GTA IV Reviews start pouring in

[dasilva94]

@Kalibakthegreat

My one…ONE complaint about the game after a solid 10 hrs of play is that the chase camera is too slow when you’re driving, especially on turns or when starting up and you have to start with a u-turn or something like that. It slooooooooowly swings around in proportion to you, so that you’re highly likely to smash right into a car or run over a cop that you couldn’t see before it finally makes its way back around to being centered behind you. You can get around this by manually controlling the camera, but it’s still something that should be pointed out. I’ve gotten used to just playing with one thumb on the regular control and one one thumb on the camera stick so that I can “drive” the camera while I’m driving the car.

I find the bonnet/hood view is the best way to play the game. After all in real life that’s the view you’re gonna have

[yojimbo]

@neutron star

Really stupid question: How do you manually enter phone numbers on the cell phone? Whenever I try, all I can do is access my address book and the other options from that screen. I’ve tried pressing every damn button the controller to no avail. I’ve done this before, back when I first started playing the game, dammit! How the hell did I do it?

When you press up to bring up the phone press the same button again and the phone raises even higher on the screen and you can access the keypad then.

[dasilva94]

@Kalibakthegreat

My one…ONE complaint about the game after a solid 10 hrs of play is that the chase camera is too slow when you’re driving, especially on turns or when starting up and you have to start with a u-turn or something like that. It slooooooooowly swings around in proportion to you, so that you’re highly likely to smash right into a car or run over a cop that you couldn’t see before it finally makes its way back around to being centered behind you. You can get around this by manually controlling the camera, but it’s still something that should be pointed out. I’ve gotten used to just playing with one thumb on the regular control and one one thumb on the camera stick so that I can “drive” the camera while I’m driving the car.

I find the bonnet/hood view is the best way to play the game. After all in real life that’s the view you’re gonna have

[neutron_star]

I think dasilva94 must have gotten into Little Jacob’s stash.

@yohimbo

When you press up to bring up the phone press the same button again and the phone raises even higher on the screen and you can access the keypad then.

:smack: I knew it would be something simple like that. Thanks.

So I was reading various people’s favorite experiences so far with GTA IV tonight and I came across this absolute gem:

Just for shits-and-giggles, I did the classic GTA “get a hooker then kill her to get your money back” routine. While I was collecting her money, she got back up and ran off about 20-30 yards, then fell again. I walked over to her and she was on the ground quietly writhing in agony, her face still grimacing.

I suddenly felt kind of bad about what I’d done, so I called 911 and pressed 2 for paramedics. They showed up, checked me out as I stood over her, then got back in the ambulance and left, totally ignorant of the near-dead hooker.

I called again. Same thing. So, with everything eerily quiet in the middle of a raining night, I put a bullet through her head to end her misery, then drove to the bar to throw back a few, hoping to forget her vacant, dead eyes.

Grand Theft Auto IV, available now.

[Pithy_Moniker]

I did some online racing last night. It’s incredibly fun but also very hard. There seems to always be a huge pileup at the first turn.

But what I really want to know is, what view does dasilva94 prefer?

[msmith537]

@Absolute

It’s odd - with the increased realism, I feel much more reluctant to perform random acts of violence than I did with the older games.

Part of it is that Niko is so much better characterized than the previous GTA thugs, I feel bad turning him into a cold-hearted murderer. But it’s also that the world feels so much more realistic in general. I am actually reluctant to kill cops and innocent civilians in this game.

I felt the same until I realized that in GTA world, even the most severe injuries are cured by a 1$ burger or hot dog and death is cured by 6 hour trip to the hospital.

[msmith537]

@msmith537

I felt the same until I realized that in GTA world, even the most severe injuries are cured by a 1$ burger or hot dog and death is cured by 6 hour trip to the hospital.

Just to reinterate, I can’t stop laughing at the ragdoll physics whenever I jump out of a flaming car a split second before it explodes.

[control-z]

@msmith537

Since the hospital doesn’t take your guns away, the best option seems to be to go out in a blaze of glory if you get in trouble with the cops.

I think the hospital not taking your guns away and the auto save after every mission are great features.

I used to just reload my last save whenever I died, once I got far into the game there was no way I was gonna go start collecting guns again.

And now you don’t have to make it back to your hideout to save, which I think cuts down on the tedium but makes things a little less realistic. I used to go through San Andreas doing one mission per (real life) night and making it back to a hideout to save.

