Grand Theft Auto IV

The Greatest Game in the History of Video Games.
I am going to start my reviews on an older game, because, quite frankly, it is one of my favorites. So much in fact, that I own it for Xbox 360 and PS3.

Very few games in history have had the pre-release following that Grand Theft Auto IV had prior to its release on April 29, 2008. A few that spring to mind are Half-Life 2, Rock Band, and to a lesser extent, any Call of Duty Game after Modern Warfare.

Grand Theft Auto was always a game known for its sprawling stories, landscapes and its abilities to push the boundaries to decency (Although it could be argued that any in game content isn't too different than LA's Evening News broadcasts.) The story in GTA IV Delivers in all aspects. The story is long, the cut scenes are entertaining, and the plot is worthy of a blockbuster movie.

But enough about that stuff. Lets talk about what everyone else wants to hear about. Driving Around, cop chases, and killing hookers. After all, its those aspects that made GTAIII So popular back in 2000. Thanks to an all new cop system, police chases are more fun than ever. Have 1 star? You can easily hop in a car, quickly turn two corners and you are clear of the pigs. 2 Stars will likely take you a few seconds longer, but 3 or more stars, why, the cops now want you dead, and they will do just about anything to do it!

Running people over has never been more hilarious. Thanks to a new physics engine, no two hits are ever the same. Blood stays on the car from the collisions too. There is no feeling like mowing down pedestrians with a cop car, and then parking it in front of a cop shop with the front end looking like it was the backdrop to Friday The 13th.

Think you are safe from damage when riding in the car. Some objects are immovable. Who do you think is going to win in a collision between a Turismo, and a concrete bollard sticking out of the ground? Chances are, when you hit that cement post with your car combined with a little bit of speed, you are going to make Niko do his very best Super Dave Osborne impression right into  the brick wall or sign that is almost guaranteed to be in the flight path of your flailing character.

What action game would be complete without a little gunplay? Unless you are playing In The Night Garden The Game (The Dad's will know what I am talking about. Its a show that could only have been created by someone who was on a combination of LSD, Mushrooms and Peyote.) There isn't an overly huge selection of weapons in the game. You have your basics though, Handguns, AK-47, M16, etc. You will have the most fun with the Rocket Launcher though. Park a limo across the street in Star Junction, and see how many cars you can get to blow up in a chain reaction.

I think we will use GTA IV as the baseline for all future video game reviews. And like I said in the Welcome, this is going to be a biased blog, so in my opinion, GTA IV gets:

10/10