I have SPECIFIC save files for GTA 4 so i can replay the game 20 times without those annoying missions i don't like (GTA as a whole is multi genre and I'm a shooter guy, racing is not my thing)
That’s crazy because I never use to like the story mode when it released just mainly the online but now that years has past I played it again and didn’t realize how great the story was. Now I’m getting into Lost and Damned and Balled of Gay Tony because I never experienced the entire Liberty City Stories
The true tragedy of GTA 4 is, that most people who expected some evolution of GTA SA (more stuff to do, whacky humour, over the top action etc) were actually disappointed with this game. It was only afterwards when we understood what GTA 4 truly was and tried to be, that we could really appreciate it. But at that time, Rockstar felt that darker, mature and more grounded experiments are not welcomed by the GTA community. Thats why Trevor kills Johnny at the very beginning of GTA 5. Thats a symbolic move, killing the GTA 4 style in favour of this more arcady classic GTA philosophy, while character and narrative took a huge step back. This happens almost every time a new part in a series of any medium tries to break conventions. This is also what happened to the Star Wars prequels. Yes the dialogue was bad, but at least they head their own vision, identity and word building. It required a new generation of Star Wars fans to appreciate it. While the OT purists got their soft-reboot with Star Wars 7 and ended up disliking it even more because, well - it turned out, recycling the same stuff (but worse and with less cohesion and passion) is actually boring. The same realisation later came to the GTA community - and nowadays GTA 5 is seen as just a worse version of its inspiration (San Andreas), while GTA 4 finally gets appreciated for trying to change things up in order to keep the GTA formula fresh. GTA 4 clearly had its flaws, but if the GTA community actually appreciated the direction they were trying to go back then already, iam very sure GTA 5 would have been very different. I guess its true: Sometimes the customer really don't know what they want. And sometimes (wrong) expectations can ruin experiences, because we are not open to changes within a beloved franchise. That seems also the reason why the industry is full of remakes, reboots and remasters these days. We consumers seem to be too ignorant to reward risk, so why should creators and artist risk anything if they can just play it safe and bring out more of the same?
I wish more developers took risks like Rockstar did in 2008. Risks like Santa Monica rebooting God of War are good examples, but so many games play it safe nowadays. We also see this with the Witcher series on Netflix. I enjoyed the non-linear story telling in the first season, but a lot of people complained about it. Now, the second season is linear and not as interesting from a story telling perspective in my opinion. GTA 4 has aged well with time, even with it's flaws, but I completely understand why it was controversial at the time. Let's hope Rockstar take some risks with GTA 6 and delivery something special.
I feel Iike Saints row 2 was that But GTA4 was its own thing. Rockstar always try to push the bar. and the Physics in GTA4 were next level. Also it choices really mattered killing someone might lead to losing out on a side quest which on my first playthrough I missed out on many side quests because of this. Sometimes killing someone is good thing as they might come back for you later. Side activites really add to nikos back story. Also The story its self is the great and Niko is one the best Chracters in gaming. Physics are also some of the best.
@@TwinSticksReviews They took Risks With RDR2 making a slower paced game and also adding in the realism was risky as some people did not like it but it stood out. The main thing though is the pushed the bar for NPC interaction and reaction and the level of detail. You do not always need to take risks But You do need to really try to push the bar for open worlds even if its doing what you did before but pushing it to the next level.
I think the problem that Grand Theft Auto 4 has is a problem a lot of these narrative games make for themselves. GTA4 expects players to care about its detailed story and characters to ignore the basic desire of every GTA fan. Mayhem and chaos. Niko shouldn't have been the main character to start out with 'Your Cousin' who winds up causing too much problems leading into Niko Bellic taking over and the story getting serious and grounded.
IV is such an emotional game. Testing the players emotional intelligence is such an important aspect of this game… that Mallory call at the end of the game never ceases to leave me a tad misty eyed
Yeah his "good RPGs know there are no wrong choices" line didn't work for me. Aesthetically, making the wrong choice will fit with the game's pessimistic tone regardless, and making the right choice will bring a little ray of light to the dreary world that GTA creates. So artistically the choices create variety and interactivity while fitting with the game's themes. If we look at the game as a test of emotional intelligence the fact that he killed Dwayne over Playboy X, especially that he found the choice difficult, is pretty damning. Yes, some of the correct choices are people who are "pathetic" including Dwayne. But the obvious point is, why do you have to make this the punctuation mark on the end of their life? To be killed by someone they thought was cool with them... for money? It's so obvious that it isn't right - but it's also in a game where you kill people for money. So like "can you really respect yourself for making this decision?" Is a good question
Completely disagree about the radio stations lacking personality. They're not quite as over the top as previous games, but I still remember plenty of the hosts. Bobby Konders really sold me on Massive B Soundsystem with his energy. A lot of the DJs feel very authentic to their respective genres, largely because they were real DJs in a lot of cases. So many memorable moments with songs too, like "Flashing Lights" playing while you drive through Algonquin at night, lit up by all the bright neon shop lights and billboards. Or the Russian radio station that works like a slice of home for characters like Niko, Roman and the foreign employees of the taxi service you work for in the earlier parts of the game. The radio stations just sounded so New York-y but also really multicultural too. It would be nice if there were a few extra features, but the ambition of the game probably got in the way. My favourite GTA next to Chinatown Wars.
Starting with some real live historical news, then an instant jump into the game's first cutscene and the iconic GTA IV soundtrack. That's the best video intro I've seen so far!
