Monday, April 28, 2008

Grand Theft Auto IV sucks

I've said it before and I'll say it again: big game releases get under my skin. It's a scene we've seen so many times before (Halo 3, anyone?) as the whole world holds its collective breath waiting for the latest eight-figure production to hit store shelves. Reviewers beat each other up for the privilege of saying "wow" more loudly than anyone else, and consumers get hosed for whatever retailers can squeeze out of them. Local news programs air reports from the nearest big box store, interviewing t-shirt-clad adults who've skipped work to wait for hours - even days - so they'll be the first on their block to have it.

It's all so...I don't know, contrived.

It's a game, people. And despite its ability to provide the occasional break from news of massive job losses, record energy prices, impending food shortages, deepening recession and never-ending war, I'll argue that most folks would get more out of a nice walk around the neighborhood than a rampage through the ultraviolent virtual one served up in GTA IV.

(Before you train your pitchforks on me, allow me to clarify: I'm not anti-gaming. I've been known to fly the occasional simulated plane on occasion, and I appreciate the virtues of a spirited session with a joystick. It's the hype machine that gets me. End digression.)

I've apparently become the curmudgeonly old man who spent every summer's afternoon of my childhood on his porch mumbling under his breath about "those damn kids" and snapping errant tennis balls into his garage like a fast-reacting frog's tongue. Where's my cardigan?

Your turn: What say you of this ginormous game release?

One more thing: Captions for this week's contest are still being taken here.

35 comments:

CN said...

Aha, I love it. At first look at your post, I thought, "O great, someone else who has to put down a simple game for satisfaction. A game!" Then I continued to read, and I realized you were right...in fact, you even turned my words around, if that makes sense. I agree with you completely. Loved reading it, too.

b13 said...

OH CARMI :( Say it ain't so! Halo was a blast. I play GRAW2 nightly... And I will be online playing GTAIV after work tomorrow. These games are great stress relief and save me money in the long run. Bars and other vices cost a lot more than a $60 game ;)

Susan Helene Gottfried said...

What say I? Yawn.

I was amused by GTA for about ten minutes when I first saw it, and then I got bored. What can I say? I still get my kicks on Centipede.

CAM said...

I enjoy a game as much as the next guy, but I am not a fan of the "latest and greatest". I like to grab a $10 game from the older XBOX game bin and waste an hour or 2 a week. We'll see if it lives up to the hype, but they rarely do.

Star said...

I don't get the appeal of GTA at all. When I am looking for a time wasting activity I tend to look for somethnng relaxing and pleasant. But each to their own. As for being the first on the block to own something, everyone has their weak spots. Iphones,GTA IV, Harry Potter. But you are correct, it is very media driven.

Anonymous said...

I'm not a gamer, so I really don't care. I will say, the rule at our house is that for every unit of time my boys want to spend on the X-Box, they need to spend twice as much time reading, being outside, etc. I don't want them to get hooked on a virtual world, when there's a perfectly magnificent real world waiting to be discovered.

Cheers.

Anonymous said...

Contrived? Definitely. Launching a product is usually a very calculated procedure. This is nothing more than a business deal; product for as much money as possible. The beauty of GTA IV is, relative to most other games, the creators have clearly gone beyond what is necessary to get the job done. With all the popularity surrounding this franchise, they could have slapped a GTA sticker on an empty box and sold millions. Video games are becoming as much an artform as film or literature, sometimes more so. To say something outright sucks because you aren't into it is a bit closed minded. Just my 2 cents.

Beverly said...

I agree with you. My son loved video games, and he had his share, but I guess he had them before the days of all the hype.

Too much!!!

Sleepypete said...

It'll sell an absolute bomb cos of the history it has, plus all the hype that'll grow up around it. Hopefully it'll be a decent game to go with all that, although I won't be buying it even if I do get a PS3 for playing Blu-Ray movies.

The GTA series just isn't my type of game, although I bet World of Warcraft (which I'm thoroughly addicted to) is similar in its goalseeking approach.

Dianne - Bunny Trails said...

