GTAIV

[discom]

pc gaming is dieing

being that console gaming is the most boring form of gaming ever.

lol what? someone is jealous that they can't play GTAIV

hehe, I knew everyone would start yelling at me.. that's why I said "imo". I wouldn't say I'm jealous, though. I got bored of GTA:SA in about 10 minutes.

 

Anyways, the reason I find console games so boring is that I have so little control over my character. I'm just too used to PC games where you can instantly turn 180° to kill a guy behind you. I don't want to sit there with my thumb on the joystick waiting for the guy to pivot on his feet for 5 seconds.

 

My opinion doesn't really mean much, though, because I'm not really a true gamer. I don't play anything other than a few FPS games on the PC.

[VooDooPC]

Seems like the engine dying on you is more of an inconvenience than anything else.

 

Do they have some kind of fast travel thing in case you're on a mission that requires you to be on the other side of the city, then suddenly you fail then you have to go allll the way back? I know there's something like that in a taxi, but is there any other way? That was my biggest frustration in GTA:SA.

You can take a taxi cab. You can either sit in the back and enjoy the ride or you can pay a little extra to skip right to your destination. BUT, when you fail a mission you receive a message on your phone that lets you retry it from where ever you are which is great. They had the option to restart missions after failing in Saint's Row as well and it's a great feature.

 

If anyone wants to play some multiplayer I will be up for it. Xbox Live tag: SparkyCarton

[JackieChan]

Seems like the engine dying on you is more of an inconvenience than anything else.

 

Do they have some kind of fast travel thing in case you're on a mission that requires you to be on the other side of the city, then suddenly you fail then you have to go allll the way back? I know there's something like that in a taxi, but is there any other way? That was my biggest frustration in GTA:SA.

You can take a taxi cab. You can either sit in the back and enjoy the ride or you can pay a little extra to skip right to your destination. BUT, when you fail a mission you receive a message on your phone that lets you retry it from where ever you are which is great. They had the option to restart missions after failing in Saint's Row as well and it's a great feature.

 

If anyone wants to play some multiplayer I will be up for it. Xbox Live tag: SparkyCarton

That is awesome. It might rekindle my desire to get the game.

[boiler]

I use taxis a LOT in this game. The auto-restart mission from the phone is fantastic as it takes you directly from the hospital/police station/wherever you are to the mission start, then if you had to drive across the map just hop in a cab, pay a little extra, and be teleported to your destination.

 

One time I was taking a cab from Broker to my safehouse in Brohan or whatever it's called. Pretty long drive. Just for kicks and to check out the city, I didn't skip it and just sat in the back talking to the driver and looking out the windows. On the toll bridge though, my stupid cabbie rear-ended a guy and broke through the toll booth, giving ME a wanted level. Of course he wasn't going to stop until I reached my destination, so he led the cops on a chase to my safehouse, where the cops surrounded the cab and pointed a gun at me. I got out of the car, put my hands up and started to surrender, then punched the cop in the face and ran. Managed to get away by hopping some walls/fences and diving into the river, but I was cracking up the whole time about that cab ride!

 

By the way, it is worth it to just relax and watch the whole cab ride sometimes - I got an achievement for doing that on my long ride - plus you get to notice things in the city you probably missed while blowing past them and taking out a lamp post while driving.

 

You really gotta give it a shot jackie. It's a LOT different than San Andreas (which I still liked). Like I mentioned before, the driving might be a little frustrating at first, but once you get the hang of it it's fine.

Edited May 1, 2008 by boilersax

[JackieChan]

I picked it up today. Trying to walk when you're drunk is funny.

[boiler]

I picked it up today. Trying to walk when you're drunk is funny.

Driving drunk is too. Try going drinking with Little Jacob then driving back. I had two cops try to pull me over - driving to avoid the cops while intoxicated is definitely an interesting experience. After that I have taken cabs home from the bar, lol

 

*I'm not trying to insinuate drunk driving is funny irl. It is serious business. If anything the game is a cautionary tale to NOT do it, because the cops come after you the instant they see you driving while intoxicated whether you've hit anything/one or not.

Edited May 1, 2008 by boilersax

[JackieChan]

I picked it up today. Trying to walk when you're drunk is funny.

Driving drunk is too. Try going drinking with Little Jacob then driving back. I had two cops try to pull me over - driving to avoid the cops while intoxicated is definitely an interesting experience. After that I have taken cabs home from the bar, lol

 

*I'm not trying to insinuate drunk driving is funny irl. It is serious business. If anything the game is a cautionary tale to NOT do it, because the cops come after you the instant they see you driving while intoxicated whether you've hit anything/one or not.

Dang.. before reading your second paragraph, I was about to get really drunk and start driving my mom's car around the block.

