Comments on: GTA IV: Is The Game Really That Good?

By: arash&arsalan

arash&arsalan — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 07:32:14 +0000

games gta6

By: Mutatoes

Mutatoes — Mon, 19 May 2008 09:01:14 +0000

Hmm, i never really found gtas storyline be that great really. There are lot more emotions and magnificent stories told in such games as mgs or older two fallouts.
THough i dont play games as much as i once did i still know its pretty ignorant to say games dont posses more than just “filling our primitive needs”
I suggeest playing games that have more dephth. I recommend Grim fandango, Fallout1, mgs3, or maybe some old lucasart adventure games. Some text based adventure games as hitchikers guide to galaxy are interactive book at their best.

By: Tranced 08

Tranced 08 — Wed, 07 May 2008 00:06:56 +0000

I have to agree with the above post i’m afraid, the graphics all be it a little low res in places are really well presented and the modelling physics in this game are incredible but the major flaw is the storyline, which just doesn’t get you hooked. Before you know it your getting to know a new NPC who 3 missions down the line will get killed and onto the next ect. etc. it’s just not involving enough i’m afraid, at least on San Andreas if you got bored of the story line you could take of on a noce journey far out into the countryside, or climb to the top off a high mountain and find your own little space but GTA IV you are stuck in to be honest is not the biggest city i’ve seen (looking at the likes of Just Cause) and just whrn you climb into your chopper to take to the skys and see the glory of the city from above you are greeted with sickeningly designs glowing re and white lights just floating around the city which i think are meant to represent traffic!! i mean comon Rockstar were talking next gen here not lets just get the job done who cares about popup or if the cars disappear when you get 10 feet of the ground or if we copy a shop and place the exact same one in the same section of the city and don’t even change the selection of clothes in it (Perseus’s or something like that)lol, srry i’m ranting but i feel the depth of this game could have been a lot better, we’ve gone from basic GTA to more detailed Vice City, to for me is the best GTA to date the wonderfull world of San Andreas and now we seem to have gone back in time as far as gameplay (interactivity, Character customisation/ingrossing sroryline) is concerned with GTA IV. My rating for this game would be 89% never in a million years a perfect 10 or 100% i think we all agree with that but again if you like you like. Thanks for listening. Peace out

By: MrBartokomous

MrBartokomous — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 17:58:45 +0000

I have the game, I’ve played it for a good 10 hours so far… and The Godfather it ain’t. If we’re going to compare a game to The Godfather, Bioshock did a much better job of combining every facet of the gameplay experience into a cohesive, original narrative. GTA 4’s storyline, even though the characters are well crafted and written, is not only painfully derivative of previous mob movies but even previous games in the GTA franchise. You do some jobs for a mobster. You get betrayed. Repeat. Sure there’s some backstory and emotion in the characters and that’s new, but it doesn’t feel as jawdropping as many people are making it out to be. It’s not a knock on the quality of the game, or the effort that was put into it… but the game is much more evolutionary than revolutionary. Perhaps there’s some content later in the game that’s going to change my mind — but what’s in the first several hours is more of the same with unprecedented detail.

And yes, in principle, the game could work as a filming platform for stories if people took the time to write, motion-capture, and assemble them (not sure how labour-intensive that would be, though).

And as for the multiplayer — you can’t compare Halo to GTA. The depth of customization and level design you can do in Halo, the fact that you can custom-build infinite gameplay variations, upload and share them on Halo’s networking site, take and share screenshots/gameplay videos (which can’t be done in GTA)… this is the first time GTA’s done multiplayer, and it’s a better offering than most games. But it doesn’t hold a candle to what Halo 3 did. Keith, you may know more about video games than anyone in Nikki’s rolodex, but that seems to come from reading about them and not playing them, because you don’t seem to have a thorough understanding of what you’re talking about.

By: milo

milo — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 15:10:38 +0000

“Films at their best (as Mr. Scorsese’s product certainly is) tell stories. I love most of the games he mentioned but even with plotlines crafted by writers, videogames do not exist to tell stories or explore memorable characters.”

I’m guessing you haven’t even played this game? Or did you try it out and think that it had no stories or characters?

You’re dead wrong that videogames inherently must lack stories and memorable characters. What makes you think that “by design” a video game can’t have art, drama, and pathos? There are definitely examples that prove you wrong. You come off as a film snob who hasn’t played any of the games at the forefront of creativity. And sure, there are plenty of games that contain neither art, drama, nor pathos. Just as there are many movies that contain none.

If it makes you feel any better, Ebert takes the same point of view. Unfortunately, he speaks from a position of ignorance, sad for someone so thoughtful on film.

