A Defense Of GTA4

[Strafe Mcgee]

In gta4 everything seemed like a chore i had to take people out take them to dinner and so on it was too realistic i play games to get away from reality not to relive it

you don't actually HAVE to take people out for dinner if you don't want to. If you want to focus on missions you can just turn the phone on silent and ignore everyone that phones you. It really bugs me that people immediately use that as a criticism of the game when it's something that, if you don't like it, you can ignore.

Sure, you won't get the bonuses for hanging out with people, but you don't need them to beat the game.

 

[ArmoredSandwich]

The story? Seriously?

The story was completely uninteresting and the characters were so annoying I began to hate them the second I met them.

The story was one of the things that made the game a lot less enjoyable for me.

 

[maffro]

Yes its realistic woop dee doo. If I want realism I open my door and walk outside. A game should never sacrfice fun for realism as GTA did.

But it didn't, it was more fun than any other GTA.

There, I said it.

I completely agree. The weapons felt satisfying, escaping the smarter police was an achievement in itself and the euphoria engine made every slammed pedestrian and gunfight more exciting than the last

 

[Pseudonym2]

Whoops, I hit quote not edit.

 

[Ancientgamer]

If I want realism I open my door and walk outside.

Worst argument ever. Realism adds to the immersion of a game and adds to the feeling you're doing stuff in a living breathing world. It's a lot more thrilling to do stuff you can't do in real life, but still have the experience as if it was in real life.

*sigh* Just because you want an argument doesn't make everything people say into a personal challenge. What I said was my opinion and that cannot be wrong so shut the hell up.

Your opinion was flawed, you are still entitled to your opinion, and it's perfectly valid, but your justification of it doesn't make any sense. Just say you like more surrealistic over the top atmosphere, don't make some pants-on-head-retarded analogy. (which. has been done to death at that.)

 

[Spyalt]

If I want realism I open my door and walk outside.

Worst argument ever. Realism adds to the immersion of a game and adds to the feeling you're doing stuff in a living breathing world. It's a lot more thrilling to do stuff you can't do in real life, but still have the experience as if it was in real life.

*sigh* Just because you want an argument doesn't make everything people say into a personal challenge. What I said was my opinion and that cannot be wrong so shut the hell up.

Your opinion was flawed, you are still entitled to your opinion, and it's perfectly valid, but your justification of it doesn't make any sense. Just say you like more surrealistic over the top atmosphere, don't make some pants-on-head-retarded analogy. (which. has been done to death at that.)

An opinion cannot be flawed. End of.

 

[Ancientgamer]

If I want realism I open my door and walk outside.

Worst argument ever. Realism adds to the immersion of a game and adds to the feeling you're doing stuff in a living breathing world. It's a lot more thrilling to do stuff you can't do in real life, but still have the experience as if it was in real life.

*sigh* Just because you want an argument doesn't make everything people say into a personal challenge. What I said was my opinion and that cannot be wrong so shut the hell up.

Your opinion was flawed, you are still entitled to your opinion, and it's perfectly valid, but your justification of it doesn't make any sense. Just say you like more surrealistic over the top atmosphere, don't make some pants-on-head-retarded analogy. (which. has been done to death at that.)

An opinion cannot be flawed. End of.

It wasn't your opinion that was flawed, it was your justification for it.

 

[MiracleOfSound]

Its not a bad game, in fact its quite good, but in the world of Crackdown and Saint's Row 2, GTA no longer rules the free roam action game genre.

I agree, sure it's a great game, but they ultimately just didn't have enough fun. I actually haven't played SR2 yet but I have played Crackdown and it's extremely fun.

Yep I had infinitely more fun leaping around skyscrapers and throwing cop cars at cops than taking Packie out drinking for the 76th time to stop him bitching down the phone at me.

I actually found the driving in GTA4 much more fun than in the previous ones.

