27)Grand Treft Auto-4 Reviews Part-2 (Ps3/Xbox360)

Grand Treft Auto-4

Like tons of games now, a cover system has been implemented, although this one just isn't as good. First, you go into R1 to enter cover mode, with your side stuck against a wall. The reticle automatically pops up so you can blindfire here. However, it's quite hard to spray some bullets at many people at once due to having the game require you to hold down R2 just to continue shooting. If you release R2 at all, you'll go back into cover, so strategic shooting just doesn't work here, and you'll waste many bullets at once.
Sometimes, when you're at a corner, you won't stick to the place that you want and will go to the other side. It might seem that the cover system just should've been aborted to begin with, it just doesn't work here, yet they try to heavily emphasize its use in missions, especially when your enemies use this system too.

The camera is another issue that has hindered the shooting. The camera now moves along with Niko to automatically adjust to facing the direction that Niko is facing. This is so the new over the shoulder view can work with the game. It's rather annoying, especially in the past when you could pretty much control the camera where you want to. Running quickly away from cops and turning around to aim at them is a huge annoyance here. It's a massive flaw and although it takes a while to get used to, I just wonder how much better it would be if they had kept that old camera system. It is just makes it an unnecessary nuiscance.

The driving physics have improved here a bit, although it takes quite a while for cars to accelerate, and accelerating at turns is just annoying. A big issue is the camera: the camera is just too low and hinders what you'll be seeing ahead of you. Cars here are still floaty so flipping around is just commonplace here.

Missions – Missions are now mostly cell phone based. Your cousin gives you a phone and him and his superiors call you and tell you what to do. It's pretty much the same phone as Liberty City Stories, except this one is more refined and is interactive. Rockstar has claimed that the game will take you about 90+ hours to complete. It sort of is true, especially since the game really doesn't have to end with its free roam. However, the missions here will probably take you only about 24 hours and even less if you don't die as often. The missions are just as repetitive as before, not many changes from what has been done.

Just like what Madden has done, GTA has done with their own formula. Same exact missions, just better graphics. However, there are some pretty neat mini games on the side. There's darts, pool, bowling, and even going to see a show. However, the idea of it is better than it actually is. These minigames just aren't fun and are quite simple and bland. You can definitely tell that they were more of an afterthought.

Story (7/10)

The story is what will compel you to finish the missions due to its repetitive nature. However, it's not one of its strong points, considering how many games have a much, much better story. You start out as a man named Niko Bellic, a Russian who is fresh off the boat. He is there to see his cousin, Roman, after hearing his promises of how great it is. Niko soon realizes that Liberty City just isn't the place he thought, but however, he is there for other reasons as well. There are quite a few twists here, but it still rates as something along the lines of a Hollywood B-type gangster movie. However, I must warn you, people just seem to spout a bunch of nonsense that have nothing to do with progressing, so you'll probably find yourself skipping most of the cutscenes if you're impatient.

Multiplayer (6/10)
There are many different modes here including Cops and Crooks, Bomb da Base, and Deathmatch. They are pretty fun, for a while, except it's really simple stuff. Finding weapons and shooting people. However, you can jack cars and ram over your opponent. This does get old quite fast due to its simplicity. There is no respawn count like in other games, it's just replaced by a now loading screen. There are also plenty of frame drops in multiplayer, it's as if the system just couldn't handle it much. Playing online with 15 other people while having cops chasing you is just a nightmare, especially for those people who think the smoothness of a game is important.

Conclusion

Although it's a good game, it just has done what is already been done. We have already seen this before, and by now, I'm beginning to think that maybe I've just outgrown GTA. There are better visuals, but it's the gameplay and innovation that made the previous titles great. GTAIV Ps3 has just failed to do that for me. Maybe you're wondering whether this is a rent or a buy? It's a definite buy if you're a GTA fan, however, if you're looking for a deeper game or have already gotten tired of GTA3, it's a definite rental at best.

