Grand Theft Auto IV

aka: GTA 4, GTA IV
Moby ID: 33867
PlayStation 3 Specs
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Description official descriptions

The Serbian ex-soldier Niko Bellic had witnessed the horrors of war, which turned him bitter and cynical. Disappointed by life, he immigrates to the United States, which his cousin Roman enthusiastically describes as a country of wealth and pleasure. However, the reality is quite different: Roman is poor, has no stable job, and owes money to some dubious individuals. As Niko attempts to help his hapless cousin and pave a more secure future for both of them, he becomes more and more involved in the life of crime. A burning desire to find a man who had betrayed him in Serbia forces Niko to make deals with his conscience, and once he crosses the line, there is no way back...

Grand Theft Auto IV is the ninth title and the fourth main game in the Grand Theft Auto series, and also the first for the seventh generation of consoles. Following the tradition of the 3D installments of the series, the game is entirely located in one of the three cities of the original GTA, Liberty City, but now in present time, and with an environment reminiscent of GTA III, though bigger and more detailed. Liberty City is heavily based on New York, where the protagonist has to gain respect, welfare, and power throughout the game.

Like in most GTA games, the city map is gradually uncovered during the course of the game. The player starts in Broker (based on Brooklyn), and, in order to access the other three districts of the city (based on the other major boroughs of New York City), has to make progress in the storyline. The game has the usual structure based on missions. The player can sometimes engage in various missions at the same time and has free access to the non-mission features of the game while being on one.

Most of the usual elements of exploration and interaction with the city are included in GTA IV. Niko can cause mayhem in the city, hijack cars, listen to radio stations, observe the behavior of the citizens, enter thematic buildings, work as a vigilante, taxi driver, or ambulance driver, hire a prostitute, go to a strip club, and so on. Among the new features is the possibility to watch television (with several channels broadcasting various fictional programs) and connect to a fictional Internet, with functional websites (mostly of a humorous nature) created specifically for the game, and an e-mail program. Other additions include looking for criminals in the police department database from a police car, hiring taxi cabs to safely travel to selected destinations, extensive usage of the mobile phone, improved A.I. of the pedestrians, and others.

Some features from the previous games are missing, such as drivable airplanes and a few other vehicle types. Niko retains the ability to swim and engage in romantic relationships with female characters, features first introduced in San Andreas. However, the light role-playing elements (training to increase stamina, eating, etc.) from the previous entry have been removed.

GTA IV focuses on third-person shooter gameplay more than the previous installments; most of the missions have larger portions dedicated to on-foot navigation and shooting. Crouching, leaning and taking cover play a more important role in combat. Hand-to-hand combat has also been re-designed, Niko being able to execute more precise moves.

The game uses the euphoria motion engine, an alternate middleware solution much like ragdoll physics, which makes all people in the game world move realistically depending on the situation around them. For example, every time Niko enters a car, a different animation will be generated depending on his position relative to the car.

A new feature compared to its predecessors is multiplayer. The same free-roaming environment is offered for up to 16 players (32 in the Windows version) in 15 modes. Certain modes narrow down the environment to make sure players remain somewhat in each other's vicinity. Compared to the console releases, the Windows release features high-resolution graphics, a video editor to capture and edit in-game footage, and the possibility to customize the radio station Independence FM with its own songs.

Spellings

  • グランド・セフト・オートIV - Japanese spelling
  • 俠盜獵車手4 - Traditional Chinese spelling

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Credits (PlayStation 3 version)

1,358 People (1,333 developers, 25 thanks) · View all

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 94% (based on 200 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.9 out of 5 (based on 340 ratings with 10 reviews)

Cars, Culture and Crime.

The Good
Those looking for a revolution of the Grand Theft Auto tradition, GTAIV may not be quite for you. But for those that who crave the logical extension from GTAIII (Vice City and San Andreas included), this title is bound to satisfy. More guns, more cars, more areas, more missions, more items, more jumps and more polygons all mean more fun; and for the modern gamer, these now mean more choices, (but I'll explain those shortly).

