The official Grand Theft Auto 4 GAMEPLAY thread.

[Eel O'Brian]

rockstar:  "hey man, take a bite of this sandwich, it's delicious creamy peanut butter..."

me:  "...but, the last two sandwiches i bought from you turned out to be shit..."

rockstar:  "we're sorry about that, dude, this one's better, it will make your taste buds jizz, we swear, we even cut the crust off...everyone says it's awesome, read the reviews..."

me:  "well...okay..."

*bite*

me:  (spitting)  "this is the same shit on different bread!"

rockstar:  "hahaha, can't hear you, your mouth's full!  we're off to the caribbean!"

[AdmiralViscen]

The speed of every action has been cut in half.

[Don Flamenco]

holy shit, this is the whiniest thread on the internet.   

[Eel O'Brian]

shouldn't you be playing gtaiv

[Don Flamenco]

shouldn't you be playing gtaiv

I just played 3 hours.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

--the driving controls are fine once you learn how to keep a decent speed and brake properly. 
--L1 picks up an object, L2 aims, and R2 throws it.  Not exactly rocket science.
--the reviews are insane, but you guys are trying a little too hard to hate the game.

[close]

[demi]

What is your definition of decent speed? Any faster than "old woman" and you skate on ice

[Eel O'Brian]

i never said i didn't know how to pick stuff up, i said that it was fucking distinguished mentally-challenged that it wouldn't let me pick up a garbage can and throw it through the window, i had to go around the corner and pick up a brick instead

i am not trying to hate it at all, don't be ridiculous, you really think i spent $60 of my hard-earned money just so i could hate it

this game is deeply, deeply flawed in the gameplay and control it is based around, and that is not enjoyable

[Don Flamenco]

What is your definition of decent speed? Any faster than "old woman" and you skate on ice

yeah.  I can dart in and out of traffic with no problems for the most part.  Not sure what else to say...I started out trying to go too fast everywhere, but I've got the driving controls down now.  You have to anticipate turns and let up on speed early-- Roman's beater isn't going to turn on a dime at 60mph.

i never said i didn't know how to pick stuff up, i said that it was fucking distinguished mentally-challenged that iit wouldn't let me pick up a garbage can and throw it through the window, i had to go around the corner and pick up a brick instead

i am not trying to hate it at all, don't be ridiculous, you really think i spent $60 of my hard-earned money just so i could hate it

this game is deeply, deeply flawed in the gameplay and control it is based around, and that is not enjoyable

I picked up something from the garbage cans nearby...you don't have to pick up that specific brick. 

but suit yourself...a lot of stuff in the game that seems weird at first becomes second nature as you do missions.  and once you get past Vlad's missions (which are kind of like tutorials), things start to get really fun.

[demi]

I'm 25% complete and every car feels the same

[Don Flamenco]

then allow me to rephrase, no car is going to turn on a dime ever.  the driving controls are not "arcadey"...they're built around city driving--lots of stopping, going, looking ahead, etc. 

[demi]

"shit" sounds applicable

[pilonv1]

The hidden packages are PIDGEONS this time around... I havent found one so I dont know what they look like

epid fail

[Akala]

Plays okay so far. I expected it to look a bit better though. The blurriness gave me a headache.  

Within 10 minutes I had a few OMG crashes though. Flying through a windshield to Q Lazzarus almost made it worth price of admission.  

[TVC15]

Also, maybe it's just because I'm early in the game, but it feels like there aren't as many pedestrians.  Or maybe I am just used to Saints Row and Crackdown.

[Don Flamenco]

"shit" sounds applicable

I guess that's one way of putting it...the game is broken.  has nothing to do with your own inability to learn how to meet it on its own terms though, I'm sure.

[demi]

Clearly, my inability... even though I am 1/4 complete

MORON

[drew]

you know, demi, you can just give me your copy if you don't like it.   

[demi]

you know, demi, you can just give me your copy if you don't like it.   

