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| From: Rockstar Games
Category: Video Games
List Price: $59.99
Buy Used: $28.08
You Save: $31.91 (53%)
New (65) Used (53) from $28.08
Rating:  249 reviews
Sales Rank: 154
Platform: Playstation 3
Genre: role_playing_games
ESRB: Mature
Media: Video Game
Edition: Standard
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Batteries Included: No
Age: 17 - 20 years
Operating System: Playstation 3
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2
Dimensions (in): 0.1 x 0.1 x 0
MPN: 37011
Model: 15782621
UPC: 710425370113
EAN: 0710425370113
ASIN: B000HKP88C
Release Date: April 29, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: **Excellent Condition** **Original Artwork, Case, Guaranteed to play** 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed.
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| Customer Reviews:
Never Ending! May 1, 2008
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
I hate buying games that once i beat i never play again. THIS GAME CAN AND WILL NEVER END!!!!! Even if you beat the story, (which would take days upon days if you have a life) the game has much more to see and do. The mini games are also alot of fun. If you get bored you can drive to the bowling alley, play darts, go to the strip club, and more. Its even a good time to drive around and get into police chases. I would also like to add if you have kids, you may want a different game.
 Niko's first day in Liberty City - the first of MANY. May 1, 2008
9 out of 13 found this review helpful
Even though I have only played one day in Liberty City as Niko Bellic, the only way to review GTA IV is to take you on a journey of those first 24 hours.
After a short 7 minute download to my hard disc drive, the game was ready. At the end of the intro movie I directed Niko into the car with Roman at the shipyard. There's an on-screen tutorial on how to accelerate, brake, handbrake, and turn the radio stations on and off. I'd seen this before in other Grand Theft Auto games, so I wondered: what was new?
Quite a bit, as I would soon discover.
I saw a map option that showed the quickest legal route in a vehicle to my destination (which isn't always the fastest). I found out that the headlights on the car can go high-beam. When I hit the pause menu, I saw a HUGE list of statistics that I would need another 4,000 characters to describe, such as time spent on the internet, time watching TV, emails & text messages sent & received, times I've played darts, shot pool, or gone bowling? And this is just skimming the surface!
After Roman left me in his crappy apartment, I tried out a few controls. I punched the fridge, and it made a sound like hitting porcelain. I watched a little TV, changing channels and adjusting the volume. I left the apartment and saw tagger graffiti in the halls. I tried to swipe a car to speed over to Roman's cab company, but I found out that the Liberty City folks don't take lightly to Grand Theft Auto. They smacked me around a bit, and I had to run through some alleyways to avoid the cops!
The first mission was pretty simple, and during that mission I picked up a crummy cell phone. What a feature: we can read and send text messages, make calls, adjust the volume, and even change the ring tone! I even got to use my charismatic skills to get a date with a fine young lady. I had to go shopping first, though. The shopping option is different, we can walk around to different clothing racks and pick out what we want...a welcome change.
"My idiot cousin was in trouble with some Albanians, but how could I say no to my lady friend? I started to take her to the funfair; we had to take a little detour because I accidentally hit a police car. Being busted would have been a sour end to our date! Once we got to the funfair, we decided to go bowling instead." [This was incredibly fun! We get a bowling tutorial and five free frames to start out, by the end of the tutorial; you'll want to play again.]
"After I dropped Michelle back at her place, I felt the vibrations of my cell phone. [Yet another reason to pick up a Dualshock Controller - I thought my actual cell phone was going off!] Roman reamed me out for choosing the girl over family, but he admitted that he probably would have done the same thing. I dropped him off at his cab company, and I sat in the car and reflected on the day's events."
I can't even put into words how IMMERSIVE this game is. Hot dogs to replenish my stamina? An in-game tutorial on how to use the controller for popping wheelies on motorcycles? Attention to details like bees at a wastebasket? Chinese lettering on cardboard boxes outside a restaurant? Skid marks on the asphalt from using the car handbrake? It's all here.
I ordered the Grand Theft Auto IV Special Edition but I just couldn't wait to review this game. After two hours of playing it, I know I'll be hooked for MONTHS unlocking all the secret goodies.
Obviously this game has the right rating. Blood, violence, sexual themes, alcohol consumption, and many other items dictate that this game shouldn't be played by the under 17 crowd. It's not for everyone, though. Some gamers may not like the freedom Liberty City offers, in which case I would highly suggest a more linear game like Uncharted: Drake's Fortune.
This is the type of game that makes me believe there is no difference between motion pictures and video games anymore.
Have fun! I know I will.
A Masterpiece. Video Games as Art. May 1, 2008
57 out of 75 found this review helpful
Let it be said that I've never liked GTA. But I decided to get GTA4 after reading several articles about the change in direction they were taking and my god, has it paid off. This game is PHENOMENAL.
