Do NOT buy GTA IV for PC

[Wyrmlord]

Trash is actually quite right about the fighting in GTA4. Come on, nobody here is going to seriously say that previous GTA games had good combat?

Yes, the fighting, shooting and driving are all improved and feel much more solid.

Those factors alone don't compel me to play the SP.

Fair enough.

I think this genuinely stands as a reasonable viewpoint.

But I thought the sniper-phone-number mission was quite innovative.

 

[Talby]

I got fairly bored fairly quick. I played the old GTA games longer than I played GTA4, even though GTA4 is probably better. I guess the basic gameplay is just getting stale.

 

[kingcomrade]

On a friend's Xbox we went onto Happiness Island or whatever it was and we both ran up opposite sides of the island herding more and more and more people up to the point at the top. Then we massacred them. It was funny.

 

[Dmitron]

I wish they'd take this engine and create a game centred on police or a private investigator. The criminal storyline is getting old. For example, the choice whether to kill a character or not is pointless if you've killed 50 pedestrians simply driving between missions.

 

[Talby]

I wish they'd take this engine and create a game centred on police or a private investigator. The criminal storyline is getting old. For example, the choice whether to kill a character or not is pointless if you've killed 50 pedestrians simply driving between missions.

There's a game coming out called L.A. Noire, set in 1940's Los Angeles. It's a murder mystery sandbox GTA style game, and it's published by Rockstar but being developed by someone else. They're taking their sweet time with it though.

 

[RainSong]

thanks Talby, never heard of that one

wiki says

"L.A. Noire is set in "a perfectly re-created Los Angeles" of the late 1940s, with players being given an open-ended challenge to solve a series of murders. The postwar setting will include the noir necessity of corruption, as well as drugs and jazz themes. The game uses a distinctive noir colouring-style to strengthen the feeling from detective movies of the '40s"

= must buy

 

[Dmitron]

It appears to be console only.

 

[MetalCraze]

if it is console only then everything that according to hype is good there is most likely not in the game.
But I wonder how they will fit retarded mini-games in there.

 

[Trash]

Driving and combat were always shit in GTA games, it is everything else that isn't gameplay that made them great.

Trash is actually quite right about the fighting in GTA4. Come on, nobody here is going to seriously say that previous GTA games had good combat?

Yes, the fighting, shooting and driving are all improved and feel much more solid.

Those factors alone don't compel me to play the SP.

GTA is all about fighting, shooting and driving. The missions in this game are also way better than in any previous GTA and I really enjoy exploring Liberty City. It feels much more alive than ice City ever did and has way less filler content than San Andreas. And I really enjoy playing a badly dressed Serb instead of some silent sociopath, Miami Vice fag or Gangstah. Somehow the characters didn't appeal to me or the stereotype felt boring. That's obviously just a personal preference though.

 

[Dmitron]

I'm trying my best to play this again since someone here posted that there was a Heat style mission. How far in is the mission? I've just now spoken to the cop (Francis?) at the pier.

GTA is all about fighting, shooting and driving.

I always thought it was about paying homage to crime films?

The missions in this game are also way better than in any previous GTA and I really enjoy exploring Liberty City. It feels much more alive than ice City ever did and has way less filler content than San Andreas. And I really enjoy playing a badly dressed Serb instead of some silent sociopath, Miami Vice fag or Gangstah. Somehow the characters didn't appeal to me or the stereotype felt boring. That's obviously just a personal preference though.

Maybe I'm bored with the fighting, shooting and driving mechanic. I could barely sit through the cutscenes, knew exactly what to expect. My current play through I'm skipping the cutscenes. I don't buy these characters suddenly warming up to this Serb scumbag. Why would I care about character motivations in a GTA game? Because there really isn't much fun stuff going on once the superficial driving "city alive" thing wears off.

In San Andreas the "gangstah" character fit into his environment, it had an atmosphere. GTA IV is slick, but it feels like GTA 3's city (get over the improved graphics people) plus Serb storyline tacked on. Even the radio stations don't seem to quite fit the gritty plot sans fun.

That said, 1on1 deathmatch with a friend is a brilliant experience..

It does come down to personal taste, but of the three stereotypes you listed, the Eastern Euro character is easily the most boring, drab of the lot. Doesn't evoke any great movie characters\themes from the past, which is what GTA was always about..

 

[MetalCraze]

Yeah Niko easily loses to Vercetti and that nigger CJ. He acts like a bitter fuck that fails at life, while previous two guys were stereotypes of cool.
As for the filler GTA4 has enough of it - it is just a quantity that is smaller compared to SA, but not quality unfortunately (and dates are boring)
But as always I enjoy doing various shit in the game, but driving/shooting quests in GTA4 suck as they always do (and thus I'm more thankful for the extremely dumbed down quest-compass than not)
As for more alive world - yes. F.e. I like how you can bang into an expensive car of some thug and he will come out talking all cool and then you start kicking his ass and suddenly he starts to run away in panic.

