Post your first impressions!

Tyguy

Tyguy

Space Core
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Let's hear it. Let's hear you gloat with your copy of GTA IV and think how much cooler you think you are.

Actually, I just wanna here your overall opinion of the game and any funny stories you may have...
 
Just started playing, taking a break now while the girlfriend tries it. So far I've done the first 6-7 missions or so, gone on a date, gone to a cabaret and generally ****ed around a bit. Also played a quick bit of multiplayer, but not really enough to form a good impression. The system kept booting me with random disconnect errors when I tried to join a game too... not so cool.

Anyway, it's... great. All the gameplay stuff is just as good as you've heard in reviews and stuff. Controls definitely take some getting used to, especially cars, but they're a hell of a lot more satisfying than previous GTAs when you pull it off. The physics are ****ing awesome. Shooting is pretty much Gears of War lite, haven't really run into any problems with it and the aiming seems intuitive enough.

The one thing I can't gush enough about is the detail, it really doesn't hit you until you're actually playing the game, but even in the first little neighbourhood there's so many intricacies than make the world unbelievably rich. It might even strike you as a little mundane or ordinary at first, but rock into another neighbourhood and you'll notice the difference immediately. It's the little things, from the layout, to the houses, to the way the streets are paved. It's absolutely insane that they could include so many little touches on such a large scale. Also, the cutscenes really are like watching a movie sometimes, I'm loving the dialogue. Niko's such a smart arse. :D

Edit - Oh, and about the graphics. I've been taking it easy so far, not really speeding around or anything until I'm used to it, but I haven't noticed a single bit of pop-in (I'm playing on 360), and the load times are very reasonable. The frame rate has been consistent as well, but I haven't started making things go boom yet. The only minor complaint is that the filter they've used can be a little distracting at first, takes your eyes a little while to get used to it, but once you've been playing for a bit you won't notice it any more.

Driving the streets at night and in the rain is so goddamn beautiful. :O
 
SHOVE YOUR GIRLFRIEND ASIDE AND PLAY SOME MORE!
 
29-04-2008 06:04 Cleveland Depot Out for delivery
29-04-2008 05:57 Cleveland Depot Arrived at delivery depot
28-04-2008 22:50 National Hub Sorted in hub
Click to expand...

OMG. I can't wait to get back home tonight! :D
 
Hey Bad^Hat.

Is the game region locked for multiplayer like you feared?

I saw you online and I was wondering if you were playing with the other guys.
 
You guys have to play multiplayer tomorrow. You have to.
 
30 minutes before I venture out for my copy.... hopefully. D:

EDIT: :D
 
Yea it's sweet and MP was fun (nobody was on though since everyone wanted to do SP).

One time though I was a cop and really ****ed up driving by saying "Oh look, there's stairs I'll drive my car up them!" and hit the railing then GG for that round since I had 3 others and crooks got away lol
 
Mail's been and gone for me and it's not arrived :frown:. I'm trying to console myself with San Andreas but it's not really helping...Anyone got their copy from gameplay.co.uk?
 
I get to play it when I return from College at 5pm. :D
 
Like Bad^Hat said: the detail is amazing. I was reading this thread, the game was idle right next to me after a bunch of cops shot me and I ended up at the hospital (I slit some girl's throat, what can I say?) and suddenly, I hear something vibrating, thinking it was my *real* phone (which is always on vibrate mode) but instead I see it's my controller (you can change the ring mode of your phone to vibrate) because Roman just called me for a game of darts.

Summary of my first impression: fucking awesome. I never was a big fan of the previous GTA games, but this is something else alright.

PS: I got a hold of a gun somehow (no clue how, I jacked a cab and got a gun*) and I shot at a one cop and before I knew it, I had 6 stars. Now I know the wanted system is completely different, but I got choppers sent after my ass, as well as FBI with assault rifles. Is this because it's still early in the game and I shouldn't be doing this, or is the game always this harsh?

* Amazing btw how when you jack a car, sometimes the guy tries to hang on to it and you gotta shake him off, which looks amazing.
 
