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- Grand Theft Auto 4
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| Grand Theft Auto 4 | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Oct 23 2008, 06:28 PM (200 Views) | |
Neo Metallix
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Oct 23 2008, 06:28 PM Post #1 |
~Doomsday Overlord~
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I just rented this game... To my surprise, it doesn't feel like the previous GTAs with better graphics. It feels like a whole new game(unlike Vice City and San Andreas which felt exactly like GTA3), although I still don't like it. I'm still bored with the sandbox genre. It's always the same... drive around do nothing, run do nothing, shoot the same people, etc, etc. The missions aren't even that fun either so far and I don't like the changes much even if they're fresh. Now it feels like a half assed version of Driver. It has taken a lot of things from that series and continues to do so with GTA4. One big thing is the wanted system where cops are less likely to recognize you in another car. The more realistic driving doesn't feel right to me and most of the cars are slow. Maybe I've been spoiled by the greatness of Uncharted, maybe I haven't played it long enough, but so far it's pretty dull... |
   Puncture the Porcupine, my fancharacter! | |
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| Lord Master of Darkness™ | Oct 23 2008, 06:33 PM Post #2 |
 
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I suspect that Nail Strafer will voice his opinions on this game soon enough... and for once, I think he'll agree with you  from what he's told me about the game, he's of a similar opinion. But having not played it yet myself, I shall refrain from passing comment... 
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| Nail Strafer | Oct 23 2008, 07:50 PM Post #3 |
Flying Battery Act 2
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Actually... It seems like the longer you play the game, the more it grows on you.
Then if you don't like sandbox games, why are you still playing them? Why don't you go find a genre that you do like? I know I hate sports games (minus racing), so I avoid them like hell and I'm a much happier man for it.
Now this is something I agree with. After San Andreas, the mission design is rather boring. San Andreas got kind of out there with some missions (invading Area 51 to steal a jetpack!), but at least the craziness made it awesome. But GTA4 takes it closer to reality, which I think was a bad idea.
So? What's wrong with that? I do not mind ripoff games when they improve upon the ripoffee...and GTA3 did that in spades to Driver 2. And ever since then Driver's just been trying to play catchup...ironically copying a lot of things from GTA in the process. Driver Parallel Lines did this like crazy. Unfortunately for them, GTA was still much better at being GTA. The only things Driver really had on GTA was the replay mode, and the nicer graphics. But...Parallel Lines doesn't have a replay mode, and GTA4 has pretty much dominated in graphics.
Actually, Parallel Lines did a fair share of its own ripping off beforehand. Parallel Lines had SWAT trucks come after you plus helicopters. Both of these were in GTA3, which came out five years before Parallel Lines. You know what? I'm actually tired of this "ripoff" talk... Let's face it. Both series are always copying off each other anyway, so it really doesn't matter. It's kind of hard to use this point to make one look better than the other, since they both do it to each other a lot. Anyway...I didn't like GTA4 much at first either. The problem is there's not a lot going on in the early part of the game, and you're getting lots of tutorials thrown at you too. But the further you get, the more it grows on you. Because you get more areas to explore, plus more toys to play around with. The real great part about the game is the story. Nearly all the characters are well-acted, and a few are actually incredibly likeable, like Niko and Brucie. The further you go in the game the more you get attached to these people. The little conversations and banter the characters have whenever you drive to a location is one of my favorite parts of the game. Sometimes I'll purposefully drive slower to the location of a mission just so I can hear the entire thing. Furthermore, the combat system is leaps and bounds better than it used to be too. You've got quite a few options for gun battles, including ducking behind cover, firing blindly around corners and over walls, locking onto targets (and you get to see their life meter around the recticle too), plus just taking bullets out of guns instead of being forced to change to that weapon type to get them. My personal favorite bit is being able to move the cursor slightly when you are locked onto an enemy...because it lets you go for headshots while staying locked on at the same time. In every other game you could only have one or the other at a single time. Have you tried Multiplayer yet? It's a huge blast, let me tell you. You don't lose any of the flexibility you have with the game's engine in single player. So, you've got all kinds of fun choices for how to beat the other players, not to mention a lot of different play modes. Granted, with a fanbase like GTA you won't run into many mature people, but it is nice to play against actual human beings. But like I said before...I really do wish the mission design matched the fun and hilarity that you got in San Andreas. I miss stealing Harriers and blowing up Russian spy boats, a lot. Edited by Nail Strafer, Oct 23 2008, 08:02 PM.
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Neo Metallix
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Oct 23 2008, 08:10 PM Post #4 |
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~Doomsday Overlord~
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I never said I hated them... In fact, I should have just said games similar to GTA. Sandbox can be very different from running around in a city stealing cars. Nothing will ever be as good as the first time I played GTA3 though... It was fresh and new, but now it has lost its charm. To me at least. I was hoping GTA4 would break that. Again to my surprise it broke the "old" GTA feel from the PS2 era, but didn't add enough to excite me like it once did. It's still the same old thing with a new feel.
