Product ReviewsGrand Theft Auto IV (PlayStation 3, 2008)

Amazing game, great open world with infinite options

One of the best GTA games hands down next to San Andreas on the ps2. GTA V is fine and all but it just doesn't have the crafted quality that previous versions had and GTA IV is no exception. The vehicle damage graphics are better than the current ps4 version! Overall a great game, takes me back to 2008Read full review...

Verified purchase:  Yes | Condition: pre-owned | Sold by: courtjester116

Story and world detail is good; not much else. Doesn't hold up

GTA IV has a lot of driving as the title implies, and the driving... is bad. The lack of any traction makes any car driving a dumpster on ice. The characters, a few hours in, are mostly unlikable, or neutral; Niko, the player character, is the only one I've liked so far. The graphics still look okay in 2019 and my favorite bit is the amount of damage cars take, scrunching in an amount not matched even by demolition derby games. The atmosphere and colors really complement the story, which is what kept me playing for hours, to see where it went, mostly how Niko would rise up the ranks and where he'd end up. The shooting gameplay is servicable if a bit slow.

If you wanted to get into GTA with cheaper titles than GTA V, I would recommend Vice City or San Andreas over this any day. It's about the same price as Vice City or San Andreas, too.Read full review...

Verified purchase:  Yes | Condition: pre-owned | Sold by: bitshushka

Well...

This game looks WAY better than GTA games of the past. The motions, environments, lighting and everything are
significantly more realistic, including the outrageous blood and guts factor (gotta see it!!). However, the drawback
for ME is the somewhat sloppy and loose controls. The reaction time is a little slow also, but the part that is my
complaint is how loose the controls are. Seriously, too loose. I'll list the good & bad, and you can make up your own mind.

The Good:
Updated graphics
Realistic Gore (Crashes, Injuries, Accedents, Bloodshed etc.)
Realistic Characters (Motions, Voices, Reactions etc.)

The Bad:
Controls (Too Loose, Slow Reaction Time)
The Music (They decided to NOT pay for "real" music this time.)
Driving (It's too easy to spin out and/or crash which CAN kill you!!!)

The Ugly (but awesome):
The BLOOD!! Body parts fly, blood flows and splatters and the dead bodies will roll!!!

Basically, if you can get used to the controls, this game is awesome.

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Grand Theft Auto IV

I like the amazing connection this game has to what I recall as "real life" as a young adult. I am older but, I knew the streets and this nails it at insofar as New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles street attitudes.

Plus, it's just FUN. I believe it is a healthy attitude to get out destructive desires through games ( I am 57 !) and this is one of the best I know to do that.

I could live without the cell phone and I would like to have much more accessibility to entering stores and businesses through out this adventure.

I loved Duke Nukem, Doom and this brings a lot of that energy while being much more realistic in my fantasy.
Steal a car, shoot some idiot for blocking you or smarting off.
Basic real life we wish we could do but can't and don't.
Get that all here and FUN.
Enjoy
Andy in Maine
I rated it good but, in fact, it is excellent overall. Good because it could be so much more fun if I could duck into businesses, stores, houses along the way.
Don't leave the hospital.
Go back in and practice mayhem and destruction. Best way to learn to use the control pad, weapons and moves necessary out on the streets.: )Read full review...

Great New Addition to the GTA Series

This is a great new addition to the GTA Series. It has its pro's and Con's. It has great new features to where you can actually watch a television show in the game! How cool is that! All new way to meet girlfriends, via The Internet Cafe also. Has plenty of missions, and a great storyline. It also have improved shooting to where you can actually take cover and shoot from behind something.

What I didn't like about it, is how they took the gym thing out. In san andreas you could actually go to the gym and work out. You could get your character beefed up, this game doesn't have it. I wish they woulda kept the concept of your skills get better the more you use them. So they did leave out some really cool stuff, but added others. So I rated this a good! Its a BUY! Not a rentRead full review...

A Honest Review

When I bought my PS3, I did so soley for GTA IV, and who could blame me right? The extra graphics boost provided by the BluRay quality, and free online play to boot, right?

