Grand Theft Auto IV Special Edition

Rockstar eliminated so many elements from previous GTA installments that I feel they took a step backward.
-driving is really goofy
-side missions like Pizza Boy, Taxi, Ambulance, and Firefighter are gone
-there is no bonus for getting all the secret packages
-you accumulate a lot of money but there is nothing to spend it on
-the vehicle list is significantly smaller
-there is no customization whatsoever... you get to pick from about three outfits
-no more tricking out your car... honestly, Saint's Row had a better vehicle storage system

OK everyone Grand Theft Auto IV is given a perfect 10 rating by Gamespot and IGN. This perfect 10 rating should not have been given... It most likely deserves a 7.5 to an 8.5. Don't get me wrong GTA IV has stellar graphics and a great storyline but from there everything goes bad. The new highly hyped up aiming is some of worst i've ever played with in a shooter game. Once your locked on and your target is dead your still locked on, you have to disengage and then find another target, this becomes extremely annoying and hard when you're pinned down against 10 bad guys, who are all firing their weapons at you at the same time. I made a huge mistake and should have rented this game first. When you play GTA IV for the 1st time you will be amazed by the realistic feel of driving and how RockStar games have made Liberty City look like my hometown of NYC. But after about 5 to 10 hours of driving around, doing missions, and getting further into the storyline all the hype of why you bought the game wears off and you find yourself with a semi fun video game. Another extremely bad flaw to this game is Driveby shootings. you have to be right next to the fleeing car or person on the street because there is no aiming in drive bys. Seems realistic that you can't aim during drive bys but for a game you should be able to. If your far away in a car and your chasing someone while they're in a car and your some what far back good luck in shooting them down because you will hit nothing. This game is not worth 89.00 dollars let alone the regular price of 60.00. The Special Edition has a carry on money bag not the advertised Duffle Bag. It has a Licencse Plate which can only be used in certain states... New York is not one of them. The art book is a little 15 page flip through of early art of what the characters and places were going to look like, the art book is nowhere near as good as a Mass Effect Art Book with real detail in the Art chosen to show off. The only good thing about the S.E. of GTA IV is the Bank Vault Case which is good for show since all the locks are the same and if you know someone with the same case then you can say goodbye to w/e valuables you have in there. Rent the Game first, that's all i can say really. If you're happy with it 50 hours later then this review is not for you, but if you find yourself playing the game for a short time and quickly discover it is all Flash and No Thrill then you will find that Rock Star Games has some how paid off Game Spot and IGN to give Perfect 10s. When you play games like Gears of War or Bio Shocks and they don't receive 10s and you wonder why GTA IV gets a 10 then your as lost as I am...

So as much as I love this game, what are the "flaws" I mentioned in the title? Well, let me start off with the bad news first:

-The vehicle control sucks. Every time you try to stop the car, it spins around. This is really frustrating, becaus sometimes you'll try to stop yourself from getting a wanted level.

-The hand-to-hand combat system is a real joke. You can seriously play through the hand-to-hand combat parts blind-folded. All you have to do is smash the X button several times. The character moves on his own.

-The game is a bit too short. About 6 hours in, you're already halfway through.

So why did I give this game 4 stars? Well, here goes:

-The graphics are amazing. They look realistic, and are a HUGE step up from GTA 1-3, VC, SA, and LCS.

-The voice acting is incredible! Niko sounds amazing, as does Michelle.

-The music is great too, especially the intro music.

-The gameplay is great, although a bit repetitive, still very great.

-The ending is the best video game ending in years.

Allthogether, if you look past the flaws, then this is an amazing game, and GTA in its top form.

This product is way cool. The extras that it comes with are sweet, like the music cd; it is very entertaining, and the lock box is embossed and it is also matte black with a R* keychain inside. Actually, all of the stuff, apart from the License plate, is in the lock box. I used to be a Hloa 3 guy, now I've switched back to GTA. The physics and the player and NPC intactions are off the hook. The controller layaout is intuitive if youve played an xbox game before. My only beef is that he dosent get hungry, though you are going out alot, so he never needs to eat. I think that it would be a nice addition if he got hungry every day and you had to feed him. Other than that, it is a comical as any previous GTA game and realistic more so than any Sim game. Very well put togther.

i do like the gta's series but this game is just the same thing wich to me is getting boring. its just not for me.