GTA 4, worth it?

[vizzle]

I've never really played a GTA game, the only game I've played close to it is the Godfather on the PS2 (which I loved). I'm deciding if I want to shed a few bucks on this game; I read some reviews and they all looked pretty good, but those were all written while the game was current. How do you guys feel about GTA IV in retrospect? Fun enough to waste time on?

[icedwarrior]

I got the game, plus Episodes., for the PS3, and it was definitely worth retail ($60). I would highly recommend the game.

The story is a bit serious, but I found it to be absolutely spectacular. The PC version apparently requires Steam + GFWL + SecuROM (I can't confirm this, don't have the PC version), which heavily influenced my decision to not buy it again when it was super cheap.

No, GTA 4 sucked compared to the rest. It's fun for a few hours, but that's it.

Yeah, it didn't. Elaborate. "It sucks" doesn't help his decision at all.

[Pickynerd]

No, GTA 4 sucked compared to the rest. It's fun for a few hours, but that's it.

Yeah, it didn't. Elaborate. "It sucks" doesn't help his decision at all.

Yeah, it did. Because it was the worst game in the series, does that help?

[Badpaladin]

I'd say yeah, but it's rather poorly-optimized for PC. Some details might bother you, but overall it's got a fantastic story - and it's always fun shooting hookers.

[Dezeria]

Play GTA: San Andreas. Graphics are obviously out of date, but it's easily the best one, IMO.

[JayJay09]

IV is pretty damn awesome.. Costs like ~13,- € (Complete Edition 20,- €) in Germany and the game is really worth it.

Btw: I am playing GTA IV + Episodes on the PC and I don't need steam. I have the game since release if that matters. I had to online-activate it, though.

Edit: Latest patches let the game run flawlessly on PC. Should be no problem for any PC younger than ~2,5 years, I'd say.

[Deleted]

San Andreas was for me as well the best one. GTA IV is fun and has a good story line. If you loved the atmosphere in GTA 3, you will love GTA IV as well.
I wouldn't buy it on PC though. I bought it during the SteamSales of Christmas last year (all GTA's for 9.99 euro) but I find the controls horrible. If you buy it on PC, I recommend you to buy a gamepad (the Xbox 360 wired controller works perfect, plug it and play it). Also, if you buy it on Steam, the game is quite big (and was a problem for me to download. I downloaded Liberty City Stories last month due to a restriction of the amount of GB I can download in my country).

[everydaygamer]

definitly a fun game though the driving sucks.

[Deleted]

I hate the flying missions in each GTA game. This one has a few annoying ones but not as annoying as flying the little RC helicopters from GTA 3. It's a fine game, but you will get bored quick + the fact that when you're "busy" people often like to call for a date... Which is annoying when you're beeing chased by cops and some bitch is demanding a date in 2 hours.

A plus for the game is that you can see when you're out of reach from cops, instead of driving for ages and trying to lose them.

[dpguy]

I'm a long-time fan of the GTA series, and I despised GTA IV. It's the only game of the series that I did not play through to the end. I hated it.

The glowing reviews mostly praised how detailed the city looks (cracks in the pavement, people take out umbrellas when it rains, blah blah blah). What amazed me about the glowing reviews are the things that they ignored. Many of the standard features contained in other GTA games are completely gone from GTA IV and they are replaced by, well, nothing.

1. In the previous games, you could search for hidden packages throughout the city. Finding the packages would cause weapons to spawn in your safe houses. Finding the packages meant that you always had access to weapons and armor and knew exactly where to find them. (which meant you always had the best weapons and knew where to find them). In GTA IV, you're pretty much forced to buy weapons at the store. A weapons stash will never appear at your house. unless you wanted to drive endless miles around the city to the various locations where they are stashed. The lack of reward for finding hidden packages is a drastic change that is pretty much ignored by fans of the game. This is a huge difference. How can anyone not notice this?

2. You can't buy/ own businesses. Owning businesses provided you with steady revenue with which to build your arsenal of weapons and other cool stuff. Owning businesses was an extremely important element of GTA Vice city and GTA San Andreas: in GTA IV it is completely gone. Again, how can anyone not notice this and/ or not really care about the fact that it's not there?

