Does anyone know when it will come out? It says estimate 20th of April in the GTA IV " section" ...

29th April 2008


Just had confirmation that I may have mine before the weekend...

The review is coming the 29th? That' s certainly late(I think)

Are you getting the game Friday? Lucky B******

I think the review will be Monday at the earliest Kelvin. Rock* will have strict guides as to when the reviews can be published, and Kikizo has a good relationship with them so what they say goes.

Okay thanks

The Kikizo review will be coming between the 28th to the 29th

Can I commend you guys on not reviewing yet.

It seems a lot of reviews were based on the behind-closed-doors previews that were obviously controlled by R*. I think one also mentioned they were still tweaking the game - this was probably even after it had gone gold.

In the light of noticeable difference between the two versions, where as previously it was always steadfastley held that they were identical, it seems that you' ve made the right choice here.

Welcome to the forums Danny!

The review is up now I see. They' ve scored it 10/10 in all categories.

I would of give:

Graphics 8

10 for Graphics?? No way.. It would have been a technical Feat if it ran a lot smoother, really.... people want to continue to play 20-25 fps games?? If you give 10 for graphics Devs are just gonna get lazy and won' t Optimize sh.it.. The framerate runs just about ' forgivable' and the art direction isn' t exactly on the excellent levels of Mass effect or Mario Galaxy.

Sound 8

I' ll only give a game a 10 for sound if it included loads of minute attention to details. IE in SMG, Zelda and resident evil 4 where every different surface you walk on makes a different sound, when you go into water the ambient FX are muffled, when you are in enclosed spaces everything echo' s.. In GTA 4 there' s hardly none of this attention to detail, just over-used sound FX.. you can be totally head-to toe under water and still perfectly clearly hear conversions outside.. I wouldnt let that past testing stage, just lazy.. You walk on totally different surfaces and still the same foot-step sounds?? even through puddles and on metal stairs, all the same.. I' ll give it 8 because of its great use of licensed music and the voice acting acting is second to none.

Gameplay 8

10?? Yes, there are loads of gameplay elements included but Jezz, the fighting isnt nowhere near shenmue levels (where the fighting level ups and ability to learn moves?), the driving is still abit off IMO and the basic running and climbing isnt exactly on the same level as say Asassins.. There' s soo much more to improve upon, noway is it perfect.

Depth 9

Yes, the core is MASSIVE and the online play will last you ages (still not as good as PC GTA:SA multiplayer mods), but still, there' s not much growth in your characters abilities he seems to learn nothing throughout the whole game (unlike shenmue or that other open-world game that came on 360 with all the jumping and orbs n shit) and this is the reason why I wouldn' t give it a perfect 10/10 in depth.

Presentation 10

Yes I agree, this game has fantastic presentation.

Overall: 9.3


It' s an awesome game and all but 10/10 For GTA4 is wrong IMO, SOO many areas where rockstar could of improved this game and i get the feeling this will date very quicky.,

I generally agree with most of what you' re saying, VF. But the points where I disagree are in art direction and sound. GTAIV doesn' t have the radically inventive art direction that is necessary in a science fiction epic like Mass Effect or a fantasy title like Super Mario Galaxy, but it is very thoroughly thought-out and implemented art direction with a consistent semi-realistic, stylized appearance.

The other thing is, I think the sound design deserves a bit more credit than you give it... I noticed in an online co-op mission that it did make a difference when our characters were running on metal staircases for example, the footsteps have the proper sound.

Also, I have to question your assertion that " he seems to learn nothing throughout the whole game" ... have you really advanced that far in the singleplayer in just a few days?

Otherwise, I tend to agree... GTAIV is great, but it' s not a perfect 10 and I don' t understand the seemingly hypnotic sway that it has on otherwise reliable game critics. It still has aggravating control issues... the minigames are rather stiff... But the writing is excellent, the satire is superb (although a bit sullied by the stubborn insistence on including very juvenile, crass and simpleminded jokes)... I' d give it somewhere in the range of a 9.4.

Zoy, people are giving it 10, because reviewers are seeing that there are no perfect games.

This is simply the greatest game in 10 years, and im close to agreeing.

It' s true that there are no perfect games, but if critics are crediting the ambitious scope of GTAIV and forgiving certain shortcomings in its execution, then shouldn' t there be at least a handful of other games over the past decade that also received 10s?

It still has aggravating control issues.

that alone should make it have less than a ten, the shooting system is not perfect as well, i Think a game that deserves a 10 should be Top notch (it doesn' t mean perfect) in everything it does, in GTA the controls are a bit clumsy and the shooting is not on par with the great shooters out there. So not a 10 for GTA 4 but something very close.

ORIGINAL: Zoy

It' s true that there are no perfect games, but if critics are crediting the ambitious scope of GTAIV and forgiving certain shortcomings in its execution, then shouldn' t there be at least a handful of other games over the past decade that also received 10s?

Well we also gave Mario Galaxy and Orange Box 10s...

You should give Super Monkey Ball on the Gamecube a 10 as well. Sure, it was a launch game for a system that is obsolete, but you should put up a review anyway.

I' m loving GTAIV, but I agree, I' m constantly fighting the camera and failing missions doing it at times. I dont know why Rockstar insist on implementing such clumsy schemes in their games. It was the same with Manhunt.

Its the way the R analog stick can pan the camera round if you hold it, but if you let go it springs back half way.

If the L stick turned with more sensitivity, and the R one was purely a look/aim function it would' ve been better imo. Still its definitely an improvement over Rockstars other 3rd person action games.

I also think some of the missions are more interesting than others. Some of the early find and fetch missions are a little dull and dont seem to have that much reward in terms of story pregression or character development. They feel like fillers.

Yeah the camera really sucks. Especially if you try to rotate the camera and it seems to get stuck halfway like you were saying choupolo.

I would take marks off for control if I was grading that seperately, but overall I' d still give the game a 10, 9.5 at the lowest. I' m not the type to look for a perfect game. Modern games cannot be perfect. You want to see perfection? Play Geometry Wars: Evolved. That game does everything it' s supposed to do perfectely.

There are so many unique things about GTA4, and they' re done so well, that you can' t deny how great it is. Compare this game to any other game. In no game do you have the freedom or possibilities that this game presents. I' ve seen a lot of 10' s and none of them have the depth, innovation and just pure fun this game/series brings. Not to mention the humour. They were able to be funny and serious at the same time. No other game does this the way GTA4 does, except GTA3.

The style is great, this isn' t a fantasy game so you' re limited in this respect. Rockstar was able to give us a stylistic game without taking away from the atmosphere of a ruthlessly violent city.

The camera is annoying when your driving and trying to look behind you. Why not just use the same method as that in games like Project Gotham?

I don' t know about the 360 version but why don' t you just push R3 to look behind you?