The Summer Blockbuster season is here: Iron Man makes his feature debut and following him are old favorites like The Hulk, Indiana Jones, and Batman. Heck, even the crews of “The X-Files” and “The Mummy” are returning for another summer chocked with action at the theaters.
Despite what cinephiles may say, the Blockbuster season did not start last Friday with the release of “Iron Man,” but just a few days earlier when throngs of gamers lined up for the midnight-release of Rockstar Games’ highly-anticipated “Grand Theft Auto IV.”
Sure, there have been other video games released in the past month, but when it comes down to it- if you own a PS3 or an Xbox 360, and you are old enough to play an M-rated game (shame on you if you aren’t and are still playing), the only game worth talking about is “GTA IV.”
So next month, I promise to have a wealth of wholesome, family-friendly titles to talk about- most likely “Mario Kart Wii” and Stephen Spielberg’s “Boom Blox.” But for a title as massive in both technical scope and controversy as “GTA IV,” it deserves its own dedicated month.
Kids, go turn on “Hanna Montana” or something, the adults are talking…
Grand Theft Auto IV(360, PS3; $59.99-$89.99; rated M for Blood/Intense Violence/Partial Nudity/Strong Language/Strong Sexual Content/Drugs and Alcohol;
www.rockstargames.com/iv)
Let’s get it out of the way right now: “Grand Theft Auto IV,” or for that matter, any game in the “Grand Theft Auto” franchise is not for children. It’s intended to be played by audiences 17 years old and up. And though there will be tirades from mothers’ groups, church groups, and any other group concerned about the delinquency, immorality, and illegality of the actions depicted in the game, this is a Mature-rated game, designed for mature-audiences, just as any R-rated movie is designed for its mature audience.
So parents, please do not let your kids play “Grand Theft Auto IV,” it’s not made for them. Just because this is a video game, it does not mean that it’s a kid’s toy. “GTA IV” is illustrative of the growing video game industry that has matured and expanded over the past thirty years to accommodate a wide range of genres, interests, and ages. Back in 1985 when I was playing my Nintendo Entertainment System, video games were “only for kids;” but we’ve all grown up since that time… the industry has grown with us.
Trust me, your kids are going to want this game- exercise those parenting skills and don’t let them have it.
“Grand Theft Auto IV” returns to the scene of the crime where the series first got its notoriety- Liberty City, “GTA’s” fictionalized version of New York. And whereas gamers were concerned with the return to a smaller location after branching out into the three cities and countryside represented in “GTA: San Andreas,” players can rest assured that this Liberty City- but its changed since you’ve been away.
Density is the name of the game when it comes to Liberty City’s design in “GTA IV.” Though approximately the same square mileage as seen in “Grand Theft Auto III,” everything in the “GTA IV” version of Liberty City is taller, more crowded, better lit, and built from the outside in: buildings have interiors meant for exploration, pedestrians carry on their own activities throughout the day (including committing their own crimes for which police pursue them), and real-time weather accompanies an improved day/night cycle. Truly, this feels like a metropolis with its own life, you just happen to be visiting.
Stepping into the Liberty City harbor, players are introduced to their protagonist, Nico Bellic- literally fresh off the boat from an unidentified Eastern European country. Nico arrives to Liberty City after hearing about all of the wonderful opportunities his cousin, Roman, has experienced since moving to the States. Upon meeting Roman, Nico realizes that there is no mansion, no sports car, no harem of women waiting upon Roman hand and foot- Roman is scraping by in the Slavic-sounding section of Liberty City- the land of milk and honey, this is not.
Nico, trying to run from his past and make a better life for himself, finds that “everytime he tries to get out, they pull him back in!” The only Opportunities in this Land are the kind that come from carrying a big gun and using it often.
Rockstar Games has successfully made a protagonist that has a vulnerability to him- you may actually feel a little sympathetic towards Nico. Like in other great crime stories, though his actions are despicable, but based on the amazing amount of back-story players learn about Nico and his past, you can also understand why he feels forced to do the things he does. That is the sign of solid character development.