Does all this content really qualify the 'IV' of the title, (proudly stamped across advertisements like an ominous religious relic), or would a mere subtitle after GTAIII describe the game more accurately? Well, for the most part, the ‘IV is warranted. We see a new playable character, a contemporary time setting, and a set of new interactions and dealings for the player to involve himself with. The level of detail has been upped dramatically, and the city is full of a minutia of content that really does worry players like me: "What am I missing, should I stop driving here, and what can I do at this place?" These are the questions that constantly challenge my sense of direction. The distractibility of the city is phenomenal. It is a study in level-design intricacy, as well as a phenomenal example of virtual town-planning.

Furthermore, arming yourself with a truly devastating selection of assault paraphernalia has never been more satisfying in the series than in ‘IV. The current trend to portray a line-of-sight from behind the protagonists shoulder (3rd-person view) finds it’s way into IV, and a street battle with the (strangely psychotic) LCPD feels like something from a certain Michael Mann film, (or more respectfully to this author, the battle scenes of ‘Dr. Strangelove’). While the aiming system is certainly improved, it has not yet reached the standards of the other staple over-the-shoulder shooters. Arguably, this is not the focus of the game, but rather a sub-scheme of the games control. That is true, but I found myself having to reacclimatise myself to merely holding the left-trigger half-way down to ‘free-aim’. Holding it down completely engages an auto lock-on scheme which admittedly, is quite handing for those far-off targets.

The ‘Auto’ of the title certainly makes sense in ‘IV. We have a smorgasbord of four-wheeled machines, not to mention more novelty rides than you would ever care to bother to program (amazingly, Rockstar did). Gratefully, each model has its own feel and nature. Plucking a car from Liberty City’s inexhaustible vine is like a lucky dip of larceny. Chryslers, Fords, Toyotas, Nissans are all absent. Yet eerily reminiscent simulacrums populate the heavily worn roads of Liberty City. That’s right – auto companies are not represented in this game. I guess the licensing is either too complicated, or the prestigious mobile makers have an aversion to seeing their products involved in manslaughter on a mega-scale. So be it.

The Bad
The missions take a 'choose-your-own-adventure' style structure in that certain jobs are optional, impact on future events, and often ask the player to choose a particular story-branch. Sadly, some missions are painfully trivial, and can force the player into virtual dates, nights-out drinking or at a vaudevillian show (the latter being the most impressive). As to how your choices affect the end result is a mystery to this player, but the idea that the game may have to be played through multiple times is a staggering thought. The replay potential may be through the roof.

Camera control is an issue for me - the price of such a living, breathing world seems to be questionable collision detection and a spasmodic, inconsistent camera. 'Fishin' Lakitu' would be quite disappointed I'm sure. But new to this iteration is the physics engine that gives not only the inanimate objects a respectable realism, but also for the carbon-based biped population (people) of Liberty City. Tossing a grenade into a traffic jam has the convincing effect of what it may do in real life (although this writer has yet to make any bench-tests on this occurrence, I suspect Rockstar have made suitable inquiries) - metal and flesh will rain upon the pavement alike.

The Bottom Line
Nevertheless, the game has so much to offer that any of these side issues are really quite negligible. GTAIV is a breath-taking accomplishment, and at least a great, playful and dramatic video game experience. Certainly, the game poses all sorts of moral issues at the player, and it is often staggering how easy it is to slip into the lifestyle of a true sociopath scumbag. It’s funny that the immigrant (Niko) alleviates his culture shock with such barbaric and criminal impulses, but it’s even more staggering that this is vital to his assimilation.

Xbox 360 · by So Hai (261) · 2009

The best game so far

The Good
Grand Theft Auto IV is of much better quality when compared to its predecessors. It has better graphics, better sound, and better character designs. When you kill somebody, they turn into a ragdoll rather than there being a prerendered animation. In other words, running over someone in this game looks a lot like running over someone in real life. Another thing that I liked was that the car damage is more realistic. For example, if you ran into another car from behind in a previous Grand Theft Auto game, the whole back end would be effected. However, in GTA IV, only the specific spot that you hit would be effected. If you run over a person in GTA IV, their blood will be on your car (another feature not found in other games). Another good aspect that I noticed was the greatly improved character animation. For example, in Grand Theft Auto San Andreas, there was only one facial animation. If a character was angry, their facial expression would stay the same. GTA IV actually gives the characters the ability to change their expression, as well as spread their fingers apart.

