyable. It uses a soft lock system so that new players can pick it up fairly easily, this is particularly useful when overseeing one of your buddies drug dealers or protecting them from an ambush. Niko can intelligently use cover unlike in other games and can kneel into cover as well.

You will be buying guns from the illegal gun shops in the city and they increasingly get more high tech as you advance in the game. The melee is where the game really shines and I believe it was MMA fighter Bas Rutten who did the motion capture.

The game focuses on stand-up fighting. Niko can be described as someone who is deadly with both guns and his fists. Once a person shoves you, you'll enter a boxing stance, from here you can move in and out of distance, throw kicks and punches and if you time it correctly you can counter to deliver a knockout blow.

Niko can also disarm opponents and use the weapon himself such as a knife or a bat. I had tons of fun with the melee and it just shows you how far the game has come on. The game is a crime simulator but focuses around organized and petty crime rather than anything distasteful.

This covers drug deals, assault, fighting , criminal damage, murder (hit jobs) and even drink driving. You really are thrown into the role of Eastern gangster here as you get the opportunity to go drink vodka with your cousin.

This can lead to some interesting encounters with the law as there is a drunk driving mini game, where the screen will go blurry as you attempt to drive your cousin back to his apartment; the police will spot you and then the chase is on.

Other times, you might decide to punch a bouncer outside the strip club and get into a scrap there. A passerby might insult you to which you react and pull a gun on him or punch him.

Rockstar seem to have really created the game so you can act a bit naughty, the game immerses you in a life of crime without the 20-year stretch. The vehicles are numerous and entertaining, they are like real world rip offs, you will have a lot of fun pushing them to their limits and using them as cover as you try to escape the inferno of a burnt out engine.

The physics are excellent. Cars will spin out of control if you're going too fast, flip over if you hit something at speed and explode if they are getting too damaged. The details of the vehicles is incredible as well as bullet holes will appear where they landed in the windscreen unlike previous games and cars won't always explode when they are too damaged to drive.

The police system is where the challenge real comes in, this is both active in missions and Free roam mode. Depending on the area and the number witnesses, when you commit a crime, your 'Wanted' level will go up indicated by a number of stars at the top half of the screen. If you continue to kill civilians/ police/ gangsters this will increase to SWAT teams and armed police who will use blockade tactics and stingers to disable your vehicle.

Escape is accomplished by breaking the law's line of sight and sometimes even abandoning your vehicle and proceeding on foot down various alleys. The system is advanced and you will not get away with making police vehicles drive into the river like on Grand Theft Auto 3.

This is the ultimate organized crime experience and in my opinion, the best in the series, 5/5 action-orientated gangster game with entertaining characters and concepts.