GTA IV - Was anyone disappointed?

[themightyodog]

I'm probably going to die in a hail of flame for this, but did anyone find the GTA 4 experience a little disappointing? Firstly i'd like to say that i've played, completed and still own every GTA since the very first one, I'm a computer games design student, And i've just completed the main mission strand, and a lot of the side stuff on GTA 4, so i like to think i've got a little bit of critical credibility. Maybe not.

Being as I haven't really heard any criticism of this game, not from reviews or friends, I fully realise that i might be wrong, and if so, so be it.

My reasons for feeling a little let down are -

1)The weird way that parts of the previous GTA universe were brought forward, whilst other bits were left out. - By this i mean we had the branded products (Sprunk etc.) But none of the characters were brought forward from the previous titles, and consequently it appears that their stories are now never going to be continued. This for me was a huge let down, as the continuation of these stories and the interweaving of different characters in the different games was primariliy my reason for buying the games.

2)The shift from humour to a more serious story - ok so I think point one can partly be answered by this shift, I can understand that perhaps Laslow et al. deemed the previous collective of characters to be too reminicent of the humourous side of the previous games, and so to make the statement that this is a new era for GTA, they culled the cast, but was serious really the way to go? The story of this game was immense, but if you ask me it would have been better put towards starting a new franchise. In fact thats something i'd really like to have seen, GTA keep its funny side, as well as a darker, grittier free roamer from rockstar. Also, perhaps seriousness and realism isn't something to really aim for in this series being as it is instantly undermined by the player being able to run over a bunch of pedestrians, kill a couple of policemen, and get off consequence free on account of being able to drive fast enough to escape from a blue circle on your mini map.

3)The girlfriend/friend side missions - Not at any point during any of the previous games did i think - "hmmm....... this game is definately missing the ability to socialise with these npc's" Admittedly watching Niko when drunk was hilarious, but I found the whole process of socialising laborious (not unlike real life), and getting the right combination of clothes/shoes and car, then taking a girl to a location that she likes was so random it just became ridiculous.

Ok so those are my big three, I'm hoping anyone who answers this post can either a) add to the list, b)agree with me, or c) tell me where i'm wrong, because right now I feel like a social leper whenever the subject of GTA 4 comes up.

Looking forward to your replies,

Olly (themightyodog)

 

[jezz8me]

i was a little disappointed but not for those reasons. I preferred the new tone of the game and liked the fact that it was more like the getaway if made by rockstar (lol at one of the last missions being nearly identical to the last mission of the getaway). The girlfriend/ side missions were a bit useless but you could easily ignore them because they played no imprtant role. I only ever used jacob's weapons dealing ocasionaly and no other services.

Also i did not mind about the not re-incorperting previous things because the only previous title i played in full was GTA:SA (i did not enjoy vice city at all, found it clumsy and the motion blur and colours were just annoying for me not mood setting.)

The problem with GTA 4 was the lack of an urge to use the sandbox. I got hours and hours of extra play out of SA but in GTA 4 i played the story nd felt i was done with it. Although the city was better and more developed i just didn't know/ feel the urge to do anything. Maybe it is my maturing as i played GTA:SA as a year 8 but the extra sandbox fun is what i believed GTA4 lacked. I didn't even bother with online tried it once and thought meh i could have more fun on my own.

 

[Spidey78]

I think GTA 4 is pretty fun, despite it being so dark at night that you have to turn the brightness setting all the way up to see anything.

I was a bit miffed on the new driving method though. Instead of being able to do sharp turns, like in the other games, if you attempted a sharp brake you would just enter a spinout and fly out of your windshield.

Plus, they took some of the really fun stuff that was in previous games out. Like planes, where are my planes? I realize that the city terrain might not be as varied as the different terrains in San Andreas were, but why did they have to take out planes? Those were so much fun. Plus they took out parachutes, jetpacks, and flamethrowers.