The Bad
My only complaint about this game is that no characters from previous games returned (with the exception of Lazlow, but he's on the radio so he doesn't really count). Although it's true that many of them died, there were a few that didn't such as Phil Cassidy, Wu Zi Mu, or Claude Speed.

The Bottom Line
Overall, I would say that the game is nearly flawless. Longtime fans like me, as well as newcomers would enjoy it. Since it's a whole new story, newcomers could play it without getting confused.

Xbox 360 · by J.D. Majors (14) · 2009

Another leap forward.

The Good
Grand Theft Auto is well known and publicised enough for everyone not living under a rock to know the basics of it. You run/drive around, occasionally doing menial tasks for people for money, in the hope you'll get to work for people higher up the food chain for more cash, and more interesting jobs to do. Often, if you get bored of this you can do what everyone who has played GTA has done once, and go on a rampage, kill some cops, mount the pavement and watch the bodies squirm on your windscreen, try to avoid the varying degrees of justice, before being eventually taken down. This, to some people may seem shallow, and repetitive, and to be honest, in past GTA games, it eventually got very saturated and predictable, but now, little tweaks to the gameplay has revitalised this fun past time all people partake in. But first, to the meat and veg of the game. The story.

You play as Niko Bellic, a man from an anonymous place in Eastern Europe. Niko has come to Liberty City for a few reasons, to get away from conflict in the 'old country', to see the empire his cousin, Roman had produced, and finally, to look for that special someone. Unfortunately, the so called enterprise Niko's cousin had acquired, turns out to be a small time Taxi company, and a grotty flat in the rougher side of Liberty City. You also soon find out that Roman also has problems keeping hold of money, so being the friendly fellow you are, you help him keep away loan sharks and their cronies. After these deeds, things escalate steadily, to the point where you're taking out bosses instead of small time crooks.

Things go like that for awhile adding intriguing twists, and genuinely funny and deep characters. Also, for the first time (for me at least) I actually cared about the protagonist, Niko. He always seems troubled and not so swift to jump just because someone told him to, which is more than you can say for past GTA characters, who'd blow up houses without any question, without a doubt Niko is the best main character in any GTA ever. The aforementioned sensitiveness about Niko in game too, where at a few points you get to choose whether you'll kill a person or not, usually this changes the story by not very much, and is therefore a moral decision, but sometimes choosing one over the over may get you some sort of bonus.

Its fair to say that this is probably the most serious GTA story, and even though it isn't the most original throughout, there'll be times where you are captivated and just desperate to see what happens next, once again this is my favourite story over the others.

Onto the gameplay now, and this has also had a slight makeover. Probably one of the main things that has been added, is the phone. In other GTAs you carried around a phone, but you had no control over it. People phoned you up, you answered, that was it. Now you have much more control over it, you can choose who to phone, and for what reason. For example if you want to phone Roman to go play bowling, you go into your phonebook, choose Roman, then bowling. And all this is implemented seamlessly into gameplay, no pause screen, then choosing it, its as simple as pressing up on the d-pad. Another big addition to gameplay is that you can take cover now, Gears Of War style. This is essential since you can't take half as many hits as you could in other GTAs, a few short SMG bursts and you're back to hospital. So its lucky that taking cover is simple, you can even slide or roll into cover if its a low wall or similar, if you press RB while running towards it. No longer will you have to chicken out and jerkily stand around a corner and try to lay a few shots on someone.

Sound, is definitely one of the strong points for me. There's a decent amount of stations with different music played on each, and two which are mostly the much loved talk radio stations. I read someone else's review, who said that most of the stations are rap, this, to be quite honest is a lie. There is 1 rap station and 1 hip hop station, which is borderline rap, that's it. The rest, of the top of my head are: Electro, a soul/funk kinda station, a hardcore rock station, a classic rock station, an ambient station, a station which is mainly new stuff that in my opinion only pretentious morons with crotch killing jeans listen to, and that's all I can remember, I'm fairly sure that there are more but those are the main ones I can think of.

Another great part of the sound, is the overall voice work. The acting is great, combined with the realistic nature of the faces showcasing their expressions, and the great voice work, you could be forgiven for thinking it was a scene in a blockbuster movie. But not only are the cut scenes enthusiastically voiced, so are the things you hear in the street, just random lines you hear from the everyday man or woman on the street can make you laugh out loud, for example, I was having a hand to hand fight with a civilian, when I lay down the final punch, a man that was observing said "YEAH! Right in the fucking face!" which is pretty amazing.

