Poll: What was wrong with GTA IV?

[geon106]

The phone system was okay, but everytime i went into the game i had to put it on silent, why couldn't it just stay on silent? lol.

I think they should keep the phone in next time but maybe make it more customisable and easier to ignore calls etc.

The game wasn't too realistic imho

I think maybe add more content, like buying a business like in Vice City and maybe add a casino like in San Andreas etc.

Overall i really liked GTA IV

I hope the next one is set in London

 

[SomeLameStuff]

It needed more customization in my opinion. Saints Row 2 did this well with the full body customization and ridiculous clothing selection. And the "Cousin! Let's go bowling!" thing got old after the fourth time he caught me in a gunfight.

And seriously? The compulsory racing missions have to go. When I play a TPS, I don't expect racing to be a major mission. At least make it an just optional one dammit!

 

[scrambledeggs]

Too realistic for me. I completely agree with OP one hundred percent. I thought i was weird

 

[JourneyThroughHell]

I don't think that anything was fundamentally wrong. Hell, I've played throught it 3 times and I guess it needs more customization but it has a lot of variety so I am satisfied.

 

[Sovvolf]

I don't think there's any thing wrong with it to be honest, the game was just so overhyped it ruined it when people found out it was good but not perfect.

 

[clicketycrack]

Too dark and gritty I suppose. It seems that Saint's Row 2 is like all the fun and violent silliness that needed to be in GTA4 and GTA4 had all the gameplay mechanics that Saint's Row 2 needed. If the two games could be combined, it would be in my opinion, what GTA4 should have been in the first place.

Also, I found a lot of the characters really unlikeable.

 

[WildManBill]

I played it for about 20 minutes at a friends house before I switched to San Andreas. when I can't even kill a cop befor he shoots me to death with his "everyone has this weakass pistol" something is wrong. I said it was too realistic but I would also agree that it needed a tank, that is almost a staple of the GTA series. To be honest, I thought San Andreas was the best.

 

[Jack_West]

I hated the phone system, button mashing on the PS2 controller was so much easier!

 

[iJosh]

You forgot the, "Everything" choice. That game was total fail. It was boring and a waste of me money.

 

[SonicKoala]

One word: fun. The GTA games used to be the epitomization of sandbox joy - GTA 3, Vice City, and San Andreas are some of the most entertaining games I've ever played, and yet GTA IV felt more like some sort of gritty crime drama; in other words, it was fantastic, and had it not been part of the GTA series, I would have judged it differently. But the fact was it was from a game series that had been built around cartoon-y antics and humour that gave the previous games an incredibly light-hearted and almost playful feel, despite the somewhat serious tones of the story (in San Andreas, anyway).

GTA IV took all of that away. There were no rampages, the cars handled like shit, the whole "take out your friends" thing got annoying as hell after a while, there were no awesome jets that fired rockets - it was just trying WAY too hard to be gritty. Even in San Andreas when you're planning to rob a casino, or doing jobs for a secret government organization, there was always this humourous, colourful feel to the game - your reaction wasn't "okay, time to rob a casion", it was more along the lines "YAY TIME TO ROB A CASINO WHEEE". I was amazed how a game with such spectacular graphics and such incredible game design could FEEL so bland and monotonous. When I think of Vice City or San Andreas, I'm reminded of the colourful cities brimming with light and energy. Even when I think of Liberty City circa GTA 3, the game still feels lush and fun.

When I think of GTA IV, I imagine a brown, depressing cesspool of a city filled with harsh realities and corrupt, greedy people that are going to be giving you a fucking hard time at some point in the game. The thing is, EVERY GTA game was like that - GTA IV was the only one to actually FEEL like that. THAT is what's wrong with GTA IV (and after all that, would you be surprised that I actually LIKED the game lol)

 

[SenseOfTumour]

I'd say that although you could pause the story mode and stop all calls, I don't think you should have been losing frienship points by not answering the phone, or cancelling a meeting, maybe after 3 in a row you should.

It was a good idea in concept handled badly.

The other thing is, GTA IV was a more serious game, more story driven, and although I haven't finished it, as it runs SO badly on my PC, I think an option to unlock everything and just go wild upon completion would be nice, along with a bunch of SR2 style mini games.

I think a vast amount of the disappointment felt was by people who wanted Vice City 2, not GTA IV, when looking back at trailers, screenshots etc, there was no push that GTA IV was going to be a wild crazy game.

Having said all that, I've had more FUN with SR2, but I've still thoroughly enjoyed GTA IV, and look forward to playing it properly as soon as I upgrade.

 

[Valkyira]

Lack of customisation was probably the main thing for me.

 

[Mr_spamamam]

Technically nothing was wrong with it, it was a well made game, but it just wasn't fun

 

[MrPuppyDrool]

my problem with it was that it was too damn demanding spec wise

 

[Zand88]

It's not really too "realistic"; its more like a caricature of realism when compared to games, that makes it much less fun than, say, GTA:SA. It's sluggish, and really, unrealistic.

 

[suhlEap]

only the phone system. that got pretty annoying. apart from that, great game!

 

[Joshimodo]

It should have been called Bland Theft Auto.

The gameplay mechanics, characterization and so on were good (though I found most of the characters just plain annoying or inane).

However, it didn't feel like a sandbox. At all. There was no madness, no ridiculousness, and it just felt completely humourless. It was also far too brown.

I thought after a while it all looked the same. The missions were too similar, too realistic, not enough customization, it lacked immersion, I'll sum up by saying everything Saint's Row 2 is that GTA 4 isn't.

Yeah, but I hate the characters in Saints Row 2; there all self-absorbed arseholes who I wouldn't care if they were all gunned down. Especially Johnny!

I can only think of a handful of characters in GTA IV that I didn't want dead either, so it's not really a complaint.

 

[Venatio]

You should have added "Having to take your friends out for a date after every damn mission" because that is the only problem I had with the game. Or was that included in the annoying phne system?

 

[The Riff]

That fucking phone ringing every 10 minutes "Niko! cousin, lets go bowling". My usual answer to that would be "I DO NOT WANT TO GO FUCKING BOWLING!"
That and there was no tank, WHY? I wanted to go on a kick ass rampage.