My favorite in the series tbh, I don't think niko needs the upgrades hes already a soldier with experience, the Vladivostok radio station is great and compliments the slavic environment, ruslana is a great host
@@TwinSticksReviews of course I can respect that but Vladivostok songs are pretty fitting to gta 4s story and since they're mostly Russian/Ukrainian most of the stuff you hear in it was popular in the early to mid 2000s in russia, great video btw
@@shiveshsingh3169 Yeah, nearly every song that was originally on there is gone, since Rockstar no longer has the licences to those songs. The original playlist was great, but the replacement songs are kind of meh.
22:13 theres nothing more atmosphere complimentary than driving through liberty city during a rainy evening with aphex twin - z twig playing on the journey. almost a euphoric feeling
For me, GTA IV is one of the greatest games ever made. No other GTA (or "GTA clone" for that matter) is such a joy to play in freeroam: the weight of the cars, the realistic physics, and the Euphoria ragdoll engine elevate GTA IV above all others. It really spoiled me back in 2012 when I first played it, and no other open world game since has come close. They all feel "flat," with cars feeling like Hot Wheels due to their stiff suspension and lack of a proper deformation damage model. The canned death animations or toy ragdoll physics also feel cheap and unimpressive compared to GTA IV. Furthermore, Niko is my favorite GTA protagonist. He may seem rough at first, but he has a very interesting personality and often shows that he cares deeply for others (for example, the way he talks to Marnie Allen and gives her advice). Niko is one of the most refined and organic characters in the franchise. The love and dedication that Rockstar had put into GTA IV in 2008 really shows, and the atmosphere of Liberty City still holds up today. I am also just a huge fan of the 2000s New York/New Jersey mob atmosphere - playing GTA IV gives me a similar feeling to watching The Sopranos - I just love it! Thanks for this video! You may be a little more critical than I am on some aspects, but you still managed to highlight GTA IV's core strengths: story, driving, open world, and combat. Keep up the great work, you've earned a new sub :)
A cool detail about cars in this game is that older ones won't have abs so their wheels will lock if break hard and new ones not only will have abs but will also be easier to drive in general
GTA IV was incredible on it's launch, I remember as a kid watching videos of the game on UA-cam and it was so freaking good looking my god. 11 year old me could not see much difference from a movie
Ironically I find GTA IV is more fun than other GTA games when most people say it's not fun. Even GTA V is boring to me. San Andreas is the only GTA game that can hold up to GTA 4's charm imo.
GTA 4 is Rockstar's greatest game ever, a personal favourite of mine and up there with the greatest games in history (rated 98 on metacritic) we need a remaster of this masterpiece.
Having played GTA IV recently again, it became my favourite in the series by FAR. Although the missing, customisation, lack of RPG elements and less gameplay variety is a bit of a whimper, i don't think i care much about that, thankfully the DLC fixes the lack of weapon variety at least, on top of being great and focused stories on their own. Up until 2021, GTA SA was my favourite, even after i started developing a bias towards the 80's era thanks to Hotline Miami and Scarface. You'd think I'd prefer VC but it's gameplay was less than ideal for me and the less i say about GTA 3 the better, anyway point is i enjoy the variety of SA but i still use little of it. GTA IV is more satisfying to play, has a great narrative and characters that are not just iconic, but just fun to be around as friends. That's the only side content i need, friend hangouts, not to unlock something but to learn more about them and take part in my 2 fav things irl. Playing and drinking lol, gf's have that too and i wish there were more tbh and hunting down criminals in those police criminal records were hella fun Just like with Hotline Miami, the trilogy (or rather VC and SA only) is fun, addictive and arcady, while the sequel HM2: Wrong Number is smoother, satisfying but feels real or authentic. HM1 you like hurting other people, you may be feeling differently about it in 2 considering it's and IV's ending. I tend to be more biased towards things that make me feel like shet the older i get, idk what that says about me but yeah. I ofc love stuff like Uncharted or Crash but tragedy or hopelessness have a bigger impact on me. HM2's ending has that, Bloodborne's ending has that, Metal Gear Solid 3's ending has that and GTA IV most definitely has that, truly a masterpiece (screw the pigeons though, I got 199 and have searched all 200 possible locations three times already for that final one wtf lol)
GTA IV is the one that badly needs to be remastered/remade. The writing, world, story, characters, sound design, physics and animation are still top tier even for 2022, but there are too many other technical limitations that hold the game back (bad textures, low polygon models, frame rate, input lag, lighting and shadow resolution etc). Keeping everything basically the same but just modernising the graphics, fixing the responsiveness (it should feel similar to RDR2 for shooting), refining the physics and adding some quality of life changes (basically the changes from Ballad of Gay Tony into the main game) and it becomes an all time classic. Unfortunately as the game stands right now it's hard to go back to. I was so disappointed pretty much as soon as you get control of the first car in GTA V it's obvious that they had gone in a completely different direction and for me GTA V is the one game in the series that I just don't like, even though there's nothing wrong with it and is actually very good, it just doesn't feel good to play.
my favorite video game quote of all time, "war is where the young and the stupid are tricked by the old and the bitter into killing each other." chilling. I actually love the music in this game. The other day i was playing GTA4 and i was listening to some of my favorite tracks in the game while driving around and i felt a wave of nostalgia wash over me. That feeling is rare in GTA5, though i do have favorite songs in that game, just not as many.