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26)Grand Theft Auto-4 Reviews Part-1 (Ps3/Xbox360)

"Rockstar, you guys have done it again! Key word: AGAIN"

GTAIV Ps3 is definitely one of the most hyped titles….ever. Even if you don't play games, you've most likely heard of it somewhere, probably from kids who play it at school, coworkers, CNN, radio, or even on a delinquent kid's permanent record. Let's agree, it's everywhere! However, the main question: Does this game live up to all the hype it's getting?
GTAIV takes place in… yup… you've guessed it. Liberty City. After seeing that exact same city in FOUR of Rockstar's games already, it makes you wonder why Rockstar hasn't thought to innovate instead of boring the same audience with a next gen rehash of the same game at the same location. Fact is- they haven't. They've promised us many things about this new gen, but besides the upgraded graphics and animations, I just fail to see what new things GTAIV brings to the table as opposed to the last generation of gaming.

Graphics (7/10)

I definitely give Liberty City some credit here – the city is relatively large. Buildings are huge, highways are rather complex, and there is a lot more detail here. Despite how massively flawed it is, the city is huge, and you'll just marvel at how big it is. I'd say that Liberty City has doubled in
size in comparison to the last GTA3. But however, this ‘marveling' will be short lived, especially when glaring flaws soon hit you right in the middle of gameplay:ps3

Frames per second – For those who get queasy from some games that run at a choppy frame rate, well, this'll make a really great vomit inducer. The framerate is inconsistent with frequent drops throughout that the inconsistency has become consistent itself. Some games have problems with the frame rate being awful when a lot of action is on screen. Well, the frame rate will drop anytime, even if you're running through the park. Of course, I'll have to take into account the big city and the pedestrians being a factor, but seriously, the last thing I need is a bunch of framerate drops with cops and crooks on my tail.

Visual quality – Apart from Skyscrapers and overlapping highways, the visual quality doesn't even pass up to be decent. Looking afar ahead of you, everything is incredibly blurry. Seriously, I'm not exaggerating or even kidding, it is incredibly blurry, and this may just ruin the whole atmosphere for some people. And for those queasy people that I mentioned, this'll be another great reason to have a bucket next to you when you play. When driving, looking into the blurry and jaggy distance will almost guarantee a headache. You'll probably say one word when looking at this: Ew. Up close, things do look better, however jaggy they may be.

Pop in – This is definitely a problem here. It really does get bad. People, cars, buildings, trash cans, mailboxes, lampposts, and signs all pop in at times. Usually, it's far away, but often times, it's fairly close and you'll sometimes bump into things you don't see, causing the police to go into alert. This gets a lot worse when you're driving fast. There was a mission where I was chasing someone on a motorcycle at blazing fast speed, the road became completely blank, and 3 seconds later, textures and objects just popped up. The thing is, Rockstar tried to go for realism in GTAIV,PS3 however, they must realize that pop ins like this do lose that sense of realism and immersion.

The physics engine has improved a whole lot here. Shooting people while they're running will make them trip and fall. It's quite funny to shoot someone on foot just to see this happen. However, it seems as these pedestrians are really, really weak while at it. I mean, just walking against someone would literally make them fall to the ground. However, you're really weak as well. You might want to seriously avoid even slow moving traffic. Even a car that runs at you in 2 mph will knock you to the ground making Niko squeal in pain.

Gameplay (6/10)

If you've played any of the past series, the gameplay hasn't changed here much. It's still the same old GTA PS3with the same classic style of missions – drive here, shoot someone, shoot a bunch of people, try to get away from someone, deliver something, etc, rinse, repeat. Yay, fun, right? It's doing the same exact thing the past versions have done except with different cutscenes in between. It's definitely an easy way out in order to play the safe game. There are, however, things about this gameplay that has changed:

Shooting – The controls have been a lot more revamped and resemble more of a linear third person shooter now, much like Kill.Switch, Uncharted, and Gears of War. However, this isn't done too well, considering this shooting system just doesn't work in a type of open world and non-linear game such as this. You press L2 halfway to go into free aim, you press L2 all the way to go into lock on. People here move quite fast, so most of the time, you'll just end up going back to the lock on system. Anyway, while aiming, it brings you into an over the shoulder view mode, but I can definitely say that there was not much thought into this. The over the shoulder mode just doesn't work in this type of game - In this free, open world, you need to view more of your surroundings, yet, it focuses up on what's in front of you, something that would only work in a linear game. The only time it works is during the linear missions, but it's still an annoyance every where else.

