San Andreas: the size, the modifications, the customizations, the hoods. What a delight that was.
They said this one was a step back. They said it was smaller. They said it wasn't as much fun. They said the driving was rubbish, that it was too realistic now. They said the missions were repetitive and boring. And I believed it for so long, I wouldn't give it a chance...
A year on I decided to give it a go- it can't be that bad can it? Well, I've finished the missions now, and I can say it is on par, if not better than San Andreas.
This isn't a big county, its a city. But the amount of detail that as gone into every corner, every park, every port, every inch of it is mind-boggling. There is as much to do in this congested city as there is in miles upon miles of highways in San Andreas.
Not as much fun? Speeding down 5th Avenue from Harlem to Downtown isn't fun? How about a AK-47 shoot-up in a subway station? Or on Brooklyn Bridge with a rocket launcher? Or on the Airport runway? Waging war single handedly against the police and military in the middle of Times Square isn't fun?
The driving is more realistic- perhaps too realistic (One of the very few frustrating things this game is the way your car can spin out of control when your in a hurry). But you quickly get over it when you realise you can't just bomb it down a highway and cut corners and not expect to lose some degree of steering control.
Repetitive missions? Absolute load of tosh. The main missions which push the story on are varied and each one is unique and memorable. Museum, apartment block and hospital shoot-outs. Drug deals gone wrong. Sniping. Working with the trash men. Car and helicopter chases. The game is worth playing alone for THAT bank robbery mission....
Too many people focus on the differences this game has with San Andreas. The fact is that this is a totally different environment and characters. Niko is a poor immigrant who is fulfilling the Scarface fantasy. He is not CJ. He is not out to bulk up, wear baby blue hat and matching sneakers, and gain respect from his crew. Its about accumulating wealth. Doing connected people's dirty work. Making a living. Moving up from cheap tracksuit bottoms, rubbish cars and grimy Hove Beach/Bronx to £1000 Perseus suits, Super GT cars and Manhattan apartments.
San Andreas is still one of my all time favourite games. But GTA IV is a very worthy successor, and rewarding for those who see it for what it is, not for what it isn't i.e. San Andreas 2.