The franchise is back just in time for summer
“Grand Theft Auto 4” is the best game out for the Xbox 360.
The new graphics allow for great animation throughout the game. Gun fights are also enhanced by the graphics with huge explosions and realistic physics.
While the graphics are improved, they are only a small part of what makes the game fun.
The storyline is more complex and mostly about the individual character being new to the country and gaining money, instead of previous games, where the characters were semi-established. At certain points in the game, the player decides whom they will or will not kill, with the decisions affect the outcome of the rest of the game.
Dating girls in this game is more necessary to the story as they advance the storyline and are closely tied to other characters. Activities to do on dates include everything from bowling to playing pool, as well as getting drunk and trying to drive home. Being drunk in the game is entertaining in itself as the character flops around into traffic and downstairs.
Driving is more complicated and unwieldy in this game due to the realistic physics. Emergency breaks are more sensitive and at times send the player into a semi-controlled spin. Using the normal break does not allow the car to turn fast enough, so a combination of the two is needed to be effective.
The realistic features also make it unsafe to drive at high speeds, as hitting things head on often flings the character from the car, which costs a serious amount of health damage. For this same reason, riding motorcycles is just short of impossible.
Gun fighting is roughly the same as in “GTA 3,” but now the character can use walls for cover. However, locking onto enemies, combined with the new cover system, makes shooting difficult to control at times.
A major downside to “GTA 4” is that it is not as good as “GTA 3: San Andreas” because the player does not get to buy property. There is also no jet or jet pack in this game either, which was arguably the best part of San Andreas.
Regardless of its few flaws, the game is the most entertaining game out today, and it should prove even more worth the money when a large number of people are playing online in different gaming modes with each other.
Contact Campus Press Staff Writer Andrew Nute at Nute@colorado.edu.
