Now Leaving Liberty City

This past Sunday was a landmark event for me. At around 9:30pm, I defeated Grand Theft Auto 4. It was a long ride that started the day GTA4 was released and now has officially come to an end 8 weeks and 40 gaming hours later. So this week, I wanted to just take a quick minute and look back at the city that I'm now leaving in my rear view mirror and give you my final thoughts on Grand Theft Auto 4.

This is the first ever Grand Theft Auto game that I've beaten. Every other GTA game I've played, I felt got very repetitive and thus I got bored with the game and eventually, I put the game down and never touched it again. This game from the very beginning was different. I know a lot has been said about the graphics and the city, but it definitely bears repeating. This game is one of the best looking games I've ever seen. Liberty City is an incredible reflection of New York City. The streets are alive and all of the key landmarks in New York City are in the game. You truly feel like you are interacting with a real life city. And this is important because when the missions in GTA4 become repetitive (and they do), it's the city that keeps you going. It's so much fun travelling from one point to the other that you completely forget that this is your 72nd time going over the Brooklyn Bridge to kill someone.


Another huge praise to this game has to go to the supporting characters. Each one is very different and your relationship with each character is some of the deepest that you will find in a video game. Each character has one major flaw. Whether it's your cousin Roman's lack of a spine and gambling problem, or it's Derek's huge drug problem, it's as if each character is in search of some redemption and it's up to you to help them get there.

The story itself I found to be great, although it definitely has flaws. The beginning of the game is very slow. You start the game right off the boat and spend the first hour basically driving people from one place to the next. You might as well call the game Grand Theft Chauffeur It's pretty boring at first, but then picks up quickly. The game then slows down a lot just before the end. The last dozen missions are basically the same and you start to get the feeling that the designers just put these relatively useless missions in there just to extend the game. But it's all made up for in the end with a terrific ending with a major decision that's needed to be made that will drastically affect the outcome of the game. My major flaw with the game is the main character himself, Nico Bellic. Just so we're clear here, Nico is a sociopathic killer and should be shot in the head as soon as possible. He basically goes throughout the game really disgruntled and when a random person he just meets suggests he goes kill someone, he just goes right out to do it. There have to be at least 40 missions that start like this...

"Nico, I need you to travel to X and kill Y. Take care of him for me."
"Oh I don't know. Why should I?"
"Because I'm asking you to. Do it for me!"
"Ok."

Throughout the game I had to rack up a body count in the hundreds, including many cops. By the end of the game I was a walking armory and anyone that so much as looked at me wrong would get a bullet to the head without a second thought. Say I was trying to steal a car and the driver was stupid enough to yell at me...BANG! Or I'm driving down the sidewalk to avoid police and someone was walking on that sidewalk...BANG! Or say I crash land a helicopter in mid-town Manhattan and the police have the audacity to try to arrest me...BANG!

Nico Bellic is easily the worst main character in the history of gaming. His motivation is either money or revenge and the path to both is death.

But the monotony of those missions were really outshined by the few that were very memorable. There is one in the middle of the game where you rob a Bank of America and you have to shoot your way out of the bank in Manhattan against a sea of police. The only way to escape with your buddies is by jumping into a subway station and running down the tracks in the tunnel. Awesome! In another mission, you have to interrupt a prison transfer by stealing a truck and blocking off the Lincoln Tunnel and then hijack the truck and escape the cops. Awesome!

Overall, the single player campaign was an absolute joy to play and the game will be remembered for a long time after I leave Liberty City. If violent crime games is your sort of cup of tea, then this game is a must buy. However be warned, this game is much too graphic and adult for the younger gamers. Leave this kind of mature game for 30 Year Old Gamers out there.

Have a happy and safe 4th of July!

Until next time,

- The 30 Year Old Gamer