[anonymo]

hehe, I knew everyone would start yelling at me.. that's why I said "imo". I wouldn't say I'm jealous, though. I got bored of GTA:SA in about 10 minutes.

 

Anyways, the reason I find console games so boring is that I have so little control over my character. I'm just too used to PC games where you can instantly turn 180° to kill a guy behind you. I don't want to sit there with my thumb on the joystick waiting for the guy to pivot on his feet for 5 seconds.

 

My opinion doesn't really mean much, though, because I'm not really a true gamer. I don't play anything other than a few FPS games on the PC.

 

Ah, very common PC gamer issue with consoles and is probably the reason there is so much hate between console gamers and PC gamers. The conception that you cannot turn 180° instantly with a controller is based in inability of the user, not the control method. Granted it's much easier with a mouse and you can definitely maximize your "spin" time (control speed) with a mouse due to more accessible control options, however similar options are not absent from the consoles. For example, the best Halo players play on max sensitivity and can spin on a dime much like PC FPS players can. With enough practice anyone will become more accustomed to a dual stick analog controller than a mouse. At the end of the day a mouse is just more intuitive than a controller as its design and standard function hasn't changed since its conception, whereas controllers have come and gone and analog control sticks are barely a decade old (FPS games that use them are half that). So it is few and far between to find a gamer who could school most people with a controller but not a mouse, but they exist.

 

On a related note, I didn't like GTA:SA due to the controls, didn't really play it until it released on PC (just like all the GTA games for me). This is my first time buying a GTA game for a console first. I have to say the first thing I really noticed is that the controls are perfect (nearly) compared to GTAIII and GTA:SA where with a controller I was frustrated right off the bat and didn't want to play.

[bushwack]

So what had the biggest pre/first day sales? Halo 3 or GTA 4?

I bought GTA3 when it came out back in the day but didn't care for it, one of those games where you try to like it cause you just emptied your wallet.

[Playaa]

I actually didn't even intend to buy this game but happened to be in the store the other day and figured "what the heck". I love it!

At first the game feels like San Andreas with a skin mod (and cars that drive worse)...but then as you realize all the little realistic details that happen in the physics you realize it's 10 million times better. Some examples:

- individual bullet holes in objects

- I hit a lamp post with my car, the post falls onto my car and only hits a tiny section of my windshield rather softly, so instead of my windsheild shattering...it got a small crack

- the way the npc's interact with each other and get into car accidents and fist-fights and whatnot.

- the food system is SOOO much nicer in this game than San Andreas (I HATED having to workout and eat, etc.)

- the crash physics look incredibly realistic. You don't smash your whole frontend anymore, you break specific panels on the car

- the way a car will eventually stop running if you hit it's engine enough. I had a rear engine car where I smashed the front up so bad the bumper was basically in my windshield, but since my engine was untouched the car kept going (though the steering was really bad)

- the fact that cars don't just suddenly catch fire then blow up, it's a gradual process and seems much more realistic

- a flipped over car doesn't randomly blow up either

- you can blow individual tires...which you could do in San Andreas if they were shot out or you ran over spikes, but in this one you can blow them in everyday activity. I was pointlessly peeling out with a sports car and noticed that I could see rubber chunks ripping off my tire and the next thing I know, the tire blew out and sprayed rubber everywhere.

- the climbing system is an awesome addition

 

Some downsides:

- driving is harder. The cars don't handle well at all, they handle more realistic in fact.

- you walk SOOO SLOW and having to repeatedly tap to sprint is annoying

- the dating system is a little strange. I accidentally hit B in the middle of a date, which ended the date and the girl had me take her back home...now she won't even talk to me because she is "still angry about what I did".

 

Overall the game is incredible. The physics are amazing and on top of that I think it's the best story of any of the GTA games thus far.

[Saris]

The one thing this game needs is a good/evil system kinda like KOTOR. I don't like doing missions for the jerk characters like Vlad and bugging innocent people for "protection" money and stuff. You should be able to reject and take a different route and change the story up, but I guess they could only do so much. Otherwise, I'm enjoying it - not too great, not bad at all for me.

The best part, was yesterday, when we first loaded it up, my brother and two of our friends were there and we were all screaming "RUN OVER THE OLD LADY! PUNCH OUT THE JEWISH GUY! SHOOT THE COP!" I haven't laughed so hard for so long in ages. Needless to say, the very first thing we did (and I'm sure some of you did) was ran right across the street and showed that hot dog vendor who's boss.

[anonymo]

- driving is harder. The cars don't handle well at all, they handle more realistic in fact.

yeah , I really love the realism of the driving, you just can't do a 90° turn at 60mph anymore and doing slick 180°s between oncoming cop cars is the INTERNET!1!!