Been playing for about an hour, everything so far has been amazing. Just got my first gun, and the firefights are so fun. Its very refreshing to actually look forward to combat in a GTA game!

Most awesome moment so far: Going to the strip club with Roman, but accidentally knocking down a stripper, thus having to knife my way out of the club through some very pissed off bouncers. Eventually escaping on some insane chopper motorbike we stole outside.

Oh and getting drunk is so fun :D
 
i've been playing it for 14 hours straight with a mate, and our opinion is unanimous; this is the greatest ****ing GTA ever, the greatest next-gen game so far, and a strong contender for the best game ever.

the city is alive, it's almost way too big, the characters are alive, the action is great, the story is extremely well-written, imagine the best physics you've ever seen in a game and GTAIV's physics kick the shit out of that. there's a gargantuan amount of dialogue ****ing everywhere

i got the one man army achievement by stealing a chopper and travelling into the third island. 50g's piece of cake! it's almost scary how huge it is when you're travelling it in the air or with a boat. vladivostok FM ftw by the way!

i've also tried some online play, it's pretty cool but the people playing now are idiots, lol. cops and crooks is noice!
 
First impressions: environment, people, characters, story - all excellent.

Gameplay - not good.

Yes yes, it's a GTA game, but I'm having a hard time with the fist fighting and the driving. Finding evading a 2 star wanted level far too difficult. Cars don't seem to corner at all. I need more practice at this obviously, but jesus christ drivings hard.

Fist fighting will get better too I suppose. I'm off to play a bit more and try and settle.
 
Got mine at midnight :D

I have to say I don't find it as great as the reviews made it out to be,

I like the story and characters and the combat is a lot better but I still find it not a whole lot different then the other GTA games.

The city is a lot more active/alive and stuff but I find at the games core, it's still the same as all the other ones.

I haven't gotten to play online yet, I'm sure that will be fun once all my friends get there xbox's back from microsoft.

I also hate the ways cars handle, it's so hard to make turns while going fast!
 
Cormeh said:
First impressions: environment, people, characters, story - all excellent.

Gameplay - not good.

Yes yes, it's a GTA game, but I'm having a hard time with the fist fighting and the driving. Finding evading a 2 star wanted level far too difficult.
Click to expand...

fist fighting is all about timing; dodge the other guys punch, then b+y for punch combo, then x for a kick in the nuts. during a mission where stealth really helped, i decked a guy holding a gun without him managing to fire off a single shot by doing that sort of combo.

I think the cops are much easier to evade at the 1+2 stars.. switch cars, run into alleyways etc. or just drive away. at 3-4 it's close to impossible.. at 6 you're a dead man as soon as you're on surface level.

Cars don't seem to corner at all. I need more practice at this obviously, but jesus christ drivings hard.
Click to expand...

i love the driving, it's pretty ****ing realistic, very fluid. gets much easier with practice btw.. let loose of the gas when you break to turn. also, steal a cab, they've got great handling.

By the way, little jacob is the greatest dude ever! Can't understand a single word of that rastafari lingo.. and does he go anywhere without a joint?
 
Just finished a few fights without a scratch, so getting dodging down pretty quick. Driving terrible though. I'm driving as I would normally, off the gas on the brake etc but the police are still wasting me every time. They're ****ing ruthless.

Game just froze on me though. :/
 
I was up last night till 3:20 am ...working ;(

no time for gta, not till the weekend at the least

I do find all of your stories entertaining, keep the impressions coming
 
I probably wasn't as blown away as I thought I'd be, but I can only blame myself considering I watched a shitload of gameplay videos beforehand. Now I've done about 10 or so missions and I'm used to all the controls - I've gotta say, it's ****ing awesome. :D Even these early missions I've done have all been fantastic, and the more time I spend playing the game the more I realise how ridiculously detailed it is. I didn't really have any trouble with the driving, it feels great to me, although it's clear to me that some cars are a lot more difficult than others.

Also, the first time I tried out the cabs, sitting in the back seat on a rainy night with that Aphex Twin song playing on the radio was pure win.

