Jump to content

Grand Theft Auto


topekaguy
 Share

Recommended Posts

I really didn't enjoy Vice City. I think I've got a bit of confirmation bias- I was unwell when playing it, so in my mind it's synonymous with feeling like shit.

 

Generally though, I felt it was exactly like 3 but with a worse city, worse story, more frustrating missions, and controls that really started to feel dated.

 

Some of the 80s stuff was really incredible, but it was a superficial sense of satisfaction; from playing the actual game I got nothing. I still feel 3 is the most fun, but I think SA is the best. Sure, they added a LOT of stuff; but you don't even need to do most of it past the one story mission where it teaches you how to do it.

 

SA just had the best freedom. I'll always remembering doing the long-haulage missions, travelling across the state and back in a lorry; car chases off mountains (unscripted), riding a harley through the desert, going for a cycle in the country. On top of that the slightly heftier controls and the ability to actually climb stuff, which was incredible. And a bit of leeway on stealth in-game, the silenced pistol etc.

 

And the RPGing stuff to tie it all together. I really love SA. Vice city just felt pretty empty and dull gameplay-wise for me. 3 was pure, SA was bursting at the seams and had a brilliant world, Vice City was just a grey area in-between.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I like them all but I can see what Kenshi is saying. The earlier games always had terrible controls but I found so much to do in SA. I spent a lot of time jetpacking about, doing crazy stunts and taking pictures of all the sights. I seem to recall you could take one of your homies along who could even take pictures of you (when you've made yourself fat and stupid-looking).

 

I have to say though. Despite those stupid 'follow this person who is invincible until a scripted event' missions, IV had the most memorable and thrilling missions. While the onfoot controls are a bit crap, the new aiming system really helped in that regard.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When GTAIV's engine stood out, it really stood out.

 

I'll always remember in that first mission where you get a knife and have to kill a guy down by the docks. Most of my friends got the animation where you stab him and he falls over dead. But in my game...

 

I just slashed him. But he stepped backwards and tripped over backwards through the window. It shattered, he fell out and down, bashing headfirst off an awning, bouncing off it out to the water, cracking his back (seemingly breaking his spine) off the pier's metal railing, then fell limp into the sea and floated to the surface.

 

It was totally unscripted and I stood there stunned for half a minute.

Edited by kenshi_ryden
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Is that in the abandoned warehouse type thing after a car chase with Roman, when you first get a gun(his gun)? If so, I had him go out the window too. Was a bitch to recover the gun.

At least you can swim in GTAIV. In 3 you would have been completely SOL.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Very nice. Very interested too, assuming they bother with a decent PC port if at all.

 

Those electric windmills they show are about 100 miles east of Los Angeles, and the vineyard/farm section can only be central California, so we may get a game as big or bigger than San Andreas (GTA:SA cut the city off in the "East LA" area with a beach that doesn't exist in real life).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just went back and watched a couple trailers for GTA IV, and all the visuals are pretty significantly improved (which you'd expect for a game coming out 4 years later), it's just that the people were the most noticeable I think.

 

Those electric windmills they show are about 100 miles east of Los Angeles, and the vineyard/farm section can only be central California, so we may get a game as big or bigger than San Andreas (GTA:SA cut the city off in the "East LA" area with a beach that doesn't exist in real life).

Oh, I'm sure this game will be way bigger than SA.

 

One of my complaints with SA is that they tried to do too much for the hardware, so instead of feeling like a collection of large cities spread out across the huge desert it felt like a collection of small towns jammed pretty close together. I doubt they'll have the same problem in this one.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Everything looks pretty neat but I can't say I like the less stylised look.

 

I noticed the white tank top guy seemed to pop up a few times in there. They're possibly different guys since you don't get a good look, but across three apperances he had the same car in two and was running from the cops in two.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah I'd be very surprised if it wasn't bigger than San Andreas. I imagine it could be as big as Just Cause 2's map, if they tried hard enough.

 

And yeah Ethan, the visuals are much improved. GTA IV has aged a little bit (not horrendously) so its only natural this would look better. Not just the people though, the environments looked a lot cleaner too. There will also be a much wider array of environments than there were in Liberty City which, if I remember correctly, was just all city.