Well, I've got to say that while I deeply enjoy this game, I do have some aspects that I don't enjoy so much.

Lets start off with the good things, shall we? The first thing we see is that this is NOTHING like the Liberty City we saw back in GTA III - if I had to take a guess I'd say that most of the city had been blown up and rebuilt sometime between the two stories. It's such an amazingly open world, with no loading time as you enter buildings and none of that "cell lag" as when you start speeding down the freeway.

On a 1080p TV with the lights turned off and a good surround sound system, you really do feel like you're part of the game. The level of detail thrown into the sounds for this game go far beyond casual appreciation.

The cars and their collisions became a lot more life like. You're no longer superman on a motorcycle (and actually since playing this game my desire to purchase a motorcycle has dropped significantly, lol) and when you crash headfirst into a wall, there's good chance you're going through that windshield. Furthermore your car isn't exactly going to take being fully impacted by a semi with a grin on its face - if you damage the engine the car doesn't run. Small details like this add a huge element to realism to the game.

But then again there are things I don't really enjoy... In all of the other GTA games, the more... "sexual" aspects of the game were always optional - you didn't have to go and pick up a prostitute if you didn't want to, or visit a strip club, so on so forth.

But in GTA IV, several aspects of the sexual attitude of the game are simply unavoidable. From your cousin sending you pictures via your cell phone, to some steriod junky talking more vulgarly than all the other GTA games put together. The dialog in this game is so much more severe than in the other games, I actually find myself skipping some cut scenes - and I'm by no means sensitive to foul language. The ESRB really laxed their standards with this one, because I've seen other games get an "A for Adult" rating based soley on similar dialog.

I'm just fine and capable of overlooking some of the "missing features" of the game such as full character customization, manuverable forklift forks, being able to town things with the semi's and airport tug's, sub-aquatic swimming, and a large variety of aircraft (though I do have to admit that the jet from San Andreas would have been a nice carry-over), but what I can't over look is the complete lack of the military in this game.

In every other GTA game, including the side story games, military influence has been present. At a 6 Star Wanted level, I expect to have to steal a tank if I want to survive, but not only does the military never come in GTA IV, but there aren't even any tanks in the game.

So what is the thing that makes me rate this game "Good" despite it all? The holy grail of online gameplay - that's what. With GTA IV and the Playstation Network, you get an online experience like no other. With death matches, team games, and races (even death races) you've got a lot to do - but then they throw even more at you with the introduction of coperative play missions and the introduction to an amazing Free Mode, where you're free to do anything and everything you want.

It's definatly worth getting.Read full review...

Grand Theft Auto IV Special Edition

Having been one of the most hyped games in quite some time, I decided I would buy the Special Edition because I thought maybe it would offer me something different from just the game itself. I will tell you this about the Special Edition. DO NOT get it unless you want to own this cheaply made lock box with a small GTA IV case. If I had to do it over again, I would have simply bought the game. If you're a huge buff and like to own GTA gear, by all means buy the Special Edition. If you're just interested in the game, only buy the game, not the Special Edition. Now onto my review of the game itself, both the good AND the bad. The good parts of the game that you will notice right away is that the graphics have been upgraded to the point where it looks down right real. People walking around and characters still aren't perfect but buildings and cars look great. The amount of detail the designers put into everything makes you feel like you smash and shoot everything in sight and for the most part you can. The voice acting is great but at some points I wish I would have put subtitles on so I could hear them through their thick accent. I was listening for the mission a few times and at the end of a conversation I was thinking "Did he just use a cuss word or did he tell me to get into the car?" I guess it adds to the realism because I can't understand foreigners half the time in real life either. I could go on and on about how many different cars and things their are to do but I will be fair in my opinion and tell you the things I did NOT like about GTA. First off, where is my fun little mini-gun? Or some other cool device to kill people? GTA came up short in the weapons department and it was down right dissappointing. You get like 8 weapons and thats about it. No heat seeking missles or anything...although you get a rocket launcher thank goodness. Also, what happend to the challenge? In past GTA I had to use cheat codes just to beat it! In this version cheats are a no-no because if you use them, you can't even complete your quest. Weird part is YOU DON'T EVEN NEED CHEAT CODES! This game is fairly easy and it's really easy to avoid police if you need to (I commend GTA for being realistic in the police aspect though). Once you're done with the game there really isn't too much to do either. I beat this game in less than a week and now what do I do? Yes there are a few things to do here and there but once you've beat it the first time, there really isn't much left to do. It sounds like I hate this game but I really don't hate it...I just wished that they put as much detail into actual gameplay as they did into graphics and characters. I want more missions and things to do and once I am done with those, I want more smaller missions and little things to do here and there AND then I want to use a chainsaw or some other devious device which GTA IV doesn't give me. Overall this is a great game but unless you want to own it for the sake of owning it, just go and rent it...and don't get the Special Edition for like 40 bucks more than the regular game costs.Read full review...