When you said Saints row 2 felt empty, it's makes me very salty lol. In my opinion, I enjoyed Saints row 2 way more than GTA. It's had just as much detail as you described the open world of GTA, and it's had way more fun activities, missions and customization. Perhaps you should give it a try again.
As someone who grew up loving San Andreas and doing all the crazy stuff, someone who was then disappointed by how little you could do in IV, I've completely discarded the former for the latter's story. Every other game is fun, but IV is art.
22:04 This point is just flat out not true. As a person who is from New York City, it’s clear that the radio stations take A TON of influence from New York City radio and perfectly mirrors that into the game. Especially the songs that they chose. They perfectly fit the time when the game was made and the mood of the city at the time.
This game came out right when I was entering my teenage years and wasn’t gaming much anymore. But I had to play this because I loved the prior games in the series. The realism was so eerie to me. Even now, I make Niko walk and drive like a normal person because I’m afraid to break the immersion. It feels like a gritty crime drama TV series and I still love it.
This is the first GTA I got for myself to play, I loved San Andreas but I would only play it at a friends house, the story in 4 is great and the graphics blew my mind when i first played it
Of course GTA IV is still great. IV with Vice City is my favourite game in the series. Darker and more mature themes, realism and psychics were what made this game special. And lol, there is nothing groundbreaking in Unreal Engine 5 :)
Fantastic deep dive into this game. I remember really liking the narrative at the time. A huge step up. Made us care about the protagonist and side characters. And the small details you pointed out are awesome. Attention to detail is a factor in creating a memorable experience.
Is my favorite GTA game and one of my favorite games of all time Play through the main campaign about four times, lost and damned twice, and gay Tony just wants But despite the DLC stories having more features and side content, that main story captivated me every single time I played
Great as I expected and tbh GTA 4 is my favorite by far and when I look at it now there was soooo much stuff that was taken out of the game in GTA V like the food mechanic and the not regenarating health
Great review. IV is a staple of R* among the open world crime genre. The realism after years of a wacky over the top plots and stories. IV is still loved today, man people at the time didnt know how much a great game is IV. Although there is point where it has aged badly, its still a timeless classic.
@@djcease1996 Ive said it many times among the community. They managed to capture 07-10 so perfectly. I swear everything I play, i feel back in those years IRL too.
This really makes me hope that GTA 4 will one day, get ported to the Switch! It’s powerful enough, the game file is small enough to fit on the cartridge, it’s a stellar game which would work great for a super popular system!
While I may not be best from beginning to end there's just something about GTA 4 story that has remained solid. I don't know if it's the emphasis on realism or the idea that they want to keep things on a smaller scale if you compare it to capturing fighter jets to kill other enemy jets. It's easy to view the trilogy has like a comic book-style movie referencing solid trilogy, but it seems like people are realizing that just because GTA4 was different doesn't mean that it was bad
Yes GTA IV is still great, i remember when i choose to take the money from Jimmy, and i realized i made the wrong choice, as i enjoy Roman wedding and suddenly he gets shot by one of Dimitri man. at that time it feels like really lossing a family member ngl. it feels empty without Roman in the game, i have to say character development in this game are truly great and still deserve to be one of the best GTA game ever.
The only other game that impressed me as much as GTA IV was Half Life 2 back in 2004. They both really raised the bar at their time and basically blew my mind the first time I played them. GTA IV still is my favorite GTA by far
I think it's worth mentioning that the two expansion have their own unique story, expand the main story of GTA 4 and both add new mechanics end game activities. The combined package is significantly better than GTA 4.
Definitely GTA IV was a ground breaking game. Very memorable for me because I got introduced to GTA with Vice City and loved it, but even then I knew it was cartoony graphics. GTA IV was much more detailed and the storyline was compelling. I only wish my playthrough of it was portable to future PlayStation consoles because I'd would be nice to go back to it from time to time without having to play through the fully mission storyline again. As for the "choices" in GTA IV, I thought they were very interesting. While yes, there was pretty clearly a right and wrong choice, I actually liked that. I think that is more like real life. Sure all our actions have consequences, but look at the case of Roman or Kate at the end. You said it well, we knew Roman for the whole game, he is our family and Kate, while nice, was a recent acquaintance. Sad, but Roman dying is far more detrimental to us because of Mallory, their unborn child and all that. I can't remember exactly, but I think I might have chose to kill Darko because he was basically pleading for it saying it would put him out of his misery, and since Niko is a cold-blooded killer in a lot of ways, but has some compassion at certain times, I might have went for the kill option, only to find out the consequences are that people around me don't care for my actions and lose respect for me. That's the RPG elements that make the game choices interesting. Anyway, good overall review of GTA IV. Well done.
GTA 4 AND SA will always be the best gta games of all time people just sleep on them cause it didnt come out during they gaming era but if they tried them they would see what use older gamers are talking bout im only 24 btw so im still young
I liked the analysis a lot, I just finished the game recently and I tried to know what people thought about the game, and your analysis is very similar to the impression I had of the game, most people just criticize the game without much foundation or overestimate him. I just love this video, I always try to watch videos like this while I make my lunch and your channel is just amazing, keep up the good work.
Your channel is gonna blow up mate, this content is insanely detailed and proper top quality. With this kinda quality and quantity your subs are gonna grow at a mad rate.
Yes it is! The classics wished they had and much content, carnage, variety and the amazing story that 4 had espacially San Andreas or being as good as 4. Being diffrent is what made this masterpiece of a game THE best GTA out there and even 5 wish it could come close to its greatness.
