2008 Woodie Awards
Grand Theft Auto 4 exceeds expectations
By: Thomas Bumpers
Issue date: 5/7/08 Section: Campus Life
After years of development, controversy, and delays, the granddaddy of all enjoyable vices has returned. April 29 at midnight, stores worldwide opened their doors for a few extra hours for the release of 'Grand Theft Auto IV' by Rockstar Games for the Xbox 360 and the Playstation 3. This review will be covering the Xbox 360 version.
To say it simply before going off into full detail, this game is nothing short of eating a cake that is flavored with awesome with a cup of WIN to wash it all down.
The story follows Nikolai "Niko" Bellic, an Eastern European immigrant who arrives in the fictional American metropolis of Liberty City after getting the promise a new life from his BSing cousin, Roman. Once he realizes that his cousin's words are nothing but lies, Nikolai is soon thrown down into the underbelly of the city; ferrying arms dealers to their scores, extorting money from business owners, and killing all those whom he's ordered to take out for a cash reward. In short it's all around classical storytelling from the staff at Rockstar Games.
Amusingly enough the game takes snippets of today's social issues (such as immigration, homosexual and transgender rights, and the explosion of the making, selling, and usage of crystal meth) and lampoons them greatly. Following the tradition of the previous games, the graphical representation has been raised to a higher degree. GTA 4 is able to be viewed in 720p, 1080i, and true hi-definition 1080p.
Gameplay is as open ended as it has always been. There are a slew of new additions which only serve to make the game more enjoyable to all who own a copy of the game. First off, the game supports online multiplayer death matches of up to 16 people and those can quickly become some of the most frenzied matches ever. If you're tired of bashing your opponents skull in with a baseball bat you can engage in online car races or opt to engage in a round of 4 player online co-op with a few strangers or friends. The way this feature is triggered is through the use of a cell phone option, which you receive as you play through the game, normally in order to connect with other players who happen to be online at the time. Voice chat is useable during online game play in addition to the use of leaderboards and extra content downloads which won't be ready for snatching until August this year.
To say it simply before going off into full detail, this game is nothing short of eating a cake that is flavored with awesome with a cup of WIN to wash it all down.
The story follows Nikolai "Niko" Bellic, an Eastern European immigrant who arrives in the fictional American metropolis of Liberty City after getting the promise a new life from his BSing cousin, Roman. Once he realizes that his cousin's words are nothing but lies, Nikolai is soon thrown down into the underbelly of the city; ferrying arms dealers to their scores, extorting money from business owners, and killing all those whom he's ordered to take out for a cash reward. In short it's all around classical storytelling from the staff at Rockstar Games.
Amusingly enough the game takes snippets of today's social issues (such as immigration, homosexual and transgender rights, and the explosion of the making, selling, and usage of crystal meth) and lampoons them greatly. Following the tradition of the previous games, the graphical representation has been raised to a higher degree. GTA 4 is able to be viewed in 720p, 1080i, and true hi-definition 1080p.
Gameplay is as open ended as it has always been. There are a slew of new additions which only serve to make the game more enjoyable to all who own a copy of the game. First off, the game supports online multiplayer death matches of up to 16 people and those can quickly become some of the most frenzied matches ever. If you're tired of bashing your opponents skull in with a baseball bat you can engage in online car races or opt to engage in a round of 4 player online co-op with a few strangers or friends. The way this feature is triggered is through the use of a cell phone option, which you receive as you play through the game, normally in order to connect with other players who happen to be online at the time. Voice chat is useable during online game play in addition to the use of leaderboards and extra content downloads which won't be ready for snatching until August this year.
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