Grand Theft Auto 4

Posted on 2007 under Action/Shooter, PS2 |

8 Dec

Grand Theft Auto 4…all the “RAGE”?

In any video game conversation I find myself in, the topic of Grand Theft Auto (GTA) always comes up. My friends go on and on about how cool it is to run around and play the role of the game’s protagonist, building their gangs and usually throw in a cheat or two to seal the deal with an arsenal to take down the city.

Here’s the thing…I don’t like GTA. After GTA3 (which I enjoyed), I picked up Vice City. Smitten with the inclusion of the voice work of Ray Liotta et al, it was a no brainer that I should be falling for this game all the way to the end. Here’s the other thing…I never finished Vice City. To be even more accurate, I never finished GTA3.

I understand that there’s a novelty to running around a city as a tough guy mobster or gang leader, trying to “rule the underground,” but I’ve found that (and yes, I can’t believe that I’m saying this either), the violence is just too much. If anything, it’s at least all too mindless.

The missions all seemed the same to me with a very limited range in graphics. This is where Vice City let me down; I was all set to see the new and improved areas, weapons and scenarios…and all I got was a semi-cool storyline with fun voice acting. A majority of the time I spent playing it was to do the proverbial “run around the city causing mayhem while trying to reach as many most wanted stars as possible.” Fun, yes…for a few days.

This potpourri of gaming mediocrity, in tandem with the lame senseless violence lead me to keep my cash in my wallet when San Andreas was released. I know a lot of gamers loved the gang angle, but I didn’t. I’m a mobster guy…and even that was barely enough to keep me hanging on. So at that point, GTA was dead to me…and Rockstar Games (the publisher of the game, for you readers unaware) was a tired studio with an overplayed baby.

However, today my buddy pointed out the new trailer for GTA4. At first I mocked him for even attempting to push it on me, but curiosity got the best of me and I took a look. Now I’ve found myself in a pickle. I’ve spent the last two years bad-mouthing Rockstar (save Table Tennis…booyah) and the GTA franchise overall, and then the GTA4 trailer ends up looking……….pretty good.

This brings me to my post title and final point. It’s too far from the release date to make any serious assumptions about this game. With such limited online assets (6 screens and 1 trailer), I can’t feasibly give my opinion with any reasonable substantiation. But…Rockstar’s decision to finally swing these puppies over to the next-gens is going to cause me to do my research. The next gen (PS3 and Xbox360) capabilities along with the new RAGE engine may very well turn out to finally revamp this cliche’ title (in my opinion).

The GTA4 city looks more realistic, complex and full as opposed to the old Liberty City versions where you may turn a corner to find only a lone prostitute awkwardly walking into a street light, then piveting, walking into a wall, piveting, then walking into a streelight…and so on. But again…it’s definitely too early to say.So until then, I’ll keep my eyes on some other upcoming titles (BioShock, anyone?) and see if GTA4 is really only hinging on RAGE…

(Not keeping my fingers crossed though, don’t come crying if I never post about it again)

…fare the well…