GTA IV

Re: GTA IV

Yup,
pretty sure this is going to keep us busy for years to come

Also, the online multiplayer should be an absolute blast!

Re: GTA IV

Yep.
I got mine pre-ordered for PS3 and half paid for already.
I won't be able to pay the rest off until Friday.

But I also bought a bluetooth headset just for this game.

I'm a fan of San Andreas too.

I think it's cool you have a cell phone in the game and you can answer it using your bluetooth headset

Re: GTA IV

Fantastic review!

I bought my very first gaming system, the xBox 360,
simply due to hearing about this game on the Opie and Anthony Show.

I'm looking forward to receiving the game. Ordered it through
Amazon with one-day shipping, so I am unsure if I'll get it on
release day or not.

Look forward to talking this game up with all of you.

JohnS,

What bluetooth headset did you end up purchasing?

Re: GTA IV

My copy for the Xbox 360 shipped on Friday; should be here by this afternoon. Can. Not. ****ing. Wait.

Yeah, it's amazing that IGN handed GTA IV a perfect "10" score -- the last game to earn that particular rating there was Soul Calibur back in 1999, and Ocarina of Time the year before that. Sounds like GTA's in very good company, here.

For me, the 360 version wins hands-down, due to the exclusive downloadable content and the whole Xbox Live experience -- though I'm probably gonna just take a week or so to soak all of Liberty City in, get to know it a little bit better, before I start taking down bitches in "Cops-'N-Crooks" over Live.

Re: GTA IV

Amazon just notified me that my copy shipped today and I
will have it tomorrow on release day.

Josh, it sounds like you found a great supplier that
can get things to you prior to street date.

Re: GTA IV

Ron,

I got the Motorola H350

which has worked great.

Re: GTA IV

Actually, mine was Amazon, too, but I'd pre-ordered my copy a few months ago (though it seems like everyone's getting theirs on or around Zero Hour, pretty much).

Re: GTA IV

Mine should arrive from Amazon tomorrow as well. I just finished watching two hours of live play for GTA4 over on gamespot.com and am psyched to try it out. It looks like a lot of fun. As a native New Yawker I can say that Liberty City is similar, not identical to NYC (probably to avoid lawsuits). The guys at gamespot spent quite a while trying to find Madison Square Garden over on 8th Avenue near 33rd street to no avail. I'll check it out when it arrives as I get my feet wet.

And, of course, Super Mario Kart for the Wii arrives tomorrow from Amazon as well. So many things to do, so little time.

Re: GTA IV

I got the xBox Elite package from Amazon which had
an included wired headset that plugged into the controller.

Thought it would be of "cheap" quality but I used it in a ONLINE
LIVE game of Call of Duty 4 yesterday with friends and the
headset worked great.

Not sure what the advantages of a wireless bluetooth headset
would be for me at this point.

Re: GTA IV

Mine should be coming from Amazon today or tomorrow.

I'm really looking forward to this (I have PS3), but as with GTA3, Vice City, and San Andreas, I'll only be able to successfully complete eight or nine missions before my complete lack of coordination takes over and I spend the rest of my "career" enjoying the sights and shooting gang members like a crazed vigilante. By that time, one of my friends will have successfully completed the game and will give me a save game file so I can explore the rest of the game world.

Re: GTA IV

It'd be absolutely useless as you can't use bluetooth headsets with the 360, just the PS3. There are wireless headsets for the 360, but not bluetooth per se.

Re: GTA IV

So, first day with GT4 and I am kind of bored.

This is not to say the game isn't good --- it's just that being
new to this I need to really learn how to play.

So far, after getting off the boat I take the car and arrive at
the apartment, walk around and exit, finding myself on the
street with a mission to find Ricky Ricardo (or whatever the
name is).

That's where I am totally lost. So I spent a few hours hijacking
cars and driving around. Problem is, driving is not an easy thing
and I always get cornered by the cops.

I also noticed you can't get through the bridges and the train at
the Coney Island stop doesn't go anywhere since it's the final exit.

I realize I am only scratching the surface on this game, and to
be honest, I have been getting addicted to online COD4 so
I am constantly switching games out.

Maybe a little advice on what to do next would help me further
my enjoyment of this game.

Re: GTA IV

I just started playing last night. I really dug the credit sequence, with the title cards plastered on the sides of buildings (similar to "Panic Room"). I was initially just going to steal a few cars and drive around to get a feel for the controls and the environment before attempting any missions, but the first car I tried to "jack" was full of Russian mobsters who beat me mercilessly before a cop showed up and actually started shooting me.

The game looks absolutely stunning, yet somehow I think the cars should look even better than they do. There are a LOT of cutscenes, but they are great for the most part, but if you're the A.D.D. type, they might detract a little from your experience. The city itself seems much more "alive" than previous versions.

The cars handle a bit differently from previous GTAs, and I don't just mean the control layout. The various vehicles all seem to have a different feel, and it just seems more realistic. There are a lot more radio stations this time around, and I've already heard some stuff that had me doubled over with laughter (Jim Norton voicing some guy in a Judge Judy situation complaining about a dog in a Santa hat).

Politicians are already in an uproar (I thought to myself "Oh, Man, they're gonna have a FIELD DAY with this one from the very first scene after Niko arrives at his cousin's place...you'll know it when you see it). NY mayor Mike Bloomberg has already publicly condemned the game and its "detrimental effect on our children." Of course, he has a slightly better reason to be more outspoken than others: let's face it, Liberty City IS New York City.