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25)FallOut-3 (Xbox360) Reviews Part-2

The sheer number of different characters you can create is staggering, you could go through the game completely unarmed if you wish, or you could charge your way through using only the biggest and most explosive weapons available, like Rambo. Whatever you choose, levelling up and then spending more skill points provides a great sense of satisfaction as your character progresses, you feel as though you are learning the ways of the waste land where you struggled at first.

Kind of like a futuristic Aragorn. The levelling up takes a more traditional role in earning experience, rather than practicing skills and then sleeping as in Oblivion, I prefer the Fallout 3 method, it is less broken and exploitable in my opinion.

In addition to merely improving skills, you can assign Perks to your character. Like "Gun Nut" where you gain a boost to your Small Guns and Repair skills, or "Gunslinger" where you become more accurate with pistols and there are some that are unrelated to stats, such as "Mysterious Stranger" where occasionally a sharpshooter will arrive to assist you in combat, and "Here and Now" which grants you an immediate extra level to learn another perk and increase stats further. There are many perks in the game and they have a big effect on your character and his passage through the game. The character development system is very in-depth, allows for numerous different classes or builds, and is exceptionally satisfying and well done.

But the real delicious, main course of Fallout 3 is the exploration of the atmospheric game world. The wasteland is BIG, there are a ton of locations to find and many of them lead to underground, dark and dangerous caves full of mutants and other nasty creatures with a penchant for ripping your face off. Many of these underground sections are a combination of Metroid Prime, Resident Evil and Bioshock. The atmosphere and tension is palpable, and you will be kept on the edge of your seat for much of these subterranean excursions. I was exploring a place called Vault 87, it had been overrun by Super Mutants and was dark and derelict, I crept around with my torch on carefully looking around each dark corner for the next enemy. I then read some information about a sinister experiment that had been carried out the residents of the vault and my heart was in my mouth! Particularly when I encountered the result of said experiment.

The game also employs a retro feel, with many references to 1940s and 50s American culture, such as old songs that play on Galaxy News Radio station. This adds a unique atmosphere to the game and there is some genuine poignancy when you come across some intact remnants of the pre-war world, it makes you wonder who lived there and what they did. Bethesda should be commdended for their effort and attention to detail, there are so many pieces of information written about, or by the pre-war residents of each area, it helps build up a vivid picture about what the world was like and what exactly happened. The sheer amount to do is fantastic. If you rigidly follow the main story, you will miss so many areas, some of them don't even appear to have quests. I found a huge foundry that was just full of Raiders for me to kill with no other apparent purpose other than some tasty loot. Exploration is essential if you want to get the most from the game, it is full of optional areas and quests for you to undertake and there is A LOT to be missed out on.

The world design isn't completely flawless, there are numerous invisible walls and often large piles of rubble are dumped in places the game doesn't want you to go through. Also, many of the underground metro stations have a similar design, as if there was a basic template for each one that they changed slightly, like mass production. However, they are metro stations so they are obviously bound to be similar and it doesn't detract from the variety of the games locations.

Some of the sidequests are incredibly well fleshed out and turn into veritable novels of their own with multiple solutions. A settlement is beleagured by a mysterious gang known as the Family, do you find them and kill them, or negotiate peace between them or even join them? Another sidequest has you either track down a renegade Android and return him to his employer or protect his identity and stop him returning to what he regards as slavery on behalf of an organisation known as the Rail Road. There is a huge number of choices to undertake and they all have a big effect on the world.

