A Defense Of GTA4

[Barry93]

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?

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.

Well i guess this is my opinion, but I play GTA and videogames in general for the fun. Driving people around the city in a taxi cab and taking my "friends" on dates to go bowling and playing darts is not my idea of having a good time. almost everytime you steal a car there's always a cop nearby to throw a wanted star at you. Those toll booths snap the flow of gameplay in half. Gameplay is fine, graphics are fine; GTA4 could have been fun if they didn't add these pointless aspects to the game.

I got GTA4 because people were throwing 10's at it and claiming it descended from heaven and was ready to lead us to the promised land. now a 10 indicates that a game is perfect, but since there's toll booths, dates, girlfriends, and several hundred escort missions; obviously it's not perfect. I just didn't have fun with it at any moment in the game. I felt like i was watching a combination of the Godfather and American Gangster. Again this is my opinion, if you like this kind of shit then by all means play away. I personally would've given GTA4 a 4-6 for a score. Multiplayer sucks, why would you let the players make the rules for the match?

I don't understand why realism is supposed to be a selling point. If you played the ratchet and clank games and R:FOM, then you'll know how superior the weapon wheel is to the boring standard halo 2 weapon capacity system. Those games didn't give a crap about realism and were good and fun because of it. Engineering scenarios where a strnge creature can leap 15 feet in the air and simultainiously hold 20 weapons is great. Well i guess that's unfair, GTA4 had that ability too but the weapons were boring; there's your pistols, sub MGs, assault rifles, shotguns, sniper rifles, grenades, and rocket launcher. Yeah we've all been here before, they all look realistic, and handle realistically. In ratchet/clank and R:FOM you got liquid nitrogen guns, the Hailstorm, Splitter rifle, Hurricane etc. Far more interesting weapons. Remeber, this is an opinion, not a fact.

 

[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.

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

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.)

Stop being pedantic and trying to pick a fight, It's semantics and I clarified the very next sentence.

Perhaps a better phrasing would've been "You opinion is baseless" if the difference really bothers you that much.

 

[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.)

Ahem. I win.

 

[slevin8989]

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.

The thing was there was a huge emphasis on that part of the game I don't have to even do the missions if i don't want to but they are part of the game and the game should be reviewed by all its parts

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

 

[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.

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

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.)

Stop being so pedantic when I clarified my statement the very next sentence. You're just trying to start a fight over nothing. It's just semantics and you know it.

Perhaps a better phrasing would've been "your opinion is baseless" if it really bugs you so much

 

[Avida]

escaping the smarter police

The police were definately smarter but once you figued out driving fast in any direction would always lose them, and that you were never that far away from a long, straight stretch of road they stopped being fun for me. I miss the idiot cops from the last game who you could just play around with after a while, making them swerve and crash over and over again ^_^

 

[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.)

Ahem. I win.

No, you don't.

Look I'm not saying I didn't say that, I'm not saying that phrase isn't inherntly wrong, I'm saying you can't just damned well ignore everything else around it as you please, check my previous post for a rephrasing.

 

[Strafe Mcgee]

Driving people around the city in a taxi cab and taking my "friends" on dates to go bowling and playing darts is not my idea of having a good time.

Once again, the friend missions are OPTIONAL.

Those toll booths snap the flow of gameplay in half.

Only if you decide to stop for them. Generally I charge straight through and run from the cops. Much more fun.

I felt like i was watching a combination of the Godfather and American Gangster.

That was the tone that they were aiming for. If you don't like it, that's fine, but you can't really criticise a game for doing what it intended to do.

Engineering scenarios where a strnge creature can leap 15 feet in the air and simultainiously hold 20 weapons is great. Well i guess that's unfair, GTA4 had that ability too but the weapons were boring; there's your pistols, sub MGs, assault rifles, shotguns, sniper rifles, grenades, and rocket launcher. Yeah we've all been here before, they all look realistic, and handle realistically. In ratchet/clank and R:FOM you got liquid nitrogen guns, the Hailstorm, Splitter rifle, Hurricane etc. Far more interesting weapons. Remeber, this is an opinion, not a fact

The weapons were no different from the other weapons that came before it, though some of the more interesting ones like the Katana and the Chainsaw were removed. But you can't criticise the game because it doesn't have Liquid nitrogen guns- none of the GTAs did because it wouldn't make any sense for them to be there.

GTA is still fun, but it's not necessarily the wacky, cartoonish style fun that you'd get in Saints Row 2 or Ratchet & Clank, something that the designers never intended. Still, you're entitled to your opinion

 

[Strafe Mcgee]

*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.

AND LOTS MORE ARGUING.

Good lord... Spyalt, Vivaldi is right. If you want other people to accept your opinion then you need to logically back it up. You did not do this. Would you care to elaborate on why you think realism in GTA is a bad thing?

 

[NinjaSquirrel]

GTA4 deviated from the other GTA's, in my opinion. In the other games, you were a gangster, or an aspiring "Boss-Man," or something along those lines. Your task was to fight your way up the criminal-political ladder until you didn't NEED to drive a metal band around to get them their smack-fix. You were then left with carving a swath of destruction around a city for giggles, and you were the Man.

GTA4 put you in an engaging story where you were what amounts to a soldier for foreign criminals/criminal states, and you came to America to escape it. Your cousin lied his pants off to you regarding his status in America, and how well-connected he was. Hilarity and Drama ensues when you need to use your skills from the past life to claim what should be yours in a land of promise, which is more of a dystopia. You wanted peace, and you'll kill anyone in your way to get it (haha).

I preferred the "Buy" system from previous GTA games, like Vice City and San Andreas, where you could kill some hookers, and use their money to buy a new safehouse, a drug-front, and a chainsaw, then continue your criminal hijinx however you wanted.