Maybe when I get all achievements

[Mr. Gundam]

The cars handle worse than they did in GTAIII and Vice City!!!!*

*Never played San Andreas.

[Mupepe]

I'm starting to like it more as I play more.  I'm getting better at driving.  It's still shit, but it's tolerable now.  The thing that makes driving the worst is the shit vehicles they put you in for missions.  Vehicles that can't take any turns and vehicles that take forever to gain speed.  But if you jack some of the better cars from the street it's not too bad.  

Melee combat is alright.  But yeah, it feels slow as fuck.

Shooting is a lot better.  I find it enjoyable at least.  I look forward to shooting as opposed to the PS2 games where I hated when I had to shoot on missions.

Story is a lot better.  Not near oscar worthy.  But it's miles better than GTA III, VC or SA.  

I'll play more tomorrow.

Also, frame rate is crap, but i don't get that much pop in.  Game is still pretty fugly except for at night.

[Smooth Groove]

How is the framerate compared to the old GTA games or Saint's Row?

[demi]

Just avoid as much driving as possible by riding taxis, you can even ride them during missions

[Don Flamenco]

Clearly, my inability... even though I am 1/4 complete

MORON

exactly..if 25% of the game has gone by and you're still cursing the driving controls, apparently something is wrong. 

and wow, insults in capital letters, way to keep this place mature.

[AdmiralViscen]

shouldn't you be playing gtaiv

I just played 3 hours.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

--the driving controls are fine once you learn how to keep a decent speed and brake properly. 
--L1 picks up an object, L2 aims, and R2 throws it.  Not exactly rocket science.
--the reviews are insane, but you guys are trying a little too hard to hate the game.

[close]

Uh, we all paid our $60 for it. I for one was looking forward to it and almost went to midnight launch.

[Eel O'Brian]

Just avoid as much driving as possible by riding taxis, you can even ride them during missions

can you ride them in missions where you have to ram someone off the road, because i chased that old fuck for ten minutes only to nick a pump at the gas station and immolate myself

[Eel O'Brian]

i'm gonna try saint's row since you guys rave about it so much

gamestop has a buy 2 get 1 for free starting tomorrow, apparently

now i have to find 2 more cheap 360 games

maybe i'll rebuy crackdown

[AdmiralViscen]

Honestly, I found it hard to go back to a few weeks ago. But I had just come off Crackdown, which was way smoother and cleaner.

[Don Flamenco]

shouldn't you be playing gtaiv

I just played 3 hours.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

--the driving controls are fine once you learn how to keep a decent speed and brake properly. 
--L1 picks up an object, L2 aims, and R2 throws it.  Not exactly rocket science.
--the reviews are insane, but you guys are trying a little too hard to hate the game.

[close]

Uh, we all paid our $60 for it. I for one was looking forward to it and almost went to midnight launch.

just weird to come into a thread to see people bitching about stuff that I got used to after a couple hours of play (or after a quarter of the game, whatever...)

oh, also weird to suddenly see Crackdown and Saint's Row hit god status overnight

[demi]

Just avoid as much driving as possible by riding taxis, you can even ride them during missions

can you ride them in missions where you have to ram someone off the road, because i chased that old fuck for ten minutes only to nick a pump at the gas station and immolate myself

Nah, unfortunately you gotta deal with thie shitty controls

Kafka, why do you plug your ears? You act like we are the only ones who notice this.

[Eel O'Brian]

sorry dude, i have always loved crackdown

should have kept it but i played it so much i got burned out on it

[pilonv1]

oh, also weird to suddenly see Crackdown and Saint's Row hit god status overnight

Overnight? Crackdown and Saints Row have been "god status" since release by open minded gamers everywhere.

[BlueTsunami]

Euphoria

The slowness of GTAIV is irritating though. I wonder if its a byproduct of Euphoria going through the animations or something? I'll probably get used to it

[AdmiralViscen]

shouldn't you be playing gtaiv

I just played 3 hours.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

--the driving controls are fine once you learn how to keep a decent speed and brake properly. 
--L1 picks up an object, L2 aims, and R2 throws it.  Not exactly rocket science.
--the reviews are insane, but you guys are trying a little too hard to hate the game.

