Top Five Console Games of the Year 2008

Console Game of the Year – Grand Theft Auto IV

Publisher: Rockstar
UK Price: £24.99 Incl. VAT
US Price: $53.99 Incl. Tax
Full Review Here

Grand Theft Auto IV may have had some problems on the PC platform, where interference from Rockstar Social Club and Games For Windows Live has kept it from being all that gratefully accepted, but it’s still the undisputed king of the consoles. The huge margin it leads by in the reader vote proves that!

Grand Theft Auto IV is in some regards the same as every other game in the series – big open city, lots of cars and the irrepressible urge to just go barrel-rolling over nearby skyscrapers rather than actually bother with the missions.

In other ways though, Grand Theft Auto IV is very different from any of Rockstar’s previous releases. It’s not just about being bigger and more detailed – it’s about learning to take things a bit more seriously.

So, with GTA IV Rockstar has finally eschewed the MC Hammer jokes of San Andreas and done away with the Scarface rip-off that was Vice City. They’ve grabbed the game by the cojones and pulled it right up to the modern day, discarding the neon colours and camp appeal of the previous titles.


The new look for GTA IV is full of browns and greys, proving more fashionably bleak than your average film student premiere if the sound is turned off. On face value it may look about as charismatic a view as going to the toilet against the Berlin wall, but there’s a reason for it at least – Rockstar is trying to actually tell a proper story this time around.

The central character in Rockstar’s plot is one Niko Bellic, a Serbian immigrant who’s come to Liberty City, America, to find the American dream and settle some old scars. After being caught up in the army for a bit Niko is confident and capable, but constantly off-balance in the unfamiliar underworld he finds himself in. To him the criminal endeavours that accelerate him through to the high-life are nothing but distractions though and as time goes on more and more is revealed about the real reason Niko has come to America.

Speaking of distractions, Liberty City is now more alive than ever, practically thrumming with energy of its own. It’s no longer a case of scripted missions and randomly wandering civilians, it’s more like real life with a host of twittering friends and family members contacting you by phone.


Keeping on top of your duties to your friends and family is one of the biggest pains in Grand Theft Auto IV, especially if you don’t particularly like the characters, but it both opens up the new features of the game-world and introduces you to them. Strip clubs and bars have always been a prominent part of the GTA series, but never to the same extent as in GTA IV where they are accompanied and rounded out by new minigames and locations. You can now explore everything from bowling allies to fairgrounds.

When all that is said done then there’s still the rest of the open world to explore too, which is far bigger in Grand Theft Auto IV than in any of the previous games. Liberty City is a huge, sprawling mess and is more than enough to intimidate even the most sarcastic of urbanites, so there’s plenty to explore.

There’s more than enough to find too, with the usual smattering of collectible items, super cars and hidden stunt jumps littering the city as well as a host of secret locations. Grand Theft Auto IV has more than enough to keep players going for a long, long time. In the current economic climate that longevity and replayability probably enough to earn it the number one spot, though we’re guessing interactive strip clubs don’t hurt either.

Is there a particular game you're looking forward to next year, or do you object to this years winner? Let us know in the forums - and have a Happy New Year!