The almighty dollar reigns yet again. Anything for a buck, it would seem. I'm not pro- or anti-gaming, just tired of the hype, be it GTA, Furbie, WII, an IPhone, or Black Friday.

To all of it, I say, "Whatever."

Anonymous said...

Most of you aren't even gamers, so why even judge this game? Its what gamer have been waiting a long time for, and what's wrong with being excited about finally having it? Sure, it's hyped, but its not letting hardly ANYone down, unlike Halo 3. Honestly, OP, why even judge? You are obviously not a next-gen gamer, and prefer to stick with older games (your choice), but don't bring all of us "true-gamers" down. If you can't appreciate the art that gaming as become, then it's just not for you.

Anonymous said...

My PC can smoke your Xbox or PS3. i can crank up the draw distance and graphics and get better FPS on my practially HD monitor. im here because im looking for anyone who has a REAL reason GTA sucks. I didnt find it. Play and beat GTA 4, then say it sucks. dont knock it till you've tried it. Hype is exciting if you ENJOY whats being hyped about. American Idol SUCKS and so does the hype. Ive got san andreas and i cant wait for next gen graphics and physics. just imagine in two years GTA 5 next-next gen! i doubt it will be much better than GTA 4 because it wont use the full potential of technology because it has to conform to xbox 360 and ps3's standards. meanwhile i can just go buy a 200 video card in two years and lap the consoles... again.

Anonymous said...

Carmi,

Loved this post. The only thing you missed as the cardigan wearing old timer was the Scooby Doo reference: "And I would have got away with it too, if it hadn't been for you darn kids!"

Tom from IRTG

Anonymous said...

I've beaten the game. i think that if you buy this game you'll be bored with in the next, week. Sure it's more detailed, more variety. i don't thats my opinion. i think your better off just buying San Andreas, i would spend hours with friends, just more things you can do in San Andreas, alot more customization, customize your car, alot more variety in the cloths, more weapons, lots of fun cheats. Theres just soo much you can do in the previous GTA's, then in this one.

Anonymous said...

i totally agree with you anonymous person above me.personally i would of like gta iv to of had some countryside in it,all the citys look the same to me and its harder to know your way around the game than it is in san andreas.also i found the missions more fun.ive spent about 17 hours on the game (mostly onlline tbh) but now im back on call of duty 4. =) i wish san andreas was the next gen game,oh are there any planes on the game? i cant find any =/

Anonymous said...

GTA IV sucks when compared to San Andreas. There is without a doubt more to do on S.A. then GTA IV. Typically the GTA franchise incorporates more features than its predecessor.. So WTF Rockstar... I am completely disappointed with the overall content in the game. The new features (i.e. cell phone,freindship requirements)are simply ridiculous. Don't believe the HYPE.

Anonymous said...

The last two guys know what they are talking about. I beat this crappy game in 20 hours, not the 30-40 hours every review I ever read claimed.
San Andreas was way better in every way that I can think of. There were more weapons, more vehicles (this might be the first GTA without a tank) more missions, more character customization, more things to do, the city itself was bigger, it was just more fun (I can go on all day about what wasn't in GTA IV that was in previous titles.) Parachuting from the harrier jet down to area 51 and stealing a tank never got old. Neither did flying around the city with a jetpack. I cant do any of this in GTA IV! But you can go bowling, play darts, shoot pool, go to a strip club, see a show, watch TV, or browse the internet - everything you NEVER wanted to do in GTA!
I felt the missions in IV were boring and repetitive. Its car chase after car chase. If youre not in a chase you are infiltrating a base and killing a bunch of guys. Its the same thing over and over.
Usually when a sequel comes out developers add content, not take it out. This is the first game on the next-gen console too! So the question is why? The only reason I can think of is money. They hold out on the retail game so they can make millions later through downloadable content.
What it comes down to is how you want to spend your time. If youre a true gamer like me you dont want to be calling your friends to go bowling or to shoot pool or some other stupid activity. You definitely dont want to be watching TV or browsing through the internet. You want to be blowing things up and creating chaos thoughout the city. You can still do that of course but not with the variety of the last games. Youre stuck with a helicopter and a RPG and belive me it gets old fast.
I could go on all day with what is wrong with this game. I didnt even get into the multiplayer part of it. Which isnt that great when you cant host your own game or get stuck with a team full of noobs who have no idea how to play the game correctly. I didnt even mention the glitches! I find a new glitch everytime i play the game!
GTA IV definitely doesnt deserve the perfect scores it is receiving from everyone. This game is FAR from perfect. Its a regression from the previous title! It was hyped up too much and didnt deliver on content. It will join Halo 3 collecting dust on my shelf.
Terrible, terrible game! Anyone who says otherwise is a noob! Well thats all I have to say. Im going to go play Call of Duty 4 now.

