Grand Theft Auto IV for Xbox 360

I hadn t been in town long - just got off the dock and met up with my cousin Roman - before I was already caught up in the sordid underbelly of humanity. Two hours in town and already I had jacked 19 cars, ran down 32 pedestrians, outran 3 cops in a high speed pursuit under the L-train that would have made Gene Hackman blanch, and gunned down 13 people - most of whom had it coming. I've represented the "Legitimate Businessman's Association", shaken down shopkeepers for their weekly tributes, driven drunk because I was too loaded to walk home, and I talked on a cellular phone while driving.

I've also thrown darts, went to a strip club, watched some television, bought some new clothes and went out on a date. I haven t murdered any prostitutes yet (well, aside from accidentally running one over), but it's on the to-do list.

Say hello to Liberty Cities newest immigrant: Niko Bellic, a transplanted eastern European and a man of many talents. He's arrived in the New World with hopes of The American Dream, but comes to learn that all his cousin has to offer is a dilapidated apartment and a crummy job at his cab company.

Niko and Roman's relationship plays out a lot like the old Saturday Night Live sketch with Steve Martin and Dan Aykroyd as two wild and crazy guys, but with a darker undertone. As Niko falls in with a low level Ukrainian mobster (thanks to Roman's constant gambling), things quickly becomes a story of betrayal and revenge.

THE GAMEPLAY
As the story unfolds, I found myself being drawn in. When I saw the first trailer for GTA IV a year ago, I just laughed and rolled my eyes because it seemed like it was Borat does Liberty City. However unlike Tommy Vercetti or CJ from GTA: Vice City and GTA: San Andreas, I found myself really caring about what happened to Niko, so much so that I found myself doing the main missions of the story arc more than the side missions just so I could further his story and get to the plot points more quickly.

Yeah, he's a hired gun, but he's a strangely likeable guy with is own code of honor. CJ was a pretty decent "normal guy drawn into a bad scene" kind of character, but Nico's a lot more developed in that sense. He seems like a good guy in a bad world. I only hope that when Rockstar does GTA V that they revisit Niko and his family instead of coming up with a new protagonist.

First before I go on, let me be perfectly clear - this game is not for kids. Grand Theft Auto IV is rated mature for a very good reason: it has lap dances, blood, bullets, sex and a constant stream foul language. And it's all very entertaining.

Despite all that, is surprising how long the game goes without forcing you to commit a crime. You can really go quite a while using cars you don't have to steal and only getting into minor scuffles before you're running from the cops and shooting people in alleys. It's a nice touch in a game that starts with the idea of trying to get a fresh start. Certainly a far cry from Vice City Stories where you go from a straight laced military man to carjacking for . . . no real reason, honestly.

You want free will? How about the time I went out with Roman to the strip club and found a shotgun in the back room. When I picked it up, the weapon automatically equipped - and promptly agroed every bouncer in the room. As the storm descended upon me, I opened fire . . . and promptly blasted Roman in the back.

Whoops.

Anyway, that puts him in the hospital and I run the hell away (looking not too dissimilar to an old Benny Hill sketch, I might add - this game NEEDS to save replays). A few days later, I get a call from Roman, telling me to pick him up from the hospital.

So the rain's pouring down and I'm driving WAY too fast and like a total idiot when I get to the hospital . . . and promptly run over Roman, putting him back in the hospital.

Double whoops.

One of the (admittedly minor) flaws with the game are that none of the mini-games are particularly distinguished. The pool and bowling are okay, but honestly I've been spoiled by Wii Sports. The gunplay is fun, but the fist fights are lackluster and awkward. Of course GTA is mostly about driving cars, and in that regard Rockstar has the game in the bag. You have a GPS system that makes navigating this huge city a breeze, you have a wide range of camera angles to choose from while you drive, and the car damage feels very realistic (if not extremely exaggerated). Very well done.

THE GRAPHICS -
Anyway, elsewhere around town, this is hands down the best looking of the Grand Theft Auto games by far. While I've never been to New York and have no real-life basis to judge from, it's shocking how detailed the city is. From the glistening skyline of Algonquin (Liberty City's version of Manhattan) to the garbage strewn streets of Dukes (otherwise known as Queens) - all five Burroughs are rendered with amazing accuracy and detail. Sidewalks are filled (while I'm not driving on them, that is) with wiseguys, junkies, prostitutes, con men, hotdog venders, hustlers, and the occasional law abiding citizen. They all have personality, never afraid of letting you know what's on your mind, or reacting to you in their own special away (the time that I jacked a car and the owner instead of running away from the scene of the crime came back and tried to open the door - and wound up hanging on for dear life as I drove away and tried to scrape him off on the cement barriers - I knew I was in love with the game.)

THE SOUND -
The overwhelming sandbox mode of Liberty City does have a drawback though - it can take a long time to get from place to place - especially annoying when you have to replay a mission from time to time.

However, the one thing that makes that pill go down easier? The soundtrack. Rockstar is famous for their ability to find the most obscure and offbeat songs and include them in the game. Vice City was a perfect example of their ability to get the score to match the mood perfectly, with their wide range of eighties tunes. Here we get the two mandatory talk radio stations, a station of pop music from behind the Iron Curtain (Russian, east German, Slavic and the like), the Bob Marley station, rock, jazz and funk soul classics. Nearly 200 songs are included, sporting acts like David Bowie, the Who and Russian punk band Leningrad. While the funk and disco stations are great (big surprise there, huh), my favorite is probably Radio Vladivostok - some of the songs there are downright infectious and demand listening too. I can only hope that the GTA IV CD set is forthcoming.

Oh, and I would be remiss if I didn't mention the television. While strictly not sound, the TV shows you can watch at your safehouses are easily as twisted and demented as the radio stations are. I spent quite literarily hours watching television until my roommate pointed out the ironic fact that I was watching someone watch TV.

REPLAYABILITY -
A typical GTA and GTA clone game doesn't have much replayability. Previous editions of Grand Theft Auto, and similar games like Godfather: Blackhand Edition or Bully: Scholarship Edition didn t have much reason to revisit the game once you completed the story. However, things may not be as bleak for GTAIV - there's a multiplayer aspect - various deathmatches and king of the hill scenarios and the like - that should extend the life of the game. Add in the download content coming soon, and we might have an all new ball game on our hands.

That said - even without the multiplayer or download content coming, I've been playing for 40 hours now and I'm not even half way to the end of the game, with only 45% of the game completed. One pass will take you a good long time. . . .

WOULD I BUY THIS AGAIN IF MY COPY WERE STOLEN?
Without a doubt.

THE BOTTOM LINE -
With a character you honestly care about, with 80 hours or more of gameplay, with an amazingly detailed playground to go to town with, with clever writing and a healthy dose of satire and tongue in cheek parody, you would be a fool to pass up Grand Theft Auto IV.