GTA IV - 360 & Ps3

[egparadigm]

Not unless Rockstar find a loophole such as the one on PS2 exclusivity.

I'm coming around to the parachuting. It's really nice to see the city from a different angle. Makes you notice building you might not otherwise spot.

[merf]

I'm really not enjoying this, the writing is peurile. 'you're gay, no you are, you suck dick'

its like being in a playground.

I'm not very far in, about 90mins or so, does it get better ?

[cutmymilk]

It does yeah. At one point all the side missions open up so theres more variety as well as some Russian action. Nowhere near as polished as the previous games overall though.

[merf]

things picked up a bit with Yousef and Brucies bro.

its amazing how in the space since release to now the engine in this has aged and feels really clunky now. I know at release the control wasn't spectacular but it did a job, with the games in the intervening time that use cover, driving etc Rockstar really have their work cut out to overhaul all this for GTA V and bring it up to scratch again.

I will play BoGT thru but I'm not finding it the fun that the main game and LatD were.

[cutmymilk]

Theres some missions triggered from club management. No police missions this time. Done 5 of the drug gang wars out of 25 so a long way to go on that front.

Still think theres too many helichopper missions. Way too easy to crash them but maybe thats just me.

[Charlie]

I personally thought TBoGT, though shorter than I expecting, excellent.
It substituted TLaD's serious tone and believable scenarios for a funky vibe full of wacky and surreal situations. The campaign is quite varied as in you're never quite sure what crazy situation you'll find yourself in next, the new characters are brilliant (Yusuf Amir easily the best GTA character yet), the new vehicles can cause death and mayhem on a whole new scale, the new minigames like base jumping and cage fighting are fun in their own right, and the new electro/motown disco-themed tunes provide a groovy and perfectly fitting soundtrack to proceedings.

Overall, I'd say it was better than TLaD. TLaD was much longer with considerably more missions and side quests, was grittier, more realistic and probably had a more engaging story and better dialogue but I've never understood gamers' love of videogame storytelling. That's not to say I don't appreciate designers trying to incorporate good story and dialogue in games but, compared to books and decent movies, even gaming's best storytelling comes across as shallow and forgettable.

So, yeah, based on out-and-out fun and entertaining gameplay which, to me, is what a videogame should provide, TBoGT delivered.

[cutmymilk]

Only just did the last mission. It was absolutely bonkers. Loved the game overall. Completely different feeling to the other two GTA4 games though.

[Wools]

I completed Episodes from Liberty City last week and thoroughly enjoyed it, this is what DLC or Episodic content should be like, shorter development time but a sequel to the original game.

I'm very impressed by Rockstars self restraint and shifting from the norm with GTA4 to ground the series in real grime and grunge after the beautiful highs of San Andreas. The Lost & Damned continued this except The Lost are a different breed to Nico, immersed in crime but with no aspiration to move out of their lifestyle. It was a good counterbalance to GTA4 although with a character who was just as detestable yet likeable.

The Ballard of gay Tony was brilliant yet odd. It keeps the real life side of reality but injects it with such an insane group of characters it allows for a far more open and exuberant feel of play and story. This episode is the far more fun of the two with brilliant chases and fantastic shoot outs with at least one Helicopter being involved in every mission!

However a few story issues of Luis, the main character in Gay Tony, really grated with me. I do know he is conflicted throughout the game but in some scenes he was far to flippant to be enjoyable. One particular mission, whereby you have to confront and help a woman who is obsessed with you, is brushed aside too easily and in doing so, felt just like ineffective story telling rather than the Developer wanting you to feel that he did not give a damn.

Story issues aside, and even then they made may have set out what they planned to do, it was a brilliant set of games and oddly enough I feel compelled to go back to Liberty City and explore whereas I never felt the need after completing GTA4.

[Supergoal]

I have a question about the display modes available. It says on the box it can do 1080p, but whenever I check my TV's output during the game being on, it says 720p.
My other games say 1080p when playing them. How can I get this game to go to 1080p?

[egparadigm]

Are you talking about 360? AFAIK all games on 360 will go to the max resolution allowed, up to the res set on the dashboard.

I know with VGA there are more resolutions available, but again I would expect you simply to pick the one you want and if the game supports it, it would pop up.

Maybe what it says on the box is a load of cobblers? Only someone who's played it will be able to tell. (Given GTA IV was released a couple of years ago now, I would be surprised if it supported true 1080p rather than upscaling...)

[Supergoal]

I have the PS3 version. I wonder why it says it on the box then of it can't really do it?

[fahrenheit]

The PS3 lets you select all the resolutions your display can use and then picks for you based on whatever it is you are playing/watching.

GTA IV is a 720p native game (though that isn't technically true of the PS3 version).
If you have 720p ticked in the XMB, then thats exactly what it will choose. If you want to force 1080p, then you'll have to untick 720p.

[JU!]

Will the DLC from the U.K work with the U.S version of the game does anyone think? Or will a physical U.S copy get release or is this DLC only? Thanks.

[cutmymilk]

UK has got a physical disc so why not just order from here?

[egparadigm]

Will the DLC from the U.K work with the U.S version of the game does anyone think? Or will a physical U.S copy get release or is this DLC only? Thanks.

It probably will. I have used DLC with foreign games, such as UK Halo 3 Beta with Asian Crackdown.