GTA IV = A-? Something wicked this way comes...

[Rainemaida]

I haven't played GTA:IV, but I think the review wasn't as good as it could have been. The grade was fine, but the material in the review I think reflected poorly.

BTW, This has to be the most critical anyone on GR has ever been about a fucking review. It doesn't matter what it says or grades, you know you're going to go out and play it, and if YOU like it, then you know your'e going to buy it. Get your panties out of a bunch about the grade.

 

[malakian]

Good review Jesse. I found myself saying "yes I noticed that" a lot more in this one than any recent gr reviews, and in a game that's so wildly huge as GTAIV's proponents claim it is, i shouldn't have had a plethora of negative experiences in the first 5 hours of play.

My only problem with the review was that it wasn't a B+.

To be honest I'd noticed a distinct softening of GR's reviews lately, I'm glad this is a return to form. Gamer's know it's going to be fun - what we don't know before we play is the problems, and it's good to have a review out there that finally explores them rather than furiously sexing the disc hole for 5 pages.

 

[Joe_Dodson]

This isn't even close to a Zelda-level-event. Has anyone even posted in all caps yet?

Also, in response to the suggestion that this review reflects a desire on GR's part to be harder than the rest:

Duke is totally hands-off. If Jesse had written some psycho ass greek diatribe about physics, nailguns, and secular symbolism, then titled it GTA 4, Duke probably would have published it, if it were honest and kinda funny. No one told Jesse what kind of review to write; this was 100% his honest opinion.

 

[jc00l]

i thought it was a great review infact i thought it was generous and in that i thought GR was gonna give it a B+. that game is amazing and fun and if you love it so much why are you starting flame wars on the internet when you could be playing it.

 

[Eyebrowsbv31]

B+ review with a A- score. Felt a little rushed from a writers perspective.

However, for the good points of GTAIV go read one of the other reviews. I have a feeling the gamespots and IGN reviewers of the world played it for less than a day if that.

 

[BuryMe]

This is the very reason GR is the only gaming site I can take seriously any more. They are never affraid to honour greatness, but they don't fall to the mass media preassure around them.
Game Revolution, don't ever change.

 

[-FCM-]

I think you guys are missing the point. I respect both GR and Jesse for the consistently awesome writing I find in the reviews, but this review can't even stand on it's own legs and that's a problem. You shouldn't have to read a completely different article for information like the name of the character, what the story's about, the general feel of the game, and most importantly, what's good about it. It felt a lot more like a Manifesto than a review.

I've been reading GR since I was 11 back in 2001, and I've been posting about as long. I've seen all the Fs and As a fan of the website can and almost all of them have seemed completely fair. Heck, I was nominated for biggest fanboy of the forums for my pro-Nintendo stances a year or so back and I didn't say boo about Twilight Princess getting a B+ because I felt it was fair, so this isn't exactly a regular thing for me. And I'm not even a huge GTA fan.

 

[CAndrien]

I agree with a lot of the review's criticisms of the game, but strongly disagree with saying this game isn't innovative. Yes, it's basically the same GTA game, but grown way the **** up.

I (like everyone else) have "killed" thousands of "people" in GTA games, but the first time I shot someone in IV it was startling, as in "Damn!!!" inducing. It was brutal, fast, finite, and altogether unglamorous ... just like real murders. Clearly RS put their energy into making the game smaller and more realistic, and they succeeded in transforming violence that had been )in the earlier GTAs) on the level of, say, COMMANDO for that of, I don't know, TAXI DRIVER. Or, in other words, the style of an (at best) fun action movie for that of a great movie. That's not easy.

Personally, I like the stripped-down nature of the game. They traded over-the-top for grit, and I love gritty crime stories, so this is right up my alley. There is no perfect game but, personally, based on this first next-gen/HD installment I think this franchise promises hope of one to come (close).

 

[Jesse_Costantino]

Great thoughts, all.

A couple of things I think might help add some perspective:

1) I don't read other reviews of a game I'm reviewing. I prefer to play a review game fresh as a daisy.

2) As many of you already know, this game has a ton of features and details, so I obviously had to omit discussing most of them to keep the review from turning into a short novel.

3) Yes, I write my reviews totally nude. If you caught a glimpse of my balls while you were reading my review, Mr. Dodson, I apologize. No one needs to see that.

 

[Eyebrowsbv31]

Great thoughts, all.

A couple of things I think might help add some perspective:

1) I don't read other reviews of a game I'm reviewing. I prefer to play a review game fresh as a daisy.

2) As many of you already know, this game has a ton of features and details, so I obviously had to omit discussing most of them to keep the review from turning into a short novel.

3) Yes, I write my reviews totally nude. If you caught a glimpse of my balls while you were reading my review, Mr. Dodson, I apologize. No one needs to see that.

After that last review with all the "balls" I bet everyone missed your pair.

To FCM: Everyone already knows the main characters name, plot, etc, etc. If you don't know the lead character's name is "Master Chief" in Halo, then you aren't enough of a gamer to care. The same applies to GTA. The fact of the matter is that if Jesse review just happens to be your first taste of GTAIV, then you're living under a rock and aren't enough of a gamer to care again.

Not like it matters, everyone has already bought the damn game, so what's it matter? I wanna see what Zero Punct. has to say.

 

[Rekkie7]

BTW, This has to be the most critical anyone on GR has ever been about a f****** review. It doesn't matter what it says or grades, you know you're going to go out and play it, and if YOU like it, then you know your'e going to buy it. Get your panties out of a bunch about the grade.

There we're death threats over FFVII...maybe not just threats I don't think that reviewer has been around in years...

 

[malakian]

I'm very upset people think this game is anywhere near the mastery of Ocarina of time. For it's time this does far, far less.

 

[Rekkie7]

I love the game, but it's not a revolution when you compare it to Mario 64, Ocarina of Time and GTA3.

 

[-FCM-]

No, of course not.

 

[Mod-Chip]

The review was mostly a response to other video-game reviews of GTA IV.


-BBK

 

[MikeyVassallo]

The review was mostly a response to other video-game reviews of GTA IV.


-BBK

Except he said he doesn't read other reviews before reviewing.

Way to fail

 

[JP_Hurh]

Just to be precise, he said that he doesn't read other reviews before playing the game. I think he probably read the reviews after playing but before writing. I hope that's clear.

 

[Rainemaida]

I played this for my first time today, and I must say it was quite tweaked. However, the camera angles were TERRIBLE, and the cars were somewhat hard to drive. It was my first time on PS3, and I didn't like the controllers.

 

[Solaris10]

WOw lethean, you were right. Lot of fanboyism already.

I like GR view on this. Why? Cause they are frigging right! GTA 4 is more of the same..... which is why I haven't bought. Gonna rent it for sure to finish the single player campaign but that's it. I played multplayer with my friends and saw one playing single player...I wasn,t impressed.

What impressed me most was that there WAS actually a GOOD story! Normally, I don,t see any story in GTA but this one shines.

GO NIKO!

 

[TheNesMan]

WOw lethean, you were right. Lot of fanboyism already.

I like GR view on this. Why? Cause they are frigging right! GTA 4 is more of the same..... which is why I haven't bought. Gonna rent it for sure to finish the single player campaign but that's it. I played multplayer with my friends and saw one playing single player...I wasn,t impressed.

What impressed me most was that there WAS actually a GOOD story! Normally, I don,t see any story in GTA but this one shines.

GO NIKO!

I've displayed absolutely no fanboyism. What I was talking about has bugged me for a bit and this GTA review just epitomized it.