GTA4

I agree with you on the dialogue options. After playing through Mass Effect, it seems like must. Half of the tension of playing ME was making critical choices!

 

I'm liking it so far. I won't attempt to stick a rating on it until I've finished it though. The characters are interesting and the main character really is likable, despite some of the things he is required (by the story) to do. The voice acting is overall excellent, though some of the conversations are more convincing then others (some actually seem like what they are which is two people reading a script). The missions have had a good variety so far (a few hours in). There are lots of little subtle touches that show the extra care R* put into creating a believable world. Like the first time I saw it rain and was surprised to see people walking around carrying umbrellas (which when they were bumped could be knocked out of their hands onto the ground) or running while holding books or newspapers over their head to get out of the rain.

Graphically, the scale and level of detail are incredible. And when I am talking detail I am referring to the massive number of individually modeled objects (with full physics) present around you at any one time. Lighting and environmental effects are also nicely done. The pop-in is definitely there as it has been decribed before, though I noticed that the single worst case I saw was when I first started playing and crested a hill to practically see an entire forest of trees pop in at the same time. This only happened the one time and I wonder if it was due to the hard drive data cache not yet being fully populated. I've never noticed pop-in like that since. The frame-rate is on the low side and inconsistent, too. I think the only reason it doesn't bother me more is because I was trained by a lot of MMO playing to expect and cope with drops in frame-rate in heavily populated areas. The drops in FR (and the pop-in for that matter) here are nothing compared to that experience. I have never seen one instance of tearing, though.

Sounds are adequate with the massive amount of music available the most notable feature aside from the above-mentioned voice acting. Other than that, environmental sounds like citizen comments, group and phone conversations and police chatter further add to the sense of Liberty City as a real place with a whole population of people going about their daily lives totally independent of your actions.

Overall, I think it is living up to the hype and has even managed to deliver a couple of pleasant surprises.

 

I agree that the gameplay is very linear, and the missions don't seem that varied..yet. It's like drive to point a, shoot someone, than return. Visually it looks quit compelling but the aliasing is very notable at times (PS3 version) I think this depends on the lighting because a lot of other times it somehow isn't that notable. I know that my PS3 can do quit a bit better in the graphics department so it's nowhere near a 10 like all the 'professional' reviewers are claiming.. more like an 8 or so. Also the framerate isn't stable, but not to the point that it bothers me.

Having a lot of fun with this game. gave it a 9.

 

I got a chance to put in some more time. The story keeps getting better and better I am enjoying it a lot. I did get in my first really big fire fight in the open and well am disapointed. The free aim is very clunky when you can not take cover. I wish I could have the free aim and hand to hand of saints row with the cover system of GTA4. It would be the best of both worlds. On other con the car handling is really getting on my nerves.

 

After another 4 hours.. 9/10 for me now.. The detail is really incredible and definitely makes up for all problems in graphics.. Btw, there is no tearing and the frame rate never has gotten in my way so far, also no pop-in for me (360).

As the game now gives me the options to call ppl for doing different stuff (like going on a date with Michelle or going to play pool with Roman, etc), I can see that it is more open-world than I originally though..

This is definitely one of the "must play" game of this year!

 

I'd say 9/10

its a nextgen gta, without any big surprises. (euphoria looks promising)
that is for single player.


for multiplayer,
I am not convinced yet that this mode deserves any big grades.

 

I'm still playing it... but the framerate is killing me. There is no fluidity at all when you drive the car at less than 15fps

ps3 60gb

 

yep I agree
I now feel that I have all the proper tv and in game graphic adjustments and it is finely tuned (with backlighting at night) and I see some INCREDIBLE visuals. no tearing, no pop in, steady frame rate (I use hood cam to drive which is much more forgiving) and the rain, lighting, weather effects are gorgeous. the night time scenes are jaw droppingly realistic especially when you have a shoot out with a bunch of cops.

the depth of game play and level of detail is unprecedented and astounding. I was very leery of comparing those "10" scores early on but now I see why they felt that way

X360 version

 

8/10 for me so far. I don't usually make time for sandbox games but this one has me more interested than the last couple I played (and never finished). Graphically decent but not "wow" IMHO.

I went with the 360 version in spite of the dithering issue and haven't really noticed it. I have had two flickering textures (near the first bowling alley and in a tree outside Michelle's apartment) but otherwise no issues.