Always. And as a gta and crime simulator game, it's still the best. It has everything of what makes a grand theft auto experience good. Plus, the great dlc's and a way more fun gta online experience.
I agree. Adding stealth mechanics would have really added more depth on how to approach each mission and it would have also fit well with Niko as a protagonist and the realistic tone of GTA IV. Your analysis is spot on!
I have to HARD disagree with the Radio Stations part... Just stick to Liberty Rock Radio/Radio Broker/Vladivostok FM/Electrochoc and it all sounds and fits PERFECTLY with the environment imo 🤷♂️ granted if your not into music that is a little slower overall and kinda gives off a dark/brooding/somber tone (that's the vibe I always get, or at least the handful of songs on each of those stations I listed that spring to mind when thinking of GTA IV personally) then yeah I can understand thinking that it isn't as great as Vice City or San Andreas 🤔 Granted this is also talking about PRE 10th Anniversary Patch which removed a bunch of songs (especially off Liberty Rock Radio) and COMPLETELY BUTCHERED Vladivostok FM, actually resulting in only like 2 Songs remaining and replacing the entire Station with really shitty songs (in comparison to the original) that aren't even from 2008 (actually from around 2012 I believe roughly) which makes it feel completely out of place on top of it being bad... The only solution is to have the game Physical and play it on a PS3 or Xbox 360, PC you can mod it all back in but it won't be there by default, and having the game Digital on PS3/360 and ANY Version running BackCompat on Xbone/Xbox Series X|S you're FUCKED 😂
gta4 has the best story in the series (in my opinion). the reason i think this way, is because it is by far the most realistic and emotionally attachable storyline in the series. the gta trilogy game's stories are based off of pop-culture movies set in their time space, so they are unrealistic and more action-comedy focused. gta4 is focused on a realistic scenario where an ex-soldier that served in the yugoslavian war and witnessed the war crimes that occurred is aiming to set revenge at one of his squad mates that had murdered and mutilated 50 children during the war just for "fun". the story gets deeper when he has to smuggle into the united states to liberty city (like in real life, most east europeans used to smuggle into the united states through new york), and when he meets his uncle he then realizes that life in the big city is not bright and glamorous after all, learning that his uncle's heavy reliance on the Faustin-Rascalov russian crime family of the broker borough in liberty city. and the story from there escelates quickly when niko is very unpleasant to withness the way that vladimir glebov (roman's loan shark) is treating roman the story from there on escelates rather quickly, just because niko's past allows him to become emotionless when murdering hundreds of people just so he could find out where the soldier who betrayed his squad is and seek his revenge on him. and this is, in my opinion a VERY realistic scenario, that fits the realistic setting that rockstar have crafter and the realistic physics and game engine and combine all of them together pretty well to create one of the most realism inspired games ever made - and yes, GTA4 is significantly more realistic in the majority of aspects compared to GTA5 (which took a more arcade-ish approach)
Omg, the GTA IV soundtrack playing at the end of your video absolutely sent shivers down my spine! There is such a huge amount of nostalgia for me about this game, even though I have played the GTA Trilogy before. 2008 I was probably just the right age (born '95) to get a grasp at all these deep themes the game is touching: The horrors of war, the bitter half-truth of the American dream, and how the choices you make in life will follow you around and determine it forever. This game truly has taught me more about life than school ever could've. Oh, and it probably helped that I didn't find it as fun anymore to just type in some cheat codes and reak havoc on the City for hours 😅. The narrative was just too good to waste the precious little time I was allowed to game every day on that
To date, GTA IV is still way better than GTA V. I find myself going back and playing GTA IV so much more than GTA V. the story was so much more compelling to me.
I just wish it wasn't so easy to die in the newer GTAs. Police chases by realism turned into stressful duels and wondering if I would survive. In the old trilogy, I was just having fun. But these are changes along with more realism. I hope that in GTA 6 when I go off the road and enter the pavement I don't trip over the curb and break my neck. There must be some limit because the game ceases to be entertainment and becomes work, as in the case of simulation games.
Incredible game from characters to the city itself. I don’t think i can go back to the older rockstar mission structure after playing through rdr2 but i really need to revisit this title in the future.
I’m playing through GTA IV right now as an adult. I haven’t played it since I was 10-12 years old, and I’ve played a lot more GTA V, and honestly, this game brings back so many good memories, and reminded me of all the fun stuff about the game like the psychics, and the story, it’s so much better than GTA V IMO, I love this game.
I will say ultimately that GTA 4 is a game, sure, but it definitely is not as much of a masterpiece and the perfect GTA out of all like most fanboys seems to claim, and you may know what kind of people I'm talking about. The ones that put San andreas, Vice city and GTA 5 as bellow 4 just because Niko has a dark backstory and nothing else, which is just infuriating to know people think that way. GTA 4 is flawed but fun, it's not perfect and definitely not for everyone, it killed so many good things from the past games in favor of making it more realistic, but it also proved that realism doesn't equal good.
I don't mind the repetitive mission/action design because I love the Gameplay(Gunplay/Physics/Driving)but you definitely do have a point about the Sandbox aspect not improving, it would be great if they had the RPG elements in GTA IV as well but at the same time I think they focused on other things in GTA IV and it paid off for the most part, also some of these issues are solved in DLCs.
