Grand Theft Auto IV - Anand's Thoughts

by Anand Lal Shimpi on 4/30/2008 12:00 AM EST
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  • larzemodo - Monday, May 12, 2008 - link

    "The reviewer sounds like someone who is not only new to game reviews but new to gaming. The comments about the depth of field and the animation were both painful and hilarious to read...I guess they deserve some credit for being able to invoke such diametrically opposed emotions."

    - I totally agree, nuff said.

    - Depth of Field is a per-pixel effect and is very draining for any GPU at high resolutions, it combined with motion blur can bring a much more photographic experience, simulating acethetics qualities found in film. For GPUs these two graphical effects are in my oponion are most effective SFX in computer games I have ever seen.

    OK GTa4's Depth of field is far from perfect, it still adds to the overall sense of scale, And when your Drunk it looks awesome!!
  • hvypetals - Monday, May 12, 2008 - link

    seems like the reviewer just wants to be different for differents sake.

    its blurry a block or two away? umm.. yeh so what. you cant be in two places at once. like you need to see the ants crawling on the moon?

    its one thing to be unbiased, its another to hold the game to an unrealisticlly high bar.

    and i had a shootout with cops in a building and had no troubles in the confined spaces just using the free aim and not the auto lock. if you would have read the directions you would see you could do both.



  • raj14 - Friday, May 9, 2008 - link

    Finally a review that comes off as professional and well written, and not as some 15 year old teenager drooling over a popular title.

    Please review more games!
  • Schnoogs - Tuesday, May 6, 2008 - link

    The reviewer sounds like someone who is not only new to game reviews but new to gaming. The comments about the depth of field and the animation were both painful and hilarious to read...I guess they deserve some credit for being able to invoke such diametrically opposed emotions.

    This isn't a Pixar production...you're not gonna wow even a casual gamer with your complete ignorance of animation and what is considered realistic today.

    Perfectly in focus boxes on the horizon aren't very realistic. The fact that you seem to prefer that over depth of field is a bit scary seeing as that is how both real life and movies look. Knocking this game for obtaining that realism is silly especially when in the next paragraph you go on to knock the animation for not being realistic. So which is it? You want realism or you don't?

    Stick to hardware. That's what you guys do best.
  • tEthiC - Sunday, May 4, 2008 - link

    I've played the game an hour orso, I'm a PC FPS player and i've played the previous versions of GTA. I really have to agree, the cover system annoys me, walking slow annoys me, car handling isnt that fun too anymore, camera always looks in the wrong direction when turning slow, pretty annoying. Aiming and shoot buttons are really not ez getting used too, they're all on the wrong place(PS3). (all of these problems are probably coz i hate aiming with a controller instead of mouse/keyb)

    i really wasnt that much impressed like those other 100% score reviewers, really don't get where this game is that much better than san andreas, it looks and feels the same (on a normal CRT television)
  • yyrkoon - Friday, May 2, 2008 - link

    *IF* this was not meant to be a review, then it should never have been put on the website, period. Should have been put on your blog page, and left there.

    Most of us who care enough about GTA really do not care what your thoughts are, and we will buy a copy of it *when* it gets put out for the PC.
  • dingetje - Monday, May 5, 2008 - link

    what a bs comment...i liked this review...so speak for your lonely self.

    i would like to know more about thr rumour that this game crashes consoles and even damages them though
  • Andrewsacar - Monday, June 7, 2021 - link

    Does GTA 5 have cheat codes? can gta san andreas codes be used, some poeple are waiting for gta 6 but rockstar hasn't announced it yet.
    https://apkgameapps.com/gta-san-andreas-cheat-code...
  • fragbait666 - Thursday, May 1, 2008 - link

    i hope this comes out for PC soon
  • unbaisedgamer - Thursday, May 1, 2008 - link

    Just as people bash magazines and websites for giving the game a 10, so should you people be bashed for jumping on the "hate the mainstream" bandwagons.

    The majority of gamers will find this game to be a 9-10. Fans of the series will find the game to be a 10.

