GTA 4 sucks imo (some critique on the first 19% of total game progress.)

[härjaren]

I wonder what the Rockstar writers was up to when they made the gta4,
and how much cash the reviewers got for bumping it up on metacritic at 90/100.
Shoulda been more like an 74 in my opinion.

I got gta4 on the most recent steam sale..

>>I'm 9 hours or so into the game with about 19% of total game completion (that short of a game already? really?)

I did the main quests and the side quests that you attract.. but still...

>>This game has a horrendeus pacing!
In terms of plotdevelopment, unlockables and overall progression.
I constantly wait for the game to pick up the pace and get thrown into a new and exciting angle, but it hasnt happened so far. Mostly quick streetlevel hitman jobs and carchases :/

Progression so far: Up til Mallorie's apartment.
>>Only weapons so far to buy: baseball bat, 9mm pistol, uzi, basic shottie.

Devs normally break out the bling bling and the shock & awe early on, to wow the players.
I'm sad to say, Rockstar seems to have done polar opposite.

>>I was really looking foward to GTA4. It felt like I missed out for so many years on it.
I have all the PC GTAs leading up to it.

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Unrelatable characters: I Dont care about roman, vlad, dimitri or any of their associates, yet one is forced to engage only them for the first circa 20% of the game.

Extremely Limited Weaponry early game: Bat, pistol, pump shotgun, uzi... is that it?!

No Killingsprees: The only thing Ive found near what they called killingspree bonus missions reminiscent of the earlier gta games is the police car vigilanté missions.. whatta shame :I

Sense of the mundane: Sadly, I find no drive in me at all to explore the city like in other gta games. There are no places cluttered with graffitti to paint over, there are no hidden collectibles etc.
The way the city was made in the other 3D GTA itirations made you want to explore them.
The 'directed' focus at odd spots... players were rewarded for exploring, following a notion that a goodie might be hidden in remote places or tough to get to spots.
The bright colors (comparing to GTA 4) also made the player feel at home in the city.
It was a good thing to be roaming. Gta 4's terrain and color palette is like cloudy

No sense of progression: It doesn't make you feel like you're progressing every third mission or so. Getting hooked up. Getting real estate, newer weapons, multiple safehouses, quick n' easy side missions to do. Becoming a powerhouse. A force to be reckoned with.

There's not much of a sense of the powerhouse the player is, or is to become.



>>Does it get any better? Is the mid and later game as mundane as the early game?

--What do you other GTA4 players think?



P.S. English is not my primary language so bear with the grammar, heh.

[Niko( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡° )]

I would not play the game if you describe it that way but you are still on the first island. Not much to say really. When you reach the second island, maybe things would change. Especially the third island, perhaps your story would be a bit different. It is quite a long story but 19% does seems quite long indeed. I never played 100% when I reach the final part of the main story but I do get over 1 million $$$ by stealing cars for Stevie.

[härjaren]

hmmm.. yeah I just got done with the first island... kinda figured there'd be more fun moments in the storyline or something to give a drive to sustain playing thru the story missions..
This doesn't feel like a gta game that much.. Its like they remove alotta stuff that made gta3-gta vc-gta sa great :/

[Razorbak86]

If you want to maintain pacing, just focus on completing story missions. Side missions are fun, but they can be a time sink, and they tend to pull you out of the main story arc. Furthermore, you can complete all of the side missions after you complete the story.

FYI, there are 94 story missions in the game. There is an achievement called "Liberty City Minute" for completing the main story in less than 30 hours. I've done it about 8 times on all three systems, and the fastest I have completed the story is about 20 hours (although I watched every cutscene). If you only do story missions, your completion stat will be just north of 60% at the end. The remaining 40% are side missions and collectibles. To reach 100% completion, you'll have to put in well over 60 hours. Most people take 100+ hours to reach 100% complete.

[härjaren]

K. It says Ive attempted 30 missions in Stats.
Also, I wish to add the things Ive liked actually so far..

The radio stations (obviously), the tv-stations, the fake internet, the music.
Only likable chars: Michelle, Brucie, dem rasta rudeboys, mon!, Niko (took a while to start liking niko until he opened up about the war).

Yeah.. so I'm not the only one who feels the game is really slow paced? Compairing to the previous gta games and the standards of our time?

