So through amazingly arduous work (read: piracy), I have obtained the game that everyone's waiting for: GTA IV.



First thing I noticed was how well done the intro was and how it exhumed that whole GTA feel (there's some S&M going on right at the beginning). The characters, while not exactly as good as the ones in say Gears of War, looked ok and their movement looked fine. During the intro, you will listen to an awesome jazzy tune. It was here that I knew I was gonna love the music like I did GTA III's.

Anyway, on to actual gameplay. As usual on the Xbox 360 you now accelerate using RT and that change feels pretty strange to someone who doesn't play a lot of racers, like me. One of the best things in GTA IV is the minimal HUD and the radar that always highlights a route to your destination. Even when you're not on a mission, you can go to your map, set a destination point, and the game will then provide the fastest legal route for you.

Also, the new melee combat is a cool touch. You can now push, dodge, and punch the fuck out of any one. It definitely felt better than other GTAs, but so far, I haven't used it to its fullest because of how used I am to the "punch, punch, punch" melee in prior GTA games.

Another cool addition is that Niko can date. You meet this girl in one of the early missions and she makes it clear she has the hots for you. You guys exchange phone numbers and then go separate ways. If you call her, she will invite you to her place or you will set a time and location to meet at. I'm not sure what the ultimate goal with this whole dating thing is, but I'm guessing it's probably having sex with her, which seems a little odd seeing as how big the Hot Coffee thing was. Anyway, that's Rockstar for you.

As a side note, anyone worried that GTA IV doesn't seem as randomly funny as prior GTA games can calm down. Going through the stations or simply going through the missions will reveal hilarious dialogue in true GTA fashion. Also, the radio stations are all freakin' awesome (except for San Juan Tunes or something like that. Hip hop shit is shit).

ProTip: Braulio09 cums over the Liberty City Hardcore station.

As a final note, it's pissing me off how hard it has become to escape from the cops. Sometimes it looks like you're out of the search zone and there are no blinking blue/red dots in your radar and suddenly a police car will show up in front of you. What's worse is that I haven't gotten any guns yet so I can't shoot the shit out of those sons of bitches. These assholes will just come out of nowhere and rape you up the ass.



Anyway, that's all I've gathered from about an hour of game time.