My only gripe so far is that I swear the game looks better on my old 26" SDTV than it does on my 19" monitor at 720p. On the LCD it just looks like a PC game with a serious lack of anti-aliasing. I suppose the paint-brush filter thing is just that more noticeable on my monitor. Either way, I'm gonna try it out on the proper TV downstairs at 1080p soon. :D
 
Aww...I will get in as long time later as in August, ****ing PS3 sucks because it costs too much and I'm waiting for the PS2 compatible version, in Europe we only have the shitty 40 Gb version of it.

And Xbox... Well the bluray is missing from it and most of my friends have gotten the RROD so big NO to it.
 
I've got a physics lecture to sit through before I can get it :(.

You guys can't blame Americans for making extremely violent but awesome video games :D/
 
British people too. ;)
 
Cormeh said:
First impressions: environment, people, characters, story - all excellent.

Gameplay - not good.

Yes yes, it's a GTA game, but I'm having a hard time with the fist fighting and the driving. Finding evading a 2 star wanted level far too difficult. Cars don't seem to corner at all. I need more practice at this obviously, but jesus christ drivings hard.

Fist fighting will get better too I suppose. I'm off to play a bit more and try and settle.
Click to expand...

I actually don't think evading the cops is that bad. I got the "Lose a 4 star wanted level" achievement yesterday on my first try... It's all about finding those straight-aways, bridges, and all places to hide from the choppers and cars.

Also, use the strategy of stoppping for a second or two so they get out of their cars, then book it out of there.

Also, I was so happy when I saw the good ol' Banshee! Brought back so many memories.
 
Got it this morning from Sainsburies, then sat through a 5 hour art exam with it on my mind all day. Finally home now, just got back from my first date, got some new clothes and have succesfully won a game of Cops n Crooks and lost horrendously at a race.

The combat feels sublime, which is where I excelled at in Crooks, but the driving... eh, it's going to take some getting use to. It's fantastic, don't get me wrong, but I need to get use to it. At the moment theres a lot of heavy braking and smashing into lamp-post action happening.

Really ****ing good, though.

EDIT: I just replayed a mission and it's awesome to hear a different dialogue from the guy in my car this time around. Cooooool.
 
Ha! Two dates and shagged the first girlfriend. Easy!

Trading in oddjobs for Roman with sharking for Vlad. Oh, and Little Jacob is hilarious. Having fun now. Going to try multiplayer in a wee bit.
 
Little Jacob needs subtitles. Still funny though.

Just went into free roam and got myself a helicopter... my god the city is beautiful.
 
Where the hell is the heli anyway?

I swear I scanned the airport for ages and found nothing..
 
Theres a heli right by the spawn point on free roam, but the one at the airport is... uhh, kinda hard to explain really, I can't call out many locations because I'm only a few hours in.

By the way, can you change free roam spawn spots? It kinda sucks having to spawn back across the map if you're just playing some friendly deathmatch games.
 
I just played it for fours hour straight and I'm impressed. I like the little features like being able to call emergency services, change the brightness of the headlamps, jump across buildings, pick up small objects to use in combat, hotwire cars, walk into people to have them yell at you, etc, etc. There are more, I know, but they are so subtle that I can't remember any more. :P

I'll most likely try out multiplayer tomorrow. :D
 
Framerate is about as awful as I expected, not SA bad but worse than VC and GTA3.

Story is good, quite interesting while keeping you hooked. Better than the previous games.

Multiplayer is awesome, had a two round team deathmatch with 3 guys from my friends list. Really cool when you're driving around while the other one is taking care of the shooting, or vice versa. The shootouts reminds me a lot of Heat, especially when you're exchanging gunfire from an intersection while cars get riddled with bullets all over the place.
 
I haz no moneys so I could only rent it. But the person there gave to me and let me keep the Librety City map and she gave me eight of those 1 month free Xbox live gold things. I doubt I can use one after the other but still. She was just going to throw'em out anyway.

But on to what I think of the game. Who does Rockstar think they are? Were do they get off making a bad game like this huh? As you can tell by now I am using sarcasm and have nothing but awesome fellings for this peice of art.
 
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