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Grand Theft Auto IV
Grand Theft Auto is a difficult game to comment on. It has perhaps as many unbelievable successes as it has undeniable failures. I enjoy playing parts of it, but at the same time I always walk away from the overall experience feeling frustrated. This video is largely my attempts to contextualize those feelings.
Ultimately I can’t say that it’s a good game, I think it’s simply too flawed in its overall design for it to pass for something that’s actually cohesive or coherent. But it’s certainly a game that tried hard to do do good things, even if it fell flat on its face, and for that it has my respect. I didn’t even get around to covering things like the friends mechanic or the awkward romances in the game - both of which are worthy of note, but that totally don’t work in the context of a game about a wild sociopath blowing up random cars.
I’ve seen the GTAV trailer, and I have to say it doesn’t look like Rockstar have learned much from the past few games they’ve released. Red Dead Redemption arguably had a far better open world than GTAIV - you could actually progress in various areas of the game by just exploring and enjoying the environment around you and the random encounters with animals and people it might produce. But GTAV looks to set the tone closer to Team Bondi’s LA Noire and GTAIV; a narrative driven experience that has a very specific set of events and progression to follow. We’ll find out with time whether the next Grand Theft Auto takes after its predecessor or learns from other games how open worlds should function, but if past behavior is any indication I wouldn’t hold my breath that the focus will be on a player-driven open world experience.
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2 Comments
Andrew Dupont
February 17, 2012 at 4:13 PM
I’m curious to hear more about what you think differentiates Red Dead Redemption from GTA4. As much as I try to convince myself otherwise, RDR is pretty much the same formula. The major differences are that (a) the world, as you point out, is much more “open” because it’s about the rural west; (b) they reined in the broad humor a tiny bit.
I’m in the camp that would prefer the GTA series to be more like RDR and less like, say, Saints Row. I agree that the dramatic elements clash with the cartoonish violence and broad satire, but I want them to keep the drama and jettison the more outlandish elements.
Cyborg771
July 30, 2012 at 1:12 PM
I was going to comment about how the dissonance between the parody world in which the game takes place and the gritty realism of Nico’s backstroy and view on things was just another layer of the parody itself, but it still doesn’t detract from the fact that the game isn’t enjoyable to play as a result. I have never made it more than a few missions into the main story of GTAIV but I’ve played Saints Row: The Third to completion, possibly because the over the top sensibility of the world and characters is reflected in the story the game tells and the character traits of the protagonist and their allies. Sure the world is a crazy parody of american life like GTA is but there’s no tonal switching throwing you between two wildly different story worlds for the sake of having your cake and eating it too. Games can be funny parodies with laugh-a-minute gags and games can be serious takes on serious issues with serious characters, but doing both at once is difficult if not impossible.