Anonymous said...

A small list of things in previous GTA titles not present in GTA IV:

Harrier jet
Jetpack
Airplanes
Multiple airports
Tanks
A Helicopter with rockets
Monster Truck
Race Car
Demo derby car
Many more vehicles
Parachutes
Bicycles
Heat seaking RPG
Chainsaw
Pipe bomb
Crowbar
Brass knuckles
many more weapons including a powerful machinegun
Fire extinguisher (to put out car fires)
Character customization
Clothes and Accessories
A garage to park your car
Houses to buy
More missions
More city
Area 51
Military
Humvee (H1)
Ice cream truck
THE FUN FACTOR!

This is just off the top of my head without playing the games again. I know there is much more. Feel free to add anything i might have missed.

Anonymous said...

Heres some more things missing:

Samurai sword
Decapitations (sword or sniper w/ blood stream)
Local multiplayer
Chain Gun (One of my faves)
Flamethrower (Another good one)
Underwater swimming
Leer jet
Cessna
Jumbo Jet
Stunt plane
More planes
Helicopters

Plus for how realistic Rockstar tried to make this game its not. Niko can never remember to buckle his damn seatbelt. I go flying through the window doing 25 mph when I hit something head on. Also, the cars dont seem heavy enough. Ive hit a couple orange cones in the road and it made my car flip over on its hood. Weird huh?

Anonymous said...

Titled: The Truth about GTA IV

Lets get some facts straight about GTA IV.

According to Eurogamer.net I find that, "Grand Theft Auto IV sold 3.6 million units on its first day and 6 million units in its first week, according to publisher Rockstar Games." "That means it "surpassed all-time entertainment records for day one and week one sales by dollar value", apparently, notching up USD 310 million on 29th April and more than USD 500 million for the week."

Then a suit speaks, "Grand Theft Auto IV's first week performance represents the largest launch in the history of interactive entertainment, and we believe these retail sales levels surpass any movie or music launch to date," said Strauss Zelnick, chairman of Take-Two, Rockstar mother-company."

I disagree with the hype from the above statements I believe things need to be said, things need to be known. Somebody should listen because there is alot of stink around this GTA IV.

FACT: The success of this "interactive entertainment" GTA IV is the legacy of three previous games and a loyal following.

I ask, "What is so great about the interactivity of this game?"

A suit speaks up and says "Rockstar's goal is to make each new title in the Grand Theft Auto franchise even better than those that preceded it," said Take-Two CEO Ben Feder.

I say, "You fail." Unless you consider the possibility of DLC as part of the original. Then perhaps Ben you might rephrase yourself and say, "Rockstar's goal is the make each title in the Grand Theft Auto franchise even better than those that preceded it by having download content you can purchase."

[Why I care!]

I am pissed because GTA IV as a stand alone game is mediocre at best and yet it still made $600 million plus dollars and some dumb ass suits are never either going to care or know the truth nevermind 50% of the gaming public. Its just irritating. The dumbass, 10/10 reviews its upsetting that people get paid to do such things. You know, write reviews, pretend to be like a gamer, type alot of bullshit and talk out of their ass. Then the websites propagate all the crap again. It wouldnt be so aggravating if I didnt know games, know gta, and was a true gamer.

However I am and before this day is done I am going to say my piece.

The legacy of GTA is the success of GTA IV. GTA IV is a mediocre game at best. How do we know this? We compare it to other titles and other GTA's and just look at its features.

