Grand Theft Auto IV -- It might feature crime and prostitutes.

There are two. They're pretty similar, honestly.

good things about TBOGT, the Buzzard and the APC, and the explosive round-shotgun. Lots of fun.

Something satisfying about the machine gun on the buzzard, and watching the debris splinter about from a good strafing session.

TBoGT is so many different kinds of wonderful.

The first couple missions of 'gay' were really good. Now I'm back to the same old shit-chase down this guy or shoot his crew. Snooze...

Will RStar ever create a new mold? I guess people will have to stop buying this shit over and over to force them to innovate again.

Is there a conclusive answer as to whether the download or the disc of Gay Tony is better? Aside from the fact that I'll feel like a sucker if I pay twice for TLAD.

Also, can I carry on my game saves from my downloaded TLAD on the disc one?

Is there a conclusive answer as to whether the download or the disc of Gay Tony is better?

I think the download is supposed to be better from what I've heard.

There you go (March 20th) ps3 owners...
http://www.rockstargames.com/newswire/2010/01/29/2861/grand_theft_auto_episodes_from_liberty_city_coming_to_playstation_3_and_pc

oops, March 30th

huh, what was with all the microsoft trumpeting "these two dlc games will only ever be available on the 360" a year or two back. was it a short term contract? they sure seemed to make out that statement applied to FOREVER

i fucking knew it

Really? I just always assumed they'd be coming to PS3 and PC within a year or two at the most.

If anyone feels like pwning a n00b in a PS3 deathmatch, I am nothingelseon - in NZ tho so time zones may screw everything up

Having just completed The Lost & Damned's story missions, I'm taking another swing at the final mission of the main game, but it's frustrating as hell. Don't really enjoy having to kill off all The Bad Guy's hentchmen again to replay the final chase where I've been scuppered thus far - I think I've figured out where I was going wrong, but its such a drag to play all the way through to the fuck-up point that I'm remembering why I ditched this and moved on to the DLC missions without completing it.

Still stunned by the game overall, however, especially the DLC missions - the way the creators developed three storylines that differed so much in tone and subject within the same city/engine/game is impressive, though I have to admit, Johnny Klebitz and Luis Lopez were more compelling leads than Niko. Still though, while their tales were all a dash hackneyed to some extent, the storylines to all three games were strong and their worlds (and supporting cast) mostly entertaining and believable. Completing the DLC missions and then watching the full credits - especially, on Lost And Damned, when scored by 'Every Picture Tells A Story' - was as satisfying as any such moment in an action movie (and the music for these games were perfectly chosen, and light years beyond any other game I've played).

Also, I'm not a dude who often completes video games (and indeed have still not finished GTA:SA), so finishing all the story arcs (save one final Niko mission) gives a sense of accomplishment I don't often draw from my Xbox360.

I suck at this game. I played it again last night for the first time in, er, probably 20 months, and had the usual headache of a time. I enjoyed Bully a lot, so I'm not sure I can articulate why I find GTA4 so impossible to enjoy. I get motion sick when I play fast-ish first- or third-person shooters, especially with driving: that's a big factor. & I've never cultivated the eye for shooting that these games take. So I finally put the game up for sale today.

Playing this now. I like what they're doing with the characters but I still hold that San Andreas is the apex of the series.

have you played ballad of gay tony yet? i unreservedly love that iteration...

Not yet.

it hammers out any glitches that GTA4 had imho.

agreed. Things I personally like that they improved upon -

high performance cars now spawn, previously unavailable unless stole from races.
missions replayable, and each mission has stats that you can try and improve upon, very nice addition hope they keep this in V
some more varied gun types
some cool vehicles available by ringing up friends, including a tank.
hidden packages, seagulls, more audible and easier to locate
air hockey game in the bowling alley was pretty good.
better armed chopper
missions in general were more interesting

but the airport was still restricted access, which was a huge fail move imho

yeah, the gay tony characters are better written

i'm going on my 5th attempt of "3 leaf clover", that sort of mock-Heat mission involving the bank robbery, gunfight thru chinatown and later through the subways

first time: i died
2nd time: grenade killed me
3rd time: train hit me
4th time: one of the brothers died

jesus... replaying a mission ad infinitum is truly a hallmark of the gta series.

i remember getting killed by a passing car in that mission, had next to no health and just slightly rubbed against the car. dead.

here's hoping GTA5 will take a cue from RDR and allow you to carry around portable bags of trail-mix

you know, for health

would also like to be able to set up a tent on the sidewalk instead of having to run to a safe house.

Occupy Liberty City

I played the three leaf clover mission and with the smallest scrap of health, jacked a car and 180ed it to drive into oncoming traffic to lose the cops.

At that exact moment Stevie Nicks-Edge of Seventeen came on the car stereo.

it was totally perfect.