Nothing's wrong with that, I was just thinking a talented developer like Rockstar could come up with their own ideas. And of course GTA3 improved upon Driver 2... HELLO!!! GTA3 wasn't designed on the PSone... Driver was always going to evolve into having guns and hitting people, it just was not possible on the PS1.
I hope so, but I only rented it and it has not given me any reason to spent $60. Not even close, especially with much more appealing games coming out. |
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Puncture the Porcupine, my fancharacter! | |
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| Louie82Y | Oct 23 2008, 08:17 PM Post #5 |
Mushroom Hill Act 2
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I agree with Metallix, GTA4 is dull and boring, and the realism they tried to incorporate doesn't feel to good. I rented it when it came out, couldn't stand it so I brought it back the next day. I loved all the previous GTA's but this one sucks. Also Driver is awesome, I think it's better then GTA, Driv3r is the best imo. |
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| Nail Strafer | Oct 24 2008, 04:11 AM Post #6 |
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Flying Battery Act 2
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You know, just think. If the Driver team had waited a year or two and designed Driver 2 for the PS2...Driver would probably be the legendary series GTA is today. But nope...it came out in like 2000 I think...the same year the PS2 was coming out. And apparently Rockstar had the greatest idea of all by just waiting for the new hardware, so they could go far beyond anything Driver 2 was capable of. Edited by Nail Strafer, Oct 24 2008, 04:16 AM.
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Neo Metallix
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Oct 24 2008, 07:40 AM Post #7 |
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~Doomsday Overlord~
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Driver was already legendary at that time, but a plagiarizing game stole all of its thunder which didn't help when they rushed the third game out. If it was polished, it would have done so much better. I still think Driv3r > Vice City though... Anyway, on topic. I played it some more today... I just hate the new physics. It's like they tried to copy driver or just become more realistic, but the driving isn't very realistic at all. It feels like every car is 4000+ lbs. and sluggish. I do like the new combat system though(which I hadn't gotten into much last time). Still... Not the game I was hoping to rekindle my love for the series. I may get it in the future if GTA5 isn't already out and GTA4 is in the bargain bin. |
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| Nail Strafer | Oct 24 2008, 08:54 AM Post #8 |
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Flying Battery Act 2
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Can we please drop this ripoff talk? I got plenty of evidence that Driver did its fair share of ripping off too, but what’s the point of laying it all out? It doesn’t make one series look better than the other since they both do it so much anyway. I’d much rather discuss GTA4 itself.
That’s definitely not Driver physics. Driver cars, from what I remember, tend to feel a lot lighter and want to slide around more. You know, because they were aiming to emulate 1970s style car chases you’d see in the movies of that era. Although sometimes they feel a little too slippery, which makes for problems in missions where you need to be very precise. There are a few missions in Driver 2 that still give me nightmares because of this. Your tail might swing too much, and then smack a lightpole, which sends you into a spin, which causes you to run out of time. That kind of thing. To be honest with you…GTA4 did do a good job following realism. Most cars in real life weigh around 3,000 to 4,000 pounds, and this is consistent with what the game shows. And it’s not every car either...you can notice definite differences between vehicles. The Honda CRX look-alike feels a lot lighter on its feet compared to the Cadillac Escalade look-alike, for example. You can solve a lot of your problems with the handling just by driving smaller cars. I do like the feeling of weight behind each vehicle. It’s something that most games don’t pull off well, and yet it’s something you notice in cars in real life. Until this game, most GTA cars felt rather light. It made them too easy to flip over compared to real life, which is doubly bad when you consider the car will blow up when you do that. I’m so glad they took that out…and the fact that you have to shoot at a car’s engine to blow it up now. You can’t just keep shooting the bumper over and over again. Although whether you like realism is up to you. Sometimes I do miss the lighter, arcadey physics of older GTA games. But now that the cars have a lot more weight, you don’t have to worry too much about flipping over, or being sent into a crazy spin for the smallest impacts. That's extremely beneficial for timed missions. Edited by Nail Strafer, Oct 24 2008, 08:56 AM.
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Oct 26 2008, 12:45 PM Post #9 |
Lava Reef Act 2
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Alright, GTA IV. Perfect graphics, incredibly detailed, fun shooting... what could ruin a wonderful game like this? Stress. Since when I used L and R to guide, I was under a terrible stress. Follow trains, follow cars, try to survive a car chase... I'm hating GTA IV right now. |
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Neo Metallix
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Oct 27 2008, 10:46 PM Post #10 |
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~Doomsday Overlord~
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I tried out the Sixaxis tutorial they have on the game... It's kind of weird... I could control the bikes and boats with the tilting, but I was all over with the helicopter. It's fun for once in awhile or just to see what it's like, but motion controls just don't work in this game like they do WarHawk.
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Puncture the Porcupine, my fancharacter! | |
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