review came out recently,
here's a link to review:
http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/869/869381p1.html
out of 13 reviews yesterday this game scored on average 100/100.
I'm personally super excited because this is a new generation gta(I wasn't very excited about vice city or san andreas), but this is the most realistic presentation of living world you can interact with.
so are you excited or don't care at all?

Used to be very uncaring about GTA series. Just didn't appeal to me. But I've seen what they're doing with IV, and it looks really nice. So I am excited.

First off, there have been plenty of better games since Ocarina of Time - that's all opinion.

Secondly, I'm not enthused about GTA IV at all. To me, Vice City is and will be the pinnacle of GTA.

hehe, don't get me wrong I didn't say it's the best game since ocarina of time, it's what ign office said.
they gave three 10/10 (Ocarina of Time, Soul Calibur and now this GTA), that means they're not passing perfect scores blindly.

I would recommend you to go to gametrailers or gamevideos and watch gta review because it looks like it real does new things and surpasses its predecessors in every aspect, pushing the boundaries and it looks awesome at the same time.

The only thing I'm wondering about GTA IV is how long it's going to take someone who commits a crime to try and use it as a scapegoat. I still can't forget when that mentally challenged person shot two cops and his family sued Rockstar. As violent as the game is you think even someone with a warped view of reality would get the idea there are consequences for such actions. Shoot some cops and well, they're gonna take you down - dead or alive.

And yet it seems the same only prettier.

I really love the GTA games and I'm hyped about this one. One thing that strikes me as odd though is that there's all this violence and Rockstar love to bring the contraversy, and yet they don't actually make the strippers strip. It's bizarre. I think you flesh-phobic Americans and Janet Jackson have a lot to answer for.

The game looks great though. More of the same, but much prettier and more polished. That's all I need.

I'm not a big GTA fan... but I've heard that they've polished the plot (my biggest criticism of the series) and actually introduced characters worth giving a damn about. Along with battles that actually look entertaining, I'll probably end up picking this up... if only because it's so pretty.

I guess I can't argue with that one. ^_^;

I dunno, something seems different this time around, but I can't put my finger on it.

Biiiiiiiiig....

Deal.  ;P

The GTA series has never really interested me. However, I might eventually try GTA IV... of course, that might be a few years down the road if ever. As for IGN giving it a perfect 10... well, lets just say IGN and I differ on so many things, that I'm skeptical. Honestly, the best source for game reviewsthat I've found is amazon.com (opinions left by players). Still, for those of you that have the game and are playing it, give us your opinion once you're done! And yes, how exactly is this different than other GTA games? Also, playing a gangster/criminal has never really appealed to me, so meh...

cheers,

-avatar!

I've got the game preordered.  I was never a keen fan of the GTA series, but yeah, it seems they've made a number of much needed corrections this time around (such as fewer frame rate drops and better action/shooting controls) that I'm more than willing to give it a shot.  Don't know if I'll ever get beyond just dabbling with the sandbox element of the game, but I'm hoping to put a little more effort in completing the missions. 

The biggest draw for me is the fact that Liberty City is going to be based off of New York City.  Rad beans.

Never was interested in the GTA series but given the more polished gameplay and graphics and cinematic storytelling (according to reviews), this is the first title in the series that has real appeal as a game and not just for the sex and violence.  If I had a PS3 or 360 I'd get it.

I admit that I never found the missions in the series all that interesting. It was more fun to go around randomly running over people and shooting up the police. When I put it that way, it sounds awfully anti-social of me...

The game was developed in Scotland.

That reminds me of something I once overhead whilst browsing the games section at Toys R Us: "See, that's the kind of game that I like, the kind where you blow shit up!"

I enjoyed the first GTA, but wasn't a huge fan of the jump into 3D. Although, I did enjoy Simpsons Hit & Run quite a bit. Screw GTA IV, we need Hit & Run 2, stat!

I don't have any of the consoles it's coming out for, so I definitely won't be getting it when it comes out. I'll probably get it eventually, but I can wait. I liked GTA 3, but never finished the last mission, and I only got about a fourth of the way through Vice City before getting annoyed with a mission that required me to go through several minutes of tedious setup followed by two hard segments. That's one of my most despised game design flaws, so I never really came back to it after that. I probably will eventually, though. It was a good game, other than stuff like that.

That said, does anyone else think the sandbox elements of GTA 3 were overhyped? I assumed from what I'd heard that there were a lot more things to do than there actually were.

Liberty City has always been based on New York city. The general turnaround here is a little odd. They must be doing great work with the PR machine. I can assure you there are plenty of frame rate drops and pop-in with GTAIV just as there has been with the last 5 games.

Control is slightly better but not in comparison with many other games. The actual animation though, is much improved which is nice to see.

