Grand Theft Auto IV

Graphics

What I’m about to say may be a little controversial, as it certainly was when I first expressed the view in the bit-tech offices, but I wasn’t really all that impressed by the graphics of Grand Theft Auto IV.

And yes, I’m using the singular first person pronoun here because I seem to be the only one who feels that way. Still, since I am writing the review, I’m going to go into it in more detail.

The graphics for the game, much like the multiplayer, aren’t bad, but they certainly aren’t all that good either. Even if you divorce yourself from the higher expectations that PC gamers have for graphics, the presentation of Grand Theft Auto IV can still take some getting used to.

To me, there are two main problems with the game. One of them is technical; a constant soft-focus effect that makes things in the distance blurry and slightly hazy, but isn’t always linked to depth of field. The other is artistic; the start of the game is browner than the inside of my toilet, something that has been done to give the game a more realistic look.


The result then is a game that, at first glance, is brown and blurry for the most part. True, the colour of the game livens up a little more and things get a little more exciting once you’re exploring the whole of Liberty City rather than just the hole of Liberty City, but first impressions really do count.

The soft focus too becomes less of a problem later on, when you’re used to it, but when the game is first booted up and you’re expecting truly next-gen visuals, you might be a bit bothered that what you’re actually getting looks like a smudged turd – albeit one with excellent handling and gameplay.

You can’t really fault Rockstar overly for this because the size of the game obviously limits the detail and to be fair the graphics do excel in other ways. Motion capture ensures that characters behave more realistically and the sense of speed when you’re racing down the road on a motorbike is enough to make you tie your hair back to stop it blowing around.

Physics too have been improved and, though you will still be going through streetlamps and pedestrians like a fire hose through a wall of candy floss, at least they now bounce and break realistically. It practically becomes a game in itself – how far and fast can you go while carrying limp pedestrians on the roof of your car?

Conclusions

Grand Theft Auto IV is a great game and although it’s still very early in the year, this is obviously going to be a strong candidate for Game of The Year. It always was, frankly.

Yet, there’s still a little niggle of doubt in our ears here – something that says that although Grand Theft Auto IV is a great game, it just isn’t the huge leap forward we all expected it to be. This seed of doubt says that GTA IV is far more an evolution than a revolution and that that is obviously going to limit the overall impact and impression of the game.

That doubt is true and is utterly justified in what it says when you sit down to really listen to it. Grand Theft Auto is a top-notch game, but it isn’t as mind-blowing and impressive as something like Portal, for example. It’s building on the foundations of previous games in the series and adding on a few extra features each time – it isn't completely new and fresh itself.

That doesn’t make Grand Theft Auto IV any less of a Game of The Year candidate and it doesn’t take anything away from the insane amount of fun to be had. What it does do though is make the entire experience a little more predictable; a lot of the time you know what’s coming beforehand and the first third of everything feels like jumping through hoops just to meet an old friend.

It’s not game-wrecking and it doesn’t detract from how great GTA IV is as a whole, but GTA IV isn’t as original and shockingly good as the franchise once was. It’s another re-polished and re-tuned iteration of a proven idea and though the game is definitely a must-buy, it also isn’t all that startling.