For the first time ever, GTA goes online, which I'm happy to say, is mostly great. Me and my friends have often wished that we could all get in a car, cause a riot with the police before making a fast getaway, with the people in the back, keeping the cops back with heavy gunfire. But if that's not you're thing, Rockstar have generously added a few unique modes for you to play. Cops and Crooks is an interesting one, one group of people start of as the crooks and the others, the cops, obviously. The lucky bunch of people starting as the cops get to begin the game in a police car, with a nice SMG. The crooks however start of on foot, with a basic pistol. The idea is to get the crook boss, to a boat with a few other crooks, and drive off. The cops have to stop this, by either killing all the crooks, or cutting to the chase and killing the boss first. It can be an exciting match if you've got the right people playing, but other times it can resort to the cops diving out the car straight away and running to the nearest rocket launcher. There are several modes such as your basic deathmatch and team deathmatch, race, and GTA race, which allows and even encourages you to get out/off your vehicle, look for weapons, and make camp and wait till someone crosses your path.

There are other things that just add even more to this brilliant game, such as the TV, which has a few programs that you can watch, which are of course, once again hilarious. There's an ingame internet, which is surprisingly in depth and detailed. You can customise your phone with new wallpapers and ringtones, which you can get off the in game internet. There are a fair few amount of side missions and other things to pass the time, such as hunting down the top 10 most wanted criminals in Liberty City. Another final great thing in this game are the achievements, for the point whores out there, there's a few to keep you busy like making you roll over in a car an amount of times, performing 10 melee counters in a short time, and beating the developers of the game on the online section of the game (or someone who beat someone who beat them). It'd take you a while to get all 1000 points.

The Bad
There are few things I didn't like about GTA, but the things that weren't too hot, didn't ruin the game one bit.

At a few points, the game will crash, this has happened only twice to me, and that was after playing for over 3 hours straight, but it can be annoying when you've just completed that bastard hard mission, and you're on your way to save. Although the phone is a great addition, your friends will phone you up to play darts at the most inopportune times, such as when I'm about to start a mission, Roman rings me up and expects me to cross 2 islands back in one game hour, to go to a strip club, maybe later Roman? The only other main con would be the glitches, they don't spoil the game, but falling through the floor into a dark abyss for no reason is likely to test a saint's patience.

The Bottom Line
GTA IV is a must have for anyone with a 360 or PS3, with a captivating story, fun online, great new gameplay additions and amazing detail, it'd be a crime to not have this in your collection.

Xbox 360 · by Fluxxed (8) · 2008

[ View all 10 player reviews ]

Discussion

Subject By Date
Go PC! Unicorn Lynx (181780) Jul 7, 2009
US$100 million beetle120 (2415) Jun 14, 2008

Trivia

1001 Video Games

Grand Theft Auto IV appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

Australian release

To avoid the problems Rockstar faced with releasing the GTA series in Australia in the past, a crippled version was released so that the game could meet the highest rating of MA15+. Rockstar is still refusing to tell Australians what was censored in their release. Here is a rundown of what has been changed: * There are no blood pools created after the player kills a person, whether they are a pedestrian or enemy; and bloody tire tracks cannot be created when the player drives their car through a blood pool. * When having sex with hookers, the car can only be seen bouncing from the rear view and players cannot choose between a blow job, hand job, and regular intercourse; and the sex animations are not present. Also, the camera is locked to a rear view and it cannot be rotated. * Light blood patches representing bruises and bullet wounds on the body are non-existent.

Brucie

Brucie, one of the game's "mission-giving" characters, can be seen working out during one of the cut scenes; it is easy to notice tattoos of Chinese characters covering his body. On his chest is the character 我, which means "I"; on the back are the characters 人妖, which mean... "transsexual"! Consider Brucie's constant bragging of his own masculinity and heterosexuality...

Development

  • Originally planned for a 2007 release, the game was delayed until April 29th. According to the publisher the delay was caused by the nature of dual-platform development.
  • Katt Williams and Ricky Gervais both did full motion and voice capture for their brief appearances in their own comedy skits on the television.

