Niko Bellic might just be the best videogame character ever. Not because he's the toughest, or even the coolest, but because he's a truly human hero. Someone who makes bad decisions, isn't even hat handsome by videogame standards, and rocks the kind of tracksuit that looks it would catch fire on a sunny day.
Leave him alone for a few seconds and the first thing he does is scratch his balls. But he's also fearless, funny and loyal to his friends. This isn't some swaggering psycho, this is a god mane gone wrong. Haunted by the horors of war in eastern Europe, and the life of crime he drifted into because he wasn't fit for anything else, Niko arrives in Liberty City lured by the promise of easy money, and even easier girls, only to get sucked into his cousin Roman's shuttle crash for life.
And so begins the funniest, most freeform and, for my money, best GTA yet. As for the american dream, you can guess how hat works out. Midway through the i glanced at the map to find seven potential employers. Take yor pick from the smacked out irish hoodlum, the depressed ex con, the paranoid lesbian coke dealer, the mob, the feds, the mad, the bad... they've all got a lethal little errand for Niko to run, and of course theres always some reason why they cant do it themselves. Which is what makes Niko such a brolliantley drawn character: he's simultaneously world weary and too trusting, the only kind of man who'd keep taking the work.
And the thing to remeber about GTA
is everything goes wrong. Bank heist, diamond deals, funerals, a quiet boat trip with a gay friend from the old country... they all end up with smoking shell casings andapproaching sirens. But Niko keeps going back for ore - partly for the money, but also because he needs information to track down the man who betrayed his old army unit.
NO SLEEP 'TILL BROKER
Picking from a chocolate box of missions is nothing new in GTA, but it's the sheer number of things on offer here that takes the series to the next level. GTA has always been a game about choice, but now your decisions are sharper consequences. There are several points at which you get to make life or death decisions between key cast members, with the story shifting according to who ends up in the bye-bye box.
But it isn't just the big decision that matter. You've got to decide whether to take your cousin to the strip club or the pool hall? Steal a sport Coquette or a powerful PMP 600? Date Carmen or Kate? Use the micro uzi or the sniper fifle? Press O to try your luck or X to say goodnight? Leather jacket or sharp suit? Burger shot or clucking bell? Answer or hang up? Each decision reveals more about the kind of character you wan Niko to be.
Speaking of decisions, the killer one faced by Rockstar North was how to top up the epic sprawl of San Andreas. Giving the demands for developing for new hardware, simply going bigger just wasn't an option. The answer was to dial down the scale, but push the detail through the roof. As for where to set the game, well that must've been easier. Returning to Liberty city and its skewed vision of moder day New York makes total sense because nowhere else in the world gives you the same diverse citizenry, iconic architecture and cultural touchstones.
-------------------------------- NEW YORK CITY COPS --------------------------------
The car chases have also been beefed up, thanks in part to weightier but no less knockabout handling, but mainly due to much improved wanted system. With each star your misbehavior occurs, a larger flashing blue/red circle will appear on the mini map, and to shake off the law's long arm you have to escape the circle and then spend a few seconds out of sight.
However, get spotted by a patrol car, represented by dots on the minimap, and the search radius re-centers on your position and you have to start over. The brilliance of this is twofold. First its clean and clear. You know exactly what you have to do at all times, which means the game always feels fair even when your right up against it. Second it encourages you into acing like a real getaway driver zigzagging up one way streets, slewing across junctions with the handbrake on, and then squirreling yourself down an alleyway until the heat passes.
THE FIRST 30HOURS OF GTAIV
3.17 hours ON YOUR BIKE
Take out a couple of Hell's Angels after an incredible bike chase through meadows park. Niko is already settling into Liberty City nicely.
6.24 hours SUITED AND BOOTED
Begin to tire of Niko's primark tracksuit look and invest in a sharp suit from Perseus menswear in Algonquin. Accesorise with Micro Uzi
14.11 hours MESSING ABOUT IN BOATS
Escape via speedboat after gun battle with he mob. Goodbye horses by Q Lazarus comes on the radio. Resist temptations to tuck old chap between legs.
19.53 hours DEARLY DEPARTED
The funeral of a key character is interrupted by the arrival of Albanians who apparently wish to pay their respects in th form of bullets.
Drive the Pegorinos to a sitdown with the Pavanos then provide sniper cover. Surely this wont end in... erm, who are all those guys jogging up with guns?
LOVING & HATING
----------------------- LOVING THE ----------------------
SHOOTOUTS
The new combat system, with its duck/ cover mechanic and improved targeting, makes the action heavy missions a joy.
MULTIPLAYER
The future of online is cruising is cruising around in a SUV with three strapped friends and queen's one vision on the stereo.
COMEDY CAST
Steroid-juiced Brucie Kibbutz and the womanizing Roman Bellic are a great double ac and funniest co-stars yet.
TAXI FOR BELLIC
Cant be bothered to drive from Broker to Alderney? Hop in a cab and pick from any location including your current objective. ------------------- HATING THE ------------------
CHOPPERS
Presumably flying real helicopters is quite hard, given hat we dont seem to be able to avoid ploughing into 50 floor skyscrapers.
------------------ CAST LIST ----------------- MICHELLE - The Girlfriend
The first girl Niko hooks up with, but she asks a lot of awkward questions
MIKHAIL FAUSTIN - The Russian Gangster
Paranoid, drunk, and prone to mood swingsYour typical GTA employer
DIMITRI RASCALOV - The Henchman
Faustins slick right hand man makes scorpions seem like stand up guys.
KATIE McREARY - The Good Girl
The one McReary member who isnt a total psycho. Can she redeem Niko?
PHIL BELL - Mob Boss
Half-Irish captain for the Gambettis, one of Liberty City's five mafia families.
The Greatest testament o GTAIV's brilliance is that i haven't been able to stop thinking about it since i put the pad down. I miss hearing from the characters. I miss the spinning plates feeling of trying to keep them all happy. More then anything i miss driving out on another fool's errand, knowing with absolute certainty that betrayal and bullets are waiting at the objective marker. Tune the radio to The Journey, gun the Infernus, and lets go...
Summary: Brilliant game i would reccomend to any GTA lover
I also write on dooyoo
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
What does the American Dream mean today? For Niko Bellic fresh off the boat from Europe, ... more
it is the hope he can escape his past. For his cousin, Roman, it is the vision that together they can find fortune in Liberty City, gateway to the land of opportun...
Advantages: Superb graphics, mass multiplayer modes, pure freedom, and excellent music/sound Disadvantages: Weak storyline, sometimes too realistic, and nothing to do when game is completed
Advantages: Arguably the best selection of games of any current console. Great HD graphics. Disadvantages: Hardware may still be somewhat unreliable. Lacks innovations specific to the Wii and PS3.
Phantom_Wombat 07.04.2009 (06.04.2009)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
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May 18th, 2008
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