GTA4 was a great game, it just didn't live up to people's expectations ot the hype that surrounded it, a bit like another well known franchise starring a space marine in a fetching green suit...

 

[Ancientgamer]

Here's a question for you people, Why must a game sacrifice realism for fun? What on earth makes you think the two are at odds in any way?

 

[Barry93]

implementing large amounts of realism destroys games, which is why GTA4 was the most overrrated game in history; it was crap

 

[Schnippshly]

I liked GTA4. I never answered the phone to take people on dates, I'm pretty sure you don't have to and there's I don't think there's even a penalty for not doing so. Although the environment was really moody compared to previous games, it looked really good and was more immersive. I never had the urge to go on a murderous rampage so I wasn't too worried about the game's "punishment against fun" as everyone likes to call it. I just liked doing the missions. I also liked the story, and the characters. They all have interesting flaws.

I found the realism of the game to be really appealing. Realism didn't detract from the fun at all, it felt way more involving.

Saints Row 2, on the other hand, I didn't think was that great. The gameplay was OK, although I thought it got a little tedious. I don't find over-the-top gameplay to be very entertaining for very long. And the story mode was just AWFUL because the "good guys" are horrible, horrible people. It's not like they're flawed or have questionable motives, they're just TERRIBLE. Your own character just goes around killing innocent people in cutscenes all the time like it was nothing. When you break into a court room to get your buddy out of jail in the beginning of the game, in the cutscene, your character tells a security guard to drop his weapon. When the security guard drops his weapon, your character shoots him in the face. Awesome. That's merely one good example.

I think they're just completely different, great games and enjoying one over the other depends entirely on someone's tastes.

 

[Strafe Mcgee]

implementing large amounts of realism destroys games, which is why GTA4 was the most overrrated game in history; it was crap

Care to justify that statement?

 

[Ancientgamer]

implementing large amounts of realism destroys games,

Why?

which is why GTA4 was the most overrrated game in history; it was crap

Prove it, not being like other GTA games isn't proof in and of itself; go.

 

[cainx10a]

I actually really love GTA4 and Niko, and the cast of very colorful characters (Bernie ). Not to mention the huge replay value, which is something I really look forward to in my video games.

 

[Ionami]

Story
This is something that GTA4 really doesn't get enough credit for. Niko is easily one of the most compelling protagonists in gaming simply due to his realism as a character. He is sympathetic, genuinely nice to those he cares about and regrets many of his actions throughout the game. How many other games can you talk about which have a character that actually goes through a development curve throughout the progress of the game? Beyond Good and Evil is one of the few that I can currently think of, though I'm sure that you guys will be able to conjure up some more.

Gotta disagree with you, on just this one point. Niko was basically a one-note pony throughout 75% of the game.

He didn't really seem "cool" the way CJ in San Andreas was, or evilly awesome like Tommy Vercetti. (Who is basically Tony Montana.)

He's a violent ugly bastard with a beer belly, wearing an incredibly strange array of clothing, coming from a background I would HOPE most average folks would know nothing about...

Just really wasn't anything about him I could relate to, or really like.

Jonathan from the Lost and the Damned was a really cool character though.

 

[Strafe Mcgee]

Where is the attention when it came to the cover system, collision detection or rag doll physics? Sure it looks nice, but it doesn't play nice.

I'm coming to the cover system later, but I agree that it wasn't the best implemented game feature in the world. Still, at least they tried. Most Sandbox games haven't even bothered trying to change the system that GTA popularised in the first place. Not quite sure what you mean by collision detection issues, it was fine when I played it. And how does the rag-doll physics detract from anything? All they're there for is to make crashes look more spectacular, which is more fun!

 

[thenumberthirteen]

I liked, nay loved, GTAIV. While there where other GTA games that had a better soundtrack (an important part of GTA to me) and more "wacky" missions, and the phone calls where annoying. I feel it was great game. I prefer the car handling (after I got used to it) and the damage, AI, and cover mechanics make firefights a lot more fun (in the other GTA games you just stood in the middle of the road and shot at each other until one of you was dead). I liked the story, the locations and the Characters.

