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RTTP: Grand Theft Auto IV, an appreciation thread.

Yasae

Banned
Dead Man said:
My busted up Subaru ute handles better than any car in GTA4. It was terrible. The cars wallowed like pigs, stopped like a fat lady at a buffet, and sounded like a wet fart. The collision physics were awesome though, you are right. As I've said before, I could drive just fine in the game, it just was not fun OR realistic.
But did you handle cars in GTA IV like you handle them in real life?

No. You swing a big hunk of metal around all over the place and it's going to be far less responsive. Again, most vehicles dip and sway to an exaggerated degree for gameplay purposes, but they're ballpark accurate.
 

Seanspeed

Banned
I cannot believe that people are honestly defending the driving. But yea, I'm sure its cuz I have no idea how to drive or anything and that all my experience playing racing sims and driving in real life have just fooled me into thinking I know what I'm talking about.
 
Seanspeed said:
It was hardly realistic and they made it MUCH less fun. I dont call that progress.


It was indisputably more realistic than the old games. And the fun factor is an opinion. I think driving was more fun in GTA4.
 

Dead Man

Member
Yasae said:
But did you handle cars in GTA IV like you handle them in real life?

No. You swing a big hunk of metal around all over the place and it's going to be far less responsive. Again, most vehicles dip and sway to an exaggerated degree for gameplay purposes, but they're ballpark accurate.
Obviously we won't agree. But if you compare GTA:SA and GTAIV to something like Forza or GT5, they are both just as unrealistic, just in different ways.
 

Yasae

Banned
Seanspeed said:
I cannot believe that people are honestly defending the driving. But yea, I'm sure its cuz I have no idea how to drive or anything and that all my experience playing racing sims and driving in real life have just fooled me into thinking I know what I'm talking about.
Yeah, you know, nobody at Rockstar ever drove a car either. They just made it up as they went along. "How about the Schafter's handling?" "Oh, you know, whatever. Just put something down on paper."
 
In any case, GTAIV's driving was more realistic than GTA3's and more fun. The fact that the cars had some weight, there was traction, you could lose said traction, all added to more involved driving.
 

Yasae

Banned
Dead Man said:
Obviously we won't agree. But if you compare GTA:SA and GTAIV to something like Forza or GT5, they are both just as unrealistic, just in different ways.
Not terribly so when comparing GTA IV, no. The latter games aren't even going to represent much of the car selection in Grand Theft Auto.
 
MattyH said:
i really should finish GTA4 sometime its a great game but it doesnt hold my attention that long


Be sure to skip each and every one of those friendship/dating missions. That's what burned me out on my first playthrough (which I didn't finish).
 

Hypereides

Gold Member
corkscrewblow said:
Easily the worst 3D GTA. Thank god for Gay Tony though.

I dont get understand this hate. I thoroughly enjoyed the game.

Of what I have accomplished so far the story is good quality compared to some trash weve seen this generation. I Loved almost everything about the game of what I can remember. The music, the adventure, the city exploration, the driving, the night/day cycle. atmosphere... its the only GTA Ive played though, but really liked at that.

Its a fun coincedence this thread popped up, I was just lately thinking about getting back to it :D
 

Jay Sosa

Member
highluxury said:
I dont get understand this hate. I thoroughly enjoyed the game.

Of what I have accomplished so far the story is good quality compared to some trash weve seen this generation. I Loved almost everything about the game of what I can remember. The music, the adventure, the city exploration, the driving, the night/day cycle. atmosphere... its the only GTA Ive played though, but really liked at that.
Its a fun coincedence this thread popped up, I was just lately thinking about getting back to it :D

I would love to see a statistic how many people that liked GTA 4 never cared for the franchise and vice versa.

And I think that everyone who didn't like GTA 4 made it pretty clear why.

To keep it short, is it a good 3rd person shooter? Yeah, probably..Is it a good GTA? Hell no!
 

Yasae

Banned
Jay Sosa said:
I would love to see a statistic how many people that liked GTA 4 never cared for the franchise and vice versa.

And I think that everyone who didn't like GTA 4 made it pretty clear why.

To keep it short, is it a good 3rd person shooter? Yeah, probably..Is it a good GTA? Hell no!
I played all of the previous games, excluding hand-held offshoots. GTA 1, London 1969, GTA 2, GTA 3, GTA: VC, GTA:SA
 
Jay Sosa said:
I would love to see a statistic how many people that liked GTA 4 never cared for the franchise and vice versa.