Aren't all GTA games repetitive? I swear, most of the missions in every GTA game are like this format: - Go to a specific area. - Shooting, killing, robbing, and other related things that's about combats. - Outrun the cops, or escape.
@@legzzzzz mission design has always been the weakness of GTA/RDR games but since everything else about it is great nobody notices, I didn't even realize it until recently
The entire point of the friends thing is that you have to strategically pick which perks you want. You don’t need to “spin plates” to keep them all happy with you. Just pick the perks you want. Technically, you don’t really need any of them at all. I’ve finished the game multiple times without ever needing to call a friend for help.
Your editing is awesome. I agree with most of what you had to say, but the negatives you brought up were not as big a deal to me. This is one of my all time favorite games. The one thing I absolutely don't agree with is your point about the radio stations. I think they are really good, almost all of them. Although I do understand what you meant, by this point listening to the Vibe in broker or jnr in algonquin is just as nostalgic to me as hearing hall and Oates in vice point, or listening to k-rose out in the boonies. And I also think that IV has more musical variety compared to previous entries in the series. There's rnb, pop, funk, electronic, rap, rock, hard rock, fusion (?), euro, jazz. VC mostly had 80s pop, plus some early rap, some rock and whatever radio espantoso was (which was great btw, that radio station is a default to me). SA had a lot of variety as well, but still it didn't feel that diverse. A lot of 90s rap, funk and soul, rock and country, and some god awful electro... I know I'm missing some things, but I'm just going by how I remember it. I'm just saying gta IV's radio is still iconic to me. 🙂
GTA 4 is my favorite GTA game. After I heard this game was going to get a remastered version I was worried because of how badly the GTA Trilogy ended up with so many bugs at release that the original is said to be a lot better and I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s still a broken game.
I'd be more hopeful for a GTA IV remaster than the original trilogy as GTA IV is very playable today. If they just touched up the graphics that would be great. I feel like the original trilogy needed remakes rather than remasters. GTA 3 and VC have a lot of issues.
I know you were mostly looking at story mode or campaign. But I think you definitely should have at least mentioned the online aspect. The online was the first big step into multi-player for the gta. It was alot more bare bone then gta 5. You couldn't own anything not even guns, you had to find them. But to me that was a great equalizer. You didn't have everyone running around with a small arsenal on their person. If some was well armed you respected it more because you know they took the time before hand to find everything. I still remember spending hours in the city with friends in free roam. Driving around in cars with friends doing drive bys on other players. Having small gang wars with other groups, racing around in the city in our own made up races. Playing cops and robbers, racing helicopters list goes on.
My personal rankings of the 3D games (haven’t played the spin-offs or 2D originals.) 1. GTA V: All around the best game in the series IMO. Hate the online but love single player. 2. GTA San Andreas: Extremely revolutionary for its time and I love how big the open world is while also feeling super dense. 3. GTA IV: Physics engine is amazing and has the best story in the series. Lower than San Andreas because it’s more restrictive and I had more fun in SA tbh. 4. GTA Vice City: Great 80s vibe and use of colors, best radio stations, and still holds up today. However the map is still pretty small by today’s standards and SA basically did everything Vice City did but better. I still love this game though. 5. GTA 3: Still fun just feels basic compared to the rest of the series since it was the first 3D title. Note all GTA games are like 10/10s in my book and better than 99 percent of games out there.
GTA IV was my first Grand Theft Auto, along with its DLC. The game was ultimately impressive and touching. While not as expansive as San Andreas, LAD and TBOGT expand on this with more features. They gave the game more weapons, more activities, more characters with connections to the main game, and crosses three narratives together perfectly. I still enjoy playing TBOGT after a full year of playing all 3 games.
GTA IV is my fav GTA just behind GTA Vice City. back when I was a teenager I didn't like its theme, now that I'm older, I fell in love with the game and its theme. A more dark, gray and depressive entry compared with the others
Derek McCreary was the name of the oldest McCreary kid. He’s the one who came from Ireland. Gerry was the other brother who was picked up by the police and in jail awaiting trial. Btw Derek is an informant according to the LCPD Database, so I always chose him in Blood Brothers despite Francis McCreary being annoying.
Gta IV didn't get 10/10s everywhere for nothing. It's the best video game ever. Enough content Enjoyable gameplay in anything you do in the game Outstanding story Expressive visuals Living world And so much more.
as an hardcore player u have the option to choose not to use the health pack rather than making the enemy less or they giving less damage to us where we can run and gun or most of them die to a 2 shots of pistol rather than smg or Rifle. this could be further tuned by an option which may 1. toggle for Health pack and armor also increasing variety among them from 25%- 50%- 75%. as per necessary 2. Redoing the health mechanics where we have 500 health and loose health if we get shot , more loss in upper body or lower if in lower body but this only seems good in paper and is worse for gameplay. 3. Accurate weapon stats - balance from damage, range, recoil and the gameplay itself, like locking the weapon to a single slot where if we choose a different weapon its hard (on 0-10) its 7 to get through but choosing different weapon might scale it down to 6 and further enabling option 1 lowers it down to 5ish. Most important part: Play Testing the game to different audience and balancing it that way. Maybe play test the previous version of the game itself to get some of the idea of how the features or additions pans out to the next or current game. I think CS:GO does this best where they constantly adjust the game according to player feedback, if this was implemented on GTA online, Then GTA Online could be sold like Red Dead Online and I would be happy to pay the 20 USD in my region.