[Jayrot]

Here’s a tip I use for camera management:

To counter the problem of the slow response of the camera when, say making a u-turn, simply click the right thumbstick and the camera instantly snaps to behind the car (holding the thumbstick clicked gives you the backwards looking view).

Don’t bother with “driving the camera” as you drive. Just click the stick.

[Least_Original_User_Name_Ever]

@Jayrot

Here’s a tip I use for camera management:

To counter the problem of the slow response of the camera when, say making a u-turn, simply click the right thumbstick and the camera instantly snaps to behind the car (holding the thumbstick clicked gives you the backwards looking view).

Don’t bother with “driving the camera” as you drive. Just click the stick.

Either that or use the right thumbstick to swivel it around where you want it.

[Merkwurdigliebe]

Wow, what an amazing game! truely very addictive!

So yeah, to settle the argument about just how close it is to NYC. It’s NYC themed. That would be the best way to put it. At least when it comes to Brooklyn and Queens. I just now made it to Manhattan (Algonquin) and went up the Empire State Building. When you’re up there it’s pretty cool too because you can really see from up there. I recognize a lot of buildings in Mahnattan where they’re supposed to be. But the streets are generally not the same.

A lot of areas in Brooklyn and Queens are reminiscent of areas in the real-life version. But what I’d hoped for (being able to use real-life knowledge to navigate) isn’t really possible. It is simply not set up that way.

I escaped 4 police stars last night. It was crazy! It was on the mission where you go with Playboy to check out that heroin deal when it goes tits up where you realize that the dealers are the cops. You have to shoot your way out. Well I made it down to the bottom. So when I got to the bottom of the building the cops were on me 2 star level. I needed a car. What’s the first car I saw? A cop car! So I shot a cop and took it! Stupid mistake. That bumped me up to three stars. So then the helicopter came. I decided that I needed to somehow shake the helicopter. I remember in Heat where one guy lost his helicopter tail by driving to LAX, so I drove to the airport. Once there I broke into the runways and stuff only to realize that I’d gained a 4th star.

Needless to say I nearly shat my pants. I eventually drove around and had to ditch them and get into a cop car. I gotta say, having a shotgun and this new aiming system, it’s very easy to shoot on the run now. A huge flaw fixed, IMO. I got into the police van (yes…) and managed to shake them somehow. I was right on the edge of the search area when I went into that estate area in south brooklyn near what is in real life coney island funland. No cops in there, i guess, so I got away!

Had to run back and pick up my buddy though.

[control-z]

@Merkwurdigliebe

I escaped 4 police stars last night. It was crazy! It was on the mission where you go with Playboy to check out that heroin deal when it goes tits up where you realize that the dealers are the cops. You have to shoot your way out. Well I made it down to the bottom. So when I got to the bottom of the building the cops were on me 2 star level. I needed a car. What’s the first car I saw? A cop car! So I shot a cop and took it! Stupid mistake. That bumped me up to three stars. So then the helicopter came. I decided that I needed to somehow shake the helicopter. I remember in Heat where one guy lost his helicopter tail by driving to LAX, so I drove to the airport. Once there I broke into the runways and stuff only to realize that I’d gained a 4th star.

Needless to say I nearly shat my pants. I eventually drove around and had to ditch them and get into a cop car. I gotta say, having a shotgun and this new aiming system, it’s very easy to shoot on the run now. A huge flaw fixed, IMO. I got into the police van (yes…) and managed to shake them somehow. I was right on the edge of the search area when I went into that estate area in south brooklyn near what is in real life coney island funland. No cops in there, i guess, so I got away!

I wound up in the airport with 4 stars too. At first I was on the little bit of sandy shoreline, but as I approached the runway I hit 4 stars. I wound up eluding the police by driving back and forth down the runways, at one point I hit a the edge of one of those triangular signs on the ground and flew through the air barrel rolling, destroyed my car. IIRC I finally got out of the search circle by going to the north part of the airport and swimming out in the water. There were police units closing in on me on the radar, I assume boats but I never saw them. I was a sitting duck but luckily the didn’t spot me before the stars went away.

I generally really like the new wanted level system.

[Lightnin]

My only complaint so far is that I don’t much care for the driving physics- every car feels “floaty”. I picked up a muscle car last night, and could barely drive down the street thanks to the crappy suspension. I don’t much care for the brakes- but it might just be that I haven’t gotten used to using them yet. Whenever I try to brake as I go around a corner, I tend to just slam into things.

