GTA IV Excitement Thread (nee Anticipation)

[mista_mo]

Do I look like I have funny balls?

[Yojimbo]

Took the day off of work yesterday to devote release day to GTA IV. My local Best Buy had a ton of copies, in spite of me coming in at 9 AM and these having been availiable at 12AM the night before. Got the Deluxe version with the bag and the deposit box and the artbook. Started up as soon as I got home and tag-teamed this with my wife. We did not stop messing with the game until hunger got the best of my wife and I in the early evening. Game froze on me a few times during the marathon session. Maybe it's my xbox since this has happened to me with other games recently. Damn! Finally passed out at about 3AM this morning, and had to go back to work today, so I am feeling tired and want to go home to play some more. My wife is at home right now as I type this in, likely playing her fingers raw. Lucky girl, she has a week-long vacation, so she has plenty of time to overdose on this game! BTW: I find the voice actress for both Michelle and her friend that works with Roman to be totally annoying. Especially Michelle's friend, who sounds like Jackie from 70's show with a really crappily done NY accent. This is my only real complaint from the game so far. Yeah, the controls take a little getting used to, but the graphics and physics are amazing! First time I crashed and flew through the windshield I had to shout for joy!

[kidgloves]

I am severly addicted to this. 12 hrs played and 19.24% completed. If anyones got any doubts about this game you just wait till you get further along. Some of the ideas Rockstar have implemented are pure quality and I'm starting to see why it got 10/10 across the board. It sounds like a few of you guys are still at the early stages of the story and if it seems a bit slow go and make things happen. For the record this is my 1st GTA.

[MinionZombie]

Only your first GTA?! Blimey ... anyway, I've done a few missions, now unlocked that Jamaican guy (I can't understand a word he says , done one or two missions for him now), Vlad (haven't done any of his mish's yet) and have done a few Roman ones (even went to the Cabaret club with him) - oh yeah, I drove past the Cabaret one time and there were bouncers outside feeling up the patrons before they could enter - DETAIL! Oh yeah, I also f*cked Michelle, hell yeah, was a proper gentlemen, waited till date #3 to slither my Little Niko down there. Getting used to driving more, movement & camera is still a bit fiddly (they seem to compete with each other at times) ... heck, I even got the soundtrack to listen to today. I'll certainly plug away at it more, oh and the mobile phone is awesome. Oh - now for example, after I've been on a date with Michelle, her name appears above my map - is that a plus on it? I assume this means she likes me more than she did previously, so I assume if I blow somebody off they'll go down on me (not literally, but figuratively ). Just making sure it wasn't some txt msg coming through, but I don't have any new ones...anyway...awesome game. I've already put in about 4 hours today, noiiice...mind you, my lower back is all a bit stiff from me sitting hunched over going "ooooooh" at the detail. The really sucky cars handle like ass, or the one the Jamaican guy has is such a lumbering thing, but sportier things are much more nippy. Mind you, your health doesn't last that long in a firefight!

[C5NOTLD]

The game has been well worth the wait. The details in the game are great. So many late nights ahead....

[Craig]

Stayed up til about 3:30am playing multiplayer with a friend from Sweden, if you can find a server with settings you like, it kicks just as much ass as going on a rampage in singeplayer, except you have the added challenge of dodging bullets from the other players As with San Andreas I'm taking missions slowly, getting about 5 or so done each time I play (multiplayer has sucked up a lot of my playing time as well) so I've only done about 16 missions so far... I think. I too am astounded at the details and the physics, especially those of the characters and pedestrians. Some of the times I've ran down innocent bystanders, it's funny, but genuinely a bit sickening to watch at the same time.

[Danny]

i recon im getting this on saturday, probably gonna trade in assasins creed since ive only played it for 30 mins andthen left it below the likes of king kong and kameo on my gameing pile. still suprised ,in a good way, that theres copies to spare everywere but i didnt like how i whent into gamestation just to get my money back on donemened 2 and bought just a devil may cry 4 keychain and wristbadn and they asked "would you like a gta 4 guide with that for only 15 quid?" to wich i replied "no thank you, ive got the internet"

[CoinReturn]

I don't know which I like more, multiplayer of singleplayer. They are both excellent ways to waste time I stole some guys' car, and one of the occupants held on to the door as I dragged him a about a hundred yards, before finally losing him as I sped around a corner.

[MikePizzoff]

Just wasted much of my afternoon playing this online with just me and a friend. We just cruised around the city a lot, sight seeing and ****... and jumped off the Empire State Building a ton of times, of course.

[ProfessorChaos]

man, this game is dope. i've hardly even scratched the surface, and i've been blown away by the realism of this game at least half a dozen times over the last couple of days: flying through a windshield for the first time, having niko call michelle at 3am and wake her up not realizing that he kept odd hours, driving over the bridge during day in a truck full of explosives (while telling roman over the cell that i didn't feel like drinking at the moment), the first good gun fight using the cover system, and numerous other moments have happened, and there's still so much more of lc to explore....man. and then you've got loads of in-game brands ( "release-the gums that shoots a load in your mouth!" )and satire, such as republican space rangers, the venturas poker tournament, and all the other television programs, radio spots, etc. the story so far is great, and i'm having a good time drinking and driving in my spare time.... after that there's multiplayer, which i've not played a lot yet, but want to get together sometime with a group and do some free-roam stuff. anyone down? what a kick-a$$ game. perhaps one of the best ever. take2 is gonna pull in some major dough this month. ( thanks rockstar! )

[MinionZombie]

Had another session last night (my fourth in a day), haven't done many missions, but done some - a couple for Vlad now, did a taxi run for Roman ... must ring that Jamaican pot-head who I can't understand for another mission with him. Went with Roman to a strip club across the toll bridge - I've paid a toll, squeezed through when somebody else paid (tricky to do, I accidentally did it) and blasted through and lost the cops after they came after me, haha. The car damage is really impressing me, it's not just static types of damage, but it changes depending on how and where the car is hit, also - blood on your car when you hit someone. Also, conversations with characters when you're driving to somewhere to hang out with them or on a date with Michelle and she compliments you on your clothes, or says she liked your other car better and 'wow, you drive a lot of cars' and such. Mucho detail! Getting more used to the controls, even if they are still fiddly. If I could ask for something to have been changed, it would have been the fiddliness of the controls, but that's about it. I'm really getting addicted to this game now.

[SymphonicX]

I'm impressed, but I'm not bowled over at the moment. It's got some great layers of detail in there, everything from people dropping their shopping as they run away, to random car accidents and stuff....I've yet to get my teeth properly into it though, so I'm waiting for it to get juicy. However it has started off VERY slowly....only just got out of the first bit....I dunno, will wait and see

[MinionZombie]

Aye, it's slow to start off, and I'm still in that slow area, but I think it's all part of the characterisation, so you get to know the protagonists well before you proceed. Also it's part of R*'s attempt for greater realism for the character. As an immigrant just off the boat, he's not going to know many people at all, and all will be through one person - his cousin - he's only got one place to stay, he's doing more menial tasks before anything 'epic' or 'cinematic'. It's definitely different from previous entries, so it's nice to have something familiar but in a new way... BTW - I changed the title of the thread to update it as the game's now out, makes sense really.

[bassman]

Anyone else get the feeling that a big changing point in the game will be Roman getting killed? I took out Vlad and am now working for the new mob guy(can't remember his name) but Roman just seems to scream "I'm going to die". I love that this game has choices for exections. It's so cool to kick someone off a building, blow their brains out across the screen, etc.

[SymphonicX]

Did anyone choose to save the first guy that you get the choice of killing? What happens?