Lets Look:

[Basic Features]

1). Shooting-- The shooting in GOW and COD4 is both better and more satisfying and I might add even Saints Rows is equal to GTA IV's. However it is more than adequate, not freaking tastic but adequate.

2). Music in GTA IV-- It sucks. What else can you say. People are turning that crap off. It is the worse ever GTA music wise.

3). Driving-- Who cares about the driving. It is adequate. At least its not to much of a nuisance and somewhat fun. Some would say its less fun than before.

4). Story-- What the hell is up with the story. Morals, Ethics, life, liberty, pursuit of happiness. Jesus christ I just want to blow shit up. If I wanted philosophy I would open I dont know maybe a philosophy book. Oh wow it is in my game its so dramatic, sniff, damn it really made me think too. [sarcasm]

5). Friends-- The friends are annoying. The mini games coupled with the friends is for lack of better words ghey. There is no other way around it for you hardcore GTA players, you wannabe killers its just ghey. In my hardcore shooter I got someone calling me up to go .....eat, go to a ...... strip club. Yar!!!! its ghey. They could also of done better than just ripping the strippers from Vice City. Put the grahpics to work on that ass and drop the tape!

6). Funny-- There is not really that much funny in this game as opposed to earlier GTA's. Period. What you want examples? Write your on damn post.

7). Quests-- Less memorable quests than previous GTA's. Take my word for it.

8). Mini games-- Darts, Pool, bowling. They hardly qualify as a game. There is as more interactivity in a light switch or about the same as compared to these mini games. Look I am playing a really simple, stupid bowling game in my GTA IV with my stupid annoying friend. I say, "This is embarassing this is...........$600 million dollars at work. WTF!!!!!!!!!!! This is how you make $600 million dollars? This is what people enjoy? Tell me with a straight face that you dont feel like a complete dork, dufus, retard, tied up monkey or gimp sitting there in your chair .....bowling with your little npc friend. If you honestly do not there is a game called Sims I believe you might enjoy."

9). Internet-- It is stupid and not funny. Hey Rockstar I got the real web and I am going to post this long post in multiple places for realz.

10). The Shoot Outs-- Niko takes too much damage, too many police or some combination of variables. But you hardly have time ever to enjoy your mayhem or watch the fire burn and cars explode for your always speeding away, looking for your next car to steal or hiding in cover. Fire fights in GTA as they have always been are like getting steamrolled. You have to know when to bail, cut and run. But when its what you do 90% of the time its kind of a kick in the ass. GTA is as GTA does.

11). Physics/Ragdoll-- You shoot someone they fall forward, backward, left or right. During the fire fights I found you rather dont have time to go wow look at that although you occassionaly catch something unique. The wounded animation and cycle of getting back up is new and cool. However after nearly 1000 kills its really rather mute and minor.


[Missing Features]

Ok well some or many of the things [features] in the game suck. WTF they even took some things out? Yes. What? Look!
Well lets look at what is missing: [copy paste] [Irish Bhoy 92, xbox.xom forums] and from [Its Just a Game , playstation.com forums]

-Customizable Cars
-Hair cuts
-Tattoos
-Planes/Jets
-Jetpacks
-Parachutes
-Tanks
-Fun Weapons (Ex:Flame Thrower, Miniguns, Chainsaws)
-Buyable Real estate
-Tons of Clothing Apparel
-Custom Soundtracks
-Bicycles
-Taxi Missions
-Fire Dep. Missions
-Ambulance Mission
-Spike Strips
-Skydiving
-Loads of Fun Cheats
-Garages
-Night-Vision Goggles
-Finishing Moves (with the knife)
-Pizza Delivery Missions
-Hydraulics
-NOS
-Monster Trucks
-Gambling
-RC Cars
-Slo-Mo Pills
-Police Roadblocks
-Underwater Swimming
-The Moon
-Basketball
-Rampage Minigame
-Rewards for finding hidden packages
-Duel Wielding
-Leveling up
-INSTRUCTION MANUAL – this game needs a better instruction manual. Online is horribly confusing and even the tutorial only covers 10% of multiplayer. I have no idea how to setup my own match, tweaking my own settings. It took me forever to realize when ingame if I hit down on the d-pad it will show me names of people. Simple things like this need to be explained in detail by R* instead of having us users put together manuals for everyone else after mashing buttons to figure out what abilities we have.
-Camera - sure, you get a camera phone, but you can't really use it outside of missions... where do the pictures go? where do you go to see all the ones you've taken? why can't you share pics with friends for showing them all the little details you've found in this game? Even SA had a better camera than this game.
-INTERACTIVE ENVIRONMENT - mini golf course, driving range, game arcade, tennis courts, basketball courts, baseball diamonds, skateparks... none of these are interactive
-More arcade games - even SA had more than one

