GTA IV: Not very impressed.

[popisdead uk]

I'm on the 360 version

Thought you might be. It is sharper.

Personally don't think it takes anything away from the gameplay, its just a personal preference. I must admit when I first loaded it up on the PS3 (I had just been playing on the 360) I was quite taken back at the difference. The more I played the PS3 version the more I got used to it and like I said now prefer it. Just seems softer and more realistic. Its still a superb game on wither platform though and I still regularly go back to the 360 version to play on XBL with mates who don't own a PS3 (slowly changing and more and more are buying them, which is nice)

[Sethos]

I didn't even notice the thread was in the Sony section.

I have seen the PS3 version in action and it does seem softer, but it looks way too dull when you reach bigger sized TVs - But on the other hand, the Xbox 360 version looks too blurry on smaller sized TVs.

[dead.cell]

The graphics overall are just fantastic in my opinion, 360 or PS3. Besides, the overall game is just so great that I believe it makes up for whatever small flaws it has.

[WastedJoker]

My only complaint about GTA 4 are:

1. No taxi/ambulance missions :(

2. I liked the gym/eating thing which you had to do every couple of days.

3. No customising of cars :(

4. No burglary :(

5. Although the maps seem more detailed, there just feels like less to do. Not enough burger joints etc type of places.

6. Stuff disappearing if you turn around - I love causing traffic jams/gang fights but if you switch your view 180 degrees, loads of stuff doesn't persist :(

7. Cops are too easy to escape from - 4 stars was basically impossible to escape from but now it's p*ss easy if you know the alleyways to dodge down on a moped.

[Sethos]

Actually, you can call up Roman with the Job tab and get some Taxi missions from him.

( Oh well, that's at least one point covered :laugh: )

[WastedJoker]

Actually, you can call up Roman with the Job tab and get some Taxi missions from him.

( Oh well, that's at least one point covered :laugh: )

but I wanna do it in a real yellow taxi! *shakes fist*

I'm not complaining too much though - GTAIV is still an amazing game. I'm just nostalgic.

[Sethos]

Yes, i do agree on some points.

The Police chases i have a very mixed opinion about. On missions, when you need to escape the police or on the way to an objective you accidentally get the police after you, It's great you can lose 'em so fast. But when you wanna have a proper car chase, you need at least 3 or 4 stars before it even starts to get interesting.

All the burglary, car customizing and going to the gym was just a gimmick for me and while it did provide some diversity to the game without it being forced, i never used it.

The pop-up issues is not as bad, although what annoys me the most is, when you find a 'rare' car like the Turismo you feel like a kid in a candy store - 2 Seconds later, the game engine has spawned like 12 Turismos driving around every where. I kid you not, one day i stole a Corquette ( The Corvette Rip-off ), i saw 7 of them parked in one huge line at the side of the road ... This 'flaw' bothers me the most.

I also agree there's very little to do. Take for example clothing shops ... There's 3 of them combined?! One on the first island and 3-4 on the second, but they are just duplicates, so you have 3 different clothing shops overall.

I'm not fond of the whole social aspect either, taking people out and having them call at the most annoying times - Pretty funny feature for like an hour, then it kills everything.

But overall i still love the game, first day of release i had a 13 hour session, it is really addictive.

[soniqstylz]

As far as the police chases, it's funny that it's ripped straight from Scarface.

I do kinda miss the burglary missions, but would those fit with Niko's character? He's a killer, not a thief.

I do agree that with all that there is supposed to be to do, the maps don't have more going on.

Although the HUD could get kind of crowded.

<3 Brucie.

[tuckeratlarge]

The only thing that I don't like in GTA HIV - and in San Andreas and Vice City for that matter - is the crappy camera not following the car. If you do a 180 you end up staring at your bonnet. I want the camera to be a bit tighter. Maybe there could be an option to vary the amount the camera follows to allow those that like the present system to continue.

[sn00pie]

i haven't actually bought it yet, but i've played it a handful of times. from what i've seen the only negatives on the game are yeah it gets really dark at times, but graphic wise i could careless. GTA has never been about graphics, its always been gameplay #1.

i plan to buy it very soon

[Calla]

are you guys playing the same game i am? I am playing on a 40inch samsung lcd, standard settings i've got for movies computer etc.. its great.

I'm playing it on xbox.

Only gripe i have is, my batteries on my controller run out too fast because this game sucks up so much time.

[flyingroof]

Excuse me but if you dismiss the graphics (which i think are effing amazing) you have a perfect game for its genre. Nothing in life is perfect so why complain? This game is amazing and R* have done a very, very good job.

[Boz]

OK, maybe its me but I picked up a copy of GTA IV and well I have to say I'm a bit disappointed. So much so that I find it unplayable.

What's with all the anti-aliasing all over the place - everything looks blurry and it really hurts my eyes after a bit. The graphics aren't that hot either with jaggies and glitches. Shadows look like they've shaded with a pencil and walls inside buildings look flat with no interactivity.

Everything is so dark at times it's really hard to see what you're doing and you get the feeling your just fumbling to accomplish something. The camera viewpoint is also annoying.

Well I think the game is great. The graphics part (dark and blurring) is because of PS3 and the fact that the game is upsampled from 630p to 720p thus losing detail. Xbox 360 version looks a lot more detailed and sharper.

The gameplay itself is really very subjective. I've never played GTA before and I simply love this one.

