Seeing as we’re in a new year and possibly a new gaming generation, I figured now is a good time to look back on what games from the last few years really defied my expectations. Either because they went above and beyond what I was expecting of them or because they were horrible letdowns that made me feel stupid for buying them. Today’s disappointment is Grand Theft Auto IV, the supposed game of the century that was closer to letdown of the generation for me.
Oh man, this fucking game. I really don’t think I could cover everything wrong with this game in this one little post, but I’ll try to write an abridged version for brevity’s sake. I was a pretty big fan of the GTA series up until San Andreas. All though San Andreas had a lot of fun and crazy things to do, I really didn’t like the shift in main character from unsympathetic career criminal to anti-hero in a bad situation thing. It just didn’t feel well done to me and I always thought a game like GTA, which is named after a fucking felony, would be about the perverse enjoyment you get from doing horrible things you’d never do in real life.
At this point in my life, I was getting very wary of critically acclaimed games. After playing things like BioShock and Mass Effect I was beginning to realize I simply am not like most gamers and possibly wasn’t really a gamer at all. When the rave reviews and claims of Game of Forever came in I was pretty apprehensive. But I had to know, so I started a GameFly account so I could just try GTA IV first without paying full price.
GTA IV marked a major turning point in me for this gaming generation. I think one could even argue it was a major turning point for the generation itself actually, not just me. But either way Grand Theft Auto IV is a milestone is the tonal shift that swept over a lot of this generation. Games were serious business now and it was time to cast off its childish things to create a more mature medium. Which in reality translated to making the exact same games that were made last generation, but pour on the poorly written pretentious melodrama and trash anything that looks the least bit fun or goofy.
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Well, almost everything…
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So yeah, I didn’t like Grand Theft Auto and I had to force myself to finish it. The gameplay really didn’t improve much from the previous generation of GTA’s. The shooting is a little smoother and there’s a poorly thought out cover system, but that’s about it for improvements. The driving was actually worse, the new “realistic physics” means realistically your car will flip over if you take a turn at over 30MPH. The missions are more annoying than ever and and the large variety of fun side activities were cut down to almost nothing. Aircraft were cut down to one helicopter and now you could only swim on the surface of water again.
People raved about the graphics and I will admit they are impressive, but a living world? Liberty City was a hollow empty shell with a shiny exterior. There’s phone numbers plastered everywhere but none of them actually do anything when you call them, not even a recording. Almost all the buildings are just giant decorative blocks you can’t enter. Normally I wouldn’t mind these things but GTA IV is just so boring. Now instead of rampages we have annoying relatives harassing us to go bowling. This is the sort of thing I play video games to avoid.
So then there’s the story, and its “Oscar Worthy Dialogue”. (FYI, that comment would be stupid even if the Oscars weren’t full of crap.) So instead of just a crazy story for a crazy game, we’re now dealing with a serious story about a man whose struggling to survive in America, who freely kills whoever the hell he wants for money he doesn’t really need. We’re suppose to feel sorry for Niko, and yet this is a game where serial murder is punished by 10% of your current income. This is supposed to be a dramatic tale of crushing adversity driving someone into crime, in a game where most of the fun comes from killing people and stealing cars.
If they really wanted to make a game about hardship leading people to a life a crime then do that. Make it where Niko has to earn money to pay for his apartment, going to the hospital riddles him in financial debt, getting caught by the police locks you in jail and you can’t play for a while. Make the player struggle with him and help them realize why people turn to crime.
If you want to make a game about doing crazy shit you can’t possibly get away with in real life then do that. Lets us fulfill our crazy revenge fantasies and ramp tanks into parking lots while blasting the radio at full volume. Give us crazy missions where we are helping porn directors voiced by Dennis Hopper and just give us an absurd world to fuck around in.
Put please, do not split the difference between these two things!
If there’s a fundamental flaw with me, as a “gamer”, it’s that I can’t seem to separate a game’s story from its gameplay, unless the game literally allows for that. (Like allowing you to skip cutscenes.) Judging from a lot of gamer’s reactions to a lot of these popular games I don’t like, they don’t have this problem. They can apparently enjoy senseless slaughter and then snap right back into drama mode for the story segments where the main character is suppose to be sympathetic.
But for me this is a deal breaker. Trying to tell a dramatic story by stuffing the spots in between with mindless shoot’em up fun, it just doesn’t work for me. It’s feel unfocused and distracting and when the gameplay and story clash, it just weakens both elements for me. Like I’ve said, I like my entertainment when it chooses a goal and strives to accomplish it.
I really like The Walking Dead game because it committed itself to telling a great story, only allowing the player control when it was in service of the story. I loved Earth Defense Force because it gives me unmitigated fast arcade style action. I’m crazy for Fallout: New Vegas because it created a looming war between a trio of fascinating powers and let you shape the outcome through the gameplay. I like these games because they strive to accomplish a certain kind of entertainment and then commit to it.
Something like Grand Theft Auto IV wanted to ride the pretentious pseudo art house craze that games were taking this generation, but still didn’t want to alienate people looking for murderous mayhem, so they made something that’s not really all that good at either one. They also threw in some other crap in hopes of probably grabbing some of the casual gaming crowd. Bowling anyone?
Very good read. GTA V (with it’s aim to be more ‘serious’ and ‘dramatic’) by having three protagonists; more crappy ‘fun’ mini-games like yoga; ‘ground-breaking’ gameplay additions like: “some pedestrians you see at the bus stops in South Los Santos will reappear in Rockford Hills working on rich peoples’ lawns and gardens.” is already shaping up to continue the terrible trend set in IV; and once again is an example of real and fun games being dead (as a whole).
Amen. This was the game that helped me realize just how corrupt the games review industry was. I don’t think I’ve ever felt more ripped off by a video game, and I still can’t seem to force myself to finish it.
Well said and I fully agree. I remember following this game prior to its release, watching every trailer, reading ever article, and feeling overwhelmed by its ‘perfect scores’. Only once I actually brought and finished the game (I had to force my self to do so), I was so disappointed by it. And yes I couldn’t have said it better myself; GTA IV sums up how corrupt gaming journalism is.
Very good read. GTA V (with it’s aim to be more ‘serious’ and ‘dramatic’) by having three protagonists; more crappy ‘fun’ mini-games like yoga; ‘ground-breaking’ gameplay additions like: “some pedestrians you see at the bus stops in South Los Santos will reappear in Rockford Hills working on rich peoples’ lawns and gardens.” is already shaping up to continue the terrible trend set in IV; and once again is an example of real and fun games being dead (as a whole).
Amen. This was the game that helped me realize just how corrupt the games review industry was. I don’t think I’ve ever felt more ripped off by a video game, and I still can’t seem to force myself to finish it.
Well said and I fully agree. I remember following this game prior to its release, watching every trailer, reading ever article, and feeling overwhelmed by its ‘perfect scores’. Only once I actually brought and finished the game (I had to force my self to do so), I was so disappointed by it. And yes I couldn’t have said it better myself; GTA IV sums up how corrupt gaming journalism is.