So far, the weather effects look great and generally it looks good on my SD telly, though some people are saying it doesn't look all that fantastic on HD. It really is more of the same. But prettier. I'm loving it but there is little here for people who didn't like the last batch of GTAs, unless the graphic improvement alone is what's drawing you in.

And, XLord, yep the game is developed in Scotland but primarily for a US audience.

*nods*  I had totally forgotten about Liberty City Stories and GTA III, having never played the former, and very little of the latter. (Or the original, for that matter.)  But this is supposed to the first time that they're really going to go into the detailed intricacies of NYC; a fully-realized rendition of New York is powerful PR indeed.

Yep, and it is definitely far more obvious this time out. The Statue of Happiness, for example, is excellent.

Only got to play a bit of it this morning before having to go to work but, so far, I love it.

The game is made in Scottland?  I never heard that...odd.  So far it's pretty cool, good story / dialogue so far.  I got aggrevated playing though, I went into a fight for my cousin, and Niko wouldn't punch... Not sure what happened there.  Try again.

BTW, I like the GTA games, but I have never completed one of them...maybe this time will be different.

Anyone try online yet?  Not sure what that's about yet.

My god.  I was exploring the Dukes borough - the equivalent of Queens where I reside - and I couldn't believe how exacting some of the areas looked.  Running around the Meadows Park area was just like Flushing Meadows Park in real life.  And driving to and from Francis International Airport was EXACTLY like my many trips down the Van Wyck Expressway to Kennedy Airport.  It's both at once totally surreal and absolutely awesome. :)

Cool. I wish I knew NY well enough to spot references beyond the tourist areas. I do love how varied and well realised the areas are. But the frame rate is pretty shocking (I'm on the 360 version). Little to no improvement on that side of things. My eyes hurt.

It's times like this I wish I ddn't have work. Or could do all nighters like when I was young and spritely.

GTAIV is one of those games I love to watch someone play.  I'm not a fan of sandbox games at all.  I couldn't resist No More Heroes because it oozed with ridiculous amounts of coolness.  I don't think I'll ever actually sit down and play through GTAIV, but I can certainly appreciate its scope and execution.

game just arrived today(ordered from amazon), and boy is it fantastic.
there is just so much to do, I'm 4 hours in and 12% complete(going along with story), not messing around.
I'm truly impressed.

One improvement I'm really loving is the physics. Hitting a pedestrian at high speed really comes with a crunch now and the fun to be had falling over drunk is great.

I'm sure you heard of DMA Design before, or at least some of the classic games they did before it became just GTA: Lemmings, Uniracers, Body Harvest and Space Station Silicon Valley.

don't forget hired guns on amiga, a classic!

Out of those, Just Lemmings.  Good to know..

Anyone check out online play?  Not sure I get the scope or intent of how it plays.  I started off with a one on one match with a friend, then after about 30 minutes, it seemed to dump us in a cycle of various online modes (including a car race).  Seemed pretty cool for what it was.   Actually the run and gun reminded me alot of Warhawk

So far, I haven't even tried out a mission. I spent a good hour driving around the first area, merging onto the highway (fun!) and checking out the airport. I'll admit the suspension of disbelief is pummeled when you can't go inside a lot of the buildings but with a game of this scope, there's only so much they can do.

One of my friends has it and he claims the online multiplayer is amazing. Apparently, you can blow people away with rocket launchers.

I don't know if that's sarcasm, but if it is...

Nice one.

I'm about four hours in and the game is *really* good. The graphics are patchy at times, the driving mechanisms hysterically stiff but the characters are so real and the plot so involving that I simply don't care. 95% of the time, the main character (who himself isn't a saint) is dealing with human trash but the writers and voice actors did a great job of making shitty people sympathetic.

It's crazy-addicting, that's for sure.  Imagine my surprise last night when I kept looking up at the clock periodically while playing, only to see hour after hour slip by without effort.  (Okay, it was just two hours, but hell..... in one sitting, that's a whole lot for me.)

I'm slowly picking up on the missions, but playing through virtual NYC has been the biggest thrill for me thus far.  Although Rockstar's taken a bit of "liberty" with certain areas, the overall construction of the city is absurdly breathtaking.  Picking out the locations, seeing how close they've captured the racial neighborhoods, and seeing what made it in and not is undoubtedly half the fun.

Yeah, I played those four hours in one setting and couldn't believe how much time had passed. I only ended up getting four hours of sleep but it was so worth it. I've never been to NYC (but would like to) but even just the one part of Liberty City I've seen is beautifully detailed. It's astonishing how each section of the borough is unique, from the airport, to downtown (with the circular plaza), to the comfy (yet insidious) suburban Beachgate.

I can't wait to see what Manha... er... Algonquin looks like!

I don't think the game rivals Ocarina of Time or Soulcalibur.  I just sold it on Half.com.