So
The biggest game of the year, the end all be all of the ’sandbox’ genre. The holy grail of awesomness. Grand Theft Auto. A game series that has caused controversy and disruption along its illustrious career has finally hit the pinnacle of games consoles. The playstation 3.
There are many things about the GTA series that some wont like, such as the ability to pick up a prostitute, do your ‘thang’ then kill her and get your money back. Or the seemingly non-chalont attitude towards murdering police officers, as a result, many judges, jurys and courtrooms have heard the same old ‘ban this filth’ argument. But the pure strength and power of the fanbase would mean that they wouldnt even be able to try and delete the game franchise.
So what did i think? Well, rockstar informed us of a bunch of new features, as always, and then showed us some awesome gameplay, as always, and then sent it off so the magazines and gaming jounoes can orgasm over its awesomely goodness, as always, and then when you get the game you realise the special “character interaction controls” and the “brand new gaming engine” and all the stuff that rockstar said would revolutionise gaming, actually turned out to be almost non-existent in the actual game and would dissapoint, not this time.
The game puts you in the ‘drivers seat’ as usual, this time around you are Nico bellic, a far eastern chap who emigrated to the u.s because of his cousin Roman, who has been telling nico about how he is living the dream, 5 hot tubs, 15 sportcars and beautiful women everywhere, the reality is a little less ‘hills’ and more ’spills’, Roman in fact, runs a small taxi firm in the run down version of liberty city, based upon New York. He lied to Roman to help him out of debts and all sort of trouble. You quickly set about helping out your cousin. And the game gets underway….
The usual inside jokes and immersive gameplay is still present, but unlike other GTA games, it really feels like rockstar have TRIED to get the realism as perfect as possible this time, and it shows, getting shot at? You’ll find yourself dying very quickly, running around town wheelspinning out of every corner? Then you’ll soon find your tyres running thin. Standing too close to an explosion, sending Nico flying through the air in a somersault, and now with the new cover system, and blind fire, makes the gun-fun almost addictive. The explosions are unrealistically cool, and you’ll find yourself admiring the bullet holes tearing your car, home or brand new clothes apart as cops, the mafia and gang-bangers attempt to end your days.
Once youve stopped shooting the living crap out of everyone, hop in a car, and find yourelf in a whole new world of driving, GTA style. The cars physics react brilliantly, and most cars have all different types of speed and handling issues. Instead of the ‘replica-mobiles’ that weve been used to with the old games. The cars sound alot better now compared to the older versions, and you can easily tell which cars were based upon their real counterparts. Soon you will find yourself hurtling towards pedestrians, and instead of the clones as we saw in the old game, theres a massive variety of people, you dont see many people twice. And they really do act realistically, ordering food, having fights, and even chatting on their mobiles. If you find yourself (accidentally) hitting a pedestrian, the new ‘euphoria’ physics engine will take in toll, by flying them through the air in a series of flips and somersaults, obviously depending on wether or not you hit them at high speed, and the size of the vehicle you are driving.
Hop out your car and take a look at the city landscape,admire the georgeous sunset and take to the skies in a series of helicopters, and sit back and watch as the sky goes dark and the citys lights switch on, you can really see the detail and effort that the developers of the game put into every brick, every light, and every spot of blood.
Overall i love this game, there are minor differences about wether or not you get it on PS3 or Xbox360, but having played GTA IV on both, i can honestly say i prefer the PS3 , the minute differences make a big difference to me.
This is the biggest game of the year, no doubt, there are a few small issues from the old series that accidentally seeped into this game, but theyre unimportant, wether youre mowing down pedestrians, having a friendly shoot-out with the local law enforcement, and hunting down and ‘eliminating’ mafia members. The games physics and realism works brilliantly with the graphics to create a living breathing version of liberty city, and you will find your self immersed in the game. Just like the rest of us.
