GTA IV: First Impressions
First off, I feel no need to go into details about the past GTA games or even the story of this one, a million other sites can provide that info, but I do wish to state for the record that I have very limited playing time with any of the other GTA games from this past generation (You could count the hours I’ve spent playing GTA3 or Vice City on one hand). I just wanted to jot down some of my initial impressions of the game after playing it for the past two nights. In total, I’ve clocked in about seven hours of game time, both in single and mulitplayer. So here goes, first the good news and then the bad:
Positive
1) The Fine Details
All the attention given to the little things really helps with the immersion of the game. Things like the radio stations and television networks, the conversations the pedestrians have on their cell phones, and all the fake brands made for the game (with accompanying logos) really make the city come alive.
2) The Cell Phone UI
Having the cell phone as the main UI for the player is a great device to keep the player in the game. This tactic keeps the player from exiting the game to fumble through menus and is smartly integrated with the games missions and storytelling.
Negative
1) Camera Issues
The camera system makes walking and driving around more difficult than it should be. You constantly have to fight with it to get the best view of the action. This especially holds true when you’re driving, where a left or right turn usually leads to a fender bender because you can’t see where you’re going.
2) Physics system
While the physics are great for the characters (getting hit, rolling around, etc), the vehicles feel sluggish and overly top heavy. It doesn’t take much speed to send any normal car skidding/flying out of control. They almost get it, but I think adding some more weight and tightening up the controls a bit would make them much better.
So far I’m having a lot of fun with the game. It’s makes for a great change of pace from the type of games I’ve been playing lately and I can all ready feel myself being sucked into it. Just writing about it makes me want to go play… and that’s a good thing.