I know I promised a more thorough review of Grand Theft Auto IV, and it would have come sooner but to be honest, I can’t stop playing the damn game. Before I go any further though, let me say that I’ve spent a total of less than two hours on the previous games in this series. The gimmicky arcade style always turned me off and I found the controls too wonky to play them at length. I like my games to have at least some semblance of a storyline that takes itself seriously, even if there aresome lighthearted moments peppered in. GTA IV finally achieves what I knew this franchise was capable of with a compelling, almost cinematic storyline.

So it has a great storyline, big deal, what’s the rest of the game like? In a word - HUGE. I’ve played for several hours and still haven’t even made it onto Manha, er, “Algonquin”. There’s a lot to see and do. I think I spend the first two or three hours playing pool and bowling. What’s even scarier is that you can watch TV and browse the internet. Try explaining that one to your girlfriend when she comes home from a Friday girl’s night out to find you browsing an internet dating site…on a video game. Alone. Everything is done with such depth. My personal highlight is flipping through the numerous in game radio stations only to hear none other than Jimmy Gestapo of Murphy’s Law introducing a Sick Of It All song.

You experience Liberty City through the eyes of Niko Bellic, a Russian immigrant who steps off the boat during the game’s intro. Bellic comes to America based largely on exaggerated letters from cousin Roman. Niko is quick to make both friends and enemies in America. Among his allies are the Jamaicans pictured above - Maxwell Davies and Little Jacob. In an interesting promotional scheme, the dudes at Rockers NYC were able to style and dress these two characters. I’m not normally one for product placement, but this is pretty dope in creating an even more realistic atmosphere for the game.

Along the same lines, it appears that the infamous Dead Serious hoody from LRG has made it’s way onto the streets of Liberty City. Here we see Niko hopping on his phone to tell his cousin how corny this dude looks.

Just look at the disgust on his face. I’m praying this is something that can be bought and worn at some point in the game. I fully intend on figuring out how to zip it up completely and will play through the entire game as a Halloween costume from that point on.

In all seriousness, the fact that this game is sending nods to streetwear is just another reason to go out and buy this. Sure, the controls are a little weird when you’re driving, but, when the rest of the game not only lives up to, but exceeds the massive hype machine behind it, you’ve got a classic on your hands. Coming from a huge skeptic heading into this game - GTA IV is a must have.

This entry was posted on Monday, May 5th, 2008 at 8:10 pm and is filed under Video Games. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.