Best gaming moment and I kinda stopped playing after that, knowing that it wasn't going to get better.

yeah i definitely groove whenever "goodbye horses" pops on. that song can soundtrack anything.

GTA5 felt lacking in the soundtrack department, tho. i'm not sure whether it stemmed from already being familiar with most of what they offered, the lack of nostalgia... i don't know what. it just seemed both limited and kinda scrapped together, quantity over quality-like. i walked away from VC and SA with new loves for Tears for Fears and Stone Roses

whereas i can't recall a single song from my 20hrs so far into GTA5.

?

Favourite Vice City moment: successfully completing a mission and flying home into a giant rose-coloured sunrise, as Crockett's Theme came on the radio.

kel, do you mean gta4?

i do miss the retro vibe of the era-based GTAs of yore.

only 2.5 GTAs had the retro vibe, tho: VC and SA. And maybe GTA:London 1969 if you wanna get picky.

Speaking of which, has anyone played Driver: San Francisco 1976(or something)? Is it worth it?

earlier today I posted some youtube comments about how to make improvements for Bully 2

in general I would like to see vehicles in rockstar games that are able to perform arcade style tricks similar to chaining tricks in Jet Grind Radio. maybe a tad more realistic than JGR but it would be cool if you could wall jump your motorcycle instead of crashing. and being able to grind your bike or deck in Bully would be nice

dunno, that sounds like something that belongs in the Saints Row games rather than the GTA ones. San Andreas at least you could perform some stuff on the bicycles.

GTA IV with Portal 2 robots!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=R589m0iaUpc

That video is mindblowing!

I removed this a while ago when i started playing GTA: San Andreas. Not sure I want to go back...

Been playing this for the first time. I touched GTA IV several years ago briefly, but came off unimpressed. I've got mixed feelings about it. I wonder what their intentions were in creating a mildly surreal facsimile of NYC - like the model town in Beetlejuice - that's really familiar, uncanny valley-like, but really off in many details. Like using a perfect replica of the NYC subway stop sound... for your car's GPS. The missions are kind of boring and grim, especially compared to San Andreas and Saints Row 2 and 3, the driving physics feel sluggish and heavy, the hand-to-hand combat system seems pointless after the first two hours.

Maybe because I'm not a huge fan of The Sopranos I don't love what they're doing with the tone of the story and taking it completely away from farce, but I suppose San Andreas was moving in that direction in its more sober moments. Niko Bellic is a strange cat. We're supposed to be sympathetic to him early on, I think, but as the game goes on its pretty clear he's a psychopath, there doesn't seem to be as much ambiguity as I'd heard. I guess you have the clowns like Brucie and Roman to lighten it up a little.

I can still admire a lot of what this game does right - that powerful, oddly familiar feeling of this made up alternate universe NYC is something unique. Do I want to fault the game for not being as straight-up fun as Saints Row? Yes... But at the same time, I love looking at the highways they created to get from borough to borough. I'll drive around and "recognize" bits of the Bronx or Queens or Brooklyn and feel something that's not deja vu, but something else. The outdoor lighting effects and visual presentation is pretty impressive, I have to admit - I'm amazed that they were able to get as close as they were to the actual feel of being there, in tiny pockets. I hope I have enough energy to slog my way through this story.

The DLC is better than the main game for IV.

I've got the complete edition, I'll move on to the episodes some point after I beat the main game. Well, if.

ha nhex and i are doing the exact same thing at about the same time. i got so eh about the main story mission that i went out and bought a bunch of over the top cheapo fluff just to clear my palate in between dreary playing streaks.

don't give up till you play Gay Tony!

omg the checkpointing in this is so terrible

just finished one dreadful mission where i had to follow a train by car. so stupid

haha you think that's stupid in a gta game? I don't think you should be playing this game.

Flashbacks to GTA: San Andreas. Don't lose the train, CJ!

it's weird how little things make this game annoying, like having to stop for toll booths at each bridge lest the cops come down on you. but the cab system works pretty well, at least, which makes up for it... a little bit

that's just one small point but the driving feels much more of a slog than in other games. maybe it's the traffic patterns or something or some other adherent to "realism". i still enjoy the sightseeing as I'm driving, but now my patience is wearing thin and i'm just taking a cab everywhere

also what is up with the appointment system? it took me forever to figure out that you can't figure out where you're supposed to go (for dates/missions) unless you kill time until 1 "hour" before the the appointment and then they finally add the location to your map - don't see why they couldn't have just added a waypoint as soon as you get the time set up, or be able to access it from your phone

the checkpoint thing i was referring to was that one where you storm a hospital to get a bunch of coke from another gang, then you have to escape the cops as they surround you. that's actually one of the more fun missions, but if you die you have to go alllllllll the way back to the mission start and do it all over again. i guess i should be grateful there's a quick restart option at all

but whatever, you're a good man Niko Bellic, keep kicking that football

having to stop for toll booths

Forgot all about that. what a shit game.