Now that Grand Theft Auto IV is finally ready to stand up to the cold, hard gaze of the world's army of eager videogame critics, the reviews are flooding in. Has all the hard work of Rockstar's army of developers, artists and writers been in vain? Can Grand Theft Auto IV really live up to the hype? How will the critics score this long-awaited epic?
No, yes, and very highly indeed are the answers, in that order. To a man, the critics are all overjoyed with the latest in the Grand Theft Auto series. Picking common themes out of the reviews is easy: the game's writing sparkles, the story is superb, the graphics are the best in their class, and new hero Niko is just the kind of guy you'd like to go for a beer with. (Except for, you know, all the brutality, drug-running, and drunk-driving, of course.)
First out of the gate was IGN's review, written by Hilary Goldstein. Goldstein calls the GTA IV "the best game since Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time," and goes on to heap praise on Nico's characterization, the realism of Liberty City, the dialog, the multiplayer, and - well, everything, really. He also tips the PS3 version as the better-looking of the two, offering less scenery pop-up and smoother graphics overall. And the score? A perfect 10.
Gamespy's Will Tuttle characterizes the game as a commentary on the nature of the American Dream, and sets it on a par with crime epics from directors like Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola. He loved the lifelike Liberty City, calling it "the most important supporting character in the game," and paints a picture of wandering the streets for hours just watching life going on.
Tuttle also picks the PS3's version over the 360, although he's not impressed with the PS3's "forced" motion-sensitive controls. He notes the close-up combat still isn't quite right, and dings it for a few graphical issues, but all the same, rolls out the little-used five-star rating.
EGM's Crispin Boyer loves Liberty City, too, calling it "the most vibrant, dynamic, and entertainment-packed playground in console videogame history." He's also impressed with the way the game integrates its side missions with the city's mechanics, saying "Even things like stealing high-end cars and joining races happen through logical routes like e-mail and calls to the right people."
He's a little less impressed with the "squirrely" driving controls and the "tricky" gunplay, and wishes for checkpoints during longer missions - but again, his quibbles aren't enough to prevent him from brushing off EGM's highest accolade, an A+.
On the other side of the pond, British site Eurogamer had Tom Bramwell cast his experienced eyes over Grand Theft Auto IV, and like everyone else, he loved it. Bramwell picks out the game's gag-packed "fake internet" for particular praise, and also enjoyed the boss battles, saying Rockstar "manages more drama, and interactive drama, in these significant showdowns, rather than resorting to bosses with large health bars." Overall? "Almost everything you do in Liberty City would be good enough to drive its own game," he says, and awards it a seldom-seen 10/10.
Away from the specialist publications, Empire Online's review also sees the game racking up a 5-star write-up. Reviewer David McComb calls the game "damn-near perfect," citing its "rewarding" combat, "spot on" presentation, and "more streamlined" gameplay. McComb says it's "virtually guaranteed to be 2008's biggest videogame," and we're sure he's right.
Noticing a common thread through these scores? Uh, yeah, so are we. In fact, at the time of writing, not a single major site had awarded GTA IV anything less than their maximum possible score. That's not quite unprecedented, but it's pretty damn close, and it's certainly the first time a non-Nintendo game has ever done this well. It's been many years since a game had critics so uniformly worked up.
Source [Yahoo]
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