[stezo2k]

I found this wayy to overhyped, its nowhere near as addictive as the older GTAs. The handling of most of the cars is terrible and the scenes you have to fight get boring. theres a lot of attention to detail though

i wouldnt say the game is anything special, definatley not worth the reviews it got

[PiracyX]

I didn't have much issues with the game overall. I had to adjust the brightness quite a bit before i could see everything on screen but after that everything was fine. I found the graphics to be very well done, although i think reviews overhyped them alittle. 9/10 would be about right.

There was a few pop-ins but not too many and i found this acceptable because of the game data constantly being read from disc.

I agree with MichaelBL, There was just limited clothing shops really. I would of liked 3 or 4 more different stores to shop around, not the same ones.

Also places to eat, there could of been more than Hot Dogs or Burgers or Nuts. Maybe Pizza or Fried Chicken?

Overall i did find the game enjoyable and they did remove a few things from SA which i guessed worked to there advantage.

[Rebdomine]

I like it

[Brad.]

I didn't have much issues with the game overall. I had to adjust the brightness quite a bit before i could see everything on screen but after that everything was fine. I found the graphics to be very well done, although i think reviews overhyped them alittle. 9/10 would be about right.

There was a few pop-ins but not too many and i found this acceptable because of the game data constantly being read from disc.

I agree with MichaelBL, There was just limited clothing shops really. I would of liked 3 or 4 more different stores to shop around, not the same ones.

Also places to eat, there could of been more than Hot Dogs or Burgers or Nuts. Maybe Pizza or Fried Chicken?

Overall i did find the game enjoyable and they did remove a few things from SA which i guessed worked to there advantage.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

[DaveBG]

The problem is on your end pall. The game is awesome and best ever i played (well ok probably Crysis is on same shelf but its different type so...).

[Smigit]

The only thing that I don't like in GTA HIV - and in San Andreas and Vice City for that matter - is the crappy camera not following the car. If you do a 180 you end up staring at your bonnet. I want the camera to be a bit tighter. Maybe there could be an option to vary the amount the camera follows to allow those that like the present system to continue.

Yeah I agree, especially tight turns ect. You end up using the manual camera alot if your not a fan of the loose camera just to compensate. Would be nice if you could automate it.

[fall3n]

I haven't seen it on the PS3, but it looks and plays great on my Xbox 360. So far I haven't found any major flaws, I think they've decided to put their efforts into the Story a lot more this time around. I love how they join everything together using the cell phone and Internet and radio. I've probably only completed around 30% of the game, so I'm hoping after beating it there will be more things that open up as I can see what some people are talking about should you not be just doing the missions.

It's still the best one they've made yet. The detail they've put into some things is impressive.

[DELTETHISACCOUNT]

Well I think the game is great. The graphics part (dark and blurring) is because of PS3 and the fact that the game is upsampled from 630p to 720p thus losing detail. Xbox 360 version looks a lot more detailed and sharper.

Exactly, people who are using a larger screen and complaining of bad graphics have to take into consideration how it's upscaling something from a low resolution...

Not really the best example but...

1280 x 720 picture taken from IGN, downsized to 1120 x 630

That picture, stretched to 1920 x 1080

Might want to view them in their full sizes, lol.

[MiG-]

OK, maybe its me but I picked up a copy of GTA IV and well I have to say I'm a bit disappointed. So much so that I find it unplayable.

What's with all the anti-aliasing all over the place - everything looks blurry and it really hurts my eyes after a bit. The graphics aren't that hot either with jaggies and glitches. Shadows look like they've shaded with a pencil and walls inside buildings look flat with no interactivity.

Everything is so dark at times it's really hard to see what you're doing and you get the feeling your just fumbling to accomplish something. The camera viewpoint is also annoying.

If you don't get to complete a particular mission, you have to start the whole section from the beginning. Its so frustrating at times. I literally cannot play this for longer than about 15 minutes before my eyes hurt and I get ****ed off.

Is it really just me or does anyone else feel the same? :blink:

I don't agree with you on the gameplay aspect, I think its typical GTA and much of the codebase is probably the same. The problem I have is with the Graphics. They are **** poor at best, honestly. I mean they have gone mental with the old HDR, which slows everything down too much. The shadows I completely agree on, they seriously suck. And they can be rather glitchy.

But my main concern with this game is the FPS. IT REALLY LAGS, this game achieves 30fps+ maybe 25% of the time. Go anywhere fast in a car, and the game lags that much your bound to crash because you don't have the FPS there to react quick enough.

If they turned HDR + Bloom off and got rid of the same thing for car headlights, I mean car headlights in the Day? That must be doing so many ridiculous calculations every frame to find what the HDR is bouncing off.

Framerate is unbelievbly crap for something that doesnt even get rendered at 720p. Good game non the less, but they really shouldn't shipped the product as it is.

[PixilEyes]

I found this wayy to overhyped, its nowhere near as addictive as the older GTAs. The handling of most of the cars is terrible and the scenes you have to fight get boring. theres a lot of attention to detail though

i wouldnt say the game is anything special, definatley not worth the reviews it got

I agree. I'm trying to figure out what I'm going to trade it in for.

I miss the Diablo II days. 300 hours + logged.

[abcdefg]

The pop-up issues is not as bad, although what annoys me the most is, when you find a 'rare' car like the Turismo you feel like a kid in a candy store - 2 Seconds later, the game engine has spawned like 12 Turismos driving around every where.

People and cars still pop up from nowhere? Camera is still awful? Shooting controls are pathetic? There's some RC-car missions? Oh "#?%? and this got released in 2008, not 1988.

I just love how games are evolving so fast.

[sn00pie]

just picked it up. very impressed so far. the graphics are not great but i could careless. the gameplay is top notch. Ps3 btw