Poll: GTA4... have you really played it?

[Kortney]

That's exactly what I hated it for. For me, it just wasn't fun, which is what previous GTAs were all about. I refuse to change my playstyle. GTAIV owes its existence to the insanity and fun of games like VC and SA, it just felt like too much had been removed, including its humour.

GTA is just one of a huge list of games released on current systems that, I feel, were total failures when compared to earlier versions on the previous generation of consoles.

Yeah that's my point, the people who didn't like it were the ones that didn't adapt.

But a question: Isn't change an inevitability and a good thing in the gaming industry? Imagine if games never changed throughout a franchise. Imagine how worse off and less innovated the industry would be. Thoughts?

 

[Kortney]

That's exactly what I hated it for. For me, it just wasn't fun, which is what previous GTAs were all about. I refuse to change my playstyle. GTAIV owes its existence to the insanity and fun of games like VC and SA, it just felt like too much had been removed, including its humour.

GTA is just one of a huge list of games released on current systems that, I feel, were total failures when compared to earlier versions on the previous generation of consoles.

Hmm, I did post a response to this post but it didn't show up! Excuse me if this ends up as a double post.

Yeah that's exactly my point. The people who didn't like it were the ones who didn't adapt to it.

And a question: Isn't change a good thing in the gaming industry? Imagine if no popular franchises ever changed their follow up games. Surely the gaming industry would be worse off and far less innovated. Thoughts?

 

[Private Custard]

That's exactly what I hated it for. For me, it just wasn't fun, which is what previous GTAs were all about. I refuse to change my playstyle. GTAIV owes its existence to the insanity and fun of games like VC and SA, it just felt like too much had been removed, including its humour.

GTA is just one of a huge list of games released on current systems that, I feel, were total failures when compared to earlier versions on the previous generation of consoles.

Yeah that's my point, the people who didn't like it were the ones that didn't adapt.

But a question: Isn't change an inevitability and a good thing in the gaming industry? Imagine if games never changed throughout a franchise. Imagine how worse off and less innovated the industry would be. Thoughts?

Change can be a good thing. But when you have something as near as dammit to perfect, change is also a risky proposition. Sure they gained a lot of fans when IV came out, but they lost a hell of a lot of fans too.

I won't blindly buy another GTA again, just because it's GTA. III, VC and SA were safe purchases which only got better with each version. Now, change seems to mean a change of style, not adding more and more and more.

Oh well, I guess I have SA to fall back on, whilst others can play IV, so I suppose we're all happy!

EDIT: Yep, I don't know what happened to your first post. It appeared in my inbox!

 

[Kortney]

That's exactly what I hated it for. For me, it just wasn't fun, which is what previous GTAs were all about. I refuse to change my playstyle. GTAIV owes its existence to the insanity and fun of games like VC and SA, it just felt like too much had been removed, including its humour.

GTA is just one of a huge list of games released on current systems that, I feel, were total failures when compared to earlier versions on the previous generation of consoles.

Yeah that's my point, the people who didn't like it were the ones that didn't adapt.

But a question: Isn't change an inevitability and a good thing in the gaming industry? Imagine if games never changed throughout a franchise. Imagine how worse off and less innovated the industry would be. Thoughts?

Change can be a good thing. But when you have something as near as dammit to perfect, change is also a risky proposition. Sure they gained a lot of fans when IV came out, but they lost a hell of a lot of fans too.

I won't blindly buy another GTA again, just because it's GTA. III, VC and SA were safe purchases which only got better with each version. Now, change seems to mean a change of style, not adding more and more and more.

Oh well, I guess I have SA to fall back on, whilst others can play IV, so I suppose we're all happy!

EDIT: Yep, I don't know what happened to your first post. It appeared in my inbox!

Fair enough! Oh, might I recommend http://www.sa-mp.com/ . If you are into San Andreas and play it on PC, that multiplayer is amazing. So much fun!