    There will be plenty of people who hate it because its popular. There will also be players who dislike the genre.
    There will be players who are fanboys and toute their system as the superior version.
    There will also be players who just don't enjoy the game.

    All that's fine, but alas we are all drops of water in an ocean. If you didn't like it, there will be a million other people who loved it.

    Honestly though, fanboys and people who hate all things mainstream are wastes of space.
  • StormEffect - Thursday, May 1, 2008 - link

    Wow, someone actually pointed out what WASNT perfect with this game. That's refreshing.

    Anyway, the whole thing was good except where you used the word 'addicting'.

    'Addicting' is not a word. Please don't use it. I get enough of that stupid, nonexistent word in my mainstream media, bunch of idiots. But I like you, Anand, so you can use it this time.

    If I ever get on a news program, I'll open by saying, "Thanks for letting me on your show, it's really gooding," just to keep it all consistent.
  • bigben - Friday, May 2, 2008 - link

    Actually, this is a point for debate. Some would say that addicting is not a word, but others argue that it is either a transitive verb or a participial adjective from the verb "to addict."

    If it is the first case, the transitive verb, than Anand is just missing the subsequent clause in his sentence. So, he would have to round out "GTA IV is addicting" with the phrase "me unto itself."

    Addicting might also, however, be an adjective in which case his usage was A-OK.

    Addictive is a safer term, but addicting is not necessarily wrong (especially since its the Oxford English Dictionary which includes it as a part. adj.)
  • FITCamaro - Thursday, May 1, 2008 - link

    While I love the game, I will agree with some of what he said. The controls can be a bit slow. I just don't think any of the things he mentioned really detract from the games overall experience.
  • ultimatex - Thursday, May 1, 2008 - link

    Great , your not like those gaming mags that just give it a 10ranking just because of hype. This company will make million on little retarted buyers that fall for it.

    you should give it a rank though .I thought it was like a 7.0 all around and im being kind. Fan boys will never like nagative things said about their little games because of the way their undeveloped brain works ,

    point being they dont deserve make money because of hype . the game is ok but other games should have been super hyped rather than this one.
  • goku - Thursday, May 1, 2008 - link

    Every time the GTA series comes onto the PC, it looks exactly like the console it was ported from. What is worse is that not only do you get poor graphics quality, but some how the system requirements continue to go up. GTA III Requires a PII 450, 16MB, Vice City requires 800mhz 32MB T&L, and San Andreas "requires" 1GHZ 64MB video card.

    Yet just as San Andreas for the PS2 looked worse than Vice city for the PS2, the PC versions of all the GTA games manage to look nearly the same as from which they were ported from which is really a shame. I totally understand why San Andreas looked worse than vice city for the PS2, but for the PC? Unacceptable, which is why I didn't bother buying the PC version since you needed a high end system at the time in order to play it smoothly.

    So, do I think things will be different with the PC version this time? Well judging by the article, I'd say not. Unless the PC version removes all the console limitations and looks better than the console version, I think I'll wait until it goes into the bargain bin.
  • coreyb - Wednesday, April 30, 2008 - link

    Horrible review. I disagree with almost everything this guy said. boo!
  • ultimatex - Thursday, May 1, 2008 - link

    no one gives a shit what you think you retarted pos. go agre with the 10's hyped reviewers gave it.
  • picklebill - Wednesday, April 30, 2008 - link

    Off subject but can't shop to get a video card to play the game when the RTPE has been broke for so long.
  • araczynski - Wednesday, April 30, 2008 - link

    i played for 20 minutes and just wasn't all that into it. the graphics were definitely improved over the previous stuff though.

    i guess i'm too excited about Age of Conan to even want to get into GTA at the moment...
  • martinchnz1 - Wednesday, April 30, 2008 - link

    Don't worry about it, as with all previous GTA versions the PC version always seems to come out a few months after the console, also the Graphics are usually updated quite well and you'll get the difference from say Bioshock on XBOX 360 to Bioshock on a PC! The results are amazing, and I won't be able to wait for it to come out on PC.
  • Nihility - Wednesday, April 30, 2008 - link