There is a lot to think about and often these choices have an effect on your Karma. Obviously there is good and bad karma and whichever you acquire will alter the available quests and rewards and the general opinion of you. You can choose to disarm a bomb or blow it up and an entire town with it, straight off the map. While the Karma and morality system isn't quite as in-depth and integral to the game as in the Fable series, for example, it is still in-depth enough to warrant playthroughs as both a Good and Evil character as well as Neutral. There are exclusive achievements for the two alignments or for being neutral, and if you suffer from gaming OCD like I do, then you are going to go through Fallout 3 at least twice, like it or not.

Similarly to the sidequests, there are multiple ways to tackle some of the main storyline quests. Early on you can follow your father to Galaxy News Radio headquarters, carry out a quest there and gain more information as to his whereabouts. I, however, undertook a sidequest that inadvertently led me to Rivet City, where I encountered a scientist whom my father worked with and gave me information of his whereabouts that way. The variety in this game ensures that no game is entirely the same. You can also play for hours and hours and still find something new or a new place that you've never been to before. This is about the most open ended RPG that you will find.

One disappointing thing about Fallout 3 is that there is an "end." Once you finish the last storyline quest, you must revert to an earlier save because you cannot continue onwards after the ending credits. I do not really understand the reasoning for this, they should have changed it. Also, the ending itself and the final quest feels incredibly rushed and is if they didn't really think it through or couldn't be bothered in wrapping up the story in a satisfactory way. There is no big boss battle and no real challenge. But nevertheless, it is a harsh complaint to make when there is so much to see and do in the world and so many places to go and quests to undertake, the main storyline is a remarkably small part of the game indeed.

Fallout 3 has a relatively steep learning curve, and in the beginning of the game you can find yourself struggling. This is due to the daunting nature of the game, it is so open-ended that it is difficult to know exactly where to start and establishing a firm grip on the game can take some time and perserverance. I found myself frequently having my arse handed to me on a plate by Super Mutants on multiple occasions during the start of my adventure and my Fallout experience was one of frustration. However, once you persevere and begin levelling and improving stats the game really becomes notably easily to the extent where I would deem it necessary to play on the "Hard" difficulty setting towards the end of the game, just because there is no challenge at all and you're essentially a one man army. Ammo becomes far less scarce in general, and even less so with one or two perks gained through levelling, and this is a shame as it eliminates some of the survival horror feel of the game. Being on edge and feeling tense is difficult when you're carrying a fully charged Plasma Rifle and fifteen Frag Grenades.

The above mentioned ability to change the difficulty setting at any point in game is a strange decision from Bethesda. Whenever the game gets difficult it is very tempting to switch the difficulty down to Very Easy and then blast the enemies to pieces before returning to the default difficulty setting. I think it would be better if you chose the difficulty setting you wished to play on before beginning your game and then not let you switch between settings as it suits you. There is a penalty however, as playing on an easier setting nets you less experience, but when the enemies are so simple to defeat it isn't much of a loss really as improving your character is of far less importance.

Fallout 3 is simply a game that you must own. It really is exceptional value for money. A huge open world that encourages and rewards exploration, numerous sidequests that net you achievements and then many smaller quests will keep you engrossed on a single playthrough for weeks and possibly even months. Add to this many different decisions and solutions to playing through the game and you are definitely going to return to this game time and time again. This is without a doubt one of the very best Xbox 360 games, this is a unique blend of FPS, RPG, survival horror and adventure game and one of the finest video game experiences I have had for years. Many Fallout fans will be slightly disappointed with the direction the series of taken, but I for one am glad I was introduced to this series and it will undoubtedly attract more fans to the original games. Fallout 3 is an excellent, innovative game with a high amount of polish and effort, its flaws are extremely minimal. Purchase it now and you will not be disappointed.
Review by Osafune2

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