GTA IV First Thoughts

[mrmojorisin]

Afternoon All,

Has anyone got any first thoughts on GTA IV? Aint played it yet but can't wait!

[mendhak]

Not worth getting stabbed over. There were a lot of witnesses to the stabbing, they were all waiting in line to buy GTA IV, but nobody got out of line to help; they didn't want to lose their place in the queue.

[mrmojorisin]

I heard about that. Pretty crazy world. Did that man even have a motive???

[mendhak]

He was practicing for the game.

[mrmojorisin]

Oh thats fair enough then..If he was younger, prob could have blamed the game and got away with it!

[Kasracer]

I got the game. Based on the reviews I was expecting something amazing but that was not what I found.

The graphics and physics have improved dramatically which is great but the game play is exactly the same. I got bored after a few minutes of playing. I was really hoping for some new and innovative way of playing but it's just a visual and physics upgrade (IMO at least).

The city is smaller, there are less weapons and vehicles, you can't own property and you can't build up your character. All features from the last GTA absent from GTA4. That doesn't make sense to me.

I will continue to play it to see if I'm missing something but so far it seems to be a minor upgrade with less gameplay features.

Online multiplayer may be what saves it for me.

[mrmojorisin]

Oh no, i was hoping you could own property. I enjoy that part of the game, building a little empire.
Not to bothered about the map size as it can get boring when the map is to big.
Aparently it takes an hour in real time to walk from one end of the map to another, thats just stupid.

[Kasracer]

An hour? Doubtful. Walking is painfully slow in this game. Running at the fastest speed maybe an hour but walking? Ha. Try like 4 hours or so.

The city is pretty huge though it works similar to GTA3 in that parts of the city are blocked off until you complete a certain amount of missions. San Andreas I believe had everything open from the start.

[kleinma]

So far I like it.. I havent played a GTA game in a few years, so it was a bit refreshing. It is more of the same for the most part, but based on all the sales figures from the previous games, it makes sense they didnt want to be too drastic on the changes they were making.

One thing I can say, TONS of profanity. Doesn't bother me any, just makes it that much more realistic, but I can see why they should not let this game in the hands of minors.

Also, I have no idea if any of you waited in lines, but I walked into my local best buy yesterday and they only had about a billion copies of the game. I was in and out of the store in about 2 minutes.

[mrmojorisin]

Thats good news.

Your lucky..My local has been sold out since yesturday lunch time.

Still haven't played. Going crazy

[kleinma]

Well if Best Buy had been sold out, there is a walmart, target, toysrus, 2 ebgames, 2 game stops, an FYE, and probably at least 2 more stores that sell video games, all in the same shopping center (believe it or not)

I do live in New Jersey though, the most densely populated state in the nation...

If every store had been sold out in the mall, I could have driven 1 town over where there are at least that many stores as well that sell video games...

Probably over 100 stores in a 10-15 mile radius. Hell I have 3 dunkin donuts on a 5 mile stretch of highway near my house.

[wossname]

San Andreas I believe had everything open from the start.

Nope. In San Andreas, the roads to Las Venturas, San Fierro and parts beyond were barricaded until about 30 missions in. If you decided to steal a boat or a plane and visit those forbiddenn zones then you'd get 4 stars worth of police interest and you'd end up dead pretty soon.

It takes about 20 minutes of fast driving to visit all 3 cities in turn (assuming you don't hit any other cars along the way.

SA had a pretty huge map, I liked it a lot because the main plotline was so massive. Te cars were good, the guns were good the characters and missions were good too.

If GTA4 is equal to this then I'm happy.

[Kasracer]

Also, I have no idea if any of you waited in lines, but I walked into my local best buy yesterday and they only had about a billion copies of the game. I was in and out of the store in about 2 minutes.

This was my experience as well. I went into target in one of the busiest areas near my house (Bel Air gets pretty busy in MD; it's a big town / city) and Target had tons of them. Some kid try to buy it as well but he didn't have ID or a parent so he said he'd be right back. Then I saw him take off out the front door, got into a car and left. heh.

Nope. In San Andreas, the roads to Las Venturas, San Fierro and parts beyond were barricaded until about 30 missions in. If you decided to steal a boat or a plane and visit those forbiddenn zones then you'd get 4 stars worth of police interest and you'd end up dead pretty soon.

Ahh you're right. Now I remember. I always went into the other areas via boat or plane or something and got yelled at. Heh.

[kleinma]

well that was the other annoying thing about best buy.. the few minutes i was in there, i spent in the game section looking for the damn game.. when I couldnt find it i asked an employee and he goes "oh yeah they are all up front at the register, just go to the checkout and ask for the game"

They could have at least put a notice in the video game section of the store saying "If you want this game, get it at the register"

[wossname]

Or alternatively you could realise that it's had 3 times the hype of Halo 3 and you can see the billboards from 5 blocks away and logically they should be right on the doorstep of the shop.