3. In the previous games, you started out as a low-level street thug and, by the end of the game, your are the ruler of your own criminal empire. In GTA IV, Niko begins and ends the game as a low-level enforcer. Gaining wealth and power as the game progresses was one of the coolest features of the previous two games: in GTA IV, this is all gone. Again, none of the fawning reviews took any notice of this which again, has me dumbfounded.

4. There's no tanks, no planes.

I could go on and on, but I say the GTA IV is the absolute worst game in the series.

[Ave07]

If you want GTA IV id recommend getting Stories and playing Gay Tony which is the only part in the IV series to be like the older GTA III games. Id recommend San Andreas like many have said since there is a lot to do in that game and sadly most of it has been stripped in IV.

[dpguy]

Another reason I hated GTA IV: everything I loved most about the previous games is gone, and everything I liked least about the previous games is still there. Chasing people down at high rates of speed in a congested maze of traffic while shooting at them was not fun for me, but it was part of San Andreas, and didn't bother me because there were plenty of other things to do. You're rewarded for exploring the city and finding hidden items. But not in GTA IV. In GTA IV, you're constantly chasing after people in a city where the traffic is horrendous and the cops are easily provoked. I hate to say it, but GTA IV was just an awful experience for me. It's the first game that I remember quitting before I finished the main story.

[Inexistent]

GTA 4 is great, I remember first time I played it was at my friends he just pick it up all we did was drive around hitting people "RAG DOLLS".

But GTA: San Andreas for the best out of all of them, but if you are looking for a good story Vice City had the best story.

[Couron]

Get Just Cause 2 on steam on sale. So fun.

[Nothos]

I still enjoy playing GTA IV and I've had it for a few years now. The story mode for Ballad of Gay Tony is also a great play. Never much enjoyed the story of any of the GTA games until I played TBoGT.
Worth it in my eyes!

[Grable]

I am surprised to meet a guy who has never played a GTA game :|

Anyway, GTA 4 is decent, but San Andreas was better if you ask me.

[Zenotetsuken]

If you haven't played any of the other GTA games, then IDK. Maybe? I couldn't stand GTA 4, but that is probably because I had grown attached to the lighthearted goofy GTA formula, and with GTA 4 they scrapped it and tried to make it more gritty than ridiculous.
It is really hard to say if it is worth it on that one. San Andreas is much better, but I guess GTA 4 is worth buying if it is cheap.

[Vargur]

No, GTA 4 sucked compared to the rest. It's fun for a few hours, but that's it.

Are you joking?

4 is the best GTA. That's it. All the more realistic and fun with the 2008 graphics, which with the Icenhancer mod and a car pack looks like 2013...

[yetgdhfgh]

Graphic wise gta 4 was amazing and still impresses me today

but i felt once the storymode was finished there wasnt enough crazy shit to do im hopeing gta5 will solve that problem

San Andrea still remains my fave gta game of all time though not as graphically impressive as gta4 there is a humungus amount of stuff to do

I still love flying in my lear jet all pimped out and go hit the black jack tables then shoot up the place when i lose lol

[Hulari]

If you haven't played any of the other GTA games, then IDK. Maybe? I couldn't stand GTA 4, but that is probably because I had grown attached to the lighthearted goofy GTA formula, and with GTA 4 they scrapped it and tried to make it more gritty than ridiculous.
It is really hard to say if it is worth it on that one. San Andreas is much better, but I guess GTA 4 is worth buying if it is cheap.

Personally I really like the more gritty GTA. These days if you want something ridiculous you have Saints Row, which I have actually been playing the last week or so and I am struggling to like it because it's too ridiculous for me.

I agree with some of the comments that features are missing. Character customization, car customization, buying properties and the phone ringing constantly is always annoying. It's still worth a play though! I'd definitely get both San Andreas and IV if you can get them for cheap.

I hope GTA V takes the serious approach, with a few aspects from Mafia 2 that I liked. Actually needing to re-fuel your car is something I've always wanted in GTA. I know that a lot of people would hate it, but I'd love it.