I say no not everyone enjoyed all those activites but you were bound to find 2-3 you really liked and 2-3 you sort of liked. You could also add features in other similiar games like Scarface and Saints Row that are nonexistent in GTA IV.

[Major Malfunction?]

What was the major malfunction with this game? GTA IV born of the legacy of 3 previous games was bred to be the best of the best. Six hundred million and growing juggernaught that has medicore multiplayer and medicore to none existent multiplayer rewards and medicore single player gameplay beyond 30-40 hours of single player. There is at least 10 games a year that fullfill these requirements 1) medicore single and multi and 2) 30-40 hours of game play. However GTA IV is suppost to be the best of the best.

Who dropped the ball?

1). Was a cardinal rule in gaming broken? Was it I am going to give them my game, my idea of a game and they can either play it or not? As opposed to giving the gamer what he wants?

2). Was it greed? DLC for the win. Who is to blame? MS, Rockstar?

3). Was it disk/storage space issues? Xbox and the small percentage of idiots who dont have harddrives?

4). Did we just get a gimped game because of the episodic missions coming later? Having a minigun might throw a wrench in the balance of some of those missions. However I am giving them to much credit I believe.

5). Going Mainstream? Other than a few things how does this game even justify mature rating? When is someone going to get some balls and make a decent mature game? Not Rockstar!

[Reality]

Meanwhile we got brilliant people [sarcasm] in the industry like Phil Harrison [ex-Sony head of development and now Infogrames president] who has predicted the death of the single-player game:

"Alone in the Dark is a beautifully crafted single-player adventure game. I don't think the industry is going to make many more of those. I just don't think consumers want to be playing games that don't have some kind of network connectivity to them, or some kind of community embedded in them, or some kind of extension available through downloadable content." [from blogs.guardian.co.uk/games/archives/2008/05]

[Present]
Which leads me back to GTA IV. There are only so many variables in the GTA IV single player game outside of missions. There is peds and there is cars and there is your weapons and there are the police and your npc friends.

Why after close to 7 years can not Rockstar take these 4-5 variables and create something fun in this sandbox world for the singleplayer? They seemed to be on the track with SA and Vice city to do something great.

Fun is relative however using the gangster, mob theme and excluding the vigilante missions and assassin missions what is there left to do in GTA IV after the story line? Zero. Zilch. Nothing. WTF!!! Brilliant. Rockstar is proving Phil right here through either 1] lack of creativity due to lack of imagination or 2] DLC for future $.

[Interactive Game of the Future?]

The peds go no where, do nothing but walk. The cars go no where but around and around. Looks like a city, but its paper thin.

Do people put out trash and is it picked up? Are people going to work? At the end of the day are they going home to their npc houses? Is the little wife making dinner? Nope. In 7 years and three games they only managed to increase the grahics and to some degree the shooting and add some weather effects.

Do the police take people to jail. No. Do they arrest them? Yes. Do people actually go in grocery stores and buy stuff and take it back to their houses. NO.

I ask what about quality over quantity. I say I seen this I done this. I beat this game. It was called GTA Liberty City back in the summer of 2002.

[Major Success Story?]

This is not a major success story this is not a $600 million plus interactive entertainment extravaganza. No its a updated graphics GTA III November 2001 with a few light switches to turn off and on and some annoying npcs and bad music. Its a load of crap. A pretty box that is completely empty and void.

Was this game overhyped? Yes! Is the gaming business a bunch of posers and kiss assess full of suits who dont know video gaming from selling craptastic movies. Yes! Yes in fact its all they know.