[kleinma]

I just got Halo 3, and I am still wondering what the hype was about... I got it for 25 bucks, so it wasn't a huge investment, but I was bored in about 2 minutes and went back to multiplayer COD4, which is way more fun.

[Kasracer]

well that was the other annoying thing about best buy.. the few minutes i was in there, i spent in the game section looking for the damn game.. when I couldnt find it i asked an employee and he goes "oh yeah they are all up front at the register, just go to the checkout and ask for the game"

They could have at least put a notice in the video game section of the store saying "If you want this game, get it at the register"

I hate that. The Best Buy near me has a cage of games next to the games section as well as sticking them on the shelves. Well I went into a Best Buy near my work looking all over the place for a new game a few months back until I finally found out they have absolutely NOTHING about the game in the games section but there are a ton of them in the front inside a cage.

Well I decided to boycott that Best Buy and their dumb floor layout and picked it up at a Target on my way home. Bastards.

I just got Halo 3, and I am still wondering what the hype was about... I got it for 25 bucks, so it wasn't a huge investment, but I was bored in about 2 minutes and went back to multiplayer COD4, which is way more fun.

I actually had fun with Halo 3. It looked great, multiplayer was fun and the story was interesting. It was definitely most of the same but it was still fun to me.

Maybe I just played too many hours of GTA and that's why Halo 3 wasn't completely boring and GTA4 was (so far).

[kleinma]

best buy just happened to be near subway, which is where I picked up my 5 dollar foot long for dinner

otherwise I could have just closed my eyes and walked in any general direction, I would eventually hit a video game selling retail store.

[kleinma]

if anyone is interested in playing some co-op, or even other 360 games in general, PM me with your gamer tag.. I don't really want to post my gamer tag on a forum as public as this one. I am scared how many weird friend requests I might get

I don't have a ton of games, but I have a handful of some of the more popular ones.

[mrmojorisin]

best buy just happened to be near subway, which is where I picked up my 5 dollar foot long for dinner

otherwise I could have just closed my eyes and walked in any general direction, I would eventually hit a video game selling retail store.

Thats cheap subway! Over here a foot long would be about £6 which is about $12.

Have you got any sports games on your 360. E.g NFL 2008 or PES?????

[BillGeek]

GTA 4 so far is awesome. For me it's a huge improvement from GTA Vice City. (which sucked, to be honest)

I have completed it about 11% now, and will play again as soon as the headache and dizziness recedes. I went swimming over the river twice where the cops started chasing after me about half way over it. Also, I was chasing down a highway, smacked into a barrier, went flying out the car. As soon as Nico got back up, a cop shot me.

Other than that, the graphics are awesome (42" HDTV) sound is cool, and gameplay is quite good. I have to agree with kasracer though. All the hype was for nothing. I remember reading an article where they claimed that there will be no loading between missions and/or cutscenes. Not true. I can't skip the intro graphics (XBox platform) and the movement controls are way harder than anything before.

On the flip side (again) there is a major improvement in the actual damage done to vehicles. I went smacking into the corner of a building, and exactly where the car hit the building (around 25% from the left of the hood) sat a huge dent. Quite cool.

If I had a scale from 1 to 10, I'd give it between 39 and 57.

[mrmojorisin]

Sounds wicked. I should never have started this thread...With it being sold out, all this talk is killing me.
Could you swim in the last one. I can't remember???

I still can't get over the fact a foot long subway in NY is only $5. Thats amazing.

[Kasracer]

Could you swim in the last one. I can't remember???

Yes. San Andreas was the first to do that I believe.

I still can't get over the fact a foot long subway in NY is only $5. Thats amazing.

Subway has been running a promo in the USA for foot long subs being $5 for quite some time. They're $5 in MD too. PA as well. Etc...

Though I'm confused why that's so amazing though. Most places I go to I can get a 12" sub for about $6-$8 depending on what I get on it. That's not that much more.

[mrmojorisin]

Yes. San Andreas was the first to do that I believe.

Subway has been running a promo in the USA for foot long subs being $5 for quite some time. They're $5 in MD too. PA as well. Etc...

Though I'm confused why that's so amazing though. Most places I go to I can get a 12" sub for about $6-$8 depending on what I get on it. That's not that much more.

Becuase my friend im English and over here a 12" Sub is about £6.50. I think that is about $13.

[MaximilianMayrhofer]

Haha this has turned into a Subway thread.

[mrmojorisin]

You can't argue with the powers of subway.
Can you get a subway in the new GTA????

[kleinma]

no, but you can go INTO the subway and drive along the tracks (if you can fit a car down there)... I actually rode a motorcycle down in the subway last night and took a ride...

A friend and I tried out multiplayer last night. While there are several game modes, we just did the free mode, where its basically just like the regular game, with no missions. It was a lot of fun just to cruise around with a friend. I grabbed a crotch rocket, and my friend could hop on the back and do the shooting while I did the driving. I haven't confirmed, but based on the fact that your friend can get in the back seat of 4 door cars, I am thinking you can get 3 of your friends into a car and go around causing trouble.