    The massive amount of perfect scores GTA4 generated is amusing. There will never be a perfect game and this is just an example of that. I'm sure it's a great game and provides hours and hours of awesome funsies but it ain't perfect.
    I had the same problem with the bioshock reviews. Everyone was going crazy giving it perfect scores but when it came down to it the game was very repetitive and annoying.
    Anand points out the flaws in the game even though it obviously makes the fanboys cry at night.
  • psxguru - Wednesday, April 30, 2008 - link

    "It's like the cameraman just discovered depth of field and went nuts with it."

    this comment made me laugh - it's what I think of most of the pictures in the hardware reviews! Concentrate on your focus please! lol


  • spudboy23 - Wednesday, April 30, 2008 - link

    ...anand, or the anti-liberal legions that comment on this site will come after you for labeling the viewpoints expressed in "Weazel News" as "satire" instead of TRUTH.

    also, you mentioned an iPhone...probably won't be long before the anti-Apple forces will attack with all the fury of their sharp opinions. i'd be cowering in fear if i weren't so busy admiring how pretty my Jesus phone is.

    interesting perspective, btw. likely there's no PC version (yet) because they want to milk all the $$ they can out of the console versions before people starting pirating away on the PC version.
  • spudboy23 - Wednesday, April 30, 2008 - link

    sorry, i couldn't resist...actually it's Dailytech that gets all those comments, not Anandtech itself. i was kind of surprised to realize this wasn't a Dailytech page.

    apologies for sarcasm.
  • SerratedDrums - Wednesday, April 30, 2008 - link

    GTA VI PC!!! I can't wait to buy this game. The multiplayer will be huge on PC. And stop pirating people.
  • Locutus465 - Wednesday, April 30, 2008 - link

    For the record I'm against piracy... But you have to admit there's a degree of irony calling out for people to stop pirating a game that's all about stealing cars and beating people to death with intamate aids... ;)
  • SerratedDrums - Wednesday, April 30, 2008 - link

    Haha. True that.
  • frinky525 - Wednesday, April 30, 2008 - link

    going to any of the east coast shows?
  • Casper42 - Wednesday, April 30, 2008 - link

    I was reading somewhere that newer FPS style games on the consoles were including support for USB Keyboards and Mice for us "PC Gamers" who simply cant let go.

    Was curious if anyone knows if GTA IV provides such an interface?
  • andrew007 - Wednesday, April 30, 2008 - link

    I am sorry but this comment just doesn't carry much weight. For example you will be hard pressed to find SciFi movies or TV series that have stories that can compete to Wing Commander series. Or RPGs requiring 40-80 hour investments. I could easily say the same thing in reverse as I don't really watch movies and TV - they are just dumbed-down mass entertainment as far as I care. Unless you are heavily involved in both, you can't really make that kind of comment.

    I mean Anand is a busy guy who doesn't have much time to play games that require serious investment of time. If you follow the website regularly you know he mostly plays FPSes or other games that can be played in short spurts or - more importantly - benchmarked. How many games has Anand had a chance to actually play over the years? For example he still thinks that Gears of War is a great game today which no serious gamer that plays 30+ games a year would say. On the other side he can find time to watch movies since they can be watched in 2-3 hours. And he loves movies, as witnessed by creating a full blown mini home cinema from scratch.
  • bigben - Friday, May 2, 2008 - link

    Not that Anand needs defending, but you should know that the guy plays a lot of games. Far too many, really. Having just spent a weekend with 20+ hours of Rock Band and Kane's Wrath and having sat with him through Oblivion, Mass Effect, Gears, Halo 3, Zelda, Mario, Resident Evil 4 and a few others within the past few month, I can tell you that they guy plays more than his fair share of games and will play the good ones (the ones that really catch his attention) through to the end. 30+ games a year? Easily.
  • theslug - Wednesday, April 30, 2008 - link