Melee Combat

The fighting style Niko uses is the Israeli martial arts style Krav Maga.

Records

GTA IV has broken the following records: * Highest Production Budget: in an interview with The Times in April 2008, producer Leslie Benzies estimated that production costs on the game reached $100 million, smashing the previous record of $70 million set by Shenmue. * Largest Soundtrack in a Video Game: The game features 18 radio stations playing 218 licensed tracks, beating the previous record of 156 songs set in GTA: San Andreas. * Largest Voice Cast in a Video Game: the game boasts a total credited cast of 861 voice actors, including 174 actors playing named characters, DJs, and TV voiceovers. Many of the additional 687 voices were volunteered by people who just wanted a chance to be heard in the game. * Most Successful Entertainment Product Launch: on April 29, 2008, the game generated $310 million of sales worldwide in one day.

References to other Rockstar Games

  • One area of the game features a wall of graffiti which has the words 'Claude', 'Carl' and the phrase 'Remember Tommy' written on it. These are references to the protagonists of past GTA games.
  • Official art from past GTA games is interlaced into some of the random graffiti found throughout the city. Notably 8 ball and El Burro from GTA III.
  • If you gain access to Playboy X's mansion the clothes of GTA III protagonist Claude become available for Niko to wear.
  • If you visit the miniature golf course it is possible to find the following land marks from past GTA games used on the course: The Ocean View Hotel from GTA: Vice City, the giant chicken from GTA: San Andreas, the farm windmill from San Andreas' countryside, the Watts Towers re-creations from Los Santos and the lighthouse from the old Liberty City, as seen in GTA III and GTA: Liberty City Stories. It is interesting to note that the models and textures are ripped directly from the original games.
  • When Niko hands his resumé to the lawyers it says he attended Bullworth University in England. The game Bully, also published by Rockstar, was set in Bullworth Academy in New England.
  • If you visit www.littlelacysurprisepageant.com at the Internet Cafe, you will find a page that warns you've been caught by an LCPD pedophilia sting and immediately receive a 5-star wanted level. Little Lacy Surprise originated on the radio in GTA: Vice City Stories.
  • Jimmy, the protagonist from Rockstar's game Bully can be found walking outside Hove Beach Railway Station at certain times. This also makes him the first child that can be killed in a GTA game.

References

  • The mission called "I need your clothes, your boots, and your motorcycle" is a direct reference to Terminator 2. The exact phrase is said by the Terminator during T2's opening moments.
  • Like past GTA's, GTA IV contains references to other open world games. The area Stillwater ave. is named after the city from Saints Row. The hotdog vendor slogan, 'You can't beat our meat', is also the same as the slogan for the Freckle Bi****s restaurant in Saint's Row. Finally there is a 'squids row - budget seafood' billboard which may be another reference to Saints Row. Some people also conclude that this could be a reference to the term "skid row".
  • The mission 'concrete jungle' may be a reference to the poorly received Predator open world game.

The song Concrete Jungle by Bob Marley & The Wailers is also featured in the game on the Tuff Gong radio station.

References to the game

Grand Theft Auto IV was parodied in an episode of "Die Redaktion" (The Editorial Team), a monthly comedy video produced by the German gaming magazine GameStar. It was published on the DVD of issue 03/2009.

Awards

  • GamePro (Germany)
    • February 26, 2009 - Best Console Game in 2008 (Reader's Voting)
  • GameSpy
    • 2008 – #6 Game of the Year
    • 2008 – #3 Xbox 360 Game of the Year
    • 2008 – #4 PS3 Game of the Year
    • 2008 – #5 PC Game of the Year
    • 2008 – Character of the Year (for Brucie)
    • 2008 – Best Story of the Year
  • Golden Joystick Awards
    • 2008 - Xbox Game of the Year
    • 2008 - Soundtrack of the Year

Information was also provided by festershinetop, MegaMegaMan and piltdown man

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by MichaelPalin.

Windows added by Sicarius.

Additional contributors: Unicorn Lynx, Katakis | カタキス, Foxhack, Solid Flamingo, DreinIX, Paulus18950, Patrick Bregger, Starbuck the Third, Victor Vance, FatherJack, 64er.

Game added April 29, 2008. Last modified March 12, 2024.