You've read the reviews, no doubt. GTA4 scores anything from a "PERFECT 10 OMFG" to a "ZOMG 100% THIS IS BETTER THAN LIVING." Looking at these scores, you'd assume that every aspect of this game is flawless. Not so, and here is why (Transitions aren't my forte, okay?)

First off, a majority of what this game attempts is pulled off very poorly. The Cover System is absolute rubbish, making short bursts of fire (The only way to accurately shoot ANY weapon in this game) a chore, as you're forced in and out of cover every time you fire. Though, shooting from cover proves a much more intuitive and enjoyable experience than moving into and out of cover. Expect to lose either all your armor or all your life because you either; Ran up to a car, hit R1, and ended up taking cover on the side EXPOSED to the guys trying to murder you, or you got rushed by some prick with a shotgun, and hit R1 expecting to exit cover, only to end up taking cover on another object.

The Driving is terrible. Realistic =/= fun. Doing a 720 spin during a car chase because I had the audacity to try and take a right while going 15 miles per hour isn't fun. Fleeing from the cops during a mission, and flying out the front windshield when I run into cement barrier ISN'T FUN. I never thought I'd actually dread driving missions in GRAND THEFT AUTO! At least firing out of a vehicle is kinda fun, too bad it's useless in a majority of the chase missions, as you can't shoot a targets tire's or their exposed head through the back of their windshield until you reach a certain point.

The Cell Phone is great way to receive missions and whatnot. I also like being able to skip the drive after a failed mission through the "Re-try" texts. However, as a Multi-player menu, its useless. Tiny Screen, no server menu, and no lobby (You're thrown back into single-player when you leave a multi-player match.) Simply Disappointing.

The whole "Relationship" system was a major headache. On one hand, being "TOTALLY AWESOME TO EVERYONE!" yielded some worthwhile rewards. Being able to call in support or health or whatever is definitely awesome, but having to go on a play date EVERY TIME someone called became annoying almost immediately. Sure, I could tell them to bugger off, but then I'd have to go on even MORE play dates, because I hurt their feel bads or something.

The story, while quite good, suffered from having an uninteresting main character. Not to say Niko isn't likable, it's just that we don't actually KNOW who he is, even at the end. Yes yes, you're big on this whole "Revenge" thing, and you're only killing people because it's the only way you know how to live. Unfortunate past, dead on the inside, blah blah blah. His motivations are clear, and understandable... to HIM. Why should the player care about anything that happened to him? We only hear about it, and very briefly at that. We don't see it, or experience it. What happened to Niko is a HUGE part of his character, and there's barely a paragraph of dialog dedicated to it.

I have even more complaints, but those deal mostly with comparisons between this game and its predecessor, San Andreas, and I'm not fond of criticizing one game for lacking features another had, even if they're in the same series. Even so, its disappointing to see some of the features from SA, that made the game so notable, get the cut.

Honestly, I have no idea how such a flawed game is so widely acknowledged as "The best game since Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time." Not that it matters, even if a hundred thousand people read this and agree with me completely (HAH), this game will still go down in history as a huge Success (much like Halo 3 did, and definitely for the same reasons.)
The following is intended for the pricks that couldn't be bothered to read my whole post, and skipped to the end just to read the score or whatever

ALL COMPLAINTS ASIDE, THIS IS LIEK DA BEST GAEM EVER MAN, NIKO IS TOTALLY COOL AND BRUCIE IS FUNNAY LOLOLOLOLOL 12/10 GOTY