Others say...

"Awesome Game..."
One of the best games I've ever played. Ranks in my top three PS3 games.

"Its much better now!"
all the updates and trophys now added just make this game more fun trust me i put this down for a while till i found out about trophys. and now far in it! I dont have saints row 2 which ive heard is better but is has no trophys. So get GTA4!

"Lack of difficulty levels makes it unplayable for me"
This game is too difficult for me which made the experience frustrating and ultimately unplayable. I see others find it too easy. This could have been easily solved by having 5 levels of difficulty from very easy to very hard. The game would appeal to a much greater consumer base and would have had much greater sales if it had 5 difficulty levels.

The other major related problem is that one cannot save in the middle of a mission. Because of this one must repeat the same driving sequence over and over to finally get through the hard part of the mission (ultimately I could not pass missions and had to stop playing the game).

Because of the two problems above, I find this game more frustration than fun. I will not buy any more games of this series or any games that do not have levels of difficulty (hopefully 5 levels).

"IV - Good but not Perfect"
Half a year after its release, Grand Theft Auto IV has received praise and criticism alike. Being the latest edition to the series and since it's been out for so long, I thought it might be time to sit down and take the time to give my take on it.

If you're new to the series, then let me start you off like this (if you're not, then skip this section): you play a Nikolai "Niko" Bellic, a sailor and European immigrant who has come to America to start a new life in the company of his cousin, Roman Bellic, who promises mansions, fast cars, and women. But when you first drive through the slums, you find this not to be the case. As a matter of a fact, it's quite the opposite. Welcome, "friend", to Liberty City, a hell-hole with shootings, gangs, and organized crime galore. The ideal place to carry out the American dream? Hardly.

Upon jumping into the game, you'll notice a definite change in graphics (if you've seen anything of the previous installments), tone, and realism. It's gritty, apparent, and really makes you feel like you're in a city. Cars screech by, people fight and argue with each other, bums sleep in dark alleyways and beg for money. Hey, there's even the occasional nut who babbles on about alien invasion.

Cool right? It gets better. People on the street can be seen using phones, MP3 players, and iPods. They smoke cigars and cigarettes, drink coffee, read newspapers, and converse with other pedestrians.

Some of the more dynamic things have also changed. A minute in the game lasts about four seconds now, shadows can be seen changing with the time, rain affects the performance of cars and causes the city to take on a different look, and HDR lighting makes the game all the more beautiful.

Phones, although previously used in some of the other GTAs, play a bigger and more important role than ever in IV. They are your link to the world and the people involved in it. You can text message, call contacts, take pictures, and more. You can even customize things like your ring tone, background, and phone type.

The Internet is one of the newest additions to the series. Niko can enter Internet cafes and use a computer to access the world wide web. He has an email address and he can register and use things like dating websites and forums. There are pop-ups, spam emails, and more. Better still, Niko can respond to certain emails.

Most of us who have played San Andreas will probably recall some of the games that could be played. IV brings them all back, plus a few new ones. Niko can bowl, play darts, shoot pool, and gamble. These activities are pretty much only used on dates, though. Diners and fast food places have also been brought back to the game. It's awesome, to say the least.

One of the newest features is the buddy system. To elaborate a little more on this, Niko can call up a person who is his friend and propose they do something together. He can ask them to play a game, go out for a drink, go get something to eat, and more. Hey, he can simply sit there and do nothing but talk with them if he wants to.

The drunk driving mini-games are a challenge, for two reasons:

1) The screen and car physics behave differently.
2) The Endorphin Physics Simulator causes Niko and his bud to frequently lose their balance.

You don't have to drive, however. The safest thing (unless you want to be arrested) is to just find a cab and call it over to you.

Comedy clubs, bars, amateur theatre plays, and nightclubs are some of the improved features. Rick Gervais actually supplied voiceovers for the comedy club skits, and they are actually pretty entertaining to watch. The theatres also offer plenty of entertainment. Different acts come up (jugglers, knife throwers, magicians, you name it) and they're hilarious.

Niko can also watch TV, go swimming, and of course listen to the radio (and I will spoil NOTHING about the radio).

You also have more freedom in IV. You can decide who lives or dies on occasion and who's side you will take. These choices can affect the outcome of the game... you've been warned.

With all these new features, you're probably thinking there's a hitch to the game, and there is. I'm going to be honest with you and say that yes, IV is not perfect, far from it. Let me clarify.

The Endorphin engine provides some of the smoothest and most realistic movements for Niko and other characters. However, it also causes some basic problems. Niko, when bumped, can stumble around and fall like a fool (he apparently has no way of controlling his balance). This gets repetitive and annoying after a while. It also causes the motorcycle physics to behave in a strange fashion. If Niko hits a bump even at a relatively slow speed, he will fly (yes, FLY) off and smash into the concrete. It takes him quite a while to recover, and the Endorphin AI isn't the brightest when you tell Niko to go back over and mount the bike. It might cause him to walk around in circles for a bit; it might do nothing. Depends. This gets frustrating, especially when you're playing a chase mission (if you fall off a bike on one of these missions, your chances of beating it on the first try are not good).

AI is also a bit of a harassment. The drivers seem to have no common sense when it comes the rules of the road, they will frequently get in your way when you're running or chasing someone, and they will run over Niko... a lot.

The missions in general get old pretty quick, too. They're all the same: go kill this guy or go find this vehicle and bring it back. Gun-play will be involved in every single one, rest assured of that. The cutscene briefings will tell you otherwise, but don't listen. EVERY SINGLE MISSION WILL INVOLVE NIKO SHOOTING SOMEONE... or he'll be the one getting shot at. You get the point. It makes for fun at first, but gets tiresome.

I have no other complaints or rants other than the mission dynamics could have been improved... slightly. Like I said, play one, and you've played them all.

While IV is a solid game, it does have a few dents and splotches here and there, like a bullet-riddled Mercedes under the Brooklyn Bridge with a grease-monkey's body in the trunk. However, it's fun and die-hard fans of the series will not be disappointed (I was quite satisfied). I would recommend it to most people, but not to beginners. I would advise them to try GTA III and then work their way up through Vice City and San Andreas (skipping some of the smaller games for the PSP and PS2). I wasn't disappointed, and I don't think you will be either... so buy it... What? That's my opinion, take it or leave it.

"Simply Stunning"
This takes the GTA game style to a whole new level. Yes, it doesn't have any bicycles and you can't choose the color when you repaint your car and there are other small details people are complaining about. But all of this can be completely overlooked given how great the game play is.

What is really amazing is that events can happen in this game which may never ocurr again. There's no predictability factor like in previous gta games. People says thing which may never be repeated, the way you fall when hit is never the same. The game just flows like real life.

With the new physics, you feel the character so much more than in San Andreas.

The driving, shooting and pretty much any other activity they put in here all feel realistic.

The graphics are great. The cars look almost real from some angles.

If you feel like San Andreas has more bonus features and more things to do when you're just roaming around, you are correct to some extent. BUT, try playing this game, then put San Andreas back on and you will see that San Andreas feels stiff and has awful graphics by comparison. All they need to do now is add downloadable updates for this game along the lines of new car colors or weapons and this game will have it all.