I really enjoyed your review and assessment of the game! However I disagree with you on your point about Saints Row 2 at 31:00. Sr2 has probably one of the best open worlds in a video game and rivals that of SA and Vice City. With each section of the world you get so many different types of people and places you can discover. From goths to trailer trash to college students to drug dealers to yuppies. All the different areas you can find like a trailer park, graveyards, gentrified areas, a university, poor suburban neighborhoods, giant tourist attractions, a prison island, a casino, and the list just goes on and on. The world and people of SR2 are so unique and stand out. Every single section of the map has its own feeling and people to it that really makes it unique. I feel in many ways it rivals the worlds of gta IV and gta SA IMO
Oh wow that's good to know, I didn't realise it's open world was that dense. I played like the first 2 hours for this review, but it sounds like it gets better the more you play. I'm planning to review the SR series next so I'll see in my opinion changes whenplaying SR2.
Goodness gracious that freaking theme music gives me chills. I absolutely adore this game. To Loving things up a bit i did a playthrough with no HUD and free aim. Although i always play on free aim with whatever shooting game i play. Also GTA$ has been the least restrictive in terms of how you complete a mission/s. GTA5 RDR2 both have extremely tight parameters as far as deviating ay from the mission area and GTA5 goes as far as having a skip mission option which shows the games are made for young children
It's understandable that there's not a lot of goofy side content because you don't want that to conflict with the game's serious tone. Yakuza: **takes a long bong hit** "Good call bro, that sounds like a disaster. I also as far as GTA clones, I had more fun with Sleeping Dogs than most GTA games. I was sad when United Front went under.
Sleeping Doga had SUBSTANCE. It had the Hong Kong setting. The Martial arts combat. The dope Asian-electro soundtrack. The Hong Kong crime syndicate- cinema vibe. That is what made it so unique. While the idea may not be the most _innovative_ , the _execution_ definitely is. Man that game deserved so much more.
I disagree on a few things, i think the health pickups are balanced especially because the combat can be so annoying and overwhelming. Also the radio is awesome, especially beat 102.7 and liberty rock radio. Funk flex and iggy pop both brought the vibes as DJs
Cheers! That's good about the radio. That point was just personal taste so it's good to see other people enjoyed it. There are definitely good songs on there, but I preferred SA and VC overall.
Wtf?? I've owned my copy of GTAIV since days after it originally launched, even got 100% completion on it a few yrs later, yet I don't recall ever picking up the happiness island sweater. Also, did you know you could drive a forklift? I think that was also new to me after grabbing the sweater
To be honest. I agree with your stance on radio stations, except for one station: Liberty Rock Radio. Some tracks that are Classic Rock staples and other songs such as Street Kids, Turn You Inside Out, and Dominion/Mother Russia that you never hear on actual classic rock stations. It's "deep-cuts" like that which makes me realize that Los Santos Rock Radio just doesn't have as many standout tracks. I miss discovering songs like the haunting synths of Genesis' Mama to the talkbox solo of Rocky Mountain Way by Joe Walsh. Liberty Rock Radio also has Iggy Pop as the radio host. I think he perfectly suits the type of music that LRR plays. Talking shit about modern music, vulgar explainations of songs or even experiences GTA universes' Iggy has been through. It fits the tone of GTA 4. A game more darker than the games before it and now, even the ones after it.
I have been binge watching your videos and wow man, I have never enjoyed such an in depth analysis of games in a very long time! love it cant wait for more
Another very good review indeed! GTA IV was the game that made me get a PS3, still can remember the shine in my yes when I saw Niko breaking the window of a car to get in, back in those days I only played SA… When GTA V came along I was a bit disappointed at the lack of depth that GTA IV had. Btw is The Godfather (PS2) in your review plans? Was it a game you used to play? I remember I absolutely loved that game, how you could slowly take over the city, business by business, district by district. It was so cool! I miss it.
Thank you mate. GTA IV was completely ahead of its time and some of the details are still impressive even now. Hard to believe it came out in 2008! I'm not currently planning to play Godfather, but maybe one day I might. It depends if I can find a version to play, either through backwards compatibility or steam. We'll see though
@@paulbell3682 The Godfather would be a review I would really look forward to watching from @TwinSticks, I played it such a long time ago and have many good memories, but an in depth review of it would be very interesting!
The only complaint I have about Niko's movement is the way he moves down the stairs: why in the world does Niko keep limping when he goes down the stairs? Even when he is at full health, he still does that; even at the very beginning of the game, before he ever gets hurt anyhow, he already does that... Yes, we all know he was a soldier back in Croatia and his left leg could have been permanently injured there, but he never limps when he simply walks or runs, even up the stairs. He only limps when he is headed down the stairs. it's just the faulty animation, I guess, but at least, the animation isn't as ridiculous as it is in Vice City where Tommy will keep running, even when there's a wall right in front of him, lol! Try doing that in real life, huh? No, you can't: walls, cars, fences, etc will absolutely prevent you from going forward and you will not pretend to keep running in the same spot either, lol!
GTA 4's story was amazing and probably my favourite of the series so far! I've replayed it a good 5 times throughout the years.
It's one of the greatest in gaming and still holds up today. I really enjoyed how subtle it was
Can you suggest me some graphics mod for steam version? (Without downgrading) I wanted to experiment but steam version is kinda trash for mods
I never played past the 4th or 5th story mission back on 360 but I'll be sure to go thru it on Series X especially now that it's 60fps.