[close]

Uh, we all paid our $60 for it. I for one was looking forward to it and almost went to midnight launch.

just weird to come into a thread to see people bitching about stuff that I got used to after a couple hours of play (or after a quarter of the game, whatever...)

oh, also weird to suddenly see Crackdown and Saint's Row hit god status overnight

Yea, no one liked CD and SR before today

[pilonv1]

demi: apparently you have to snipe/shoot the pidgeons. and they don't fly away.

[TVC15]

My impressions after ~2 hours.  My SERIOUS impressions.

+  Lighting adds so much to making the world feel alive.  I was trying to explain before how despite the distance blur and the odd pop in and the not-so-hot textures and the unimpressive geometry, the game still manages to look decent.  Mind you, I didn't fall for Rockstar's bullshots--they've made every GTA look good via pre-release media.
+ GTA humor is back and better than ever.  The radio and TV are great!
+ The Bully/Warriors combat system is a good fit, even if they did slow down combat considerably.
+ Even on just the first portion of the city, there's good variety in locations.
+ The minigames/dating are a nice little addition.  Can you play those games in multiplayer?  I actually like darts.

- The new vehicle controls suck.  GTA doesn't need touchy, too physics-y controls.  If you want to implement physics and still have a fun, fast, workable driving system, look at Burnout.  You get the awesome physics and the awesome controls there.
- Slow melee is a bad move.
- Missions are same ol, same ol.  I guess I shouldn't have expected anything new here.

Overall I like it quite a bit, but no way this should be getting perfects.  Then again, the same could be said for VC and San Andreas.

[Eel O'Brian]

also, when restarting missions, it would've been nice to have them start at the actual mission instead of in front of the safe house or Vlad's meeting place or wherever

[CajoleJuice]

Having a lot of fun in multi right now.

[AdmiralViscen]

TVC nails it.

You can definitely compete in the minigames because there's an achievement for winning at pool.

The other thing about car physics is they take it deadly serious, but then when you go over a bump or scrape a curb you go flying through the air and tumbling all over.

[demi]

The achievements for the minigames are for when you are on a date, or call a friend up (not online)

[AdmiralViscen]

Oh

Does that mean you can't compete online?

[CajoleJuice]

Ok, I'm done with that. Really laggy at times, but the chaos is fun. Sorry Willco, I don't know why I couldn't invite you.

[TVC15]

Ok, I'm done with that. Really laggy at times, but the chaos is fun. Sorry Willco, I don't know why I couldn't invite you.

You didn't even try to invite me?  You fucking cunt.  Now I won't let you fuck me online.

[Grecco]

multi is fun can you go bowling and stuff on freem ode

[CajoleJuice]

Ok, I'm done with that. Really laggy at times, but the chaos is fun. Sorry Willco, I don't know why I couldn't invite you.

You didn't even try to invite me?  You fucking cunt.  Now I won't let you fuck me online.

It was the second time I couldn't invite someone while playing multi. I gave up.

[demi]

http://boards.gamefaqs.com/gfaqs/genmessage.php?board=933037&topic=42859283

"Ironically, Driving in this Game is a chore"

http://boards.gamefaqs.com/gfaqs/genmessage.php?board=933037&topic=42861310

".... Its so bad I take a cab almost everywhere"

[Eel O'Brian]

Ok, I'm done with that. Really laggy at times, but the chaos is fun. Sorry Willco, I don't know why I couldn't invite you.

You didn't even try to invite me?  You fucking cunt.  Now I won't let you fuck me online.

i invited you but you ignored it

[TVC15]

Ok, I'm done with that. Really laggy at times, but the chaos is fun. Sorry Willco, I don't know why I couldn't invite you.

