Ledsen said:6 hours, that's insane!
Well, I gotta admit I was just overreacting and exaggerrated. It actually only took me around 7 times to complete that mission. But it just felt like 6 hours from the sheer frustration :lol Still, I can kinda see how some how you guys beat it on the first try, because the last couple of times before I beat it, I realized that you're right, driving carefully was the key to winning it. I sincerely hope that's the only mission where racing other cars is absolutely necessary.
Hans said:Ned, you need to give the game some more time. The first few hours (almost like the first 10) are almost like a gigantic tutorial. The game has some pretty epic missions, some lame ones. You take the good with the bad.
I appreciate the game's graphics, but you really have to observe the city from all different angles and lighting conditions. It may not be the best looking game in terms of consistency (there's good and bad looking parts), but sometimes that lighting, shadows, colors, and DOF all come together and the game just looks absolutely brilliant. For instance, on the island on the very western part of liberty city, there's an overpass that's gigantic and you can see it in the background, there's a DOF effect on it and the architecture really stands out as being just perfect. No other way to explain it other than by seeing it. For what GTA4 attempts to do, it is an amazing achievment. I'm really glad they went with an outstanding lighting model because it allows them to dynamically change the city. Some of the filters and effects on the screen when there's rain, or a slight haze, or a sunset just bring everything to life.
Good post Hans. Couldn't have said it better. I first got to Manhatten today and was blown away by the scenery. The neon signs all the animated stuff going on in Times Square is phenomenal! And yeah, the frame rate isn't spectacular, but all the complaints about it running between 10-15fps is pure bullshit. It runs at a steady 30fps on my machine most of the time and I have never been distracted by the framerate.
Still, my main gripe is the lack of checkpoints during long missions. Having to drive ALL the way the fuck back to where your contact is, then driving ALL the way to where the actual mission starts every time you die is nothing short of CRIMINAL!! FU R* for your archaic gameplay mechanics. NO other game does this kind of shit nowadays.