GTA IV can be a drag

I have tried many of the GTA games and this one is just as exciting. This one starts in a dark area and getting around can make you dizzy. Weapons are not too easy to find in this one. As for the adventure and excitement, this has it all and worth the price. Unfortunately I have only played this game for a short time but will tell you more as I test it further. I'm hoping this one is similar to GTA Vice City as with different characters and unusual locations. It also reminds me of the GTA San Andreas because of the long roads and quick responding cops. It still ranks high in my book. My next game will be GTA V.Read full review...

Verified purchase:  Yes | Condition: pre-owned | Sold by: autopartaccess

Worth the purchase...but don't expect the world

Having been a fan of the GTA series I anxiously awaited the first next gen version of this series. Previous games in the series led me to believe that Rockstar games would not let me down with each game seeming to exceed impossibly high expectations. Unfortunatley, this trend ended with GTA4. Let me discuss some of the games shortcomings.
With this being the first next gen version of the series you might expect that there would be more of everything in the game. But in fact there is actually less and it sometimes seems much less. In GTA San Andreas there were literally a couple of hundred different types of vehicles of seemingly every type imaginable that you could drive/pilot. In GTA4 there are no airlplanes to fly, no bicycles to ride and no tanks to steal. There are also no jet packs or parachutes to enjoy. The variety in the modes of transportation available to your character have literally been cut in half and after playing previous game in the series this feels very restricting. What makes it worse is that unlike GTA San Andreas you are not able to customize vehicles either. If you have not played an open world game like this before you might still be very impreassed by the variety of vehicles provided by the game but if you are a fan of the series then expect to be disappointed.
There also seems to be less things to do in the city then there were in previous installments of the game. This, maybe more then anything else, is what has made the series great is the feeling that there is an endless amount of things to do to distract yourself while playing. In this game Rockstar kept the vigilante mode and also added a most wanted list that is accesible while in police vehicles. Taxicab driver also makes a return although it is only playable during portions of the game. However the ambulance and fireman missions are nowhere to be found. There is a new focus in this game on socially interacting with other characters in the game and new activities are introduced such as drinking, bowling and darts. For some strange reason though, Rockstar cut dancing out of the game! Dancing was an underdeveloped activity in San Andreas (there were only 2 songs) but it was fun and was in many ways very similar in concept and function to the many music games that have become so popular in the industry. For a game that already has an unprecedented soundtrack it seems like Rockstar dropped the ball in neglecting to expand on this aspect of the game. Who would rather take their girlfriend to play darts or pool over dancing anyway? In many ways this demonstrates a trend in the game where you have more options that are not interactive (stripclubs,theater, TV, comedy clubs) then those that are (dancing, video games, sports, shooting ranges etc).
This is not all that is wrong with the game. Lack of creativity in the missions, m.i.a celebrity voice cast, no musical score to support the cut scenes, reduction of humor all seem to leave the game feeling short of expectations. Don't get me wrong...compared to the sea of mediocre titles out there on the market, GTA4 is a very strong title that comes with a lengthy story, quality graphics, great voiceacting, huge soundtrack, online multiplayer and an enourmous beautifully designed world. Still...with the exception of the new multiplayer all of these things are a given for this series and the game definitly left me wanting much more, and I don't mean that in a good way.Read full review...

