After going in fresh and experiencing GTA IV's treasure trove of surprises for many months now, we can't bring ourselves to ruin it for you. So don't worry, spoilers will be kept to a minimum, which is bloody hard. We've got all these awesome tales and secrets to tell.
Note: Xbox 360 version reviewed.
As an experience, especially a cinematic one, GTA IV is incredible. Story-wise, Rockstar's usual mix of crime, betrayal and truckloads of piss-taking is at full force in an event-filled plotline. It's easily our favourite narrative since Vice City.
This is mostly down to the charismatic and infinitely likeable protagonist. Unlike the silent anti-hero of III, or CJ's custom canvas, Niko Bellic has tons to say and a shady past to uncover.
Yes he's a cold hearted killer, but unlike the robots of previous offerings, there are points in the story where his conscience boils to the surface. Underneath he even shows real emotion.
When put with a difficult decision, he'll struggle with the choice. One minute he'll be an accomplice in a robbery with only cash in mind, but another time he'll help a friend in need.
The conscience-testing plot is played out during GTA IV's campaign, and when put to a difficult decision, we too found ourselves pacing alongside Niko (there are plenty of endings to be discovered). It's nice to finally have a GTA where we give a sod about the protagonist.
But it doesn't end with Niko. In the past the series has pumped out plenty of flat, one-liner NPCs to help push the story along. But now we're finally seeing some characters with actual depth.
Russian Mikhail Faustin, for example, has clearly been messed up by drink and drugs - and you can tell. Scenes where he does little more than hold his head in his hands, ready to explode, inject real suspense and emotion - something we're not used to in this series.
Voice acting, as always, is fantastic. Non-player characters have plenty to say - especially on car rides to objectives. And they'll never say the same thing twice (unless you replay a mission).
As always, the piss-taking, politically incorrect side of Rockstar's script is alive, actually more so than ever. IV will have you chuckling more than any other game this year, I reckon.
The biggest star of the game though is of course the the city. And Rockstar has succeeded in creating one of the most believable environments we've ever seen
In scope and scale, Liberty City is utterly unmatched. There's seamless integration of interior and exterior (indoors doesn't look like blurry boxes anymore) which is IV's most significant jump over San Andreas.In scope and scale, Liberty City is utterly unmatched. There's seamless integration of interior and exterior (indoors doesn't look like blurry boxes anymore) which is IV's most significant jump over San Andreas.
Coupled with a gorgeous lighting system, Liberty City at times comes across with a set of its own emotions. When the streets are overcast and soaked with rain, you'll feel the sombre mood of the streets. 30 minutes later, when you're screaming past the sun-lit backdrop of the Algonquin skyscrapers, Liberty City feels like the happiest place on Earth.
But how does it play? Compared to San Andreas, number IV's game systems have been improved in a lot of areas. Vehicle handling has been tweaked to feel more realistic (though don't get too rowdy - it's not PGR or GT) and the pure thrill of driving around town is more present than ever.
The difference between a tank-like old banger and sports car this time around is massive. Each motor feels unique, making every car in Liberty City relevant.
This time around though, the lazy lot among us can simply hail a cab with the press of a button (something we do a lot) and skip across town in an instant. In previous GTAs this would be game-shaking, but with GTA IV's motors driving to your destination it's a lot more fun.
Missions, in general, are well designed and balance the variety perfectly. Alongside the traditional 'drive here, shoot this bloke' stuff in the 90 mission-strong campaign, there are a lot of inventive scenarios you find yourself in. Some are our standout gaming moments of this current generation.
We don't want to ruin anything, but there's one awesome heist mission in particular that we replayed twice for the fun of it. Makes Kane & Lynch look like Ant and Dec...
But there are so many favourites - a high-speed motorboat chase through the harbour, shooting our way out of hospital after icing a bed-ridden witness. There are too many to mention and you should discover them all for yourself.
Combat is a massive improvement over San Andreas too. The cover system is solid, injecting a level of strategy into gun fights not present in GTA III's messy lock-on system. You'll still die thanks to the odd lock-on screw up that has you looking at pedestrians instead of the policeman aiming up behind you, but for the most part it's a considerably tight system.
One of the absolute best additions though is Niko's mobile phone, which is executed flawlessly. During the story you'll be asked to phone up someone in your contacts book to arrange meet ups. But when you're off-plot you can also dial friends to go on activities such as bowling, drinking or to a strip club. They'll phone you too; but you don't have to answer and you can even cut the caller off mid-speech.But there are so many favourites - a high-speed motorboat chase through the harbour, shooting our way out of hospital after icing a bed-ridden witness. There are too many to mention and you should discover them all for yourself.
If the contact you're dialling has no story relevance or isn't your friend, you'll often go straight to answer phone message. It all feels totally believable, even if we can see the technical sense behind it all.
At one point in our game, cousin Roman phoned up crying for help, but we went on a date with family friend Michelle instead. Unexpectedly, once we were done sitting through our romantic sex noise cut-scene, Roman dialled our cell phone again, pissed off and beaten up. Sorry bro...
"Thanks for protecting me," he yells, but Niko pleads: "Sorry, I was seeing Michelle!" The sheer amount of scenarios and dialogue in the phone system is impressive.
Later on in the game you get a more modern phone with a camera, mp3 ringtones and picture messaging. Rockstar also exploits the gadget in some inventive ways during missions. In one scenario, we had to take photos of gang members in a park without being seen, and then picture message each one over to our employer so that he could identify the target.
In another mission, our bent employer is being blackmailed. With only a text message from the target in our possession, we arrange a meeting place in the park and then turn up - phone in hand. The park's quite crowded, but luckily we can phone up the target via his text message. It's only a case of looking through the passers-by to see who answers their phone...
Should we judge the biggest game of the year as just that, a videogame, and pick holes in its evolution-not-revolution systems which don't exactly re-write the rules? Or should we look at GTA IV as a pure experience, where it wipes the floor with anything else on Xbox 360 and PS3?
As is so easy to forget after the hype, GTA IV is very much Grand Theft Auto, which means that if you didn't like the last instalments you're probably going to have the same qualms with IV.
We'd still challenge anyone to cruise around Liberty City and not be engrossed in the plot, be dazzled by the mission scenarios and be amazed at Liberty City itself.
As a sandbox experience, it's instantly entertaining. There's such a manifold of things to see and do that we'll really be amazed if a solid percentage of purchasers ever make it to 100 percent.
Then there's the multiplayer, which we go into in more detail here. That adds even more life to the already gargantuan package and provides replayability of so many brilliant GTA moments.
But coming back to our original conundrum, GTA IV has its flaws as a game, like the sometimes problematic auto-aim shooting or the massive difficulty jump when you get to the final ten missions. But as an all-round experience it's truly, hype aside, a standout experience of gaming in 2008.
