I like very few others, Have had as little to do with seeing GTA IV missions and feature. I did this to avoid ruining the game for me.
Even though Rockstar Never told us about a pc version to come, I still had hope.
So here is a review from a non paid true Grand Theft Auto player/lover.
For starts I had an issue with the game it gave me a fatal error. . After some research found that it was just a sign in error with Rockstar game’s server. simple fix, don’t sign into Rockstar’s social club untill they fix it.
Check in every now and again. I am kind of thankful for this because I want to get to know the feel of the game, and the way it plays and how the cars handle before I jump into a mass of retards cussing and climbing all over everyone with shotgun shoot outs. Yeah I played mta a few times and sa-mp in fact gtaclans.com is my site :-). So here is my run down of first day impressions.
The controls
I was disappointed with the lack of control features, until I figured out how to double click on the configuration. Double click it you will be a bit happier. For the most I just went with their controls but still tried to make it feel like older gta games.
Camera angles kinda irritate me a bit. I can’t find where they have the setting “steer with mouse” so the camera angles will be automatic. I hope someone shows me something before I just sit and submit.
The game when controlling the car, well it feels a bit like True Crimes. I would almost swear EA had a hand in this game.
The feel
Yeah it feels like Liberty City. But a bit more angry, with a few pedestrians really making you not like ditsy people. They talk on the cell phones all the time and say the ditsiest stuff.
When you fall, you feel it in your stomach as you have with older gta games. You almost lose your breath when it’s a 30 foot drop. anything further and the shock dissipates.
The cars feel like real cars, you over steer you slide, you under steer you skid and bump the wall (in the junker cars)
Game Play and Missions
Yep it’s GTA.
The missions keep you creaking in your chair as you actually try and lean different directions as if it will Help Niko.
The bad guys are more human now. They can lose a fight and do it looking like a person scared and hurt.
So far the three or four missions I have completed, are a tad short and easy.
First mission is always finding your house.
Second mission really reminded me of the second mission in gtaiii.. You have to go drive somewhere and pick up some girl somewhere. actually it was two but only one mattered to the person who sends you. or was that a later mission. no matter it still feels familiar.
Graphics
My video card is not the latest greatest and highest, so my settings are really low, and yet I still love the way this game looks.
With everything set at the lowest setting, it still looks better than any other GTA game out there set at max.
With everything set just a notch above lowest settings, the game looks better than console versions. I have been watching videos all day. in fact they where playing the game at the Game Stop I went to as I was picking up the game. I still liked the way it looked on the XboX360 except for that stupid blur thing they do with the current gen consoles.
Pay phones, if you wreck into them, set off some pretty blue sparks. it’s amazing what happens and how it looks.
As you crank up the settings, billboards look better with clearer text, so does the graphiti and road, but my video card ran slower and slower every time I cranked it up.
I found a nice low setting and really have a beautiful looking game play.
My favorite game of the GTA games, is still GTAIII, Second would be San Andreas. but I bet if I soak in as many hours on this one as I have with all the others, it will soon shoot to first. I loved Grand Theft Auto 3 for the simple fact that it taught me how to tweak, overclockand update/upgrade my computer. Vice city did nothing for me. it was a yellow stained flop . I mean it was like Rockstar said “heh I figured out how to make it smother” so they plopped outa game. San Andreas on the other hand tugged on the resources of my computer and once again I had a mission. The game was long, large and a blast with tons of places to drive through.
I watched the forums at gtaforums.com as I have for the past 4 years, as soon as I had a hint the game might hit pc. I watched it all the way up till I got home from work today with the game in my hands. tons of people had issues with the video. Man they got mad and would lash out at anyone who tried to help, as if they where being called stupid. but with a process of elimination, we found it was Nvida video cards and a specific driver. The fix was to just un-install the game, Delete all grand theft auto iv folders. un-install the drivers, whip out your cd that came with your video card, install those drivers and re-install the game. Pretty darn simple. Rockstar did say they have a patch in the works to resolve the issue. Read the gta forums , they will help you. There is talk of doing a back up of your entire registry before playing. if you have an issue and have to roll everything back. use th backed up registry. not sure how that works.
Well as I was saying, I was prepared for the worst . well not the worst, let’s not tempt fate.
Well day one is complete. Tomorrow when I have had more sleep, I will work the controller settings and see if I can fix that dang camera.
issues for me are as follows: camera angles, CD key registration (you have to put the dashes in), Can’t sign into windows live until you do the windows live update, and can’t use all features until Rockstar fixes the servers
scale 1-10 , I give the game an 8 . that is first try experience, let’s see if tomorrow helps or hurts that score.
I will be back with the multiplayer report in about 5 days. I want good practice first.
Windows XP/Vista