The funniest thing last night- while driving to get away from some cops (after sideswiping a cop car), I pretty much maxed out my speed… and ran straight into a telephone pole. The car stopped, dead… and I flew out through the windshield. I wasn’t even that badly hurt. Apparently, in GTA, it IS safer to not wear a seatbelt.

[control-z]

Yes, the cars seem too light and the physics exaggerated, but even so they take forever to stop. I guess it would help if we had a speedometer to see how fast we’re going. Am I dreaming or do you stop faster if you brake and handbrake at the same time? Still getting used to the handbrake, and the driving controls in general.

Did you notice that when you get on a motorcycle you usually put on a helmet (not sure where it’s coming from), but sometimes you don’t? And when you walk away from the motorcycle sometimes the helmet just disappears and other times you throw it down to the ground.

I also like how the car radio keeps playing when you get out of the vehicle.

Yeah I LOL’d the first time I flew through the windshield. It’s way too easy to get killed in firefights and not easy enough to get killed by falls.

[Jayrot]

What’s the new aiming system? Seems pretty much the same to me. You get a little bit better view when aiming but it’s pretty much the same. You can lock on and then jump from target to target with the right stick or just free aim.

I do like the cover system. Actually the cover system is pretty weak, but I like that there is a cover system.

[Kalibakthegreat]

Ok, Holy Crap, WHEN do you get to Manhattan? I’m about 15 hours into the game and the stat thing says I’m at 20% completion! I just got past the part where you and Roman relocate to Bohan, and I just started doing missions for the community center.

I guess I’ve spent too much time on sidequests, because I thought for SURE I’d be able to get over there by now.

[Kalibakthegreat]

Also, has anyone blown up a gas station yet? I was in the middle of a three-star police chase last night and I ended up jamming my car between the pumps. Low on life and seeing no way out, I started unloading into my own car, hoping to blow it up to kill the cops that had me pinned down. When that car blew up, the ENTIRE SCREEN just went up, and when I could finally see - through the B&W slo-mo death glaze - I was nowhere near the gas station and bouncing off of a building. Amazing.

[msmith537]

@Merkwurdigliebe

So yeah, to settle the argument about just how close it is to NYC. It’s NYC themed. That would be the best way to put it. At least when it comes to Brooklyn and Queens.

A lot of areas in Brooklyn and Queens are reminiscent of areas in the real-life version. But what I’d hoped for (being able to use real-life knowledge to navigate) isn’t really possible. It is simply not set up that way.

Right. There’s no way the game is going to be an exact replica of NYC. But it has certainly captured the look and feel of the Big Apple. For example the CitiBank building in Queens is represented and the in-game radiostation “The Beat” is clearly modeled after KTU, right down to the voice guy giving all the club info.

[Merkwurdigliebe]

@Kalibakthegreat

Ok, Holy Crap, WHEN do you get to Manhattan? I’m about 15 hours into the game and the stat thing says I’m at 20% completion! I just got past the part where you and Roman relocate to Bohan, and I just started doing missions for the community center.

I guess I’ve spent too much time on sidequests, because I thought for SURE I’d be able to get over there by now.

It’s not much longer after that. You’ll have a big drug deal go down and after that you’ll be required to take someone to Manhattan. It happens right after my 4 star police chase story…
Oh yeah, my xbox is frozen now. Anyone have any idea of how to fix it? Seriously. It is stuck on some screen that says, “Please reconnect xbox controller”

I’ve tried turning it off and on. Left it off for about a minute and it is still doing it. It doesn’t even boot anymore, it’s like safe-mode or something. It just goes straight to that screen. Also tried booting it with no DVD and that does the same thing. Tried connecting the controller, obviously. Now I’ve actually removed the power cord to see if that will work…

[control-z]

@Merkwurdigliebe

It’s not much longer after that. You’ll have a big drug deal go down and after that you’ll be required to take someone to Manhattan. It happens right after my 4 star police chase story…
Oh yeah, my xbox is frozen now. Anyone have any idea of how to fix it? Seriously. It is stuck on some screen that says, “Please reconnect xbox controller”

I’ve tried turning it off and on. Left it off for about a minute and it is still doing it. It doesn’t even boot anymore, it’s like safe-mode or something. It just goes straight to that screen. Also tried booting it with no DVD and that does the same thing. Tried connecting the controller, obviously. Now I’ve actually removed the power cord to see if that will work…

Might be a 2.4 GHz RF interference issue, or more likely a battery issue. Some people are saying their battery connections get loose: http://www.gamespot.com/pages/forums/show_msgs.php?topic_id=26147692