    Although I agree that there are games with great stories, the same can be said about movies and shows. The reimagined Battlestar Galactica series comes to mind..it's sci-fi and it has an excellent storyline. How can you make a comment like this when you just admitted you don't even watch much tv or movies?
  • aos007 - Thursday, May 1, 2008 - link

    I can't really make a comment that movies nowdays "suck" - that's just my opinion based on a few occasional shows that I did get to see. One of them was BS Galactica, which is just that - BS. I watched 8 episodes before I had to stop. It has all depth of those naive, campy 60's sci-fi movies. It is very hard to suspend belief while watching it as there is so many things that are illogical if not impossible (the survival of humans under given circumstances and hence the continuation of the show itself being the big one, obviously). And even if it was possible to forgive illogical plot, based on political opinions the characters were overwhelmingly displaying I would've wanted Cylons to win anyway. Those "people" were a disgrace to humans.

    Yet I'm aware the show has a cult following. I'm guessing there is a generation gap at play here (I'm in the 30's and stuff I liked when I was in 20's is now "out"). The new generation has emphasis on different things than mine did. Which is probably the case with Anand and games he likes. Today it seems to be more about whether the way things are done is "cool" rather than "right". The story and the reasoning behind character's actions is less important than whether gameplay mechanics are good and presentation "cool".

    At any rate the GTA IV (being the first one I played strangely enough) does seem to have a lot of depth and breadth (I spent a lot of time watching in-game TV). This is reminiscent of best games of yore and is refreshing to see. As such I think the game has a wider appeal than if it just had good gameplay mechanics and presentation. I am quite happy with it.
  • morose - Wednesday, April 30, 2008 - link

    Everyone has likely heard all the gushing about the game done by the review sites, so it's nice to see someone focus on the negatives. A couple of things I wanted to comment about though.

    First, you mention the GPS and having to manually activate it from the map. That's not strictly true since (as an Option) it starts up automatically for missions. Just not for general driving about. I've never had to go to the map to get a route myself.

    Secondly, the story. I certainly understand your point about animation. That's one of the problems I had with Vice City. Even though there was some good dialogue going on, the lack of expression by the characters kept it from being truly great. However, thus far in GTA4, I've been pleasantly surprised. There have even been a couple of times where the characters pulled off some "physical comedy" and I laughed out loud at the expressions they made through their animations. Brucie especially, but Little Jacob a time or two as well. :) The actual plot is better in GTA4 as well. I actually found myself playing "just one more mission" to keep unearthing more and more of Niko's backstory. That's a compelling sign in my book.

    I agree with your take on a lot of things though. Especially the controls, which I still struggle with after 10 hours of gameplay. Someone please... what's the secret to keeping your car under control through corners at any kind of speed?! Completely different feel than Vice City (my only previous GTA experience) and a serious negative in my book.
  • DigitalFreak - Wednesday, April 30, 2008 - link

    Turn BEFORE braking
  • FITCamaro - Thursday, May 1, 2008 - link

    Typically you do the reverse, brake then turn. Unless you just want to powerslide. I think they kind of made the friction between the tires and the road a little too loose because you can't brake for shit. Past GTAs you've been able to slow down adequately to take a turn or had enough grip to power slide around a turn without slamming into everything. This time around its almost like they figured everyone would want to hit everything. I've gotten decent at taking turns in the game but it should be as easy as it is to pull the ebrake and flip a complete 360 without hardly slowing down.
  • RMSe17 - Wednesday, April 30, 2008 - link

    I hope the PC version comes out soon :) But until then, still plenty of games to play (Crysis, COD4, SupCom, X3-reunion) Though I do find it a minor annoyance that some games are delayed in their coming to PC (mass effect, gta..) since I don't own any console systems and dont plan on ever owning one... PC hard core gaming is where it's at :)
  • michal1980 - Wednesday, April 30, 2008 - link

    pc gaming is dieing, in no small part due to tefth.

