Welcome back.

Turns out, a lot can happen in 5 months.

TIME COWBOY is on steam, I've begun and stopped multiple side projects within a day, worked on a book that I worked on for a week and stopped, my body stopped producing insulin- wait what.

 

Yeah, so just a little bit.

But I'd like to talk about one of my new favorite games, Grand Theft Auto IV.

But Carlos! Are you stupid? Why would you play a 17 year old game when GTA V exists and VI is coming soon!?

I like Liberty City.

Mainly cause I also live in New York and have been to the city multiple times, plus the atmosphere and ambiance is actually unmatched.

Unfortunately IRL, the City is not as gray or bleak as IV depicts it, but honestly with some of the stuff that happens there it might as well be.

So let's talk about the Story, cause it is great.

Story

GTA IV is a very bleak and depressing game, it's really bold with the endings, which there are two of, Revenge and Deal.

I chose the Revenge ending, cause doing the deal means dealing with the dude who tried to kill you multiple times, kidnapped your cousin and set his company and apartment on fire.

But because I did this ending, during your Cousin, Roman's wedding, you're with a girl Niko likes a lot and not even 10 seconds ago swore to protect her.

She gets shot by probably one of the most pathetic and cowardly characters Rockstar has ever made, Jimmy Pegorino.

This cutscene was cruel as hell, it was one of the only times we see Niko, usually a emotionally repressed and cold individual actually smile and laugh with no sarcasm or undertone, just genuine joy.

Then within 5 seconds, thats gone and all that's left is anger.

The Ending of the Revenge ending is both climactic and anticlimactic. And I say that as a positive.

 

It's climactic with the shootout, boat chase, helicopter chase and crash and the final fight taking place in front of the Statue of Happiness.

It's anticlimactic with how Jimmy dies, in gameplay he takes 4 shots with a pistol and dies within a single shot after Niko shit talks him and laughs in his face.

In any other GTA game, this is where the upbeat music would begin and Niko would say something like "I guess this really was a Grand Theft Auto IV."

Instead, Niko has no emotion, after Roman says "You did it!", Niko responds in a deflated tone "I don't know, what did I do?" and then just walks off in a defeated way.

No triumphant music, no last minute joke or quip or twist, just him and the guilt which will never be resolved on screen.

 

Which really adds to this game's bleak tone, Niko as far as we know may have never forgiven himself after what happens to Kate. Going so far as to distance himself from others so they don't get hurt either.

Hearing him say this in a call with Roman after the game did almost make me tear up cause after all that Niko goes through, even if he does "win", he hasn't won mentally.

Grand Theft Auto IV shows that there is no honor in crime, no life in it, just violence and the consequences of it afterward. In the level of crime Niko is invovled, he can't just walk away from it and the game isn't afraid to show it, even if it's in a depressing way.

Which is why I think Grand Theft Auto IV is up there with Red Dead Redemption 2 and New Vegas + other games, as one of the greatest games.

 

Ok Carlos, maybe the story is cinema, but how is the gameplay?

Glad you asked, let's break it down into 3 parts.

Combat, Driving and Free Roam

Combat:

GTA IV's combat is probably the best in the GTA series and one of the best in Rockstar's catalogue.

Gun SFX are punchy, strong and varied, compared to GTA V's more muted and not so punchy or strong Gun SFX.

Ragdolls are probably at it's best here as well, NPCs react about how you expect them to and (jesus I'm gonna sound like a pyscho) makes shooting and hitting them with cars very fun. Compared to GTA V where I think they mix animations with ragdolls, it doesn't make them as fun to shoot or run over.

Fist Fighting is ok, it's better than V's, but not as good as Red Dead Redemption 1 or 2's Fist Fighting. Punches just don't feel punchy (no pun intended) and just feels really jank.

And for Cover Shooting, it's probably at its worst here. I know it's their first attempt at it and it shows, it's really jank and clunky, especially in tight fighting areas as Niko either overshoots or puts himself in a position where he can be shot easily.

Driving:

This is a pretty contentious topic when it comes to IV, the driving.

I'm a little mixed on it. There are times where it feels great, drifting, moving in between cars in traffic, doing stunt jumps or even just driving around.

Then there's times where it genuinely pisses me off when it just starts sliding for no reason, I'll take a quick turn and now I see the headlights of a taxi about to hit me.

And motorcycles are really hit or miss in this game, they can either turn if you tap the steering buttons for one frame or handle perfectly.

Also what's with the cars in this game having their brakes being worn out? It takes 20 business days for you to fully brake.

Free Roam:

I won't lie, as much as I love Liberty City, the atmosphere and the ambiance, GTA IV doesn't offer much in side activites.

Vigilante Missions are still there, but provide no money unless you do those Most Wanted missions where the criminal does drop money.

There are no Firefighter missions or Paramedic missions.

Also there are no collectibles, just hunting down Pigeons, which I had no idea that is was a "collectible" until searching it up to make sure there wasn't any.

Plus there a very few buildings that are enterable, and there are no enterable planes.

A lot of the side activities like Pool, Bowling (No Roman, I do not want to go Bowl right now I'm stuck in a police chase!), drinking and others I'm sure I'm forgetting are only accessible by hanging out with your friends, which I don't mind hanging out with them, but prefer to play by myself.

One more thing is that the game give you a shitton of money, but nothing to spend it on. So by the end of the game, you'll just have 200-500k in your wallet.

Alright alright, but is there anything else you do or don't like?

Yeah there is, here's a quick-fire of what I do like:

What I don't like:

Are you gonna have you essay conclusion here?

No.

In conclusion, GTA IV is a masterpiece, setting the ground work for the HD Era of GTA and the rest of Rockstar's games.

The Story, Combat, Atmosphere, Map all work together in making this game great.
Honestly I really doubt we'll see anything this bleak or as gritty from Rockstar again or for a long, long while.

Thank you for reading, I'll see you next time.