XBOX 360 Wire

Grand Theft Auto IV - First Impressions

So I dropped the disc into my Xbox 360, after a day at work frustratingly waiting for home time for a chance to play Rock star’s new and eagerly anticipated game.

The first few moments of the game set the scene with fancy camera work and a credits role, the way a new hyped film would. Indeed GTA takes many cues from film and media, but this is definately a good thing.

After a brief introduction to Niko I then get to meet his one connection with Liberty City, his cousin Roman. Visually the characters are well fleshed, detailed models with semi realistic features lend recognition and volume to their believability.

The voice acting is superb, with nuances and accents that inform you of ideas, mood and intention without actually spelling things out. This became obvious when some were talking as to me it was clear that their mind was on other matters or that they may have been fabricating the truth just a bit.

The voices give great depth to each person, coupled with smooth animation and movements give a great all around feel. Niko when running will lean into a run, something that startled me at first but felt natural after a while. Also watch for when you get him to hurry downstairs, his movement changes to adopt a posture more in line with haste.

The environment is vast, several large islands and plenty to see, with a real feel of Chicago (with the elevated trains) and New York. This became apparent on the first “date” mission as we went down to the coastal beach area, mist was rolling in from the sea, the characters breath showed in plumes and they went from a nice stroll down the boardwalk to a game of Ten pin bowling.

Bowling and darts are but a few of the mini games available, while they themselves wont be winning many prizes they are a welcome addition and provide a little distraction from the main missions. Commentary from Niko and other characters make it feel like a worthwhile event rather than just a side distraction, and help to further character history and sometimes give you hints of things or events to come.

The mobile phone feature is a subtle but well thought feature, from the menu you can call different contacts, request jobs and receive text messages as well as activate the multiplayer. This proves very useful when in need of a little cash you can call Roman for a job, or say cancel a date with one of the “girlfriends” should you have something urgent to do, like loosing your wanted level!

The whole game feels generally more real, like GTA has grown up somehow, cops are tougher and you can resist arrest if you wish, but at your own peril.

Having taken one of the characters on a “date” mission I randomly encountered a punk running from a police officer, thinking I would show off in front of the girl before the date was over I chased down the punk and engaged in a little fisticuffs until the police officer could catch up. The girlfriend was not best pleased with the violence and ran away scared. Realising I had scuppered the date I stopped fighting only to have the cop show up, see the crook, now dead on the floor, he opened fire on me. After a hectic chase through the city, with too many over steers and some bad handbrake turns I ended up running into a Burger Shot to start a fight with a large biker. No sooner had I knocked the biker out, the cops caught up with me and attempted to arrest me, on a crazy streak I resisted arrest only to have the policeman empty his service pistol into my face.

The vehicles are a treat, the driving physics have been totally revamped and admittedly take some getting used to, it’s far easier to over steer. Taking a fast ninety degree turn, without ending up spinning out too far with the handbrake, will take some learning. The cars have a real weight to them and the engines react according to different models nicely, motor bikes are still my personal favourite so far. The advantage of being able to aim and shoot while driving is very welcome and makes for some heated chases but don’t hope for many (if any) headshots while ripping round at about ninety kilometres per hour.

Niko is a character with great definition, with a pleasing level of detail to his model, great motion and a strong but likeable attitude. From the start you can tell that he has a past and one that you will slowly learn about (as is obvious of other characters, sometimes just from their voices). Unlike the voiceless characters of the first 3d GTA III and the mainly shallowness of Tommy Vercetti, Niko grows on you, he seems like an average Joe.

I’m still am undecided on whether he is a “good” or “bad” guy, he mentions his past occasionally and it seems as though he may not be totally clean but the rest is up to you. Do you play good or bad?

Although Rockstar is the main protagonist for actually creating the Sandbox genre, According to Edge Magazine Sam Houser president of Rockstar games, is not a fan of the moniker given to the game type. However that’s what it feels like, a new place to play, with story and characters with definition comparable to film.

Niko to me seems like someone I want to know more about, and as I play through this superb new game I’m sure I will. GTA IV is a game I’m looking forward to getting stuck into, a gritty living breathing world, with so much more depth and design and thought than all of the other games.

GTA 3 gave new life to the series fleshing out the visuals and giving a fantastic new look, GTA Vice City gave a new facelift, exploring a different time and place where crime was in its infancy, GTA San Andreas gave another look within a different time period again. Now with GTA IV we return to the roots, back to Liberty City, with a grown up but no less fun feel, more detail more options and more real.

I can’t help feeling that this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship, where to next Niko?

Posted by Colonel - April 27th, 2008 -