Saw this on digg: Someone shares my same opinion of Grand Theft Auto IV, apparently. They also take many of my complaints from earlier and argue them in a more formal (and ultimately superior) way.
Here's a bullet list of their 10 subjects:
1. Money Has No Value
2. Multiplayer
3. Ponderous Story
4. No Upwards Mobility
5. A Step Back From Previous Versions
6. Wonky Cover System
7. Dopey Mini-Games
8. Relationships Are Idiotic
9. Clothing Interface
10. Phantom Traffic
If San Andreas or Vice City had the same graphical appeal and fantastically designed cityscapes that IV has, I submit that they would be better games than GTA IV on every level. GTA IV has far more in common with GTA III in it's sparseness, but even then, I had far more fun just randomly playing GTA III than I ever did with any moment in GTA IV.
Of course, it is still a fantastic game that had a lot of care put into it, but even if it came out last year as it is now, I would still say that I had far better experiences with Bioshock, Orange Box (specifically Portal), and Rock Band.
As far as gameplay goes, GTA IV's big problem is the absence of all those things that where introduced in Vice City and San Andreas (see bullet point #5). Insomuch as these features are missing, a large portion of fun is absent from the latest GTA installment. I mean, congratulations, Rockstar, on making a wonderful urban city, but what's there to do inside of it?
Then, speaking of the story, I cannot connect with Nico on any level. He'll do anything for money or potential information on two men from his past. It's disgusting, really. How am I to have compassion for him? I felt a little something at the very end of the game, but then it's soon over and all I can really do with the game after that is try to evade the police or hunt pigeons (for a supremely useless reward, by the way).
In San Andreas, I was sure that I would hate the character of CJ. At first he was just a stereotypical "gangsta thug", but then as the story developed, I really became enamored with his character arc (no matter how ludicrous it was at points). The story had graduated from something akin to CB4 minus the satire to something more empathetic like Boyz N The Hood. Then it took the narrative even farther when CJ ventured from the country hills to the streets of San Fierro to the desert city of Los Venturas.
I can understand Rockstar not wanting to have Nico do ridiculous things like going into an Area 51-inspired level to steal a jetpack, but then they ended up making GTA IV's story too straight and uninspired. It's the American Dream, I get it. That's not interesting to me (at least the manner in which it was done here). A game that does do a far more successful version of a more "serious" narrative is Bioshock. With Bioshock, you could find story everywhere just by looking at architecture and propaganda papers littered throughout the levels. Then, of course, there where the wonderful audio journals which revealed the greater story arc by satisfying your curiosity in regards to what had happened in this failed utopia.
With Nico, you think there's something that might be there, but when you get more information on what happened to him in his past, it's not especially poignant. Largely it's due to the disconnect between the story and the mission structure. You have someone who supposedly has some moral fiber and has seen some horrendous things, then he's going around chasing people down and killing them for money. He's better than all these scumbags he's dealing with how exactly? [This point was also brought up by Shawn Elliot on GFW Radio.]
I think a more interesting option for Rockstar in the future is to have the main character be a man (or woman) out for social equity by cleaning up the streets with their brand of renegade justice. It's not terribly original at all (see: Walking Tall), but even that small twist would give the game some fresh avenues to venture into instead of the same tired Godfather-isms that we've been subject to far too many times before.
That, or Rockstar can choose to make GTA fun again. It is, after all, just a game. It's satire is what makes it fun. If it was completely serious, it would be a very creepy and disturbing game indeed.
Here's a bullet list of their 10 subjects:
1. Money Has No Value
2. Multiplayer
3. Ponderous Story
4. No Upwards Mobility
5. A Step Back From Previous Versions
6. Wonky Cover System
7. Dopey Mini-Games
8. Relationships Are Idiotic
9. Clothing Interface
10. Phantom Traffic
If San Andreas or Vice City had the same graphical appeal and fantastically designed cityscapes that IV has, I submit that they would be better games than GTA IV on every level. GTA IV has far more in common with GTA III in it's sparseness, but even then, I had far more fun just randomly playing GTA III than I ever did with any moment in GTA IV.
Of course, it is still a fantastic game that had a lot of care put into it, but even if it came out last year as it is now, I would still say that I had far better experiences with Bioshock, Orange Box (specifically Portal), and Rock Band.
As far as gameplay goes, GTA IV's big problem is the absence of all those things that where introduced in Vice City and San Andreas (see bullet point #5). Insomuch as these features are missing, a large portion of fun is absent from the latest GTA installment. I mean, congratulations, Rockstar, on making a wonderful urban city, but what's there to do inside of it?
Then, speaking of the story, I cannot connect with Nico on any level. He'll do anything for money or potential information on two men from his past. It's disgusting, really. How am I to have compassion for him? I felt a little something at the very end of the game, but then it's soon over and all I can really do with the game after that is try to evade the police or hunt pigeons (for a supremely useless reward, by the way).
In San Andreas, I was sure that I would hate the character of CJ. At first he was just a stereotypical "gangsta thug", but then as the story developed, I really became enamored with his character arc (no matter how ludicrous it was at points). The story had graduated from something akin to CB4 minus the satire to something more empathetic like Boyz N The Hood. Then it took the narrative even farther when CJ ventured from the country hills to the streets of San Fierro to the desert city of Los Venturas.
I can understand Rockstar not wanting to have Nico do ridiculous things like going into an Area 51-inspired level to steal a jetpack, but then they ended up making GTA IV's story too straight and uninspired. It's the American Dream, I get it. That's not interesting to me (at least the manner in which it was done here). A game that does do a far more successful version of a more "serious" narrative is Bioshock. With Bioshock, you could find story everywhere just by looking at architecture and propaganda papers littered throughout the levels. Then, of course, there where the wonderful audio journals which revealed the greater story arc by satisfying your curiosity in regards to what had happened in this failed utopia.
With Nico, you think there's something that might be there, but when you get more information on what happened to him in his past, it's not especially poignant. Largely it's due to the disconnect between the story and the mission structure. You have someone who supposedly has some moral fiber and has seen some horrendous things, then he's going around chasing people down and killing them for money. He's better than all these scumbags he's dealing with how exactly? [This point was also brought up by Shawn Elliot on GFW Radio.]
I think a more interesting option for Rockstar in the future is to have the main character be a man (or woman) out for social equity by cleaning up the streets with their brand of renegade justice. It's not terribly original at all (see: Walking Tall), but even that small twist would give the game some fresh avenues to venture into instead of the same tired Godfather-isms that we've been subject to far too many times before.
That, or Rockstar can choose to make GTA fun again. It is, after all, just a game. It's satire is what makes it fun. If it was completely serious, it would be a very creepy and disturbing game indeed.
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