I liked GTA4. A lot. But it wasn't what I was expecting having played through other GTA games. The story was great, and the gameplay, for what flaws it had, was still fun. I'd still go to Saints Row 2 for a sandbox-style game with wacky side-missions, though.

 

[WrongSprite]

Yes its realistic woop dee doo. If I want realism I open my door and walk outside.

And shoot people........?

 

[GonzoGamer]

But really, in GTA4 I played the game, in previous GTAs I played IN the game, and thats all there is to it.

Very well put.

I thought I was going to love GTA 4 when I first started playing it. However, for all the times I said "that's cool they thought of that little thing" there were five times I said, "What, that's it?!"

The environment and mechanics are technically wonderful but they didn't really give you too much to do with them and the few extras they threw to us provided really lame rewards (usually money and/or an achievement trophy). I wasn't expecting it to have all the different things you could do in San Andreas but at least have it (content wise) on par with gta3. Unfortunately (for 360ers that its) the DLC doesn't even add any of the stuff people thought were missing: tanks, miniguns, rampages, etc.

The reason people prefer Sains Row 2 is that it has tons of fun content to play; gta4 had the missions some collectables (with really lame rewards) and after that, all you have is the scenery to look at. The real travesty is that Chinatown Wars is so much better than gta4 and it's not getting recognized.

 

[Willwillwritehiswill]

I liked GTAIV. There i said it.
I don't feel the need to justify my liking for it, or disect everything to the point of hyperbole. I. Like. A. Game.

 

[snakeys]

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?

They don't HAVE to be at odds. In GTA4 they were though, IMO. Part of the fun of GTA for me has always been that it is completely unrealistic violence mixed with over-the-top satire and parody. Really, who goes around a corner, touches a rampage icon, gets equipped with a rocket launcher, and told to blow up 20 cars in 60 seconds? Then after the rampage period is over, everyone acts like nothing happened. This is the fun of GTA. The game doesn't even pretend to be realistic other than through the parody and satire elements.

Realism, IMO, eats away at what made the GTA concept so great in the first place. It is surreal, not realistic. Adding all the friends calling, the gritty plotline, the realistic aiming, the realistic driving...All these just served to make the game less capable of achieving its goals.

Realism and fun can coexist. E.g., COD4. But the GTA series is not about realism.

 

[Sparrow]

I agree. Some users on this forum are complete jackasses to games simply because everyone else is.

I actually began to quite like Niko. He tries to do the right things, and sometimes fails. It dents him, damages him. At least he's human, which can't be said for some other video game characters.

 

[Clirck]

Rockstar took wrong corner and missed the right street of true GTA.
Physics and craphics are awesome but story and Nico with his friends and family sucked. I loved Vice City most because story was good, gameplay wasn't so linear and characters were funny. Best one liner: "This is the Lance Vance Dance". Nico is just some easter european (I am too almost) guy with gay beard and drinking habit going to New York and start drinking again with loudmouth Roman.

Anyway GTA 4 wins in craphics but loses in everything else.

 

[cold killer pov]

GTA IV was fun to play, but like others have said, it cant compare to new sandbox free roams like fallout 3 or saints row 2, even older games like crack down were and are more fun to play than GTA IV. as for realism, it was good in GTA IV but it isn't always needed for instance crack down, you could jump for 100's of meters, pick up lorries and take bullets as if they were being fired from a BB gun, however realism goes TOO far when you have to be taken out of fun such as missions or simply blowing things up because your over weight cousin wishes to go bowling, or your lawyer girlfriend wants you to take her to a swanky restaurant, and more importantly, if you say "no" which for realism you should be more than allowed to do, they begin to hate you!

summery, GTA was good but not as good as it could of been, there are much more fun sandbox's out there such as fallout 3, realism went too far in GTA and retracted from the game rather than adding to it.

 

[Guerilla_Gorilla]

I have no idea why people think Niko is realistic. He goes on about regretting his past, and being a killer and blah blah blah but he's still killing everything in sight and taunting people during a mission.

 

[snakeys]

I have no idea why people think Niko is realistic. He goes on about regretting his past, and being a killer and blah blah blah but he's still killing everything in sight and taunting people during a mission.

Agreed. Only in the context of GTA would anyone think Niko was a realistic character. GTA tries to make Niko sympathetic but ultimately fails at that I think because of the very juxtaposition you mentioned.

This is OT. Even though it's a futuristic action game, I think Jak (Jak & Daxter) is a pretty realistic character. Good example of using realistic character design to vault a series forward from banality into cutting edge. Evidenced by the fact that the Jak series got a lot better after the first one, once Naughty Dog started giving putting some realism and heart into the Jak character design.

 

[teh_gunslinger]

Hmm. I love the game, even if it has flaws. But I can ignore any flaws in a game that has Little Jacob. Hell, give me a game about him and his mate (can't recall the name) and I'd be happy as pig in mud. Although I would be hard pressed to follow much of the dialogue. But hey, I like a challenge.

Besides, if you wanna be left alone that bad then turn the phone off. I'm sure they put that function in for a reason.

What I can't understand is how people can compare it to Fallout 3 and say Fallout was better at sandboxing. That game gets so dame tedious and boring at times I feel like crying. "Oh, more raiders. Guess I'll kill them like the last 437 raiders. Ooh, a completely boring town that makes no sense and seemingly has no way of making food. Guess I'll do the side quests and kill some ants. Then I'll hop along and find Lincolns hat. Yay!"
Also: +5 Science Labcoats? WTF? Is this a fantasy game where the lab coats get enchanted?

/off topic Fallout 3 rant