All of the standard “GTA” missions are here: escort, racketeering, assassinations, smuggling, etc. As Nico meets new contacts throughout Liberty City, he’ll start working his way up the food chain to achieve the American Dream- lots and lots of power. Though players can barrel through the entire game in order to complete all the missions and conclude the main narrative story- existing in Liberty City is really what the experience of “GTA IV” is all about. Whether its courting a girlfriend at a comedy show, playing pool with an “associate,” or getting drunk and hanging out at a strip club with Roman, all of the sights and sounds of Liberty City are yours to experience at your leisure. When not forming relationships with other characters, players are always free to swipe a car and go for a joyride to find side quests, hidden items, or stunt ramps to launch your ride from.
And yes, there is a “Drunk Driving” mode. If you hit the bars and get plastered, you either have to stumble home- tripping every few steps, or hop in a car and try to make your way as the camera blurs out and shakes with so much swish that I almost got sick and dizzy in real life. Of course, there’s always the option to call a cab to have a safe ride home, but it wouldn’t be “Grand Theft Auto” if there wasn’t something new that warranted an eye roll and an “I can’t believe they did that.”
The experience of “GTA IV” is so engrossing and monumental, that completing the game 100% will net the first several players to accomplish this feat, an actual Key to the City, produced and given out by Rockstar Games.
And if that isn’t enough- there’s a full multiplayer part of the game where players can drop into Liberty City with up to 16 players in a variety of game modes from traditional Deathmatch and Racing, to objective-based missions, to a “GTA” race that takes a page of inspiration out of “Death Race 3000,” and my favorite- Cops ‘n’ Crooks, which has one team of police chasing down a team of robbers desperately trying to get away. There’s also a free-for-all mode where players can exist within Liberty City together, with no particular objectives, and let their creative/destructive minds run wild.
Mechanically, this is all presented with a complete overhaul to the horribly frustrating controls that players have become accustomed to all of these years. Driving is left relatively unchanged, with only more realistic physics and weight to make handling vehicles more of a skill; on-foot combat and gunplay, however, is drastically different than in the past “Grand Theft Auto” games- making targeting, shooting, and adjusting on the fly much more manageable and a very welcomed change.
When demonstrating the game to someone earlier this week, they remarked “I can’t believe how violent it is.” I responded by asking whether it was any more violent than R-rated movies like “Heat,” “Scarface,” “Goodfellas,” or any other film depicting the seedy underbelly of society?
In terms of the levels of violence alone, the answer is no: all involve amoral protagonists pushed to their limits, turning to crime as their hope for saving their crumbling livelihoods; all involve the loss of pedestrian life caught in the cross-fire of their actions; all involve the murdering of police officers when their backs are against the wall. The “GTA” series has never been any more violent or excessive than any movie available on the shelves at your local Blockbuster; in fact, compared to many of the torture-horror films like the “Saw” or “Hostel” series, “GTA” is much less graphic.
Of course the apples-to-apples comparison of R-rated movies to M-rated games isn’t exactly appropriate; a direct comparison between the two fails to take into account the level of interaction that is inherent in games and which is lacking in film. The active participation in these criminal acts is much worse than the passive observation of them in a movie, or so the argument goes. Whether this argument elevates games as having a greater negative effect on the mind than movies, and therefore warranting some stricter protection or censorship, is still hotly debated- both in and out of the legislature.
Anecdotally, I regard myself as an incredibly well-rounded and mentally-stable individual, and I can say that prolonged exposure to any type of violent media leaves me with such a general feeling of cruddiness that a hot shower and a steady diet of looking at adorable pictures of kittens is needed to pull me back to the hum-drum of modern life. I can understand how someone with less mental stability, exposed for hours a day to such violent material- be it in games, movies, television, or music- could be negatively affected.
But I digress. Bottom line: Liberty City is nowhere I’d want to live, but a heck of a place to visit time and time again. The sheer scope of this game is enough to last most gamers until the holiday season before looking for something new to play.
Well what should show up to my house a couple of days before its American release date, but Nintendo's latest foray into getting everyone in the world to purchase a Wii.