Re: GTA IV

I heard Anthony Cumia (Opie and Anthony) singing a beer ad!

I also hear that he's in a truck yelling "I don't understand why
they took us off the air!"

Re: GTA IV

I stopped by Best Buy and picked up the game after work. Went home, ate some supper, and then put the game in my 360. As the opening sequence was running, my 360 froze up. No big deal, I thought, I'll just restart and try it again. I turned it off and then turned it back on again and got the dreaded Red Ring of Death. So, long story short, after spending a half hour on the phone with Microsoft, I'm sending my 360 out to get it repaired and won't have it back for 2-3 weeks. At least I have Iron Man and a trip to Wrigley Field to look forward to while I'm waiting.

Re: GTA IV

Ron, are you lost in the sense that you don't know where to find the guy? I've only played through a couple missions so far, but I thought it usually shows you where to go using the GPS, or at the very least, there should be an indicator on your map showing you where you need to go.

Haven't really played the game enough to have much of an impression on gameplay. Cars definitely take some getting used to (you can't really drive at breakneck speeds and expect to not crash), and the graphics seem kind of blurry (I expect this is to keep framerates up?), so they're not quite as good as I was expecting. I like the fact that there is soooo much you can do that is not related to the central storyline though, such as watching TV, trying out the minigames, and a pile of other things I probably haven't even discovered yet.

Re: GTA IV

I started playing last night.....I basically just got to the apartment as I didn't want to start the missions right away. I turned on the TV in said apartment and flipped through the channels....nice addition. After a couple of minutes of that, I promptly stole a car (the owner tried to open the door and ended up being dragged for a couple of blocks - insert sadistic laugh here ). Basically, I spent an hour causing all sorts of vehicular mayhem to get a feel for the game- can't wait to pick up a weapon.......geez, that just sounds so wrong!

If there is anything to complain about from me so far, it's the music selection on the radio......what's with all the hip-hop? I mean, it was prevalent on previous games....but it's like almost every station is dance/hip-hop/urban. Show a little more love to the rock stations, Rockstar.

Re: GTA IV

I would suggest to start doing some missions. The early missions are basically tutorials of how the game works. A few of the missions I have played through so far teach you about using the cell phone, wanted levels and evading the police and hand to hand combat. Look for letters on the map circle as they indicate available missions, for example "R" for Roman.

A couple of quirks I noticed so far (PS3). When I started the game, none of the game buttons on the controller worked, the only thing that did anything was the PS button. Something heavy fell on my controller the other day so I assumed it was broken. I went out again and bought a new one for $55 and came back and had the same problem. On a last ditch effort, I manually reassinged the controller to position 1 and then it started working. I guess at least now I have a second controller and a dual shock on at that, even though I really didn't want to spend the money.

Even though the game is capable of 1080p, it only outputs 720p by default. However, there is no in game way of changing the resoultion. You have to actually go into the PS3 video setup and deselect all your television's resolution capabilities except 1080p if you want the game to run that way. I couldn't believe that. I hope Rockstar will provide a fix that will let you select the resolution in game.

I hear alot of people with launch 60gb version PS3s are experiencing lockups. I have a 60gb but have not had any issues so far.

I'm enjoying playing so far, but I've only done a couple of missions and went out on a date with Michelle (and got destroyed by her in bowling) If you are used to playing the previous games the controls take some getting used to as well as driving. Seems like it's pretty much no holds barred regarding the language. Lots of "F" bombs. I think maybe the previous games avoided that for the most part, but I don't recall 100%


I know they also played a clip on O&A of a guy talking to another guy saying "I can't believe they took Gregg and Tony off the air"

Re: GTA IV

I'm BUMMED there's no heavy metal station this time around.


She blew me out of the water at bowling, and her score sucked to begin with. It took me 20 minutes just to "find a lane," and another 20 minutes just to figure out how to roll the damn ball. But at least I'm dating...

I also dig how the game automatically saves your progress after completing a mission, so I no longer have to schlep back to the apartment to save the game.

Re: GTA IV

That is a BIG selling point for me. That did get annoying.

And is there a mission replay function as reported? How does that work?

Re: GTA IV

Supposedly, once you fail a mission, you can just go back to the beginning of the failed mission instead of starting from your last save. I haven't seen that happen because I have yet to fail any missions. This is not boasting in any way, as I said in an earlier post, my complete lack of coordination with these types of games should bring me to a standstill any minute now...

Re: GTA IV

When you fail a mission a text message will pop up on your cell phone and and that will ask you if you want to replay on not.

Or do you mean just the ability to go back and replay any completed mission whenever you please? If so, I don't know about that, but maybe it is available when you complete the storyline of the game.

Re: GTA IV

Hey Mike Bloomberg,

You got anything to say about parents letting their kids watch R-rated movies?

Putz.

Re: GTA IV

Surely there have been movies that have depicted NYC as bastion of crime and corruption

Also, these GTA games have been around for, a guess, over a decade now. Last time I checked, society had not collapsed

Re: GTA IV

I bet I could think of one or two.

Or THREE HUNDRED!!!!!

Re: GTA IV

The driving in this game is extremely difficult compared to the last 3 GTA games. It's a shame they didn't keep the driving(arcade style) physics of the older games. My best advice to you: The more expensive the cars look the better they usually handle. If your cornering at high speed, let up on the accelerator a little, and use the handbrake.

Re: GTA IV

THIS GAME ROCKS!!!