Grand
Theft Auto IV starts what seems to be a maturing in the franchise and as a
result has experienced some growing pains that are present in the design. The
game removes the previous character stat building mechanic from the previous
installment and instead focuses on the core gameplay of completing story based
missions in a sandbox environment. The notable thing here is that the sandbox
environment has been filled with many subtle design choices that add some
texture to the gameplay even though they don’t really contribute to the core
interaction loop.
Story
is a big part of the gameplay as it contextualizes the sandbox world as well as
acts as the key that opens up new areas in the environment. Without delving too
much into the story it attempts a much more serious tone than its previous
installments and adds some choice in which the player can affect the story,
however, the impact of these choices is minimal to the overarching story
there’s really only one important choice that affects the outcome of the story.
While these choices feel somewhat irrelevant in the grand scheme of things the
game at least tries to make the method of inputting your choice somewhat
interesting. The game doesn’t fall back on having the player simply pick from
choice of outcomes in a choice bubble fashion, but instead lets the player act
out their choice using gameplay during key moments of the story. Some examples
involve choosing whether or not to kill a certain character, deciding whether
or not to take an item, or deciding which character to betray. This method
feels a little more personal and the game could’ve used this more often to
better emphasize the indecisive nature of the main character as well as play
off the fact that character constantly complains about being used like a
puppet. Another interesting narrative mechanic would’ve been to allow the
unpredicted nature of this method of choice push the story in a more modular
direction. However much of these choices are very black and white and in the
end don’t amount to much.
When
the playing the game like an actual sandbox things get much more interesting.
The world of Grand Theft Auto is very interesting and the designers have made
sure that world feels vibrant and alive with interesting A.I. and an abundance
of visual and audio content such as television channels and radio channels that
help build and contextualize Liberty City. Many of the things you can do in
this game just help establish immersion whether it’s playing simple mini games,
watching scripted NPCs perform comedy and magic, walking around drunk, or even
just eating a hotdog. The only problem the physics can get in the way of the
game sometimes, whether the cars control like they’re on ice, or the
motorcycles which are just a pain to operate. Sometimes the game tries too hard
to be realistic and adds some bizarre elements that just make the player feel
fragile such as taking damage, and even being able to become incapacitated,
from falling. And, other times the player may end up flying out of a vehicle
from a head on collision and bounce around walls only to have the character
stand up and brush it off which makes the game feel like slapstick comedy
The multiplayer
is enjoyable when combining standard multiplayer game archetypes and the
creative freedom of the sandbox environment. The best part about multiplayer is
when the game becomes hectic as players start stacking cars to form barricades,
or when they use the urban environment to their advantage to flank opposing
players. The game stands stronger when the game encourages players to think of
creative solutions using all the different components in Liberty City.
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