You didn't even try to invite me?  You fucking cunt.  Now I won't let you fuck me online.

i invited you but you ignored it

I didn't get any invites that I saw.  I did step out for like 10 minutes about 45 minutes ago.  I left my 360 on, but I was on dashboard, not GTA.

[demi]

This Camera phone sucks dick... how fucking close do you want me to be, you uppity negro?

[MrAngryFace]

Im gonna pre-order saints row 2 tomorrow, this is crap, glad I didnt buy it

[Hollywood]

After a several year layoff, I finally get a next gen system and GTA IV. I love this game, so addicting. I'm surprised to see so many complaints, I'm not great with driving, but it doesn't bother me a bit. As long as you are not expecting to jet it at full speed straight through turns, its not a problem. I immediately changed the controls back to the classic controls when I started, I think its a lot better. If you never liked GTA before, you won't now, but I love it. There's so much stuff to do in this game, its ridiculous.

[MrAngryFace]

I had it pre-ordered too, what a shame. Ill have to tell them to move that 5 bux to Saints Row 2

[Hollywood]

I love playing this online. Team Deathmatch is really awesome when you're the only person using cover. I still haven't gotten a chance to try cops and crooks yet so, if anyone wants to play it later, send me a message yo.

P.S. Driving still sucks but I'm getting used to it and does this game have subtitles? Little Jacob sucks at english.

You can turn subtitles and a few other things on in the start menu. I had to turn it on cause i have a hard time hearing all the characters with accents, which is every one of them so far.

[pilonv1]

this bitch at the caberet club goes on forever

[GilloD]

The vehicle controls are wonky, but if you guys are as far in as you say you are, you must have adjusted to their idiosyncracy by now. I was all over the road for about an hour, but I'm fine now. I'll agree that they're messy, but they're not unlearnable.

[tiesto]

oh, also weird to suddenly see Crackdown and Saint's Row hit god status overnight

Overnight? Crackdown and Saints Row have been "god status" since release by open minded gamers everywhere.

Crackdown I remember getting high marks but the Saints Row love I always thought was a more recent phenomenon. I just played the demo of both games, while I don't like open world games, I enjoyed my time with Crackdown much more than either GTA4 or Saints Row.

[GilloD]

oh, also weird to suddenly see Crackdown and Saint's Row hit god status overnight

Overnight? Crackdown and Saints Row have been "god status" since release by open minded gamers everywhere.

Crackdown I remember getting high marks but the Saints Row love I always thought was a more recent phenomenon. I just played the demo of both games, while I don't like open world games, I enjoyed my time with Crackdown much more than either GTA4 or Saints Row.

I really, really, really don't get the Crackdown love. Maybe I just really like missions and dicking around and hyper-violence, but Crackdown was a total snooze fest about 4 hours in. The areas are all incredibly same-y same, the missions (or lack thereof) are literally the same and the cars are completely identical. It just never clicked for me. It was fun, but in a Flash-game kind of way

[Mupepe]

GilloD, did you ever play co op?  It's one of the best co op games out there. 

Rocket Tag

Also, does anyone else have a problem reading the fucking cell phone?  It's so small and dark on my screen.  brightness is turned almost all the way up but i can hardly see what they say unless I get up close.  It's too damn dark.

[AdmiralViscen]

I turned up contrast 3 notches and brightness 1 or 2. Try that.

But yea, the cell phone has Dead Risingism.

[calcifer]

so i poped in saints row just for the hell of it and its amazing/sad how much better it plays than gta4

[Mupepe]

I turned up contrast 3 notches and brightness 1 or 2. Try that.

But yea, the cell phone has Dead Risingism.

i'll try that.  the cell phone looks terrible and i have to guess sometimes what i'm choosing on it.

so i poped in saints row just for the hell of it and its amazing/sad how much better it plays than gta4

seriously.  give me my euphoria engine with saints row gameplay and i'm down

still, gta4>>>>>>>>>>>>>gta3, gta:vc, gta:sa