I have SPECIFIC save files for GTA 4 so i can replay the game 20 times without those annoying missions i don't like (GTA as a whole is multi genre and I'm a shooter guy, racing is not my thing)
That’s crazy because I never use to like the story mode when it released just mainly the online but now that years has past I played it again and didn’t realize how great the story was. Now I’m getting into Lost and Damned and Balled of Gay Tony because I never experienced the entire Liberty City Stories
Yes. GTA IV will forever be great.
I'mma go back and revisit it after work tonight on the PS3. Haven't played it since 2017.
I agree!
Remake in 2023???
@@ozziesiedman3177 I hope not. They butchered the trilogy. They shouldn’t butcher the last untouched gem
Gta 4 is average at best. Gta 5 improved the gamplay mechanics a great deal. It's a lot more fun.
The true tragedy of GTA 4 is, that most people who expected some evolution of GTA SA (more stuff to do, whacky humour, over the top action etc) were actually disappointed with this game. It was only afterwards when we understood what GTA 4 truly was and tried to be, that we could really appreciate it. But at that time, Rockstar felt that darker, mature and more grounded experiments are not welcomed by the GTA community.
Thats why Trevor kills Johnny at the very beginning of GTA 5. Thats a symbolic move, killing the GTA 4 style in favour of this more arcady classic GTA philosophy, while character and narrative took a huge step back.
This happens almost every time a new part in a series of any medium tries to break conventions. This is also what happened to the Star Wars prequels. Yes the dialogue was bad, but at least they head their own vision, identity and word building. It required a new generation of Star Wars fans to appreciate it. While the OT purists got their soft-reboot with Star Wars 7 and ended up disliking it even more because, well - it turned out, recycling the same stuff (but worse and with less cohesion and passion) is actually boring. The same realisation later came to the GTA community - and nowadays GTA 5 is seen as just a worse version of its inspiration (San Andreas), while GTA 4 finally gets appreciated for trying to change things up in order to keep the GTA formula fresh. GTA 4 clearly had its flaws, but if the GTA community actually appreciated the direction they were trying to go back then already, iam very sure GTA 5 would have been very different.
I guess its true: Sometimes the customer really don't know what they want.
And sometimes (wrong) expectations can ruin experiences, because we are not open to changes within a beloved franchise.
That seems also the reason why the industry is full of remakes, reboots and remasters these days. We consumers seem to be too ignorant to reward risk, so why should creators and artist risk anything if they can just play it safe and bring out more of the same?
I wish more developers took risks like Rockstar did in 2008. Risks like Santa Monica rebooting God of War are good examples, but so many games play it safe nowadays. We also see this with the Witcher series on Netflix. I enjoyed the non-linear story telling in the first season, but a lot of people complained about it. Now, the second season is linear and not as interesting from a story telling perspective in my opinion. GTA 4 has aged well with time, even with it's flaws, but I completely understand why it was controversial at the time. Let's hope Rockstar take some risks with GTA 6 and delivery something special.
I’m
I feel Iike Saints row 2 was that But GTA4 was its own thing. Rockstar always try to push the bar. and the Physics in GTA4 were next level. Also it choices really mattered killing someone might lead to losing out on a side quest which on my first playthrough I missed out on many side quests because of this. Sometimes killing someone is good thing as they might come back for you later. Side activites really add to nikos back story. Also The story its self is the great and Niko is one the best Chracters in gaming. Physics are also some of the best.
@@TwinSticksReviews They took Risks With RDR2 making a slower paced game and also adding in the realism was risky as some people did not like it but it stood out. The main thing though is the pushed the bar for NPC interaction and reaction and the level of detail. You do not always need to take risks But You do need to really try to push the bar for open worlds even if its doing what you did before but pushing it to the next level.
I think the problem that Grand Theft Auto 4 has is a problem a lot of these narrative games make for themselves. GTA4 expects players to care about its detailed story and characters to ignore the basic desire of every GTA fan. Mayhem and chaos. Niko shouldn't have been the main character to start out with 'Your Cousin' who winds up causing too much problems leading into Niko Bellic taking over and the story getting serious and grounded.
IV is such an emotional game. Testing the players emotional intelligence is such an important aspect of this game… that Mallory call at the end of the game never ceases to leave me a tad misty eyed
Yeah his "good RPGs know there are no wrong choices" line didn't work for me. Aesthetically, making the wrong choice will fit with the game's pessimistic tone regardless, and making the right choice will bring a little ray of light to the dreary world that GTA creates. So artistically the choices create variety and interactivity while fitting with the game's themes. If we look at the game as a test of emotional intelligence the fact that he killed Dwayne over Playboy X, especially that he found the choice difficult, is pretty damning. Yes, some of the correct choices are people who are "pathetic" including Dwayne. But the obvious point is, why do you have to make this the punctuation mark on the end of their life? To be killed by someone they thought was cool with them... for money?
It's so obvious that it isn't right - but it's also in a game where you kill people for money. So like "can you really respect yourself for making this decision?" Is a good question
Completely disagree about the radio stations lacking personality. They're not quite as over the top as previous games, but I still remember plenty of the hosts. Bobby Konders really sold me on Massive B Soundsystem with his energy. A lot of the DJs feel very authentic to their respective genres, largely because they were real DJs in a lot of cases. So many memorable moments with songs too, like "Flashing Lights" playing while you drive through Algonquin at night, lit up by all the bright neon shop lights and billboards. Or the Russian radio station that works like a slice of home for characters like Niko, Roman and the foreign employees of the taxi service you work for in the earlier parts of the game. The radio stations just sounded so New York-y but also really multicultural too.
