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Denver, 8:09 PM
Mon Nov 9
46 posts in the last 24 hours
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11/05/09
This city is alive. I've just started playing through Dragon Age- and while that game is brilliant in its own regards, it certainly does not have the glitz and glam of the GTA world. Even when I went off to play games like inFamous, I felt like GTA set the bar for what to expect in terms of visual flair and game setting.
I'm sure I will get flack for comparing the game's environments to others, but is that so wrong? Even walking around in Liberty City feels much more exciting than some other games... #grandtheftautoiv
11/05/09
Then I plug it in a play for a bit, stock up on body armor and ammo, get into a firefight, and instead of running to cover, I end up casually walking into gunfire and die.
Then I have to start the entire mission over again WITHOUT the body armor and ammo that got used up in the previous attempt!
Then I remember "This game is complete BULLSHIT!" and I put it away again. #grandtheftautoiv
11/05/09
11/05/09
They used the excuse that "since we have this technology, and the power of these consoles and PC's today, we're just gonna remove everything that was fun, and replace it with crushing realism. Also, all colors will just be blacks, browns, grays, and reds (blood)"
I don't see how this game got so highly-rated when there are missions where I gotta go email my mother who lives in some random Eastern-Europe country. The only mission I even liked from the game was the bank-robbery mission, 'cause that was just awesome. The game gets like 6/10 just for that mission.
Without a doubt, I liked GTA3 more than this game. Sure, it looked pretty but...that was it. Controls were mapped well, just not responsive at all. I'd hit triangle, and Niko wants to run all the way across the street to get in a car rather than getting in the one he's right next to.
Soundtrack was garbage as well. All the radio stations were pure crap. Maybe a good song on a handful of stations. The next-gen graphics filters weren't welcome in my book either. I kinda live on Earth, and I don't remember there only being like five colors that my eye could detect.
Bah. Haven't tried BoGT yet, but I probably won't anyway. #grandtheftautoiv
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11/06/09
*puchaseability of fun not available on all platforms #grandtheftautoiv
11/06/09
11/05/09
I really appreciate all the little details that went into it, the city just feels alive. #grandtheftautoiv
11/05/09
I also liked that in one of those shots there was a guy on a bench reading a book for like 12 hours straight. Talk about an iron bladder! #grandtheftautoiv
11/05/09
11/05/09
Hooray for TPS.
Also, quite a beautiful video.
11/05/09
...though one complaint that I first had in GTA III has still maintained into GTA4 and it's 'episodes'... and that is the crappy "traffic spawning"
stuck in the middle of nowhere without a car? look down the road. i guarantee you that you will see 6 cars drive past you from the other direction (behind you) before you see 1 car come from the direction you're looking... the fun comes when you quickly look away and then look back to find 3 cars suddenly about to pass you... :-P ...yeah, i was hoping they'd find a way around that this time...
apologies for the rant... #grandtheftautoiv
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11/05/09
Had this been San Andreas, you would have seen the population change day by day as turf wars were fought, you would see the political landscape change as you amassed power.
Even in Vice City you would have seen buildings change ownership, as one person became more and more influential, names on auto dealers, ice cream vendors would change till the name Tommy Vercetti was on every street, hidden in the background yet in everybodies mind.
No one in Liberty City knows the name Nico Bellic, he's a nobody, a nothing, a storm...no, a brief shower, in a teacup. The only mark left to speak of his existence a shabby burnt out Taxi firm that bears his cousin's name. #grandtheftautoiv
11/05/09
11/05/09
Over-stating it somewhat. Didn't, like, one building change in Vice City? Granted, the turf wars in San An put guys in different coloured clothes around the place and kind of felt like you were impacting upon the city - but it also came with a terrible, irritating gameplay feature. And the political landscape is a metaphor, right? Not having any actual effect on the physical city itself. #grandtheftautoiv
11/05/09
11/05/09
While I agree with @drag: the changes in Vice City were minor and the ones in San Andreas came at a price at least there were changes.
I guess I just miss the chump to champ story line, I wanted to be the king of liberty city, not just another guy. #grandtheftautoiv
11/05/09
11/05/09
I'm not saying that Rockstar's execution of Liberty City was poor, in fact in creating a New York clone that doesn't care if you live or die a cynic could say that they produced a near perfect facsimile.
I just think that the design choices made me feel isolated from, rather than an integral part of the game world. The introduction of "friends" could, I suppose, be meant to counter the fact that the city would be even more unaffected by your actions than usual, but in my view it didn't work.
In short, I felt the game didn't care about what I did, so why should I care about the game? #grandtheftautoiv
11/05/09
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11/05/09
In the Ballad of Gay Tony you destroy one of the cranes and it stays that way. #grandtheftautoiv
11/05/09
11/05/09
i can't wait whatever they choose, loved GTA IV... just hope they make the next one more random fun and less realistic... moar jetpacks! #grandtheftautoiv
11/05/09
Agreed. I don't mind if they add realism but taking away the random fun is taking away one of the things that made GTA so great in the first place.
I haven't played the two expansions yet (thanks to a "friend" "borrowing" my copy of GTAIV and trading it in) but now tha Liberty City Stories is out, I'm going to check those out....I think I may be getting a bit excited by the prospect of that now. #grandtheftautoiv
11/05/09
I have a PS3 so no DLC for me :( hopefully Rockstar will be nice and release it on PS3 early next year #grandtheftautoiv
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11/05/09
When you play a game like this for hundreds of hours you start to notice all the little things. #grandtheftautoiv
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11/05/09
Maybe as the game progresses the seasons change, and at the end you get a number on your phone that can change the season. Like the weather cheat, but would probably need a load screen. #grandtheftautoiv
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10/26/09
10/26/09