    even though the 360 gtaiv is already on torrents. you still need to hack your 360 to do it.

    a pc version would see about a 50% pirate rate, and we would all hear about how so and so stole it because they couldnt afford it, and what harm is it, since they were never going to buy it anyways etc etc.
  • mmntech - Wednesday, April 30, 2008 - link

    The other 50% of the games not pirated end up being so riddled with DRM that it makes them unplayable for many people. Bioshock comes to mind. So much for "Games for Windows" revitalizing PC gaming. The market self-destructed. I was PC gaming only for many years but I must admit I like the fuss free experience of just popping the disc in and playing without having to worry about bugs, patches, hardware requirements, and DRM.

    The article was good. As the others said, it's nice to see a focus on the technical side. I think we see a lot of franchise fanboys out there who are quick to give any GTA instalment a good score. I've never been a fan of the GTA series myself but I might have to rent this one. Gotta love that "warm coffee".
  • SerratedDrums - Wednesday, April 30, 2008 - link

    You will still have bugs and games that need to be patched on 360/PS3. Take GTA IV for example.
  • FITCamaro - Thursday, May 1, 2008 - link

    While I'm not saying the game is bug free (there will always be glitches in a video game), what exactly are you referring to? I've found nothing wrong with it so far.
  • zainab12345 - Monday, September 14, 2020 - link

    amazing
  • zainab12345 - Monday, September 14, 2020 - link

    Really the best game ever, really liked it https://hdpcgames.com/gta-iv-pc-game-download/
  • Locutus465 - Wednesday, April 30, 2008 - link

    This is a very sad truth... Particularly since I do still enjoy PC gaming because typically this is where you first see the major break throughs with gameplay, graphics and all the rest.
  • Ivan244 - Wednesday, April 30, 2008 - link

    Glad to see you brought a critical eye from seeing all the unabashed frothing I'm seeing elsewhere.

    Would love to get your take on the Halo3 matchmaking. For me personally I refuse to play Halo3 mp because of MM. I don't like, for unranked matches, being told what I'm going to play and on what map I get to play it on.

    Yes I understand friends list but then you have to have x number of people on and x number who want to play Halo and x number who want to play that map/game type.

    I much prefer Gears and all the other games out there that give me a list to choose from. Pick what I want and if I don't see it host my own.

    Plus with Halo and Forge all those people create great custom games and yet it's like pulling teeth to find them. Finally there are some workarounds but you got to admit it's far more hassle then if we had a server list.

    So curious to see what you like so much about matchmaking that draws you to Halo.
  • tfranzese - Wednesday, April 30, 2008 - link

    I'm holding out for a PC version, like I've done in the past. Dunno, maybe I'll change my mind if the wait is more than a year.
  • Baked - Wednesday, April 30, 2008 - link

    I was gonna pick-up the MGS4 PS3 bundle and GTA4 because I love Sony products and have loved the GTA series since the beginning, but after reading Anand's excellent review, I've decided to spend my money on a Xbox 360 and Halo 3 instead. Even though I've never played Halo and absolutely hate the FPS genre, Anand's review has convinced me otherwise. Thank you Anand.
  • BZDTemp - Wednesday, April 30, 2008 - link

    Don't by a console for Halo 3!!!!

    The Halo series is overrated and for each installment it has been going downhill. Sure there are some nice points but it is nothing special.

    If GTAIV is worth getting a console over or not I can't say. I have not played it and release day reviews are to be taken with a grain of salt. Anyway I have both a 360 and a PS3 and if getting just one console of the current ones then get the PS3.
  • Locutus465 - Wednesday, April 30, 2008 - link

    No offence... But what's your problem? Anand made graphical comparisons to games known to be graphically very good. I.e. Gears of War and Halo 3, the point being the graphics in GTA4 aren't quite on their level. That doesn't mean that graphics aren't good (indeed anand points out that generally they are) or that the game isn't any good or that you should buy Halo instead. It's called creating a point of reference, many of us here have seen/played Gears an halo, so we understand the point of reference.
  • aikendd - Wednesday, April 30, 2008 - link

    I love Anandtech for technical news, so I suppose it shouldn't be surprising that this review is technically focused in forest/trees sense.