And I think that everyone who didn't like GTA 4 made it pretty clear why.

To keep it short, is it a good 3rd person shooter? Yeah, probably..Is it a good GTA? Hell no!


To me (the 3d GTA's especially) GTA has always been about taking a drive or a stroll through a very convincing, though satirical, representation of a city. IV definitely reached new heights in that respect.
 

Jay Sosa

Member
Not only played but also if they finished/liked it. I always get the impression that the people (like myself) who dislike GTA 4 the most love GTA: SA.

I've read a lot replies like: "This is the first GTA I have ever finished!" "I didn't like the franchise but GTA 4 was great!"

Because if GTA 4 would've been the first GTA I've ever played (or directly after the third) I wouldn't be nowhere near as critical as I am, knowing what Rockstar is capable of.
 
My nostalgia for GTA4 will always be hampered by my experience with RDR. Red Dead came along, fixed all of GTA's wrongs and managed to include an amazing story and journey. GTA4 was pretty good while it lasted, but like most have said, the missions and the distractions let it down.

RDR > GTA4.
 

Yasae

Banned
Jay Sosa said:
Not only played but also if they finished/liked it. I always get the impression that the people (like myself) who dislike GTA 4 the most love GTA: SA.

I've read a lot replies like: "This is the first GTA I have ever finished!" "I didn't like the franchise but GTA 4 was great!"

Because if GTA 4 would've been the first GTA I've ever played (or directly after the third) I wouldn't be nowhere near as critical as I am, knowing what Rockstar is capable of.
I've finished GTA 3 and Vice City several times each. The earlier ones I couldn't say, but I played quite a bit of them. San Andreas I got about 1/2 way through.
 
Put me down in the "loved GTA IV" column. It's one of my favorite games from this gen.

I thought the driving was fantastic. One of my favorite things was speeding down a busy street and swerving left and right through traffic. So much fun, especially on a motorcycle.

And what I thought was really well done were the driving+shooting controls! Holding down the left bumper while using one stick to steer the car and the other to aim always felt so cool. It was just the right amount of complexity - very challenging, but also very doable once you got the hang of it. I've always thought those controls were a great representation for something as complicated as simultaneously driving a car and shooting a gun.
 
The first hour of Gay Tony is pretty bad. The nightclub scenes are really cool, but making you do cage fighting and golf is so boring. If this is the variety people crave then I honestly don't understand the desire.

With that said, I am looking forward to getting further in and doing all of the crazy missions again. I remember some really fun stuff.
 
Jay Sosa said:
I always get the impression that the people (like myself) who dislike GTA 4 the most love GTA: SA.
And I love them both.

What I need to do is get TLOD and Ballad Of Gay Tony, I wonder they are on sale for ~20 euros somewhere
 

Omiee

Member
iv been playing gta 4 for months now with mods that my friend helped me get on it, but i had to reinstall the game and now im playing without mods.
can someone please explain to me in the most easy way how i can put cars in and the enb series.
 

StarEye

The Amiga Brotherhood
I bought the Episodes from Liberty City pack when it was sale before christmas. I had no idea what to expect with regards to how it would run on my PC. I heard the PC version is very badly optimized. But despite this, it runs better than the X360 version I have, not to mention it looks better.

Only tried Ballad of Gay Tony, but then I played a bit of the Lost the Damned on the X360.

But holy shit, 17 gigs? It's a shame I'm forced to install both episodes, because maybe it would save me some space.
 

Dennis

Banned
I appreciate GTA IV for being the most immersive of the GTAs due to the inasanely detailed city. But there are lessons from Vice City (atmosphere) and San Andreas (scope and atmsphere) that I hope are learned for GTA V.

Mods transform GTA IV into a thing of unprecendented beauty and immersion (720p):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FYuxYZOdFA








 

Jay Sosa

Member
PetriP-TNT said:
And I love them both.

What I need to do is get TLOD and Ballad Of Gay Tony, I wonder they are on sale for ~20 euros somewhere

Amazon.de sold the compilation for like 10€ not too long ago, that's where I bought them.
 

