Grand Theft Auto IV

This could've been a great game if driving time was reduced by 90%. What is the point in driving 5 minutes to complete a 1 minute mission. I hope you reduce the driving time (or just give the option to the player) for version number five.

This game is a piece of computing history.

The graphics are beautiful. Liberty City comes alive around you as you stand. The atmosphere changes, the lighting is magnificent, and, of course, the physics are beyond amazing. Ragdoll physics have never been this good. For those of you that used Garry's Mod, the ragdoll physics here are much better and realistic.

The gameplay is much more original than the previous GTAs. III was pretty much a homage to mob movies. The plot of VC used many elements of Scarface and many other 80's films. San Andreas was based off unrealistic "gangsta" movies. This one is almost entirely original. The plot is great. You really need to play it for yourself to know how deep and immense it is.

Audio: 6/5 stars. The sound effects are the best I have ever heard. The city sounds entirely real. And how could I forget that soundtrack? Over 200, great songs and at least an hour of hilarious talk radio make up a brilliant, enjoyable soundtrack.

Something tells me this game is going to be preserved in the National Archives. Well, not really, but it sure deserves it. It really is the start of a whole new generation of gaming.

And as a side note: This game DOES entirely deserve an M rating. The language is incredibly profane, the violence is almost lifelike, and there is some pretty strong content. If you are easily offended, please take this into consideration. The game is great, but please, I want you to be aware that it really does deserve this rating ("Mature", remember?) Read why it is rated M, (It says it on the box, or you could look it up) and read some other reviews if you aren't sure.

Unlike previous GTA games, there are very few missions that are timed, or are based on how much damage your vehicle takes. As always, there are very funny commercials. Some motorcycle missions can be annoying, though. Also, it can be frustrating when you're trying to do a mission and you get a phone call to be on the other side of the city within an hour. There is a learning curve with the controls, but eventually they become very easy. My first PS3 game and I wasn't disappointed.

I first bought the game because of the multiplayer features, but ended up only playing the single player portion. The multiplayer design simply does not work. There are no server lists so you're stuck with the room that the program assigns you. Then the game does not start after a countdown but will wait indefinitely for the "host" player to start the game. That means everyone else is at the mercy of the whim of the "host" player. Many times, some idiot host would just refuse to start the game. There's nothing you can really do because there's usually not enough people in the room who know how to use the kick function. serious, wtf. Rockstar needs to come up with a patch, but they've already moved on to porting to pc.

single player was actually pretty fun. some of the controls do lead to frustrating moments (ie - you have to scroll thru your weapons and sometimes your target gets away because you took too long to whip out your shotgun). the best way to bypass the tedious parts of the game like dating and "hanging out" is using the cheatcodes. i was able to liberate myself from needing to waste time on those activities. still, i don't know why you can use the cellphone to activate cheats only when you're standing idly and not getting shot at. isn't that the point of a cheat, to have an easy way out?

overall i'm disappointed because the multiplayer potential was huge but they squandered it by poor design.

The game itself is not bad. The missions and reputation you have to get with the others makes it more interesting than just going around destroying everything I wish they would just make it so you could download more missions or something.