[Bottom line]

I got a updated graphics GTA III liberty city and the music sucks, the annoying friends suck, the mini games suck, the internet sucks and all I have is my loaded ak and a bunch of robotic npcs to shoot at or I could go online and attempt to play multiplayer but why would you do that when you have Halo and COD4? Those are multiplayer games!

Yes I look up at the statue of liberty with its beating heart and wonder wtf am I doing here. I could shoot a bunch of npcs pretending to be on holiday and shoot some police pretending to save them and perhaps get a boat then flee. But why bother I am not a psychopathic killer, I am not a newb gamer who gets thrills at fleeing screaming npcs nor do I get much out of the steamrolling chase.

You fail Rockstar. Where is my overarching quest, my constant struggle, where is my turf, my home, my gang, where is my enemy? [just $19.99 and 3 months waiting and you get all this and more] Ya right! Gothcha! WTF! LOL!

[Real Happiness!]

Niko should of just shot himself in the head then the credits rolled. For we already know or the younger gamers will soon know that life is short, boring, and full of dissapointment.

However in GTA IV I thought I might just be able to pretend for a little bit, a little while I was playing a game, having fun and actually building something in a interactive video entertainment experience.

No Rockstar you failed, the reviewers failed, as have the gamers who continue to hold it up and stuggle to maintain their illusions. The rest of us get the sick joke.

[Whats the sick joke?]

Rockstar apparently is in over their head and have blown their wad and they have left the door wide open. The chances of someone knocking them off of their pedestal are greater than ever before. The joke was we believed in them and it was sick because we thought I thought they were one of us.

This GTA IV is not even in the top 5 xbox360 games of all time. Learn it, live it, understand it, dont propagate it.

Anonymous said...

Does anybody know why the third person car cam sits of center slightly its driving me insane i play for and hour and my brain sits slightly off the left rear wheel whats the deal. first person is better but vision and frame rate sucks. gta iv biggest let down in my gaming history (since 1982)

Anonymous said...

It is all true...
GTA IV really is a major let down.
After all this time I thought I might be able to go inside a few buildings and feel like I was exploring something... but nope. The one word that describes this game is EMPTY.

Rockstar dished a steaming pile of crap onto their fans.

I know, we all bought the game, and we all got taken for a ride. Ha, ha, ha... god for you Rockstar... F'n pricks.

Anonymous said...

This game is a GTA clone at best and not a good one at that. I sure as hell won't be standing in line at midnight for the next one.

Anonymous said...

GTA4 and Halo 3 arew both games for sexually placted teens who can't get laid, so they can get a false sense of emasculation from it, thinking they are "da rude boi massiv aiiiiii", (think that's how it's said by the Wigga's, I've only listened to like 20 seconds of 50 Cent", so they can feel big about themselves; heh, gotta' say aiiiiii, otherwise people will think you're as white as the driven snw and 13 years old.

Anonymous said...

GTA is the greatest game ever!
I found this site yesterday, looks like another forum but looks more modern if you know what I mean lol... Think its worth a look anyway.

http://www.grandtheftautoonline.net

Anonymous said...

this anonymous dudue is so fuckin right....i bought the game installed it (some troubles with suckrom later) i started to play after 15min i knew that the game looks boring...grey in grey....u need a 2000€ pc to play it flowing. ( i have 2gb GEIL 667 / 2x2,8 GHz / and a geforce 8800GT and i cant make the resolution hiher than 1024x768 this sucks) there is no fun at all in the game....driving cars is horrible... so 30 min after i had this game at home....i deleted it and sold it now to a friend!this was a fuckin waste of time! Rockstar from now on i hate you!you could sell some empty boxes with a GTA IV sticker on it...for me there would be no difference....it doesn't matter what the box is saying...if u put warping paper around some bullshit it will still be bullshit!

Anonymous said...

I just bought this game and it really SUCKS! my computer meets all requirements and i have not been able to play it it suddenly stops when initializing a new game

Anonymous said...

it's god and all when you first get cause your excited then when you beat it your happy then days weeks later broing like heck,man

Anonymous said...

Wow, I really wanted GTA IV......guess I won't buy it. That is, of course if all of you aren't just jumping on the bandwagon.........

