Random GTA Talk Thread

[JaoSming]

Eh, I've seen the leaked videos from early copies of the game (actually, I got to hold the game today ) so the G4 exclusive gameplay / review videos don't excite me like they did earlier in the week.

EDIT: http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/869/869381p1.html

IGN review w/ video review 10/10

[ixcuincle]

[Jing]

LOL damn after that he didn't get wasted? incredible.

[Sauru]

1 more day and its finally mine. already took tuesday off work lol

[Andrew]

Who is Jack Thompson?

He's a lawyer who's led various crusades against video games with adult or otherwise objectionable content. He's pretty blunt and outspoken about his beliefs. His Wikipedia entry includes a history of his antics.

[JaoSming]

gifs stolen from OperationSports

[Andrew]

Very cool. Looks like a lot of the traditional elements established in GTA3 onwards will be present so there'll be familiarity for returning players.

[Matthew]

In 9 hours this game will be mine

[Chino]

Wow! Awesome game.

[Andrew]

In case you're wondering where the latest GTA IV posts went, they haven't been deleted. They've been split off into their own thread, partly to keep spoilers out of this thread and keep it dedicated to the series as a whole but mainly because GTA IV is deserving of its own thread here in the Video Games section.

[benji]

Maybe this should go in the IV thread...if so move it...
Grand Theft Auto's clothes same as before; invisible, please join in pointing it out

I'm not a huge fan of Grand Theft Auto. I got my giggles from the top-down games on PC and PSone over a decade ago and found Grand Theft Auto III and its subsequent PS2 spawn to be more of the same, but buggier. Needless to say, I wasn't among the choir joyously welcoming the franchise to the HD era. I have to admit, GTA IV's swelling hype that seemed to sway respected coworkers who previously shared my general dislike of the series planted in my mind the idea that this go round things might be different. With early impressions of gameplay filtering into the office, I almost believed that Rockstar had crafted, for once, a polished product worthy of the celebration.

That impression lasted all of one second when I saw the game played in front of me, and a week's worth of personal playtime confirms my conditioned reservations with regard to modern Grand Theft Auto. Grand Theft Auto IV is the same as its PS2 precursors, plagued by mostly identical design and execution faults that kept me from drinking the preemtive rounds of Kool-Aid in the weeks before IV's release. Its flaws are flagrant and copious, but Grand Theft Auto IV is nevertheless the most critically acclaimed video game of ever and this fact is hurting my brain.
...
Grand Theft Auto is and always has been instantly entertaining in the sense that seeing someone get kicked in the nuts is hilarious comedy, but any deeper critical look at the games reveals both myriad technical flaws and a sucking void of substance, unbecoming traits passed on to Grand Theft Auto IV. Not one of the game's play mechanics is especially well done, most are sloppy at best. There is no depth to Grand Theft Auto gameplay. There are no systems to master. There is nothing but a multitude of shallow options.
...
Grand Theft Auto IV fails to deliver gameplay with more depth than an average YouTube clip spread by IM, and moreover fails technically with camera control issues, constant framerate hiccups, disjointed animation, and sloppy controls.

It's not that I don't get why everyone loves GTA--I get it. But as someone that feels video gaming is more than a brainless distraction, I take serious issue with the assertion that Grand Theft Auto IV is as good as it gets. Video gaming is better than this crap.

I would agree with much of this critique of the series. I was more than burned out on the series two-thirds of the way through Vice City, and with each game I eventually lost interest because of the lousy gameplay. I gave up on San Andreas very early because it just felt like a chore to do anything outside of just wandering around to see the sights. And the requirement to actually play through missions to unlock areas played the largest part in killing my interest in the series.

Of course, this also came during the evolution in my game tastes...

[Matthew]

And the backlash begins. From the moment I played this game I could tell it wasn't worthy of a perfect 100/100 score (something that I said which Jaosming brilliantly refuted by pointing out it was worthy because it didn't annoy him...), but it's still a very very good game.

What you have quoted, Ben, is a little exaggerated. The shooting system in GTA 4 isn't the best, but its not the worst either. It's on Uncharted's level, which is below gears of war and r6v. The framerate isn't a problem with me. I don't have a problem with it. And the storyline is alot deeper then someone getting kicked in the nuts. I won't go into it here because there's probably alot of people reading this who aren't as far into the missions as I am but the more I play it, the better it's becoming.

Was there hype? Sure. There always is with huge release titles. People should be able to remove a game from the hype and look at it objectively. But they can't and either become fanbois or will just the game.

[ixcuincle]

The thing is the missions can actually be quite fun. At first I was upset when I tried to cross the bridge into Las Venturas and got a Wanted level , but the missions that lead up to Las Venturas finally being unlocked wasn't a bad experience to go through.

I do admit though , that once you do beat the game there really isn't much incentive to play the game further. Once I beat San Andreas I basically stopped playing after that , however San Andreas did not offer a multiplayer option with as many fun diversions that IV provides.

[benji]

What you have quoted, Ben, is a little exaggerated. The shooting system in GTA 4 isn't the best, but its not the worst either.

I assume so, but I won't play GTA IV until its PC release, but regarding the earlier titles in the series I would mostly agree.

[Sauru]

best part of gta is the low brow humor. the ability to just do absolutly nothing and have fun. games dont need to have shit loads of complex things to be fun, just look at the sims(might not get much love here but cant deny its success). the game has flaws for sure, but so does every other game i have ever played. personally i wish they spent more time working on the single player portion of the game. add as much to that as possible. i think whenever a games goes for the multi player they always hurt the single player in the process, and even though i like to play some mutli games sell me on the single

[Andrew]

I can see where that critique is coming from but honestly I've never been bothered by GTA's controls being simplistic, nor have I come across any glitch that renders the game completely unenjoyable. If that means I have lower standards when it comes to games of that genre or less discriminating tastes, so be it. The GTA games offer their own challenge and experience, I don't feel I'm being cheated by a more simplistic approach but that's just me.

[Lamrock]

I'm waiting for GTA4, so to hold me off, I'm playing the PC version of GTA3 I just got.

Haven't played it in years; its still pretty fun! I suck though. Can't adjust to the keyboard yet. Been playing since yesterday, and only 8% and stuck in Portland. If/after I beat this and GTA4, I want to get VC and SA for PC and play them.

[[Q]]

ehhh... what are you waiting for? a console?

[Lamrock]

I just got mine back the other day. I'm waiting to get $60.

[shadowgrin]

Can't you just steal from an old woman at the street?

[Sauru]

see, this proves lamrock doesnt know shit. if he was smart he would have waited around the corner of a gamestop at midnight and then jumped the first dude to walk out with the game. no one would have helped the guy either cause they wouldnt want to lose thier place.

[Andrew]

If we're to believe Jack Thompson, that's what GTA's producers want you to do.

[Sauru]

i know thats what i did. i beat up some guy, stole another car, ran off 8 people and when i got home i shot my neighbor for no reason

[Andrew]

Imagine what you'll do now that you've been playing it for a while.

[Lamrock]

see, this proves lamrock doesnt know shit. if he was smart he would have waited around the corner of a gamestop at midnight and then jumped the first dude to walk out with the game. no one would have helped the guy either cause they wouldnt want to lose thier place.

I did, but some guy wearing a Kyle Korver jersey jumped me afterwards.