 

[MaskedMan]

I'm trying my best to play this again since someone here posted that there was a Heat style mission. How far in is the mission? I've just now spoken to the cop (Francis?) at the pier.

You'll get to it soon; just follow the Packie storyline and he (or his brother Gerald) will give you the mission.

 

[Multi-headed Cow]

Yeah Niko easily loses to Vercetti and that nigger CJ. He acts like a bitter fuck that fails at life, while previous two guys were stereotypes of cool.

Jesus Christ.

 

[MetalCraze]

So what does the GTA4 patch fix besides totally fucking up keyboard and mouse controls?

 

[racofer]

Nothing, it only gives fanboys the famous line: *insert developer name* patched *insert game name* for free, they owed us nothing, now be thankful you arrogant prick.

 

[Rhalle]

I've accquired a copy and am really enjoying it; Rockstar will get my money. I'm about 30% through.

Narrative flow through the first island of the game really needs work; much of it is borderline senseless. SA's first several hours were far better, story wise. Much of it feels very first draft.

In San Andreas the "gangstah" character fit into his environment, it had an atmosphere. GTA IV is slick, but it feels like GTA 3's city (get over the improved graphics people) plus Serb storyline tacked on. Even the radio stations don't seem to quite fit the gritty plot sans fun.

I agree with that totally. It seems to me Rockstar was sort of flummoxed by how far they could take the whole post 9/11 thing-- as a result, it doesn't feel, atmospherically, either like good ol New York or a post Sept. 11 America. The city is just sort of there, and Niko is in it.

And the radio stations don't quite work somehow. To me, the right-wing radio parody stuff is easily the best thing to listen to.

 

[Dmitron]

So what does the GTA4 patch fix besides totally fucking up keyboard and mouse controls?

In my case it actually further broke the game.. I had to unplug all USB gaming peripherals (steering wheel, joystick) or in game the camera would permanently spin around the character.

This "issue" has been acknowledged by Cockstar..

 

[MetalCraze]

I've installed the patch and surprisingly enough it did nothing.

I still get shit FPS and the game halts (together with my PC sometimes) when I set textures to Low or Medium or sometimes crashes with "Out Of Memory" shit. The funny thing is - when I set textures to High (which of course makes them better and grabs even more memory) - I get a slightly better FPS and the game works (it halted only once when I was flying high in a chopper above the city)
The FPS is still terrible with the patch though and it absolutely does not depend on a number of kewl effects on the screen. So I still don't understand what good does the patch do.
The game can be played though.

As for the game itself - it is worse than the previous two. It feels that taxists in cabs that Roman sends to you have more personality than any other main character in the game.
As for the quests, while Rockstar removed annoying time-chases (or probably I haven't yet got to them) - they forgot to add variety so most of the quests are about:
a) go to point X - kill everyone
b) chase the guy from point A until he gets out at point B - then kill him
c) chase the guy and kill him

And I hate "dates" shit. It is boring but mandatory if you want to get more content.

 

[Wyrmlord]

You're not wrong. That was my impression as well. But it does get better later on.

But much later on.

We're talking about hours before you get the good stuff. So you have two options:

Give up now, because it probably is not worth this much effort to find the more interesting missions in the game.

Grind your teeth, suffer through those simplistic filler missions, so you can quickly get through to the major ass-kicking missions.

 

[MetalCraze]

I'm currently finished doing stuff for Playboy X and his friend Damyen something - when will be the good stuff?

Also the other problem of GTA4 is that the storyline tries to take itself too seriously. Previous games never tried to be anything more than the parody of action flicks, but GTA4 tries to be a sirius gangstah story, with only rare funny stuff - and of course fails, because Rockstar and "serious" does not compute - thus I understand that Max Payne 3 indeed must be a game with Dick Justice as PC in order to be saved.

 

[Trash]

Maffia had the best serious gangster story on any gameing platform. Still, I like GTA 4 both for it's story and for the characters. Brucie alone is probably the best games character to appear in 2008.

 

[Dmitron]

I am a GTA IV fanboy.

Seems that way.

 

[Forest Dweller]

Previous games never tried to be anything more than the parody of action flicks, but GTA4 tries to be a sirius gangstah story, with only rare funny stuff - and of course fails, because Rockstar and "serious" does not compute

Do yourself a favor and go play Manhunt 2.

 

[Trash]

I like something. Is that so bad?

I'm a whiny bitch.

Seems that way.

 

[MetalCraze]

So it seems my big journey into GTA4 has ended. There is a fed mission where you have to fly a chopper - and on High texture settings the game just halts after a while.
I can't set textures to Low or Medium because in that case the game will halt 10 seconds after I will hit the start button.