[MrCadaver]

I enjoy everything except the lack of quicksaves, a symptom of being a console port unfortunately.

[Lyronx]

This is the first HD GTA rockstar has ever had, of course they had to experiment and see what the public has to say and majority of them were positive. If you believe the story is slow as hell then might aswell download save games online where you get access to the second and third islands as those are action packed. I have 90% completion rate of this game on the Xbox 360 but decided to move onto PC as I'm originally a PC gamer. It's good the game is somewhat you say slow paced as rockstar is trying to put a plot into the game to make the gamer feel connected to the world of GTA IV.

[härjaren]

Originally posted by Lyronx:

This is the first HD GTA rockstar has ever had, of course they had to experiment and see what the public has to say and majority of them were positive. It's good the game is somewhat you say slow paced as rockstar is trying to put a plot into the game to make the gamer feel connected to the world of GTA IV.

Yeah I totally agree, it was a totally new engine that hadn't been adapted to the gta format just yet.
It seems like the story was chopped up and moved around, and after that, little work was done on the starting blocks of the user experience. The start of any game should motivate the player to continue playing, rockstar knows this.. every game dev out there knows this.

BUT.... people are still supposed to pay and play this.. this aint no showreel.. no tech demo.. this is the finish product.
Rockstar and their distributors okay'd this.

Naw.. I never get those 100% complete save files.. I like to torture myself with grinds ;)

Yeah.. Imma grind the game nonetheless.. I wanna see how it progresses.. Imma stick to mainstory missions from now on.. but its a bit hard to tell at times which is which.. since the main story npcs introduce the sidemission npcs :/

I'm too an longtime pc gamer.. last console I owned was the original nintendo heh.

>>Yeah.. but thats the main point with my critique.. It doesn't make the player feel more immersed in the world of Liberty City...Liberty City has never been so dull..
I could see it if rockstar chose to make gta4 more like a drama film.. a game more in the style of LA Noire (which I also have), then it would be accepted; one knew what one was getting into.

>>I would not call Grand Theft Auto 4 an action game. I would not give it a 9/10.
Seeing how there was alot of hype and hyped reviews over the game at initial release, I cant but help thinking the reviewers fell for hype or got something in exchange for high review scores.

[härjaren]

Seems like Im not the only one then.. for once haha.

Established Reviewers say its a flawless work of art (98 of 100 score) and the userbase puts it at an above average game (7.8 grade)
http://www.metacritic.com/game/xbox-360/grand-theft-auto-iv

I did a quick google to make sure.. and all the online gamezines and publications give it a 95 of 100 or near a "solid ten" in scores... thats a totally different spot to be in.

LOL! the PC userbase of GTA4 gives it even lower score.. merely a 6.0 http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/grand-theft-auto-iv

It puts gta4 in the "girl next door" category(which is nothing wrong with) instead of the supermodel category is markets itself as.

[Razorbak86]

Originally posted by olvi:

Imma stick to mainstory missions from now on.. but its a bit hard to tell at times which is which.. since the main story npcs introduce the sidemission npcs :/

Main story missions show up on the mini-map with alphabetic labels (e.g., "R" = Roman, "V" = Vlad, "LJ" = Little Jacob, "B" = Brucie).

http://www.wegame.com/games/gta4/grand-theft-auto-4-missions/

PS - The game really starts picking up steam around Mission #38, "Three Leaf Clover". That's approximately 40% of the way through the main story. If possible, try to progress through that mission, and I think your opinion of the game will change quite a bit.

[härjaren]

Yeah it probably will.

I figured Little Jacob and Bruice where side missions, since they were not eastern europeans lol

[Razorbak86]

Understood. Just play everything that shows up on your mini-map with an alphabetic label, and you'll stay on track. You're pretty close to the game really opening up and becoming a lot more fun. Good luck.

[Razorbak86]

PS - "Three Leaf Clover" will also give you a little taste of what you can expect in GTA V. If you like that mission, you will love GTA V. ;)

[Niko( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡° )]

It would be interesting how you would face the Old Hospital where you practically fight alone :)

[Razorbak86]

Originally posted by =T$ECore= Niko:

It would be interesting how you would face the Old Hospital where you practically fight alone :)

Haha. "The Snow Storm"... Love that mission. :)

[Niko( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡° )]

Yep:)