GTA IV Discussion (Possible Spoilers!)

[Dragonstorm]

This is the new thread for any GTA IV discussion. Post anything you think about the gameplay, mp modes, story, etc. Go wild!

From the Shoutbox:


Ackercoke (http://www.the-causality.com/forums/member.php?u=156) Completed GTA IV story now...hmmno spoilers...for you

Dragonstorm (http://www.the-causality.com/forums/member.php?u=15) Right at the end myself. Does it get better in the last lil bit? It's been getting worse for a while now :(

NovaBlack (http://www.the-causality.com/forums/member.php?u=23) ive kinda lost interest in the story at about 35% complete

NovaBlack (http://www.the-causality.com/forums/member.php?u=23) it started off really good but it just hasnt... gone anywhere...

0bitus (http://www.the-causality.com/forums/member.php?u=62) multiplayer any good?

Dragonstorm (http://www.the-causality.com/forums/member.php?u=15) Cops n Robbers is awesome. Free roam is the only other I was interested in, but it's a huge let down because they didnt put any of the single player actions in, e.g. minigames.

Dragonstorm (http://www.the-causality.com/forums/member.php?u=15) Ends up just being a deathmatch with no score counter. As in it's literally that. Exact same random weapons in the same places with players able to do the exact same things.

NovaBlack (http://www.the-causality.com/forums/member.php?u=23) but cops n robbers literally is one of the most fun multiplayer games ive played in last year. its so funny with the euphoria

Ackercoke (http://www.the-causality.com/forums/member.php?u=156) nah GTA IV is a bit of a let down for me...not a patch on san andreas

NovaBlack (http://www.the-causality.com/forums/member.php?u=23) i do find it odd hat as you go through the game your walking around with literally hundreds of thousands of dollars.. but NOTHING to spend iit on... and then niko's primary motivation behind his activities (aprart from the main storyline interest - although not every mission is about that) is all about.. money.. why.. he cant spend it on anythng...

Dragonstorm (http://www.the-causality.com/forums/member.php?u=15) I'm definately on the side that all the little things and new gfx/phys are amazing. However, the actual game itself is pretty disappointing comarped to previous ones.

Jekht (http://www.the-causality.com/forums/member.php?u=13) way better than SA... only thing id like to see brough back is the ability to buy safe houses... maybe allow niko to buy cars... and add more clothing options too! How about buying hitmen to help with police missions or something...

Dragonstorm (http://www.the-causality.com/forums/member.php?u=15) One of the ppl offers thugs to follow you round as their frendship reward :)

Jekht (http://www.the-causality.com/forums/member.php?u=13) Yeah I know that, but that's only 2, and you can't make them drive etc. Sure you can get Romans cab to pick you up, but I still like the idea of being able to hier 5 goons to drive a truck into a bank :p

Dragonstorm (http://www.the-causality.com/forums/member.php?u=15) Would be nice if you could rob the bank full stop. (non 1-off mission!)

Dragonstorm (http://www.the-causality.com/forums/member.php?u=15) Would be awesome on multiplayer.

[Jekht]

I hear the first new piece of content is due in August! That's earlier than I expected....

[Dragonstorm]

PS3 user here, so I won't get it. Considering the game content so far, as enjoyable as some of it is, I can only imagine the main content being added will be side and story missions which... well... yeah! :) At least from what I've read, it sounds like it's going to be stories anyway.

For me the stuff in GTA IV has really tried to take itself too seriously and failed by quite a way. All the GTAs so far have been pretty humorous when it comes to the story, and the game style with that, making quite jokey the way you get kill frenzies etc. I'm sure I'll adjust by the time GTA V or whatever comes next, but I'm not quite agreeing with where they've gone with IV just yet. Really finding story-wise at least, it's failing to deliver and I've really lost interest in what's going on with the 30 or so random contacts I've met. I'm right at the end now, but I'm waiting for the main story to actually resurface still. I had reasons for money and revenge at the beginning to continue with the story. Money constantly comes up still despite having well over $500k and nothing to do with it, and seems to be Niko's main motivation which I don't understand at all anymore. The main story of revenge disappeared until about 50% complete with me having ONE cutscene related to it which turned out to be a dead end... then... then... its gone again. Yet to come back so far which is leaving me very hard to get motivated in the story anymore. It's just a bunch of random events with alot of random people which I am apprently only helping out for money. Really poor stuff.

Btw: Rest of the game, i.e. new engine and systems incorp'd like euphoria are spot on mind you. Gameplay, etc. all awesome.

I find it hard to comment on GTA:SA btw because I didn't finish it, or even half of it. I hate the gangsta approach rather than the mobster style usually used. Found it far too irritating to play a whole game based on it. Was the last game much like this style as far as story was concerned? Or did it stick to the not taking itself seriously style from other GTAs?