Anonymous said...

Hi an Anonymous guy came on and posted a superb GTA 4 post its started like

[quote]Titled: The Truth about GTA IV

Lets get some facts straight about GTA IV.

[/quote]

It is identical to the way of feel about the latest installment of GTA as well as hype and is a brilliantly composed post.

I also take issue with this whole developer/management mentality regarding the fact they WANT single player gaming to die, yes they want TRADITIONAL gaming to die, e.g they sell you some demo and you paying through the ear for DLC for 2 to 5 years on the pomise of a good finished product that never comes, please for the love of what matters yto you, stop buying DLC! Its sending the wrong damn message yo the publishers /suits etc and the gaming pricing is going to go out the damn window!

GTA 4 made their money because of loyal followers believing that rockstar would improve on the previous installment and as has already been proven the latest installment does not do that , I was bored with the game in 20 hours tops. (Also the shadows are the worst I have ever seen in a game)

After GTA 4 I started playing roguelikes and older or indie games with depth, now while that may seem strange to some the fact is Ive had my fill of this next gen rip off crap, shallow gameplay, in my view to many people are bought over by hype and would rather feel good playing a game with their pixel shader 95.1version cards than play a game which actually exudes the values of depth, gameplay and replay value.

I have lots of medium and high end pcs but I have stopped buying pc hardware the way I was doing because the next gen graphics are actually eating into game quality and length! Also I stupidly bought a couple of sli ready systems once upon a time and all I have to say is sorry cant comment because I havent got the incline nor time to formulate a white paper on the pros and cons of this farse! Plus I must stay on topic. I guess in short really if we all keep adopting a more money than sense attitude then we deserve all we get/wish for

I hope a new direction is taken e.g

Lets step back to a time where gameplay mattered most
Lets make games that ae equally great and work on midrange systems

I mean lets be honest here and as a person who has had high end systems well the excuse most get is they need a better system but more often than not its down to shitty optimization.

I could go on all day about the latest GTA and how I think the whole culture thats surrounding it has caused it to be created the way it was but I will finalise by mentioning reviewers, in short I think most of the mainstream ones are terrible and I whether you agree with what the person on this blogspot says I like the fact the guy is speaking his mind, thats what writers/reviewers are supposed to damned do! More often than not though I get the distinct immpression that many of the mainstream reviewers want to keep the publishers happy so they can get invites to events and first shout at the pre release previews, now I cant be sure but some of the reviews seem very corporatly inclined to me and not pro userbase .

Also I would like to see a review site that only reviewed games that they had played to they conclusion since games can be designed well fo the first hour or two of gameplay and then degenerate into rubbish. Another thing is that on a certain mainstream review site I was threatened with a ban because I bought a really bad game and outlined all the problems with it, note I never used bad language and all said was fact pertaining to actual gameplay problems, suffice to say I have never used that site again.

Anyway good luck to you guys its refreshing to see some honesty and talk from enthusiasts of games rather than fom money/corporate/fill my bank book as a priority enthusiasts

carmilevy said...

Any time I want proof positive that the gaming market is populated by less-than-literate basement-dwellers, I'll simply read some of the comments under this entry.

Seriously, folks: Get a freaking life!

Onur said...

Shut up, everyone.

All you people are doing is writing with perfect grammar, blah blah, to try and make a point.

STFU.

Anonymous said...

I HATE GRAND THEFT AUTO 4. its not fun. Its way to hard and and the consequences are too strict. I hate it and red dead redemption. I have never played any thing more boring and frustrating in a bad way

Anonymous said...

I didn't see a real reason why you think GTA IV sucks. You claimed to hate the hype, and I agree, hype is horrible. It's misleading and very rarely lived up to. However, that in itself isn't a reason why the game sucks.

Personally, I found the gameplay to be a major step-up from its predecessors, and they did a remarkable job capturing the life and appearance of New York City (except for putting the "statue of liberty" in backwards, facing toward the city)

Now it's your turn.

Angry Player said...

It sucks when it comes to playing because... YOU CANT!!!!

The game runs so damn slow you dont even want to.