Omiee

Member
so i wanna acces my folder so i can install mods and trainers, but my folder is read only, if i un check that it tells me u need administrator blabla i say yes and it scans and than it says done, when i go to check its read only again..?
how can i fix this so i can install mods cuz when i install trainers etc it just crashes the game untill i delete them from my folder.
 
Best driving moment in this game: Speeding in the bridge sections at night when that crazy effect kicks in. I don't know if it's an real effect or just slowdown but damn it looks good.
 

Omiee

Member
Omiee said:
so i wanna acces my folder so i can install mods and trainers, but my folder is read only, if i un check that it tells me u need administrator blabla i say yes and it scans and than it says done, when i go to check its read only again..?
how can i fix this so i can install mods cuz when i install trainers etc it just crashes the game untill i delete them from my folder.


can somebody help me with this cuz its driving me insane, i cant install any mods.
i have gta 4 and i installed the 1.07 patch or what ever its called.
 

qirex99

Banned
I read this thread and decided to unearth my copy of gay Tony to finish the expansions. I had previously finished the main story and found it ultimately lacking. Niko was so lame compared to vercetti and CJ.

While the city may seem more alive, the real issue that makes the gta4 games so poor are the awful, broken on-foot controls and combat. Niko or Luis are both jerky, sluggish and stiff to control - at least on the 360.

Also, gone is the randomness of open world of past gta games - there's basically Zero in the way of experimentation or options.

You just go and do exactly as you're told - that's no fun at all!
 

Dilly

Banned
Seanspeed said:
I cannot believe that people are honestly defending the driving. But yea, I'm sure its cuz I have no idea how to drive or anything and that all my experience playing racing sims and driving in real life have just fooled me into thinking I know what I'm talking about.

Bullshit, I have been simracing for a good 6 years and I have a drivers license and I still enjoyed the car physics in GTA IV.

It's not because you don't like the way the car handles that you have to go elitist on everyones ass who does like it.
 
I just downloaded this from Steam the other day with their $10 deal for GTA4 and its expansions. When i finish Mass Effect 2, these games are next. I loved Vice City and San Andreas and I have been wanting to play these since they came out(having a toddler who loves cars prevented me from doing this on the Xbox 360:)). Now that I have a gaming pc that can run these, i can now play these. Reading this thread has been very interesting to see how polarizing this game is. I knew there was a bit of backlash on GAF, but I did not imagine this:) Anyway, planning to try to go in w/ an open mind.
 
So I've just finished The Ballad of Gay Tony again. Overall, I still feel it's the weakest of the GTA IV saga. It seems to be designed for people who miss the crazy shit of San Andreas which, as this thread has already proven, is not me. It seemed like 75% of the missions took place in a helicopter, or revolved around a really elaborate mission structure which had to feature at least one chase and shoot-out with the NOOSE squad. Were they fun? Yes, but it was definitely more Just Cause 2 territory than GTA IV.

Despite the fact it lacked the gritty realism that I love, I do feel they did a good job of crafting an interesting and campy story around it. Luis and Tony's relationship is really sweet in a twisted way, and really builds throughout the Episode. The penultimate discussion they have about what to do if Luis dies and doesn't come back is one of the more touching moments of anything in GTA IV, which is a hell of an achievement. Likewise, Yusuf is fantastic comic relief and the idea of a spoilt Dubai child looking for any cheap thrill is a good enough reason to go hijack army helicopters and subway trains.

It has to be said that it took me a few days to go to through it, rather than in one sitting like I did with The Lost and the Damned, wasn't just because of the increased length, but because I found myself getting fatigued sooner due to every mission being high action. There were very few missions where you just sat in a car and listened to great dialogue, which always breaks up the crazier missions.

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I'm hoping that Rockstar don't follow this direction for their next game and take it "back to the roots" again, but I am also glad that I got to spend some time doing these insane missions, even if they're not my cup of tea entirely.

Now I just want GTA V. Like now.
 
One thing I wish was implemented was custom soundtracks. This iteration really needed it. The soundtrack is great but really sub-par compared to VC and SA. Listening to whatever you wanted in such a fully realized world as Liberty City is would've done fucking wonders.

I picked up the entire collection over the weekend and started continuing the ending of the vanilla. I've played Lost & Damned numerous times and love every second of it, but I never got to experience Gay Tony......and that sounded weird.