 

[your-friendly-noggin]

I love this game, i play it every so often and i'm always finding hidden stuff, like behind the hospital in the north of the middle island there is a HUGE staircase that leads all the way to the roof, takes about 3 minutes just to run up the damn thing, but its heart pounding when a full swat team is shooting up at you and two helicopters are raining in from the side, its claustrophobic and intense when you do it like that yet it's still just a staircase XD

Another thing is i like to make up my own stories, most involve being a serial killer tracking down a specific character model then finding a way to take that character off the street and kill him/her without raising any attention from the police. It's great fun for those who are bored

 

[kickyourass]

I've played it and I highly enjoyed it, there are other games I prefer, but I still think GTA4 is great.

 

[KefkaCultist]

I sat down and played the shit out of it and beat it pretty quick then messed around some more. Then I took it back to Game Stop for the full refund because I'd had my fun with it and went to play something else.

 

[deathninja]

Picked it up at launch, gave up after about 3 hours, bitterly disappointed.

Ever since the original (another launch pickup for me, albeit by proxy as I was about 15), the series had always been a bit tongue in cheek and silly, but fun (IIRC the original was billed as a 'car chase simulator'?...)

4 Was far too serious and full of itself. I know games are pushing to be an artform and all that, but GTA was never meant to be all serious and gritty, it killed the series for me. Sants Row 2 was by far the better game.

 

[Spruceapple]

Seems to me like most people that loved San Andreas didn't really care for GTA IV. Personally I don't see why. I've played through SA's story like ten times or so and still enjoyed GTA IV a great deal. Though I have to agree that SA is the superior game and I wish for the next GTA to be more like it

 

[Syphous]

I beat the single-player stuff. Played a bunch of the co-op stuff. Dabbled in the versus stuff. I enjoyed it immensely at the time. Since then I have gone back and didn't enjoy it all. Why? I have no idea. It just didn't click with me again.

 

[DirgeNovak]

4 is by far my favorite GTA. I got tired of the other GTAs about halfway through because the controls were absolute crap, but GTA4 fixed most of the control issues and that made the game that much more enjoyable. I'm a pretty slow player, so I'm not done with it yet, but I'm pretty close to the end. Can't wait to get the episodes afterwards.

 

[Mr C]

Unlike a lot of posters, I always find GTA to be dull after more than 5 minutes if I'm just dicking around. I enjoy the story though and have finished GTA4. I prefer Red Dead Redemption however.

 

[MrGalactus]

Yahtzee said "GTA4 was the biggest release of any form of media ever".?

It's actually not anymore, Black Ops outsold it.
I finished it, it's alright but it has some monstrously annoying features. It's not nearly as good as San Andreas.

 

[PhunkyPhazon]

I've played through it once, and I like it fine enough. It's not as good as San Andreas or, to be honest, even Chinatown Wars. GTA4 takes away all the zanyness and over the top mission structures I'm so used to seeing. No more fire truck or ambulance missions, and taxi missions are only available for maybe the first quarter of the story. It feels like most of the stuff available to do in this open world is play mini games and go street racing.

See, what they did was take away most of the odd jobs and replace them with one of the most annoying gimmicks I've ever seen in a game--oh, could you hang on a second? I've got a call.

"Hello."
"PHUNKY, HEY! YOU WANNA GO SEE A SHOW!?"
"But we've already seen all the shows in town a dozen times. No thanks."
"WHAT!? I HATE YOOOOOOOUUUUUU!"
*thumbs down symbol appears*

It's the thumbs down part that really makes me hate it. Why the hell should the player be punished for not wanting to play a mini-game? Even worse, you only get an hour to pick the person up, and sometimes they're at the opposite side of the city. I don't think it's even physically possible to drive across the map in one single in-game hour. Maybe if there were absolutely no other cars on the road...and even that's just a maybe.

 

[aegix drakan_v1legacy]

Played vice city for a while, found the game to be pointless and boring, except for random full-city mass murder with cheats on.

The series just isn't for me.

 

[superbatranger]

Nothing like getting a Patriot and flipping cars over.

 

[StrappingYoungLad]

Got up to the first helicopter mission and finally stopped playing that terrible game.