Grand Theft Auto 4: The Critics Speak

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?

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.

[shadow_hearts]

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.

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.

haaa ha mega OWNAGE

XBUTTS

[iAmPS3]

XBOTS BUTTPWNED

LOL, it's over BOTS, over.

you will wait for GeOW 2 while we play the better GTAIV version, MGS4, LBP, Resistance 2, Killzone 2, Haze and much more....

It must be sad to be a XBOT

[599 US Dollars]

would it be HD?

and lmfao @ "tagging along." dumbass. PS3 version caused the delay. PS3 was tagging along.

owned.

[DTClown]

ya, it will be called GTA5!

[Sir Ken Kutaragi 1]

'PLAY-BEYOND...xBox 360's LIMITS!!!' ;-D

[chaosatom333]

I think they should have waited before letting their review out.

How did they judge the online portion of it.

They basically judge it on the amount of things they are going to do, but not the things they actually did.

[niall77]

its getting OLD and the game has only been out a day

[Game13a13y]

just imagine what could GTA 4 be without 360 tagging along...

[MicroDeath SoftStar]

too much gta makes jack a dull boy :P

[KidMakeshift]

They must love GTA's c0ck

I've been playing it and it has made no significant impact like playing Shadow of The Colossus for the first time. GTA4 just feels like GTA just like Halo 3 felt like Halo, but neither of them achieve the same experience as the first iterations

[jones smokey]

write now i aint reading no more gta review cuz i got it, ...... y read it when u can play it and i so love it , im supposedd to be in collage to day but i caled in sick, i hope my teachers are not into games and see my comment in this web site..lol, north london was crazzy yesterday, .. every one was looking for one copy because it was sold out , i was lucky to get one at the last second before argos closed, they were the only people to have a copy left, the 360 version was in stock but the ps3 were sold out, i got a ps3 so i found it hard to find a copy,....any way bye, i need to go play some more =O

[40cal]

Went to a friends house tonight and while they both look almost identical, my major concern is that the 360 version has some major glitches.

For example, on three sperate occasions the 360 version let me drive into cars that could not be seen until you hit them. WTF? I have not had this problem on my PS3. Also the draw distance pop up is a lot worse on the 360.

The last big difference that I have noticed is the 360 version lags (though just a little bit) when there is a lot of on screen action. It would also appear that the early reports that the PS3 version has more cars and pedestrians on screen at once where true.

I have only played both versions for about 6 hours. 4 on the PS3 and 2 on the 360.

Running both versions on 1080p LCDs, PS3 HDMI, 360 component.

[gEnKiE]

"PS3's "forced" motion-sensitive controls."

Ummm...what? Lats time I knew they weren't forced...

[KidMakeshift]

I think you have to turn them on

There's a sixaxis tutorial in the cellphones menu, which I haven't bothered with

[solidt12]

Sixaxis controls are optional. I took the tutorial and I like the Sixaxis controls for all vehicles except the helicopter. I couldn't get the hang of it. Anyway, I think this is the best GTA ever made. Keep in mind im about 10 hours into the game already and it just gets better and better. It did start out kind of slow but hey the game is like 30-40 hours long plus multi-player. I have to say that GTA IV is going to be the best game to own this year based on gameplay and content but we still have to see MGS4 in june.

[jones smokey]

anyone know were i can get cheats for gta4 on ps3, rember the type of cheats gta3 hard, plsssss rply to this comment, i so want to use cheats, there is no gta game that i played without using cheats, i think it is more un with the cheats u get.

[40cal]

you are right, sixaxis is not forced, yet dose kick ass for the motorcycles and boats.

[leon76]

I waited for my copy of GTA4 to post any comment, I read a lot of stupid dumbsh*t news yesterday, and I just have to make sure of that, so here it is:
- I have a 60g PS3, and after the installation, comes the intro cutscene and after that the gameplay, whith ANY FREEZING, in fact I played like 5-6 hours in a row, and no freeze, no glithch, no nothing, and connected to the net!!!! the truth is noone that I know have this problem!!!!!
- The graphics are AMAZING, just like IGN and other sites told to us, making well known that the PS3 is suporior of its x360 couterpart...I can't compare both, only have PS3 version, but one thing I'm certain... this games' graphics are one of the best in this gen, not the best, but hey it's a GTA game!!!!
- This is for sure the best GTA game ever, and one of the best games I ever played, don't undestand how some @sshole bash this game!!!! It's an intense experience of gameplay, tottaly funny, whit specatcular little details, just amazing!!!!!!!!!!!
- Wow I'm really lucky that this game is being a SPECTACULAR EXPERIENCE for me!!!!!!!!!!
- And these are the reasons that I think this stupid stories that are coming along are ALL COMPLETLY BULLSH*T!!!!!!The curious that the same happened whith games that were proved to be better in PS3 like DMC4, COD4, Burnout paradise, Assassin's creed, etc, all of them good experinces to me!!!!!!.... In fact I can't understand how news based on FORUNS, RUMOUR-BASED SITES and ANOTHER SH*TY SITES nonody knows could call them NEWS!!!!! I can enter a forun saying that I'm a owner of x360 and making up that i have 18000 freezing in my game and blablablablabla nad call support and blablabla!!!! It's funny how n4g is expert in posting news that a couple hours later are proven to be fake!!!! Ahahahahahahah!!!!
Bye bye n4g!!!!!