 

I play on my vanilla CRT TV now to cover up the nasty blur and dithering.

edit: never mind, the framerate is just as bad on SDTV. I remember it being smoother last night but it must have been the alcohol.

 

Had an interesting situation happen last night.

I was standing on the street corner near my apartment, and I had been standing for about 5 minutes. I was looking out at the intersection. I guy started crossing the street and a car came flying by and hit him, and kept going. A bystander behind me mentioned 'That car hit that guy and kept going.' About a minute goes by and I hear sirens. Ambulance pulls up in the middle of the intersection, guy jumps out of the passenger side, runs over to the guy on the ground and starts doing CPR. I guess no luck as he was laying motionless for awhile already. The paramedic got up, walked back over to the ambulance hopped back in and pulled away. Leaving the dead guy in the street.

Good stuff.

 

Funniest thing I've seen so far is a fat cop trying to chase a thief on the beach near the carnival

 

Yap, I have been terrorizing the city since day one. Pressing all the bad buttons just to see people's reaction. Done too many stupid things to list (Totally lost now, very very far away from the starting point ). The game is holding up pretty well so far. Didn't realize the frame rate is a problem for others (It's ok for me).

On road accidents, it's possible to have minor accidents where the ambulance won't show up too. I have seen a poor guy got run over by cars twice crossing the same (very wide) road. Both times, he got up and limped away. So the ambulance act doesn't get over used.

Will probably start the game proper soon.

 

I've played for 20hrs and I'm about 25% into the game and I think it's superb so far. I'm not to keen on the blurry background during the day which is especially noticable on the bridges, but that is a minor issue and most of the time the game looks superb. There's so much detail to every single part of the city and I'm having more fun than any other recent games (the physics and AI are big part of that) so I've given it a 10 despite the graphical flaws.

 

I'm playing the PS3 version. When I first started playing the game I thought the same as many others have ..."This game is a solid 9". I was looking at the aliasing, frame rates and filters and what not and trying to judge it on it's technical merits but after putting 15 hours into it I can confidently say that it deserves all the 10's it has received and if it was a Spinal Tap game it would be an 11.

R* has created an absolutely immersive experience that tops anything anyone has done before. The devil is in the details here. The radio stations, the vehicles, the dialogue from pedestrians, the physics, the lighting, the explosions, the scale of the city, the character development, the story, the multiplayer......the list goes on and on. Liberty City truly feels like a living, breathing city. Beat up a bum, he won't drop money. Beat up some one wearing nice clothes, you'll get some cash. Beat up some one that just used the ATM, you'll get MORE cash. Go to the posh area of town and you find NICE cars and well to do citizens. Travel under the subway and you'll find homeless people. Go to Cerveza and the population is predominantly Hispanic, speaking in their own dialect...and the same with all the other ethinically oriented areas. I bump into a guy walking out of the internet cafe and he says in a stereotypical nerd voice.."out of the way NOOB" I tried to steal a bike from some Hell's Angels and they kicked my ass and stabbed me with knives. I jumped on the stage at the strip club and the bouncers reacted like they should and chased me out of the club. The houses and building are all different. The docks, the airport, the parks, the city, the stores, the alleys, the billboards...nothing is the same. There aren't many recycled parts, or at least you won't notice them. Simply amazing attention to detail here.

I am a self confessed whore when it comes to framerates and graphical hangups. GTAIV is not immune to a little bit of slowdown here and there, but it's simply nothing severe enough to detract from the masterpiece of coding that this game is. It IS the sum of all it's parts. To the people that don't think it deserves the 10's...I say spend some TIME in Liberty City and you may change your mind.

 

I think a big factor is that the area where the game started has quite a lot of fences, power lines, and is near a bridge in daytime. So I get to see the worst aliasing at the beginning (I was circling in a place where all the factors come together).

In other areas, the visual is decent considering its size and seamless-ness. Even while driving at high speed, taking down people, fire hydrants, lamp posts, and everything in sight, the worst thing I saw is the one single pop-in of a construction beam under the bridge.


Initially my problem was with the camera which focuses me on the rear of the car constantly (but fixed with in-car view). I am also used to the very clean look of other PS3 games. So switching into GTA4 was quite a shocker (even Lair is not so bad in some areas). All that has come to pass.

I'd rather the reviewers rate the visuals "as is" and then give extra points elsewhere to make up for the final scores. It may go down better with gamers at large (e.g., some of the earlier 360 sand box games may have better visual quality, but lesser in other aspects).

 

A nice comparison video:

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