For this I curse the turn down realism and grittiness. Apparently flamethrowers aren't realistic.

 

[LordCraigus]

I enjoyed the game a lot, I feel the more serious story was fine and the modern day satire was great. I don't mind that some stuff was left out since it was the first next-gen GTA and there was no gameplay flaws that really stick in my mind. But, I feel inclined to agree with jezz that I don't feel the same impulse to play around in the sandbox as I did with the previous games. You'd think with the Euphoria engine the fun of just runing and gunning people down would be multiplied tenfold, yet I just don't get the urge to play it much.

 

[thebobmaster_v1legacy]

I was definitely disappointed. Granted, I only rented it and played it for three days, but that was because I got bored. I did not like the new car physics that prevented you from speeding around a corner, the cover system was unnecessary, and there was never any point to sandboxing. I actually prefer Saint's Row. Great music, though.

 

[Jumplion]

It was a pretty average game for me, good in short bursts.

I never ONCE experienced anything that everyone else experienced with the citizens of LC. I never saw anyone crash into another car and get out to see if the driver is alright, i never saw someone else get arrested, i never really cared when i saw a police officer chase someone else.

Don't say i wasn't looking for those moments, i stood in place in an interesction for 30 minutes in real life.

Also, there really isn't a completely full story. Because i was too lazy to finish the game (i'm only half way through, it's becoming a chore) i decided to just read the plot on Wikipedia. The plot synopsis was only 2 paragraphs long, give or take a sentence or two. It starts out with niko coming to america, then goes somewhere in the middle, then goes to the end. Infact, most of the missions don't progress the story at all, when you are given a choice of missions only 1 or 2 of them actually have anything to do with the actual story and the rest are either "Rob the bank", "Kill this person and his gang", and sometimes "If you do this i'll help you find who you're looking for"

that's my rant.

EDIT: ALSO, the weapons are not very varied. The weapons go from Weapon to Better Version of Weapon to RPG.
In Example: AK-47 to M4 to RPG, Sniper Rifle to Combat Sniper rifle to RPG, Knife to Baseball bat to RPG, Moltov to Grenade to RPG, i've already listed mosre than half. Infact i just need to name 2 more before i'm done with the weapons. Another issue, not enough weapons.

Boy, it feels good to tell the truth!

EDIT 2: One theory my friend suggested that there are no planes in the game because HELLO 9/11? Liberals and Politicians would be all over Rockstar's ass

EDIT TRESS: Yes and i agree about the game not being enough sandbox fun, it wasn't as fun as San Andreas.

 

[sammyfreak]

I can't say I was dissapointed with the game, there where some issues that made it less then perfect but I got exactly what I expected.

 

[zirnitra]

I think the biggest issue with the game is it being in liberty city. it's too crowded and compact I mean in VC and SA you could drive what felt like hundreds of miles with out seeing another soul which gave you a sense of freedom as well as the more crowded city areas perfect for the sandbox feel as you have both. I've completed the game now and I feel absolutely no urge to carry on playing it.

they took to much of the more kiddy fun out of the game, like now they have made the driving unnecessarily complicated (I could drive perfectly but it was just boring when I checked my stats towards the end I found the miles I had spent as a taxi passenger was more than twice that I'd driven in a car) also they seem to have decided they don't want you to think of cars as disposable items which you can steal another of once the first one's fucked anymore insted you have to look after your cars keep them pristine (the main reason I'm saying this is because of the lack of restoration in garages like their used to be, I don't know if anyone else felt like this but in the entire game I only blew up one car through wreckless driving) which took a lot of fun out of it for me. then their's all the aspects they didn't include like having a chopper on the roof of one of your penthouses that would just endlessly re spawn, admittedly their was not alot you could do in the choppers because if you've been in one for more than 5 minutes you've already seen ALL of liberty city.

another thing I felt really disappointed about in the game was the fact I never really felt the protagonist became powerful by the end, he had a fair amount of money but with out the ability to purchase different properties and do sidequests to improve them, and increasing the size of your gang you just seemed more like a wealthy mercenary than a crime lord.

