bit-tech Shopping: Rockstar Games Grand Theft Auto IV (XB360)

• Action/Adventure
• First Person Shooter (FPS)
• Racing

Rating: 8

Time with product: 4 Months

Strengths: Great story, a huge world to explore, variety in missions. Online MP will extend the life of this title.

Weaknesses: Camera angles and camera lag during turns when driving.

Summary: After all the long delays, Grand Theft Auto 4 has finally arrived on the current generation consoles and it does not disappoint. The story of Nico Bellic is an interesting one and the world of Liberty City is just alive this time around. There are so many things to do, from watching TV shows, to going to bars to drink or play darts, to finding that special someone on the Internet or in person. With the sheer amount of missions and things to do in Liberty City, it will take a long time for you to get bored. My only real complaint is the camera angles when driving as they are far too low to the ground and when turning, the camera seems to lag behind a few seconds causing for many blind turns that end up leading into crashes into parked or stopped cars. Nico also does this weird side lean when you turn corners while walking which looks kind of odd but overall GTA4 is a very good game that everyone should give a try.

Rating: 10

Time with product: 3

Strengths: gameplay, graphics, new shooting and combat controls, extremely vast and deep world to explore, sound, on-line multiplayer

Weaknesses: same car models frequently appear in vicinity of each other

Summary: GTA III was released in 2001 and it revolutionized the gaming experience with its open-world gameplay. Since then, Rockstar has released two sequels that refined the gameplay and expanded the world; while numerous developers have tried to duplicate the GTA experience and sadly failed. GTA IV is here to evolved the open-world gameplay to a whole another level. The world of GTA IV is richly as detailed and engaging as GTA San Andreas is huge and extensive. Beside the excellent story mode, you can watch hours of satirical TV programs on your TV, explore the pseudo internet on your PC, hunt down crooks, or create random chaos. GTA IV has matured and is as realistic as any mob movie. There no more goofy characters (cross-dresser) or ridiculous toys (such as parachute). For example, to hunt down criminals, you must first obtain a police car and then check the computer for crime in the area. Multiplayer is top-notch fun with cop n robbers, death matches, or just free play. Overall GTA IV is an evolution of the open sandbox gameplay is a MUST OWN!!!

Rating: 10

Time with product: 2

Strengths: Depth and breadth of missions, interesting characters, great voice acting, never gets dull

Weaknesses: Nothing here that pushes the envelope for the series. Essentially no celebrity voice actors this time out.

Summary: Game needs no introduction to anyone who has played the series, and it will not disappoint its fan base as such. Whether you can warm up to an eastern European thug remains to be seen, but the missions are varied and uniformly fun/interesting. Not for youngsters.

Rating: 10

Time with product:

Strengths: graphical details; especially the city, missions, gps, map, cell phone,

Weaknesses: lack of checkpoints within missions, clunky combat controls, story goes south midway through, can not choose missions on a replay

Summary: This was my first GTA and being from the NYC area I was drawn to "Liberty City". The first several missions help orient you to the controls but then the difficulty goes up several notches for a newbie. There are no checkpoints so you either need to get pretty proficient at combat including good cover techniques or get proficient at whipping out your cell phone to dial up a cheat. Cheats won't help you however on demanding chases; the helicopter and motorcycle variety can be pretty frustrating. The story starts out interestingly enough but then gets rather generic through the middle of the game. You may be anxious by then to skip the cut scenes and start the missions. While you're playing you may find your "friends" calling you to do activities like bowling, darts, pool and going to comedy clubs, strip clubs and drinking and eating. You actually play on those ventures. The friends are a big part of the game but if you choose to just to the missions you could skip all that stuff. If you finish the main story missions, you'll be disappointed to learn that you can't go and pick the coolest ones to replay. You may however start a new game. For those interested in 100% completion, there are several procedural and side missions, package hunts, stunt jumps etc. to keep you VERY BUSY. Multiplayer is kind of average where most players seem to heading over to Team Death Match mode. There are 14 modes in all but it doesn't have the best rep. The game itself is an amazing experience. Try not to lose your temper when you have to restart a mission and enjoy it. I recommend following an online walkthrough and the Brady Games Guide book was a big help as well. I recommend the game a lot. It is amazing!!

Rating: 10

Time with product: 1 Month

Strengths: Great gameplay. Plenty of missions. Fantastic Multiplayer. Good graphics.

Weaknesses: Some won't like the controls.

Summary: GTA4 is a fantastic game in everyr espect. It has great multi-player, great single-player, greta graophics, great missions. It's great. A real step forward in the series unlike San Andreas. One complaint I've heard is that the controls sometimes feel sluggish. but I think that was done on purpose to give the characters a sense of realism when moving about. I have no problems with it. So buy and play GTA4 asap.