If I could change it I would simply add 2 things:
1. Tank and Minigun (the damage models are just BEGGING for these heavy hitters)
2. Some Countryside (I know there are those who didn't like the open country in SA, but I loved it)
3. More guns. They seemed to take a step back from previous games and drastically reduced the weapon count (FYI I have the PS3 version so I haven't played the DLC)

 

[Spyalt]

If I want realism I open my door and walk outside.

Worst argument ever. Realism adds to the immersion of a game and adds to the feeling you're doing stuff in a living breathing world. It's a lot more thrilling to do stuff you can't do in real life, but still have the experience as if it was in real life.

*sigh* Just because you want an argument doesn't make everything people say into a personal challenge. What I said was my opinion and that cannot be wrong so shut the hell up.

Your opinion was flawed, you are still entitled to your opinion, and it's perfectly valid, but your justification of it doesn't make any sense. Just say you like more surrealistic over the top atmosphere, don't make some pants-on-head-retarded analogy. (which. has been done to death at that.)

An opinion cannot be flawed. End of.

It wasn't your opinion that was flawed, it was your justification for it.

Then you are a lier because you said my opinion was flawed in your originial post. Don't try and deny it.

 

[Bofus Teefus]

Story
This is something that GTA4 really doesn't get enough credit for. Niko is easily one of the most compelling protagonists in gaming simply due to his realism as a character. He is sympathetic, genuinely nice to those he cares about and regrets many of his actions throughout the game. How many other games can you talk about which have a character that actually goes through a development curve throughout the progress of the game? Beyond Good and Evil is one of the few that I can currently think of, though I'm sure that you guys will be able to conjure up some more.

Gotta disagree with you, on just this one point. Niko was basically a one-note pony throughout 75% of the game.

He didn't really seem "cool" the way CJ in San Andreas was, or evilly awesome like Tommy Vercetti. (Who is basically Tony Montana.)

He's a violent ugly bastard with a beer belly, wearing an incredibly strange array of clothing, coming from a background I would HOPE most average folks would know nothing about...

Just really wasn't anything about him I could relate to, or really like.

Jonathan from the Lost and the Damned was a really cool character though.

The character problem wasn't just Niko either. Most of them were just plain bland. One of the reasons the GTA series has been one of my favorites for years was that the characters were, by and large, hilarious. Look at most of the GTASA lineup.

The upside for me was the realism, the game physics, and just the overall play. Multiplayer was fun as well. I just couldn't dig the story or the people.

 

[Sronpop]

It was a great game, no, it was an amazing game. In my opinion it just becomes less fun over time. Sure it was the most I ever had for about 2 weeks maybe, but it wasn't fun enough to complete again, even with different ending etc. The took the less is more approach, they took less features from SA (albeit some very fun ones) and tried to make what they had better, ie better story etc, characters, and while thats great and all, there only so many times you want to play a 30 hour story. Sure the mission structure was varied, and everything was very functional, but as others said some things just became a chore, instead of being fun. SA had a good balance, sure it was wildly over the top at times, and completely unrealistic in some aspects, but it was real where it mattered, the story was great in that too, and there was so much to do afterwards. Whereas when you complete gta4 what is there to do, go browse the internet, watch tv in the game, sure they were funny and mildly entertaining, but you have to look at the overall picture.

Overall I still think it was a fantastic game, one which I am glad I spent my money on, but in my opinion the approach they had in making the game was off in some aspects, sure its realistic, but having a character who reacts the way we would isnt exactly fun, I want a character who can move with ease. Just an example but its point stands. Consicering my experience with the GTA games, I would have to say SA is better than GTA4, but GTA4 is in no means a step back, its still a step forward, it just didn't go where alot of people thought it would, myself included.