Ironically, when films first came into existence, I’m sure there were live theatre snobs who insisted that movies couldn’t have art, drama, and pathos like a good play has. And you are just as wrong now as they were then.

By: manny

manny — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 03:48:06 +0000

lotta people who don’t play video games here. All of the recent ones tell stories. EVERY GTA since pt. 3 has told a rich, robust story. GTA IV (which is actually the 6th in the series) is just the biggest and baddest of them all.

My roommate writes commercials for video games and has had it for a few months and it’s positively addicting and engrossing and pulls you into the story like few, if any, films ever could.

Brilliance. Pure and simple.

By: Keith

Keith — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 02:53:28 +0000

Seth,

Thank you for pointing out some aspects of the post which were unclear. First, I did not compare the content of GTA to the content Godfather in this post. I mentioned Godfather as a reference point to show how rarely a perfect score is awarded to a piece of entertainment. I figured a film would be a useful common reference on Nikki’s site. If people appreciate the difference between Godfather and other films, they would be able to appreciate the difference between GTA and other games.

As far as artistic expression in a game, I won’t touch that one but if you do a google search you can find a great debate among Roger Ebert and Clive Barker on the topic. SPOILER: Ebert is on your side.

Finally, with regard to the multiplayer modes, I should have been more clear. While there are many Halo maps and missions, there are actually 10 modes of play. GTA IV has revealed 15 modes to date and there are possibly more. The number is unprecedented. Halo 3 is indeed promoted as an on line experience. My point is that GTA’s online capabilities are more robust than even Halo’s, which is primarily an on line game - and the single player experience is larger than most games for this current generation of console.

By: Drew

Drew — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 02:12:22 +0000

Hey Seth,

What about James Cameron’s JAWS?

Or Woody Allen’s DIE HARD?

By: Writer

Writer — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 00:30:16 +0000

Mr. Scorcese? That’s embarassing.

By: Seth

Seth — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 22:36:04 +0000

Comparing any videogame to the frakking Godfather!? That is a new low for me. Films at their best (as Mr. Scorsese’s product certainly is) tell stories. I love most of the games he mentioned but even with plotlines crafted by writers, videogames do not exist to tell stories or explore memorable characters. They exist at their very best to get our primitive human jollies off. And whether they do that in sprawling cities or bleep-blooping on platforms stalked by angry gorillas, that’s the MOST they can possibly do by design.

They’re facets of the same moneymaking machine, but filmed narrative storytelling CAN facilitate moments of art, drama, and pathos that videogames CANNOT. And it would be sad to let ourselves be fooled into thinking that they play on equal artistic or expressive footing.

P.S. Your “expert” was extremely selective or ignorant of his facts - Halo 3 has about a bajillion multiplayer modes and missions, and is rightly marketed more as an online multiplayer experience than a single-player game adventure. To the extent that you can upload movies and high scores of matches, and customize avatars online.

By: Julius Fort

Julius Fort — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 20:43:55 +0000

What I’m really worried about is what happens when you play GTAIV after June 30th. Will the characters in the story stop what they’re doing and start carrying picket signs?

By: peggy

peggy — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 20:08:42 +0000

Yeah, the old way of making movies (paying actors, director and 12 producers millions up front, rewriting the script to suit everyone but the original writer,then paying these same people half of the gross for a limp, lukewarm movie no one wants to see)is over.I throughly believe the film business can be saved but they are going to have to integrate with other platforms (have a day and date release of additional material about the film online). Better scripts which may mean hiring older screenwriters to mentor-train younger screenwriters. Giving screenwriters EQUAL power to the director. Getting better trained (or trained)actors. And stopping the hype! Movie advertising is a joke! When a commercial for a movie comes on and has raves from non-existent reviewers or bloggers and has their names written in 1pt. type so you can’t tell that - it’s fraud and disrespects your consumers. First off, don’t make bad movies. Second, if you do, say so and give a discount to the public. Oh yeah, you’ve heard it before a million times so maybe you should pay attention: Kick people out of the theater who talk and otherwise ruin the experience for others. That’s the main reason people don’t go to the movies. I could go on but I think we (industry people) know what’s needs to be done, we just need the will to do it.

By: milo

milo — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 20:03:40 +0000

So I guess the short answer is a huge “yes”?

And maybe most surprising, it looks like this game doesn’t take the “amoral” approach of the previous ones in the series, it has a real story and characters with genuine moral decisions that have consequences.

Writers who have never played it may have to lay off the knee jerk reactions and whining about how “despicable” it is.

By: pb

pb — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 14:12:27 +0000

Gee, I wonder if the teenaged dating male is going to reach into his pocket for cash to see Baby Mama or use mommy’s credit card to buy GTA IV? Talk about a product with legs…