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John Vs Fun

It just seems they focused on things like pretty water, and making the pedestrians drop litter, rather than making a fun game. And the sad thing is, people actually seem to like it, so it wont change in future GTAs; that's it. Game Over for GTA by the looks of it. You can't even go on the airport runway without getting an instant max wanted level. What's the point of having it there if you can use it?

Niko's clothes suck, all the clothes in the stores are boring. I wanted the same choice as in San Andreas. It's the whole realism vs fun argument again. There are no planes to fly, or bmxs to ride. I know they might not fit with the story, but why not give players the choice to use them if they want. There's no chain-gun, chainsaw, knuckle dusters etc. The fun weapons aren't there.

John Vs GTA 4's Story
I've played bits of the story, but there's only so much you can play when the game isn't fun. A story alone isn't enough. It's the mechanics, the things you do 95% of the time that are most important. If those suck the story is pointless. I don't care for realism, cinematic quality, or immersion etc, just good controls and freedom. Those are the things that immerse you.

John Vs GTA 4's Graphics
When you get hit by a car or watch someone fall down some stairs realistically it's OK but it doesn't make the game amazing. You lose tons of health from tiny bumps. Like, I stood on a car bonnet, and the driver drove off at 2mph. I fell in a ragdoll style onto the bonnet, really lightly, but lost tonnes of health. You used to be able to stand on their bonnet and get a ride around, not any more.

The city sucks. 90 degree corners every few metres, making it difficult to build up speed in most areas. There are very few open spaces to cruise through. Everything looks the same so it's easy to get lost or go round in circles.

The graphics are nice, but I still prefer the previous GTAs' almost cartoon-like appearance. When things are cartoonish they are simpler, easier to see, so you don't miss mission markers, shops are easy to see because its not pitch black at night. The water looks really nice though - I'll give them that.

John Vs GTA 4's Multiplayer
I played the free mode for a while, but it's just not as much fun as it could be. The cops are too good. They're on you in seconds so can't can't build up to anything. You get a wanted level for what seem like small misdemeanours and they're on you, with 2-3 cars straight away. Then they kill you really quickly, with headshots, so you have to leg it, which forces you to drive, which sucks. I just don't want to play it any more.

Overall
It's a sandbox game which is no longer a sandbox. It's more like a very small steel box. You can't break any rules. People playing GTA 4 without wanting to break the rules can probably have a good time, but for me this isn't GTA any more. They might be able to patch it to make it more like old GTAs but that won't happen. If this is what GTA has become I'm never buying another game in the series. I didn't like Saints Row because it wasn't enough like GTA, but it's better than this.

We stand by our view that GTA 4 is one of the finest games released on this generation of consoles, but what do you think? Do you agree with John? Has GTA 4 been a huge disappointment or a generation defining game? Let us know in the comments section below.

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