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May 3 / Ozymandias

Playing GTA IV?

I have, and love it. This is the first Grand Theft Auto I’ve ever enjoyed. Earlier entries in the series just didn’t do it for me. The controls were frustrating, and the humor was a bit too sophomoric in my opinion.

Then the reviews came out, and I figured I’d give it another shot. Several things have changed for the better. First, there’s a real story that engages you – I’m actually interested in finding out what happens to Niko, and don’t see getting bored of the game anytime soon. Controls have been fixed (though driving is still tricky), and multiplayer has been added – and I’ve had a blast online with friends. The open world has really taken a huge step forward as well. I loved Crackdown, but Liberty City is immense, and really does feel like a living place. Rockstar keeps hinting at an MMO version of GTA, and I can finally see the appeal.

Anyway, I suspect most people have already checked it out if sales are any indication, but if you haven’t, because like me, you were turned off by earlier iterations of the series… give it a shot. I suspect you’ll be pleasantly surprised! 

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  • Misframed

    I will definitely be jumping into Liberty City… but I just got Rock Band and my wife thinks my video game hobby is too expensive for another game so soon…

  • Olav

    Driving control is amazing. It’s shooting control what sucks.

  • Ozymandias

    Yeah, I have to admit driving is a lot better than it was… I just haven’t quite gotten the hang of high-speed driving and taking corners. I *want* to hit the emergency brake and make the turn, but I just seem to do a 180. Pretty handy for quick turn-arounds, but not so good for the corner. Anyone figured out how to do that? Or is it more a matter of using the regular brake and driving sanely? ;)

  • http://hotlard.wordpress.com/ Count Flanders

    To make the 90-degree turns, tap the e-brake to begin the spin while you initially turn the desired direction.  Once you begin to slide, counter-steer and use the ‘real’ brake.  Feather the ‘real’ brake while you constantly adjust your steering (think of sprint cars or rally cars making a turn).

    Naturally, this doesn’t work when you’re flying so fast and try to turn onto a small side street.  I’ve squished many-a-pedestrians and newspaper machines doing this.  At least Niko doesn’t go flying out the side windows!

    I freakin’ love this game.  So many awesome things to do; goodbye Burnout Paradise/Rock Band/Guitar Hero 3/Call of Duty 4 (in addition to some games I’m borrowing from a buddy).

  • Ozymandias

    Aaaaaah… very interesting. I hadn’t tried using the main brake after hitting the e-brake. I’ll try that later this afternoon! Thanks!

  • Chemical O

    You’re back.

    MMO? I’m interested in how APB will turn out.  

  • Luvbeers7

    I agree with Olav. The driving controls are fine but I am having a terrible time controling Niko when he is just walking. Although he is a bit easier to master while he is running.

  • http://www.xlife.nl RDJ134

    Got the game a week ago and i am loving it, still spending a lot of hours a day in Liberty City. The story and the dialogs are top notch, i am afraid that if Rockstar is realy doing a MMORPG i quit my work for the websites and start playing 24 *grine*

    Bij the way some weird glitches showed up:

    http://www.gametrailers.com/…/211475.html

    http://www.gametrailers.com/…/211143.html

  • imaginedbug

    I’ve been playing hours a day since the release and love it. Driving is great fun, it just takes more practice and isn’t as forgiving as people might’ve liked. It’s motorcycles that tick me off, as the second you hit anything you’ll be flying off them.

    Can’t say I agree with Olav though. The shooting and aiming mechanisms work fine for me.

    For tonight I’m planning on pausing the story (Cellphone > Options > Pause (or something like that)) and get some of the stunt jumps done as well as the wheelie and 4-star wanted achievements.

  • rafoca

    It´s a pitty GTAIV can´t be played with a friend in the whole main campaign :(

  • aquatoad

    Bah, I’ve found mixing the e-brake and standard brake leads to too much inconsistency.  If you don’t time it *just* right, the standard brake kills the slide and you just sort of slide past the intersection.  If you’re too late, the standard brakes just lock the wheels and the angular momentum causes your tail to swing around too far.  

    My best results still require quite a bit of pre-turn deceleration (versus previous iterations of the franchise) with the standard brake, which I kinda like since it feels a lot more real (except for the exaggerated suspensions in quite a few of the lower-end models/SUV’s)

  • http://www.beltonmo.net Porktree

    You’re Back!  I’m liking the new GTA’s more sensitive driving. And the story. The incidental jokes are icing on a cake made of pure pleasure. I still try and grab a few minutes of CoD4 but, my days are filled with JPR radio and GTA.

  • Ozymandias

    Yeah, I’m still finding the driving tricky. It’s a lot better when I can steal a BMW-like car… feels a lot more responsive. But I also have to focus on the regular brake and drive more "realistically". Ah well – having a blast!

    And yes, I’m back… but still somewhat limited on what I’ll be writing. But will try to do a bit better – we’re just going through some crazy busy stuff here at the office. Just you wait…. :)