The Good:
Graphics-
Even though this game is running at 640p and is upscaled on PS3, this is a BEAUTIFUL game. It has some of the best and most natural looking water and light effects I've ever seen that appear photorealistic at times. I often stop and just stare at the waves or park and watch the sun hitting the road as it sets.
Story-
The voice acting is top notch and the cast has some truly memorable characters. This is one of the few games where I actually have an emotional response when things happen to the main characters...which is no small feat. Sometimes you have to make choices whether someone lives or dies and I found myself really struggling with the decision I thought was appropriate to my character. The pacing is great too. Just as you are getting satisfied with a particular location, you get access to a new islands and contacts so things always feel fresh.
Gameplay-
Thankfully, they eliminated all the things that made past GTAs tedious. No more going to the gym to lift weights, no more being forced to drive twenty minutes across town to do a mission. Finally, you can take a cab and opt to skip the driving when you are in a rush. They've also added a much needed cover system where tapping R1 will let you take cover behind virtually any object. This leads to some truly epic shootouts that will literally have you diving for cover.
They also made your cell phone the menu for the game and you rarely have to leave the game world immersion. Just call up your friends for missions or hanging out and watch Niko talk to them while he walks around the city. You can even buy ringtones, themes, and even get a camera phone and organizer.
There are also 200 music tracks on a dozen radio stations with great music and talk shows on all of them. You can waste hours watching TV at your house, going on dates to see shows or play pool and darts, or you can fool around on dozens of webpages at the internet cafe. Basically, there is a ton of depth here that will give the game dozens of hours of extra traction.
Multiplayer-
Just whip out your cell phone in the single player and hop right in to over 14 online game modes. Imagine running around New York with 15 friends and playing paintball in the streets. To just be able to hop into the whole of Liberty City and do ANYTHING is so fun and chaotic words can't describe it. Just last night, I joined Free Mode, where there are no rules. I proceeded to blow up 3 cop cars and run over a flock of pedestrians before getting plowed over by another player who had stolen a commuter bus and was on a rampage in Times Square. That was just the first 10 minutes. And I was having a blast that even my wife couldn't turn away from.
The Bad:
Other than minor framerate and A.I. glitches, my biggest complaint is that the game does some unnecessary forced loading. When you die on a mission instead of just asking you if you want to retry it, you die, it loads a respawn at the hospital and THEN you are asked to retry the mission, which leads to another load screen.
Every time you launch the game, you are forced to sit through a 2 minute intro movie. I suspect this is to distract you while the game loads in the background more than it is to set a mood, but it would still have been nice to be able to skip it sometimes.
Other than that, the clothing selection feature remains terrible. You have no way to quickly cycle through your wardrobe without having to spend 2-5 seconds loading each new outfit. If you're like me, you bought every outfit as soon as you could only to learn that you had to cycle through every single one anytime you wanted to change clothes. And other than buying clothes, money has absolutely no value in this game. For some reason, they didn't include a casino or the option to buy property, so you amass all this wealth and have virtually nothing to spend it on at the end of the game's main story.
The Verdict:
That said, the sheer freedom and realism of this game signal a landmark in gaming and anyone who likes video games should buy this game. It is the most fun I've ever had with a video game and provides 100+ hours of entertainment for sixty bucks. Despite a few flaws, the amount of content, fun, and depth of this game make it virtually flawless and worth your money.
I can't stop playing it! May 1, 2008
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
I've been on the GTA games since it became 3D and always liked how each games progressed. This is no exception, this games tops them all. The gameplay is really fun. You pretty much make things happen on your own by use of your cell phone. From making dates, recieving work, calling for a ride, ect. I'm having a bit of trouble signing to the multiplayer but the single player mode is holding me over until then. If you are a GTA fan then you want to add this to your collection.
A great addition to the GTA line, but with some of the same problems May 1, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I've put a good number of hours with GTA IV under my belt by now, and have come to the conclusion that it lives up to expectations (which are very high), but doesn't quite exceed them.
GTA IV has all the free-roaming mayhem and distractions as every incarnation of the GTA series since GTA 3. The game looks great compared to its younger brethren and the characters and storyline are every bit as developed as one can come to expect.
For all it's freedom and fun though it does have some issues, which hopefully can be addressed through some updates down the road. The framerate of the graphics do lag at times, and generally are a bit less smooth than I would hope. This has been an issue with GTA since it went 3D, and is an acceptable tradeoff for the downright massive realm in which you are immersed; however with the horsepower of the PS3 behind it I really was hoping for a smoother ride.
There are a couple of bugs in the game as well, such as the controller-button-map display "rolling" and never actually giving you a clue as to what button does what. This is far from a show-stopper, and made me laugh when I found it.
Overall I'd recommend this game to any PS3 owner that isn't afraid of a M-rated game. Frankly it rocks, and as with all other GTA games it's likely to make a large withdrawal from my freetime for the next several months.
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