 

Also once you hit "Manhattan" the cars you find handle much much better.

 

The one thing this game needs is a good/evil system kinda like KOTOR. I don't like doing missions for the jerk characters like Vlad and bugging innocent people for "protection" money and stuff. You should be able to reject and take a different route and change the story up, but I guess they could only do so much. Otherwise, I'm enjoying it - not too great, not bad at all for me.

 

Spoilers (minor)

 

 

It does kind of have a good/evil system, you can choose to do certain things like kill your hit or let him live, but you have to get to the situation first, most of the time you end up killing your mark too quickly to give them a chance to talk their way out of it. Oh and do Vlad's missions...you get to kill him.

 

 

Boiler...stop playing so much so I can catch up!

[discom]

Ah, very common PC gamer issue with consoles and is probably the reason there is so much hate between console gamers and PC gamers. The conception that you cannot turn 180° instantly with a controller is based in inability of the user, not the control method. Granted it's much easier with a mouse and you can definitely maximize your "spin" time (control speed) with a mouse due to more accessible control options, however similar options are not absent from the consoles. For example, the best Halo players play on max sensitivity and can spin on a dime much like PC FPS players can. With enough practice anyone will become more accustomed to a dual stick analog controller than a mouse. At the end of the day a mouse is just more intuitive than a controller as its design and standard function hasn't changed since its conception, whereas controllers have come and gone and analog control sticks are barely a decade old (FPS games that use them are half that). So it is few and far between to find a gamer who could school most people with a controller but not a mouse, but they exist.

I know what you're saying... but having a fast joystick sens will never compare with being able to use muscle memory. I've seen the best halo players play, and it's not impressive at all. Just watch a video of fatal1ty playing quake, then watch some Halo pro. Also, I've been to a few lans with people who are amazing at halo, but are horrid at any fps on pc.

 

I'm not really against consoles or anything.. I just think that it's impossible to achieve the same amount of control that's possible with a mouse.

[JackieChan]

Ah, very common PC gamer issue with consoles and is probably the reason there is so much hate between console gamers and PC gamers. The conception that you cannot turn 180° instantly with a controller is based in inability of the user, not the control method. Granted it's much easier with a mouse and you can definitely maximize your "spin" time (control speed) with a mouse due to more accessible control options, however similar options are not absent from the consoles. For example, the best Halo players play on max sensitivity and can spin on a dime much like PC FPS players can. With enough practice anyone will become more accustomed to a dual stick analog controller than a mouse. At the end of the day a mouse is just more intuitive than a controller as its design and standard function hasn't changed since its conception, whereas controllers have come and gone and analog control sticks are barely a decade old (FPS games that use them are half that). So it is few and far between to find a gamer who could school most people with a controller but not a mouse, but they exist.

I know what you're saying... but having a fast joystick sens will never compare with being able to use muscle memory. I've seen the best halo players play, and it's not impressive at all. Just watch a video of fatal1ty playing quake, then watch some Halo pro. Also, I've been to a few lans with people who are amazing at halo, but are horrid at any fps on pc.

 

I'm not really against consoles or anything.. I just think that it's impossible to achieve the same amount of control that's possible with a mouse.

Seems to me that any average Joe can be an expert at console FPSs. I say it takes a lot more skill to play FPSs on PCs.

[Primus]

one of those games where you try to like it cause you just emptied your wallet.

 

Kinda like UT3 right Bushwack!!!!

 

So I take it there is no PC version of this game. If it hits record sales, there will be shortly. All the guys who like to hack the game and create funny and cool mods for the PC version will be yelling so they'll realize they can make even more money by releasing it for PC.

[VooDooPC]

Halo has "aim assist".

 

 

 

So, when are we going to play GTA?

[Fairweather]

i found that the gta games got repedidtive and boring by the time san andreas came out, i thought the 3rd one was absolutley awsome then vice city was good and then boredom of doing the same thing again in a different place when san andreas came out

[akaM2]

i found that the gta games got repedidtive and boring by the time san andreas came out, i thought the 3rd one was absolutley awsome then vice city was good and then boredom of doing the same thing again in a different place when san andreas came out

 

This one is different, its like gta2 to gta3

 

 

I like little jacob

[Saris]

Brucie's the best. Anyone else is a distant second. His later cutscenes are even better.

 

But man, playing some of the missions last night was driving me nuts. The cover system is really annoying, especially in dark, enclosed spaces. You hit R1 to get off the wall cause youre getting pelted with bullets and he just hops onto another one. You think you're free and start trying to run, only to get stuck onto the wall for another few seconds (in which you're probably dead by then). Cops are getting to be a real pain when you got to shoot someone through the streets. Having cops shoot you from one direction and your targets shooting at you from another can make you die in an instant.