I think ultimately the reason this game was so disappointing was it was the first of the series to be put onto the new generation of consoles,they wanted to play it safe not over exert themselves on a larger project but have a smaller one and get it down to an absolute tee. GTA3 was the last major platform game in the series to make the jump and that did not include things like bikes or the ability to buy property like it's predisesor did. I can assure you however the next to come out on PS3&360 will be awesome!

 

[WlknCntrdiction]

I think I'm probably in the most unbiased position seeing as this is my first GTA, I'm getting sick of the people who have played the previous ones and complain about how number IV doesn't have this and doesn't have that. The developers brought the game in this direction and it's a great game, you should all be grateful you got another GTA tbh.
This is just as bad as people complaining about Burnout Paradise and how it wasn't Burnout anymore because of free roam and shit like that. I took part in those battles of words over on xbox.com, not a pleasant place to be when the game came out. It still has cars going at high speed and crashing, that is what Burnout is about, BP is still pure Burnout.
In the same sense this is still as much GTA as any of the others, it's still grounded in "funland", you can go hurtling out of a window if you're going fast enough, you can cause all manner of destruction if you want, just like in the previous ones, there maybe not be as many "fun" things to do(which in itself is subjective)but that doesn't make it any less GTA than the others.

 

[squid5580]

Well I have never been a fan of the GTA series. Not that I hated it or anything just not a fan of driving in games. I ended up with some store credit and nothing to play so I picked up GTA4. I did enjoy it for a while (about 10 hours) then I became bored. I started to feel like I was driving more than I was doing anything else. I can understand why alot of ppl would love it unfortunately it wasn't for me.

 

[themightyodog]

"The developers brought the game in this direction and it's a great game, you should all be grateful you got another GTA tbh."

Think you got that wrong matey, I'm not going to be grateful for anything i spend my hard earned cash on, as I bought it, and especially in this case as it was this game that made me go out and purchase a 360 and all the other stuff that goes along with it, so all told I spent about £320 to play this game. It could be the greatest game ever, (which it isn't because donkey kong 94 on gameboy is) I'm still not going to be grateful for it after paying for it.

"I think I'm probably in the most unbiased position seeing as this is my first GTA.......................................there maybe not be as many "fun" things to do(which in itself is subjective)but that doesn't make it any less GTA than the others."

Um, how would you know?

 

[WlknCntrdiction]

"The developers brought the game in this direction and it's a great game, you should all be grateful you got another GTA tbh."

Think you got that wrong matey, I'm not going to be grateful for anything i spend my hard earned cash on, as I bought it, and especially in this case as it was this game that made me go out and purchase a 360 and all the other stuff that goes along with it, so all told I spent about £320 to play this game. It could be the greatest game ever, (which it isn't because donkey kong 94 on gameboy is) I'm still not going to be grateful for it after paying for it.

"I think I'm probably in the most unbiased position seeing as this is my first GTA.......................................there maybe not be as many "fun" things to do(which in itself is subjective)but that doesn't make it any less GTA than the others."

Um, how would you know?

Because of what others have bitched about there not being in this one, someone on gamefaqs was even kind enough to compile a list of everything that wasn't in GTAIV but was in San Andreas, cry moar plox(not you, the people who are complaining)

 

[AlexHarman]

I was not in the least bit disappointed with GTA, in fact it was quite the opposite. The graphics, whilst being overly dark at times are vastly superior to the graphics in the earlier games, and GTAIV's story is a massive step up from that of previous GTA games. This time I have been far less inclined to skip the cutscenes than in the older games, and the story has actually hooked me.

I could recount a long list of things that make GTAIV better than the previous games, but as the question simply asks whether I was disappointed with it, I feel I have justified my answer appropriately.