With regards to the subway sub though, I believe its actually a dollar cheaper than normal price. So I am pretty sure its normally 6 bucks for the footlong (for the kind I get anyway). It just a nice easy cheap meal, and I simply don't eat McDonalds, Burger King, or Wendy's, etc.... that stuff is just too nasty (good tasting, but nasty)

[kleinma]

The best though, is when we both got into a helicopter, and I took us as high as we could get, and told him to press Y, and he wasn't really thinking, he just pressed the button, and out the door he went...hahaha

[mrmojorisin]

Pure Evil.

What is Wendy's??? You need to explain these American refrences.

Is the fisty cuffs any better on this GTA becuase usually its unrealistic.

[kleinma]

http://www.wendys.com/

you really have no wendy's over in foggy london town across the pond??? I figured they were somewhat close to the global saturation level of McDonalds and BK, but perhaps not. I know I did see a hell of a lot of McDonalds and BK in the weirdest places when I was going through europe, perhaps I didn't see a wendys.. well the less fast food, the better if you ask me.

if by fisty cuffs, you mean the fighting system, its pretty decent. Its not 100%, but better than the previous ones once you get used to it (seems a bit weird at first). There is even a whole duck and cover system not quite on par with, but similar to gears of war in the way you can hide behind stuff and poke out shooting. you can even do the whole duck behind something and fire your gun blindly over the top of what you are hiding behind.

Oh and my 360 game last is pretty much like this

GTA4, GH3, Rockband, Madden 08, Forza 2, Marvel Alliance, Halo 3, COD4, and kingdom under fire: circle of doom.
Bold ones are the ones I play ever, some of the games I have are really horrible..

I also play a few XBL games like bomberman and N+

[mrmojorisin]

Well if you ever fancy smashing someone at Madden 08, im your man. I bought it not long ago becuase i really got into NFL.
Its the first Madden ive ever owned and im awful at it. (Not a bad running game tho).

Whats Marvel Alliance like, ive always fancied a go at that??

One more question on GTA4....Have you managed to find Ricky Gervais doing stand up yet???

[kleinma]

No haven't run into Ricky yet, although a good amount of my time has just been goofing around (one of the things that really makes this game great). Its just so hard to walk past the cops without firing a few shots to get them chasing me..

I am not so hot at Madden either, but we could have a go, so long as you let me be my NY Giants Marvel is ok, if you like that top down action game (diablo ish for lack of a better game to compare it to) Playing it co-op with 3 friends makes it way more fun to play.

[mrmojorisin]

I agree GTA is at its best when you are free to roam.

I don't mind you being the giants, they are no match for Big Ben and the Boys (i realise that sounds like a strip club group or something)

I will PM when i get my XboX Live back up and running, and shopw you how to really suck at a game.

[BillGeek]

Its just so hard to walk past the cops without firing a few shots to get them chasing me..

I'm sure that 99% of gamers know exactly what you mean.

Similar to when my cousin and I play GoW co-op. I can't keep myself from shooting her character with a pistol when I get a chance.

[kleinma]

sounds good

in the mean time, get GTA4, because we can have a lot of fun playing that as well. I am a late nighter usually too so we can likely coordinate well, being you are 5-6 hours earlier.

[kleinma]

I'm sure that 99% of gamers know exactly what you mean.

Similar to when my cousin and I play GoW co-op. I can't keep myself from shooting her character with a pistol when I get a chance.

yeah what is even worse is how tempting it is to mow down your friend when he comes running up to you.. I will call my buddy over, telling him I just lifted a nice corvette or lambo, and I see him come running towards me to get into the passenger side, and I just run him down.. haha he gets so mad, but then comes seeking revenge..

[mrmojorisin]

sounds good

in the mean time, get GTA4, because we can have a lot of fun playing that as well. I am a late nighter usually too so we can likely coordinate well, being you are 5-6 hours earlier.

Good thinkin batman. Giving me the advantage as i will be fresh, where as you will be tired. I will shoot and run, those tired legs will never keep up.

[Lord Orwell]

rumor has it that the biggest improvement over the last gta is:
no more remote-controlled helicopters.

[kleinma]

lol, yeah that was really annoying to have to do missions with those...

now its only real helicopters... I am still waiting to get myself my own garage though, so I can start to horde nice cars

[Shaggy Hiker]

That reminds me of one of the earliest multi-player games: Heretic, which was based on the early Doom engine. There was a single use item in there that would turn monsters into chickens. We hooked up a couple computers at work, and two of us were playing cooperatively. I was hunting a monster, when suddenly I had a beak for a weapon. I ran up to the other guy and started pecking him to death. He didn't react for a long time, until another guy came down to tell me that the guy was lying on the floor laughing. I almost managed to peck him to death before he recovered, and blew me into a cloud of feathers with a single shot. Things have come a long way from that.