Rockstar you guys rule keep it going !!

GTAIV is definitely one of the most hyped titles….ever. Even if you don't play games, you've most likely heard of it somewhere, probably from kids who play it at school, coworkers, CNN, radio, or even on a delinquent kid's permanent record. Let's agree, it's everywhere! However, the main question: Does this game live up to all the hype it's getting?

GTAIV takes place in… yup… you've guessed it. Liberty City. After seeing that exact same city in FOUR of Rockstar's games already, it makes you wonder why Rockstar hasn't thought to innovate instead of boring the same audience with a next gen rehash of the same game at the same location. Fact is- they haven't. They've promised us many things about this new gen, but besides the upgraded graphics and animations, I just fail to see what new things GTAIV brings to the table as opposed to the last generation of gaming.

Graphics (7/10)

I definitely give Liberty City some credit here – the city is relatively large. Buildings are huge, highways are rather complex, and there is a lot more detail here. Despite how massively flawed it is, the city is huge, and you'll just marvel at how big it is. I'd say that Liberty City has doubled in
size in comparison to the last GTA3. But however, this ‘marveling' will be short lived, especially when glaring flaws soon hit you right in the middle of gameplay:

Frames per second – For those who get queasy from some games that run at a choppy frame rate, well, this'll make a really great vomit inducer. The framerate is inconsistent with frequent drops throughout that the inconsistency has become consistent itself. Some games have problems with the frame rate being awful when a lot of action is on screen. Well, the frame rate will drop anytime, even if you're running through the park. Of course, I'll have to take into account the big city and the pedestrians being a factor, but seriously, the last thing I need is a bunch of framerate drops with cops and crooks on my tail.

Visual quality – Apart from Skyscrapers and overlapping highways, the visual quality doesn't even pass up to be decent. Looking afar ahead of you, everything is incredibly blurry. Seriously, I'm not exaggerating or even kidding, it is incredibly blurry, and this may just ruin the whole atmosphere for some people. And for those queasy people that I mentioned, this'll be another great reason to have a bucket next to you when you play. When driving, looking into the blurry and jaggy distance will almost guarantee a headache. You'll probably say one word when looking at this: Ew. Up close, things do look better, however jaggy they may be.

Pop in – This is definitely a problem here. It really does get bad. People, cars, buildings, trash cans, mailboxes, lampposts, and signs all pop in at times. Usually, it's far away, but often times, it's fairly close and you'll sometimes bump into things you don't see, causing the police to go into alert. This gets a lot worse when you're driving fast. There was a mission where I was chasing someone on a motorcycle at blazing fast speed, the road became completely blank, and 3 seconds later, textures and objects just popped up. The thing is, Rockstar tried to go for realism in GTAIV, however, they must realize that pop ins like this do lose that sense of realism and immersion.

The physics engine has improved a whole lot here. Shooting people while they're running will make them trip and fall. It's quite funny to shoot someone on foot just to seeRead full review...

Cars, Firefights Abundant in GTA IV

This game is a load of fun. The first thing that you notice is the realism the game brings about life, and the little details that make the game so awesome. For example, when the player enters a car there is over a dozen and a half radio stations all with unique programming that usually lasts a while before you here it repeating. Liberty City is a realistic city mocking New York while you do missions in it for mob bosses, homies, and important people. There is a ton of shooting in this game, but it's not as bloody as you think. Most missions involve either a duel with many armed men or a getaway from the cops, or both. This can make the game hard but still challenging and entertaining. The cutscenes that introduce missions are made well and the dialogue is interesting. I dislike that the missions are somewhat repetitive, but there is a ton to like about this game. The Subway system is very effective as the moderate traffic on the streets can get quite annoying when in a hurry. There are plenty of things to do around and you and your friends in the game can go enjoy some of these activities. I also like that you can do whatever you want, although you will need to do the missions to unlock the other islands and finish the game. I dislike how many cops there are as they are seemingly everywhere and annoyingly always on your tail. Overall, though, this game is pretty cool.Read full review...