And for those who are complaining that it's not as good as SA - the solution is simple. Play SA itself, nobody's forcing you to play IV.

 

[OurGloriousLeader]

The only real problem with GTA4 for me is that every mission is a tutorial. I'm not sure if this is because they had to dumb it down, GTA being one of the few games that both 'hardcore' and 'casuals' like (if you enjoy pigeon holing), or because there are just so much genres being parodied and crammed in. Probably a bit of both. But as such, the huge freedom you got when sandboxing contrasted badly with the hand holding of the missions.

It literally forced you into set pieces. In one mission, you have kill a bunch of gangsters to try and steal a truck. I picked off most of them from afar with my sniper and assault rifles, then saw the truck driving away, so I zoomed in and shot the driver in the face, to be rewarded with a big splat of blood. Haha, I thought. But no, the truck just keeps driving, and I have to run after it because the game wanted me to climb on the roof, 'like in a film', and kick the driver out.

All sense of drama was lost, indeed there was more when I saw the truck leaving and I quickly an expertly stopped the driver (or rather, didn't).

Other than that, though, it was great.

 

[TheGhostOfSin]

I
MISS
TANKS!!

 

[Singing Gremlin]

Because of what others have bitched about there not being in this one, someone on gamefaqs was even kind enough to compile a list of everything that wasn't in GTAIV but was in San Andreas, cry moar plox(not you, the people who are complaining)

A game series has a feel that you can't understand from lists. You cannot say it sticks with the series if you haven't played them.

For me, it just felt so small compared to SA. It was almost like going from the double-digit number of guilds in Morrowind to the four in Oblivion.

 

[OurGloriousLeader]

Because of what others have bitched about there not being in this one, someone on gamefaqs was even kind enough to compile a list of everything that wasn't in GTAIV but was in San Andreas, cry moar plox(not you, the people who are complaining)

A game series has a feel that you can't understand from lists. You cannot say it sticks with the series if you haven't played them.

For me, it just felt so small compared to SA. It was almost like going from the double-digit number of guilds in Morrowind to the four in Oblivion.

Quality over quantity and all. In SA I was constantly getting stuck in the middle of a big green field or big yellow desert and having to run to the nearest road, where no cars would come. In LC, the city lives and you're never 'stuck'.

 

[WlknCntrdiction]

Because of what others have bitched about there not being in this one, someone on gamefaqs was even kind enough to compile a list of everything that wasn't in GTAIV but was in San Andreas, cry moar plox(not you, the people who are complaining)

A game series has a feel that you can't understand from lists. You cannot say it sticks with the series if you haven't played them.

For me, it just felt so small compared to SA. It was almost like going from the double-digit number of guilds in Morrowind to the four in Oblivion.

Did I say it stuck with the series? or didn't for that matter? Words in my mouth ftl.
And I physically can say it sticks with the series or not, but skipping through the facetious comment whether you like it or not this is how GTAIV is, like AlexHarman said, if you want what San Andreas had then go play San Andreas, no one is restraining you forcing you to play it whilst your eyes are sellotaped open.

EDIT: Same thing happened over on the Burnout Paradise forums, people don't like BP so they complain about how it's "not Burnout" and how Revenge is soooo much better, go play it then if it is, Burnout Revenge is thata'way>>>>>>

 

[Singing Gremlin]

A game series has a feel that you can't understand from lists. You cannot say it sticks with the series if you haven't played them.

For me, it just felt so small compared to SA. It was almost like going from the double-digit number of guilds in Morrowind to the four in Oblivion.

Quality over quantity and all. In SA I was constantly getting stuck in the middle of a big green field or big yellow desert and having to run to the nearest road, where no cars would come. In LC, the city lives and you're never 'stuck'.

Ah yes. Clearly that memory was blocked out by my rose-tinted goggles.

edit:

but that doesn't make it any less GTA than the others.

So yes, you did.

Time to roll for my flamewar evasion check.