Anyways, maybe I should have gone for 360 though and I'll change my tune once I see the content, but so far I'm enjoying faster load times and less texture popping. Considering my over the top attention to gfx detail these days, thats a big win for me :)

[Jekht]

Load times? I havn't seen any on the 360 version... also the texture popping is pretty minimal (I'm anal about graphics too, but honestly, I've only seen it happen maybe twice in 30 hours + gameplay time)

[Dragonstorm]

Aye, the load times are a very minimal point really. There's the initial load when you start the game, then whenever you take a taxi and skip has a black screen fade load (instant usually, but still a load I guess) then whenever you go in/out of multiplayer modes.

The texture popping is just something I've had very bad experience with in the past on 360 (e.g. Mass Effect was overly visible. And loading in that was VERY bad, like where the game crashed at several points because it let me play before loading fully, leaving me in conversations with no dialog loaded and just displayed a message telling me so instead. This forced me to manually wait whilst I watched things pop up plenty of times. Very frustrating!), so as soon as I heard it might be an issue I was determined to avoid it.

So mostly my own personal bad experiences causing me to make a big issue out of something that, in this case, turned out to be not much. Guess the final nail in the coffin for me though was getting online MP for free too on PS3 instead of paying ~£40 a year (although the amounts irrelevant, tis the principle!).

Not too sure why I got into this now, but I guess usual PS3 over 360 reasons I say these days when relly I know there isn't that much of a difference! :D

[0bitus]

Got it for the ps3 today. ... It was sitting there to my left, while my revision notes where to my right.

Didnt play it ... just put it in to make sure it worked....

[Jekht]

For 18 hours yeah Obi?

[Midnighter]

I want GTA4 once I have a bit cash, but can't decide on PS3/360 versions...

X-Box360 requires gold membership for online play, right? (which I don't have) But does have guarenteed content updates later this year?

PS3 has free online mode and has not yet guarenteed any content updates?

Graphically, are they pretty similar?

Anyone got any comments on which is better, given they're both around the same price?

[Dragonstorm]

Ps3 has minimally faster load times and very slight issue of less texture popping when it does occur. Ps3 has zombie skin for multiplayer.. for some reason. Ps3 has free online play.

360 has content updates (MS paid some extravagant amount for exclusive content).

Graphically (from the many chats and s.shots around now) both versions are incredibly similar in visual quality and overall performance. Some people have said the 360 version version copes slighty better generally, but I've also read things saying the ps3 version keeps better fps levels during very chaotic scenes. Basically... they're the same :P

So most reasons are not gonna make a big difference to you. The main points are free online play against the extra mission updates. Judging from other opinions here and elsewhere though, you may or may not think extra missions are worth any interest. Prolly the main decision to base this on, is what system are most of your mates on? Cause its non cross-platform multiplayer.

[Midnighter]

*nods*

The PS3 is looking tempting for the free multiplayer.
I think the key here is that I don't want to have to spend cash getting a gold account on Live and then spend more cash downloading the mission packs.

It would also help my PS3 collection grow and I think something is planned for PS3 content, but it's been very vague so far.

Hmmm... guess my mind is almost made then...

[G0rF]

Please don't take this as a "I hate GTA4" rant, it's not, I think GTA 4 is an eminently playable game, the characters are great, the graphics are... adequate (for a cross-platform title), and it's a fair addition to the GTA stable.

I'm enjoying watching it so far.

However, to carry over from a previous discussion:

GTA 4 makes absolutely NO USE of the 360's clever sound platform.

No fading when the FMVs and phone convo's come up if you're playing your own music, you have to manually pause it, like if you were using a playstation or something.

Hell, even with the in-game music on you get no echoing when you go under tunnels, no muting when you wind the windows up, no boot-rattling when you turn the bass right up, nothing.

IIRC PGR3, NFS:Carbon and Test Drive: Unlimited all did, and the difference is... well, I like clever sound stuff coz I play D&B f*ck-off loud when I'm gaming.

Seems that only Xbox 360 developed games use it. Cross platform developed games (or games developed on the PS3 SDK rather than the 360 SDK) don't.

[Veube]

I want GTA4 once I have a bit cash, but can't decide on PS3/360 versions...

PC version ? Ever ?

[Dragonstorm]

I'll be re-buying if a PC version comes along (as usual). Would love to mod this.

[G0rF]

Yeah, PC versions of III and SA were vastly superior to the console versions.

[Midnighter]

Any PC plans are tightly under wraps.
Probably because they cynically (and rightfully) believe many will pirate it, losing them potential moneys.

[G0rF]

Which is why they release it on the consoles for at least 12 months before releasing it for free... I mean on the PC.

[Dragonstorm]

Lets just ignore that the pirated console versions came out before the actual game release, hehe :) Go pirates!

[Witchburner]

Uwe Boll GTA movie incoming :p

I like the game, tho i don't own it myself but played it at a friend's and have to say that i found the Gangsta-atmosphere in San Andreas more appealing.

[Jekht]

lol yeah apparently Rockstar actively told Uwe that if they wanted someone to direct the movie, they would search for someone good.