Tuesday 27 May 2008

Major Pikey Vehicle

A little while back, I mentioned how Grand Theft Auto 3 got be back into gaming. And after playing nearly 20 hours of the next proper game in the series, I can genuinely feel excited for all of those who will be re-/discovering games via the medium of Grand Theft Auto IV.

It was the recent release of the aforementioned game that finally convinced my good ol' father to acquire me a PS3, and I admit that when I first got it, GTA fell by the wayside as Aquatic and I ploughed through Resistance, MotorStorm and my ever-increasing pile of demo disks (thanks Official PlayStation Magazine UK!). And then, a week after first picking up the SIXAXIS, GTA found itself being slotted into the disk drive. Oh boy, how I have missed that series.

You see, my copies of GTA3 and San Andreas are scratched to death, my Vice City has never returned from being borrowed by a friend, Liberty City Stories got swapped with a mate for Burnout Legends once I had finished it, and Vice City Stories got traded in on one of my make-money-quick sprees. So in fact, IV is the first taste of Posh Stealing Automobiles I've played in a long time.

As previously mentioned on this here humble blog, I play on a little 15" standard-def CRT TV; but even so, the graphical leap from the PS2 games to IV is incredible (the only thing that I've played that looks better on my screen is the Uncharted demo). New explosions are like a gorgeous pre-emptive kick in the groin to Mercenaries 2, HDR reminds me how shitscary Resi 5 will be, and taking a helicopter tour over nighttime Algonquin (GTA's Manhattan) makes me want to get a pilot's license myself. And the little visual improvements are just as important: the cut-down UI, the new location markers and the glowing weapon pickups.

But graphics aside, the gameplay is fantastic. The new controls took a bit of getting used to, but not as long as the new realistic driving. The mobile phone Niko has is probably the biggest addition to the core gameplay, as it allows him to call contacts either to chat or for missions, rather than waiting for them to get hold of him. You can also arrange social meets with the characters, call for side jobs or just pictures of random people. But it becomes crucial to the central game too. If you need a getaway vehicle, you can call your cousin for a cab. If you are running low on ammo, ring Little Jacob and he'll turn up nearby with some guns in the trunk. In one mission, you have to kill someone causing a bit of trouble for one of your contacts, and to make sure you get the right guy, you have to take a picture with your phone and send it to your boss to make sure you're not shooting up the wrong guy.

Another addition, although not as major, is the in-game internet. You can log on at any of the tw@ internet cafes dotted around Liberty City (or in some of the later safehouses) and from there you can check your e-mail, download ringtones for your phone, or find a date.At one point, you need to terminate a guy who is usually well defended, so you log on and find him on an internet dating site. After confirming a nice brunch date, it gets added to the mobile phone's organiser function and off I go to get rid of him. And it's when the phone is combined with use of the internet that you realise how clever the game really is. Example: a lawyer has uncovered some compromising pictures of a corrupt police officer, but simply setting some C4 and blowing up the law firm's offices is the old GTA way of doing things. In IV, you log onto the internet and upload your CV to the Careers section of the firm's site. A couple of days later and you'll get a call from the receptionist, and you arrange an interview. Then, once you're in the office with him, you pull out a knife and scare him into revealing where he's kept the photos, before silently stabbing him, grabbing the incriminating shots and walking calmly out of the building. Suave.

And after the confusing and outlandish plot of San Andreas, GTAIV has one of the best storylines of any game I've ever played. You don't just randomly become a violent criminal (I'm looking at you GTA3), and everything you do has real meaning. A lot of games attempt that 'your actions have consequences' approach, and fail miserably; so to see how well Rockstar have done it, and in an open-world game at that, is impressive. At various points in the game you are given the choice to let someone live or die, and when the 'execute or spare Character Y' prompt appears, you have to quickly decide what to do and evaluate what the repercussions might be. And in a section I passed not so long ago, a received phone call resulted in a 'kill either Major Character 1 or Major Character 2' command that completely changes the game. And it's at that point you realise just how perfectly crafted all the characters are. From your cousin Roman, and bullying Vlad through to high riser Playboy X and drug dealer Elizabetha, none of the the characters are even remotely like the uninteresting results of video game character cookie cutters (they exist, kay? The factory is just next door to EA HQ). And I'm avoiding spoilers here, but some of the plot twists are downright shocking and clever.

There's so much more to say about GTAIV, but that can wait. I wont be posting a full review in the future for two reasons: 1) I don't post reviews of games I haven't completed, cos that's not fair, and completing a GTA game takes a long time when you play like I do, doing everything, so by the time I did a review, everyone else would've already done it, and a review is null and void. And 2) There's so much to do it GTAIV that any kind of a review doesn't really do it justice unless it mentions every single thing that you can do, and due to the branching plot, that's pretty much impossible. I'm sure I'll have more to say on the game in the near future, just don't expect a review in the conventional sense. But as far as I can see at the moment, GTAIV is a necessary addition to any gamers library: you must play this game.

Moving on. When I first got my PS3, I ventured onto the PlayStation Store to see what I could download (in short, a hell of a lot) and along with a bunch of demos, trailers and game videos, I decided to buy a game with my ludicrously small bank account balance. PixelJunk Monsters was the first thing I looked at, but already having purchased Resistance, MotorStorm and GTA, I had plenty of deep, hour-stealing games to play, so I'll get that in the future. FlOw was up next, and as much as I wanted to get it, I really wanted something properly playable for my first purchase, but I'm sure I'll get flOw to show off my HDTV when I finally buy one. After looking over a few different games (and deciding to note down Super Rub-a-Dub for future purchase), I decided upon PAIN!. I know it doesn't have a massive storyline or astounding visuals, but that was exactly what I wanted: a quick, simple to jump into after a few hours of GTA or whatnot. I got exactly what I wanted.

PAIN! is fun. Very fun. And despite being booted up on regular intervals, the repetitive gameplay still hasn't lost its charm. You basically launch a ragdoll character out of a giant catapult into a city and attempt to cause him as much pain as possible (hence the name). You only have one setting, the previously-mentioned city, and you launch-hit, launch-hit. That's effectively it. There are explosive barrels that launch you in other directions upon being hit, other crates that you can fling to hit objects, the ability to grab in all different directions, and posing in flight, but all in all it's the same launch-hit mechanic. And that's not a problem right now because it's still relatively fresh. But even writing it down here, I'm beginning to realise how repetitive that all is.

But then you exit out to the menu and realise I've just been playing one launcher position in the city (unlockable from doing well), in one game mode (choose from simple PAINdemonium, Mime Toss, Fun with Explosives, and Spank the Monkey. Other modes named HORSE and Bowling are unlockable) with one character (some unlockable, some purchasable from the PS Store) in just the single player section of the game.Oh and I was just playing the main part of PAINdemonium - there's an aftermath mode to unlock too. So all in all, it's a game that rewards committed players. That's not even mentioning the multiplayer. And the best bit? The ever-talkative development team regularly post updates on patches and new downloads on their blog, and a new location - 'Amusement Park' - should be out in the not-too-distant future. As pointed out above, I don't review games until I've completed them, so just as a first impression, I'd probably give the game about a 7 out of 10: It's repetitive, but very fun. And I like fun.

I did plan to talk about more stuff here like the new Indiana Jones film that I saw the other night, as well as other game-related stuff, but I have rambled a little, so I'll talk about that in the future. Also, I bought Assassins Creed today, so I'm sure I'll have something to say about that. Until then, adieu!

FO

PS: I've already realised I've forgotten some other GTA stuff I wanted to mention. Expect that soon then.

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