Ive realized that GTAIV, since its release, is really a game I get an urge to play annually. There's only been a small handful of games that have had that effect on me this gen. This is probably the third or fourth time Ive owned a copy and it's like every time I buy it, its like buying a plane ticket to the richest and most realistic alternate city world I've ever experienced and taking a two to three week trip each time.
 

goodfella

Member
Driving in this game is the best. I don't think I could get into another GTA if Rockstar were to dumb the car handling back down.

This so much. I think it can be improved upon a little, but in terms of becoming more realistic, I would hate for them to go backwards to a more arcady style.

I mean, the damage model in this game is better than most/all driving sims!
 
The city was absolutely amazing. I played it off and on for a year before I finished it. Because most of the time I just liked to play around and not do the missions. But even after well over 100 hours, I would still find new areas I hadn't seen. I liked most of the changes to the physics and cars, but the mission variety was lacking in IV compared to SA and VC. The next GTA rumored to be in Los Santos will probably be my game of the generation.
 

AkuMifune

Banned
The city was absolutely amazing. I played it off and on for a year before I finished it. Because most of the time I just liked to play around and not do the missions. But even after well over 100 hours, I would still find new areas I hadn't seen.

It's the best open world this gen. Red Dead may be the better game, but as far as systems, AI, weather... just driving around Liberty City is amazing. I recently picked this up off of Games on Demand just to be able to do that whenever I want. So worth it.
 
It's the best open world this gen. Red Dead may be the better game, but as far as systems, AI, weather... just driving around Liberty City is amazing. I recently picked this up off of Games on Demand just to be able to do that whenever I want. So worth it.

I agree 100% I love RDR to pieces, but GTAIVs world gets me every time in a completely different way
 

dyergram

Member
Could never live up to sa for me but I enjoyed it all the same. If they had made combined the nico story with the dlc characters in one 15-20 hr game I think people would remember it more favourably.
 

Muffdraul

Member
Ever since the GTA V announcement, I've been on a GTA IV jag that I just couldn't shake. I replayed it and the two DLCs from beginning to end a bunch of times in the last seven months. Once in a while I'd take a break to play something else (e.g. Lollipop Chainsaw) which I'd always blow through as fast as possible so I could go back to GTA IV. I think I'm done with it for now, but I'm sure it'll suck me in again once there's new GTA V info. So many people accuse GTA IV of being "boring," yet somehow I can ride the subway from one end of LC to the other without skipping stations and not feel bored. I just love existing in that virtual world, no matter what I'm doing in it.
 

Chris R

Member
I still need to play the DLC stuff, but after putting time in the MP trying to get some of the achievements I was turned off the game in a big way. Seriously, fuck online achievements.
 

.GqueB.

Banned
I wasn't as down on GTAIV as some others but I thought the two episodes were far, far more engaging than the insipid and self-contradictory Niko Bellic story. I played them through on PC and enjoyed them quite a bit. The characterization, particularly, was far superior.

And the driving felt fantastic in the games. How people wanted Saints Row's loose, box-on-wheels shit is beyond me.

That was the best part! "I don't want to do this anymore cousin. I came here to live a peaceful life." *Goes on killing spree*.
 
GTAIV is the reason I bought a 360. It was the only game I had for almost a year and then i gradually got back into console gaming.

Fuck the haters. Game is awesome and the bank heist mission is easily one of the funnest things I've done this gen in a game.

Also, both pieces of DLC are superb. They fixed some of the issues the game had and made a compelling story with both.
 
I love me some GTA IV. I loved the single player campaigns but the free mode has had me playing it since it came out 4 years ago.
 
That was the best part! "I don't want to do this anymore cousin. I came here to live a peaceful life." *Goes on killing spree*.

I just didn't take it seriously. So the plot holes didn't bother me. But I missed having the variety of businesses to watch after in VC and the gang turf wars and other neat extras like the RC missions that I felt were missing.
 

BFIB

Member
GTA IV might be my favorite game of all time. I have dumped around 400 hours on the Steam version, and that was before I bought the trilogy pack on steam. I probably put another 100 hours on my retail copy.

Great write up, reminds me that I need to play Ballad of Gay Tony. I've been putting it off waiting for it to be my warm up for GTA V, but I might just have to break down and start it.
 

Tunavi

Banned
played it for the first time yesterday. Didn't like how sluggish the vehicles felt compared to SA but it was still a blast.
 
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