 

EDIT: Air-lifted this post from Reddit:

 

Okay, let's take this all in and consider what we learn about the game from this trailer:
  • Will be set at least in Los Santos, possibly all of San Andreas (edit: It is San Andreas, you see it on the license plates. And the bug exterminator's van says "Los Santos" on is, meaning that there's a very good chance we will get all 3 cities)
  • Dogs/animals are in game
  • A MASSIVE looking mountain
  • Biplanes/jets
  • Jet skis? (name of the Jetski? Speeophile 2000)
  • At least one area of town will be "Little Seoul" (:32)
  • Ok, at different points in the trailer there are what looks like different people driving cars. At first I thought it was a sign that the ability to control your whole appearance is back, but when I look closer it almost seems like you would be controlling a different character
  • If the main character winds up being Tommy Vercetti 25 years after the events of Vice City (VO sounds a hell of a lot like Ray Liotta, guy at :40 looks like Tommy) I am pre-ordering this game tomorrow, holy shit

What else?

Edited by Connorrrr
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was honestly hoping that they would continue the trend of ethnic diversity they had set in the past two games. I absolutely loved the Brighton Beach immigrant angle that they took in IV, and I imagine that with the overwhelming numbers of Mexicans who flee their country and wind up in LA, there might be a similar story to be told. Of course I can appreciate them not wanting to do that twice in a row though.

 

Anyway, it's 2007 again and I just have to wait a really long time now.

*looks at watch*

Is it here yet?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Amazing trailer.

 

It's Los Santos and evidently some of the surrounding countryside. I'm actually not too bothered about the size atm, as long as the simulation is better. Which it looks like it is.

 

The lighting is incredible, and the models look brilliant. Faces are great. Really rounded and human.

 

My favourite thing about the trailer is the bit where you see a big group of hobos hanging at the underpass. If they start working more group dynamic stuff into the simulation, that'll be unreal. One of the main things that is missing from all the games is groups and pairs of people behaving realistically.

 

This shit's gonna be good.

 

(Also, we're potentially playing a middle aged family man. That'll be interesting.)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Saw the trailer. The verdict's still out for me.

 

I can't comment on the graphics because I'm on my netbook at the moment which absolutely cannot handle high-quality video, so I had to settle for blurry SD which caused all detail to be pretty much lost.

 

Gameplay wise, I like that they're moving back to the multi-city (or at least a countryside) set-up, but other than that I have absolutely no idea if I'd like this. There's still no information on how interactive the city is (I found GTA IV to actually lack interaction between the player and the city. There was only ever interaction between people or cars, but never the city itself). Rockstar, IMO, should start moving toward making the city more detailed. Be able to go into more buildings, be able to do certain things to affect how cities work. Let's say they bring back turf wars, for instance. I'd want the territories controlled by specific gangs to change, like if a highly-violent, slummy gang takes over then you see burned cars along the sidwalk, peeling paint on the buildings, barred windows and the sounds of gunshots. If one a sleazy high-priced drug dealing mafia takes over you see bright lights, swinging lifestyles, crack dealers at every corner and outrageously expensive cars being moved.

 

That's the kind of environment they need to be moving into. Plus, the missions themselves need to have a far better structure. I found GTA IV overall to be one of those "first game on new hardware" deals, where it's essentially an updated version of a last-generation game. Visually the textures are nicer, animations are better, etc., but the city is just as lifeless and static as San Andreas. I've been playing San Andreas and I'm shocked at how little GTA IV actually progressed past it. They both feel very equal and GTA IV doesn't at all feel like it's the "next generation" of GTA. I really do hope GTA V does that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My favourite thing about the trailer is the bit where you see a big group of hobos hanging at the underpass. If they start working more group dynamic stuff into the simulation, that'll be unreal. One of the main things that is missing from all the games is groups and pairs of people behaving realistically.

This is a big deal, and didn't have high hopes for seeing that kind of dynamic until next gen. I'm holding out hope for this one now.

 

Anyone know who the narrator was yet?

 

People are speculating it's Ray Liotta.

 

Also, opinions. People say this guy looks like Vercetti. I'm not convinced. What do you think?

Funny, I almost responded with "A fake-ass Ray Liotta". I don't think it's actually him, but I'll give it a new listen with a serious ear. As far as the pic, Vercetti's face wasn't all that distinct... Just looks like a white guy to me, I'd guess a mission-giving boss-type from the fact that it appeared to be a cutscene where someone was giving you a talk.

Edited by FredEffinChopin
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...