 

Anyway, I don't want to give a full review, but IGN's 10 is way too much. This game's about an 8.8

[VooDooPC]

The game is fantastic and very fun, but all the places giving it perfect scores is a bit much I think.

[boiler]

Brucie is my favorite friend thus far. His comments crack me up, especially the "bullshark" stuff (if you've played his missions, you know what I'm talking about)

 

Mo, I think you're farther than I am in the game now - I think in your achievements it said you've unlocked all islands, which I haven't done yet. I got stuck on Packie's "big mission" (you should know which one) then spent some time running errands for Little Jacob and Brucie to make some extra cash to pay for my supplies for that mission.

 

I don't know how guys that date multiple women do it... it's hard finding time to keep the women happy, my friends happy, and getting missions done to pay for all of it! One of my GFs likes me to wear suits, and another prefers I wear jeans and a collared shirt. I forgot to change outfits between dates with the two of them, and the second one gave me hell for it

[anonymo]

Saris...inferior controllers ftl.

 

Discom...I think you always have to take the mouse as an inherently superior control device for moving a cursor around a screen, I was just trying to illustrate why you shouldn't discount the abilities of controllers though. Comparing fatality playing quake with a mouse+keyboard to anyone playing any game with a controller is unfair and pointless. A good comparison would be between two players of the same game who have used their method of control equally as much (like if you cloned fatality before he had even played an fps and gave one copy a keyboard and mouse and the other a 360 controller). The current design for the 360 controller has only been around since 2003 (S-controller) so take it into consideration when you're comparing people's abilities with it with only 5 years to practice compared to over a decade with the standard mouse.

 

 

I definitely laugh the most at Brucie's comments...that and that other tweaker you occasionally find on the street (can't remember his name).

 

Not really sure how you guys are having cash flow issues...I've never seemed to run out of monies. I tend to skip the friendship calls, I'm about pool/darts/bowled out (kinda wish you could introduce friends to friends so they could hang out together)

 

And boiler...don't you think you're sending the wrong message by dating two women at the same time? Someone might get suspicious or start to wonder if you practice the same mantra in real life...or do you not let the wife watch you play?

 

Also...Leveller...I noticed you got the cube3d or whatever the game is called high score...did have your wife do it? that's cheating!

[monthos]

I just picked the game up yesterday, played it as far as unlocking the taxi service. I ignored romans call when I went out for a date and didnt have the taxi service, she was mad at me for driving home drunk and right after he called me back, saying I could call for cabs. I felt like a tool...

 

Good game though, but I wouldnt give it a 10 out of 10, more like a 9 or so.

[Leveller]

Lol, nope, I did the cubed one myself, takes about 10 minutes and did it first try (I probably have to thank my wife for this though as her obsession with "puzzle" games has no doubt honed my skills a bit )

 

Not a big fan of either darts or bowling, pools a bit better.

 

Guessing by conversations above, I'm not a huge way into the game, I've just opened the second island.

[boiler]

Oh I wasn't having cash flow problems. I was just mad that I had $54k before starting to try that mission, then failed it a few times and was down to $34k. It was a good change of pace to run some packages and win a few races.

FYI, driving around on the airport runway while jumbo jets are landing/taking off = automatic 4 star wanted level. Apparently, they don't take too kindly to "terrorists" endangering the planes. Go figure!

 

After I wrote that, I played it and beat it this morning to unlock the last island

 

The friendships/dating are definitely worth doing. I use Roman's taxi service frequently and Brucie's is pretty sweet too. I haven't had ammo problems, so I haven't needed little Jacob's too much. You also don't have to do the games that often - going out to eat or drinking makes them happy too if you initiate the calls. I generally do a couple of missions, then hang out with a couple friends and go on a date. Really doesn't take that much time, especially if you're using the taxis. For the dates I just keep a cars that each particular girl likes in nearby safehouses and switch clothes and hop into that car before calling. Easy to do and keeps them happy.

 

slight spoiler for those who haven't used internet dating yet:

 

 

Kiki's ability to clear your wanted level (3 stars and lower) is really really helpful if you need some help near the end of a mission. Carmen's ability to boost your health is cool too, but I have only had it actually boost my health once. I'm not sure what's up with that. The phone conversation is the same in that she's trying to help you, but the health boost doesn't come. Glitch? It worked once for me but not since. I've kept her happy and everything too. Go figure. She's a stuck-up biotch anyway.

 

 

My wife was cracking up when I took my date to the strip club (one of them DOES like to go to the strip club). She doesn't watch me play much, but she appreciates the humor of GTA and doesn't take any of it too seriously.

Edited May 5, 2008 by boilersax