GTA IV

  theocide said:

ps3 online play, i have found, is more... refined i would say, compared to the brash, uncultured, loudmouthed trash that i have see on XBL. I think this is due to a divide in demographics that choose on system over the other.

 

IMHO of course.

lol - it's true that if you log on to a random server on XBL you'll most likely end up with a bunch of brats. Luckily you can always just mute people.

  Rubin Farr said:

lols

i've only had one asshole dude on xbl so far out of quite a few games, it's well better than halo3 for that (halos about 50-50 games with decent folks and total fannies). i think everyones still enjoying the novelty - 'i play for 2 whole days noww!! this is amazingg!!' etc.

  Rubin Farr said:

jesus christ someone end that show's misery

I thought the city was suppose to be realistic, I run red's, cut people off, etc don't follow a single traffic law and the cops don't do anything. You have to go out of your way to go on an obvious rampage to get the cops after you...or am i missing something.

yeah it wouldnt be fun if you got pigs after you for running reds.

hey hey i've got a copy now.

add me. Breggsmeg.

  Quote

You have to go out of your way to go on an obvious rampage to get the cops after you

the cops needs to see you breaking the law - just like in real life

in Mafia, cops chased you for speeding and running lights and it was actually really fun.

dude, if the cops chased me every time i ran a red light i'd never be able to get any missions done.

  mosca said:

  Quote

You have to go out of your way to go on an obvious rampage to get the cops after you

 

the cops needs to see you breaking the law - just like in real life

i barely bumped a cop's car and they went apeshit on me.

  assegai said:

I thought the city was suppose to be realistic, I run red's, cut people off, etc don't follow a single traffic law and the cops don't do anything. You have to go out of your way to go on an obvious rampage to get the cops after you...or am i missing something.

There should be a 'realism' setting which when turned up would cause the police to chase you down over minor traffic laws. Could be worth an achievement or two.

  catsonearth said:

dude, if the cops chased me every time i ran a red light i'd never be able to get any missions done.

right, but that's only because their save system is stone age retarded, and a transparent "play time extender".

I've decided GTA is immoral, not for containing graphic violence, but for being so fucking boring and frustrating that it forces you to engage in random acts of violence in order to get any entertainment.

it's a tedious game, i agree

its worse for me because i don't retry missions, i just reload my savepoint and start over to maintain a perfect mission score. its horribly tedious, especially on missions such as "chase the motorcyclist really fast throughout town but make sure not to so much as a slow down on a curve or else you'll lose the asshole you're chasing."

sometimes it's easier just to reload (less driving), i guess it's the same on this version

I like several things about this GTA - the physics are top notch; the combat targeting/cover system is vastly improved; TVs, pool physics, the internet are all well implemented; the graphic makeover works really well in most ways...but I still think they are stubbornly sticking to some dumb design decisions. Autosaves are fine, but there should be several per mission. For example, if a mission has three stages: 1) go pick someone up/get a vehicle; 2) go to a location and take out some baddies; 3) escape in a speedboat with a high wanted level, there should be a save at each stage. If you get killed, there is really no reason to respawn at a hospital. It's a cute touch, but it's not worth the annoyance factor.

Also, there are some downright weird things, such as getting your hat and glasses knocked off when you drive, but not being able to pick them up. Or the one I mentioned earlier, having to pay extra to skip a tedious ride in a cab. Having your character walk by default rather than run - does anyone use the snail's pace walk at all?

The game would be vastly improved if they added more rpg elements, rather than the usually over-the-top cutscenes they seem to prefer. One of the few times I was given a choice - between killing the successful Playboy X, or his down-on-his-luck mentor - it seemingly amounted to nothing. Same time I killed the cop over killing his brother. I'm sure it will come back in the endgame in some form, but I wish they had spent more time creating real factions with real crime bosses, that you could play against each other, as in Fallout 2. That would be epic! Also, why can't I become a pimp? Why, even though I'm halfway through the game, do I not seem to have a garage yet? I want to feel like I'm building my own crime empire. Instead, I feel I'm stuck driving everywhere, and enduring cutscenes that, while decently written, are often so cartoonish that they are immersion breaking.

Rockstar knows how to make "sandboxes", now then need to figure out how to fill them with more meaningful content. No way this game should have been 10 out of 10, I'd give it 85-90%. That said, a few missions have been really fun, such as the bank heist and a few others.

Really though, you should know what to expect from a GTA game by now. You can't really complain that GTA isn't enough like an RPG, considering it's not an RPG. You don't see me playing Final Fantasy and bitching about how I can't jack airships and mow down chocobos.

By the way, have you played San Andreas? That had a lot of RPG elements, including fighting rival gangs for turf and shit. If you haven't played it, I'd recommend it, as it seems to be up your alley.

i think that they overlooked out of stubbornness some really neat design and gameplay concepts that were in Saint's Row

  olson said:

Really though, you should know what to expect from a GTA game by now. You can't really complain that GTA isn't enough like an RPG, considering it's not an RPG. You don't see me playing Final Fantasy and bitching about how I can't jack airships and mow down chocobos.

 

By the way, have you played San Andreas? That had a lot of RPG elements, including fighting rival gangs for turf and shit. If you haven't played it, I'd recommend it, as it seems to be up your alley.

Yeah I played San Andreas, got really far, but never quite finished it. I would like to see statistics on what percentage of people who buy GTA games actually finish them. I bet it's really low. I have only completed two, GTA 3 and Vice City, and both times I was left with a rather hollow "that's it?"

The turf stuff in SA was fun but super simple.

When I say add RPG elements I'm talking about what would make the game stronger. They are playing it safe according to formula, and while you can't really fault them for it, it's kind of dumb when they could make it so much more.

I wish I had played Saints Row, I heard some good things. What did it have that GTA lacks, Theo?

vice city is the only one i completed of the 3 ps2 ones,

i must admit the multiplayer is infinitely more entertaining than campaign, which seems to be mostly fetch quests, protect this, kill them, etc.

  lumpenprol said:

but I wish they had spent more time creating real factions with real crime bosses, that you could play against each other, as in Fallout 2.

off topic:

try gothic games, the 3rd one especially (don't mind the low scores, the game was simply broken on release date..now, after 2 years of patches it's pretty flawless technically). the faction thing is so brilliantly done..you can basically play a double-triple-quadruple agent the whole game.

  Rubin Farr said:

i must admit the multiplayer is infinitely more entertaining than campaign, which seems to be mostly fetch quests, protect this, kill them, etc.

i agree.

the most fun i've had in the story mode is violently handbraking around corners at full speed into stacks of pedestrians, knocking over several lampposts and dozens of dustbins along the way.

never gets old.

oh and getting chased around the airport by the SWAT team...in a baggage cart.

Little Jacob missions and the Badman random character missions are the shit, I love these guys. If you play Massive B on the radio they comment on how much they like it. By the way, did anyone choose to let that guy live during one of the Vlad missions, instead of kicking him off the ledge? I am a nerd and am taking game pics on occassion now: