Grand Theft Auto 4 Review: The Grand-Bees Knees of Gaming

Category: Review on Grand Theft Auto 4 (Playstation 3)

Posted by: 9-May

Strengths: Everything... Well almost everything

Weaknesses: Anti-Aliasing Issues

Let me start this review by saying that I'm not the biggest fan of the Grand Theft Auto Series, I have however owned all of them to date and I always enjoy a great gaming experience. With the current influx of next generation consoles, GTA4 has now graced the game libraries of millions of people around the world. So how does it stack up? One word...

Awesome. It truly is and you can tell from the get go that no expense or dealine has been spared to make sure that the end result just reeks of pure quality. When you buy Grand Theft Auto 4 you will be stepping into a new way games are supposed to be played. That having been said I'll go through all the pros (which are many) and a couple of annoyances (they are picky ones, that's just who I am) of this game.

No spoilers here, but I will give you the simple story. The game portays you as Niko Belic, a Balkan who has travelled a long way to live out the American dream. His cousin Roman has promised Niko that America has provided him with a mansion, women and fast cars. You come to realise that Romans mansion is a run down apartment, the beautiful women he has are only found in strip clubs and his cars are all stolen. So it become rather clear from the beginning that you are going to have to work your way to the top to get somewhere in Liberty City.

This sets you up for a great storyline full of twists and turns as you follow Niko on his journey. Great sound and voice acting, complemented by great visuals and motion animation make the game a pleasure to play and watch. Car physics and human interaction is also spot on. There is so much to see and do in this game that it's hard to believe it only took 4 years to make and I'm being serious when I say that. There is just too much to do and it can easily last you 70 hours.

Now for the little annoyances I've noticed. I've been told that the PS3 version has more anti-aliasing than the Xbox 360 version which I'm grateful for, however, being the enthusiast, I would've loved to see no jaggy lines when I watch and play the game. But you don't even notice this when you play so I can't take this away from Rockstar (the creators).

Another thing that bugged me was potential. The potential to make this game even better looking and playable than it already is. I felt as though Rockstar created a game that was awesome enough to push the Xbox 360 to its limits, however, myself and many PS3 owner wouldn't help but think this game could've been so much better if programmed to the power and capabilites the PS3 offers. Unfortunately, market share and sales has a lot to say about decisions made by developers today, which is understandable.

To sum it all up, Grand Theft Auto 4 is a one of a kind game that no gamer should be without. You will never play a game like this for a long time and the presentation, content and online capabilities are something that you cannot ignore and will keep you at it for a very long time. Did I mention it's a fantastic game?