    There's confusion about story: in movies, story is distinct from acting and cinematography, and it's silly to confuse the three here. I'm fine with faulting the story in GTAIV, but saying the story is weak because the animation isn't photorealistic is like saying that the story in Toy Story is weak because everyone knows toys can't talk. It shows a lack of understanding of how the word is generally used.

    The review also misses the single most important question: is the game *fun*? There's some half-in, half-out comments about "if you liked other GTA's, you'll like this, if not then not", but how about the reviewer? Did he have fun?

    I more or less agree with the conclusions, such as they are, but on the whole this seems like a review of the draw distance and character animation with only cursory attention to the actually game experience.
  • Tegeril - Wednesday, April 30, 2008 - link

    Uh right. This is not a game review. This is Anand's thoughts on a poignant topic.
  • GaryJohnson - Wednesday, April 30, 2008 - link

    A rose by any other name...
  • GhandiInstinct - Wednesday, April 30, 2008 - link

    You have better critique and analyzations than any professional game reviewer.

    Please review more stuff :D
  • ultimatex - Thursday, May 1, 2008 - link

    you are right. Fan boys wont agree but this is a straight unbias review. needs ranking though

    7.0 .. dam hype = money for creators
  • psychobriggsy - Wednesday, April 30, 2008 - link

    I found the review miserable and nitpicking.

    Oh no, unlike in a FPS I can't walk at 20mph for 20 minutes not stop.

    Oh no, I bought the inferior 360 version with loading screens.

    etc.

    Not even a single mention of the improved police situation. An awful review by someone who year by year becomes increasingly embittered for no apparent reason.
  • FITCamaro - Thursday, May 1, 2008 - link

    Inferior is your point of view. The loading screen does not detract from the game at all. Would it be nice if it wasn't there? Sure. Does it make any difference in the game? Perhaps to him, but probably not to the majority.
  • SleepyGreg - Thursday, May 1, 2008 - link

    I couldn't agree more. This review was miserable and nitpicking. It's as if he's seen all the praise and deliberatley set out to point out all the flaws. Complaining about the draw distance, animation and loading screens is just crazy, for an environment of that size and detail they've done an amazing job.
  • formulav8 - Wednesday, April 30, 2008 - link

    While I do agree somewhat that the article wasn't really all that informative and didn't have much of a point, it isn't as bad as you claim it to be. At least to me it isn't.


    Jason
  • Locutus465 - Wednesday, April 30, 2008 - link

    Anand isn't a professional reviewer?? I do agree on his skill though, I was just commenting that I wish I had his journolistic skill so I too could have my own super popular tech site and more importantly the home theater he's building ;) Makes my 50" DLP and onkyo 605 seem so pedestrian...

    Anyway, excellent review... I'm actually considering picking this up for my 360... But probably after mario kart ;)
  • GhandiInstinct - Wednesday, April 30, 2008 - link

    professional GAME reviewer
  • Locutus465 - Wednesday, April 30, 2008 - link

    Ah, I missed that word "game"... Anand does a little of everything though, I've seen a few game reviews here, or at least blog posts. Perhaps Anand should consider making game reviews a more regular part of the site, it would help keep new content on the site.
  • maincpa77 - Friday, May 12, 2017 - link

    find GTA 5 hack tool on http://gtaonline-argent.com/moneygenerator
  • aleena12345 - Monday, October 26, 2020 - link

    I hope the PC version comes out soon :) But until then, still plenty of games to play (Crysis, COD4, SupCom, X3-reunion) Though I do find it a minor annoyance that some games are delayed in their coming to PC (mass effect, gta..) since I don't own any console systems and dont plan on ever owning one... PC hard core gaming is where it's at :)
    Check this https://windowcrack.com/adobe-photoshop-cc-2020-cr...

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