It would be nice if there were a few extra features, but the ambition of the game probably got in the way. My favourite GTA next to Chinatown Wars.
IKR! I mean they got DJ FUCKIN PREMIER here!
based
Massive B love is more needed
Starting with some real live historical news, then an instant jump into the game's first cutscene and the iconic GTA IV soundtrack. That's the best video intro I've seen so far!
I personally think the radio in GTA IV is some of the best in the series, especially Liberty Rock Radio and The Vibe
I've bought so many songs from hearing them in this game 🎶
Vladivostok FM and Jazz Nation radio also
@@rocstarang5747 facts
@@brandonhuynh4528 facts
@@brandonhuynh4528 They messed up Vladivostok FM with the new updates :(
Literally the best GTA of all time with the best protagonist and a compelling story
My favorite in the series tbh, I don't think niko needs the upgrades hes already a soldier with experience, the Vladivostok radio station is great and compliments the slavic environment, ruslana is a great host
Vladivostok is good, especially at the start of the game, but I still didn't have the same experience with the radio. That is personal taste though.
@@TwinSticksReviews of course I can respect that but Vladivostok songs are pretty fitting to gta 4s story and since they're mostly Russian/Ukrainian most of the stuff you hear in it was popular in the early to mid 2000s in russia, great video btw
I never cared fir Vladivostok FM.
@@TwinSticksReviews Did you play the recent version of the game? Because Rockstar removed a ton of iconic music from Vladivostok FM.
@@shiveshsingh3169 Yeah, nearly every song that was originally on there is gone, since Rockstar no longer has the licences to those songs. The original playlist was great, but the replacement songs are kind of meh.
22:13
theres nothing more atmosphere complimentary than driving through liberty city during a rainy evening with aphex twin - z twig playing on the journey. almost a euphoric feeling
True. I enjoyed JnR here too, gave off a film noir feel. It's no K-Rose driving through the countryside though.
Grand Theft “Cousin” will ALWAYS be just as amazing as it was when I first played it. 14 years later and I STILL love it 😎💯
For me, GTA IV is one of the greatest games ever made. No other GTA (or "GTA clone" for that matter) is such a joy to play in freeroam: the weight of the cars, the realistic physics, and the Euphoria ragdoll engine elevate GTA IV above all others.
It really spoiled me back in 2012 when I first played it, and no other open world game since has come close. They all feel "flat," with cars feeling like Hot Wheels due to their stiff suspension and lack of a proper deformation damage model. The canned death animations or toy ragdoll physics also feel cheap and unimpressive compared to GTA IV.
Furthermore, Niko is my favorite GTA protagonist. He may seem rough at first, but he has a very interesting personality and often shows that he cares deeply for others (for example, the way he talks to Marnie Allen and gives her advice). Niko is one of the most refined and organic characters in the franchise.
The love and dedication that Rockstar had put into GTA IV in 2008 really shows, and the atmosphere of Liberty City still holds up today. I am also just a huge fan of the 2000s New York/New Jersey mob atmosphere - playing GTA IV gives me a similar feeling to watching The Sopranos - I just love it!
Thanks for this video! You may be a little more critical than I am on some aspects, but you still managed to highlight GTA IV's core strengths: story, driving, open world, and combat.
Keep up the great work, you've earned a new sub :)
A cool detail about cars in this game is that older ones won't have abs so their wheels will lock if break hard and new ones not only will have abs but will also be easier to drive in general
ABS was also in VC
I hate videos like these because the main argument is what the game isn't - rather than what it is.
huh?
The fact that ROMAN, LITTLE JACOB, BRUCIE exist in this game.for me it's masterpiece.
GTA IV was incredible on it's launch, I remember as a kid watching videos of the game on UA-cam and it was so freaking good looking my god. 11 year old me could not see much difference from a movie
GTA IV was the only instalment of the series I was really excited about and the only GTA I actually prepurchased.
Ironically I find GTA IV is more fun than other GTA games when most people say it's not fun. Even GTA V is boring to me. San Andreas is the only GTA game that can hold up to GTA 4's charm imo.
GTA 4 is Rockstar's greatest game ever, a personal favourite of mine and up there with the greatest games in history (rated 98 on metacritic) we need a remaster of this masterpiece.
Having played GTA IV recently again, it became my favourite in the series by FAR. Although the missing, customisation, lack of RPG elements and less gameplay variety is a bit of a whimper, i don't think i care much about that, thankfully the DLC fixes the lack of weapon variety at least, on top of being great and focused stories on their own. Up until 2021, GTA SA was my favourite, even after i started developing a bias towards the 80's era thanks to Hotline Miami and Scarface. You'd think I'd prefer VC but it's gameplay was less than ideal for me and the less i say about GTA 3 the better, anyway point is i enjoy the variety of SA but i still use little of it. GTA IV is more satisfying to play, has a great narrative and characters that are not just iconic, but just fun to be around as friends. That's the only side content i need, friend hangouts, not to unlock something but to learn more about them and take part in my 2 fav things irl. Playing and drinking lol, gf's have that too and i wish there were more tbh and hunting down criminals in those police criminal records were hella fun
Just like with Hotline Miami, the trilogy (or rather VC and SA only) is fun, addictive and arcady, while the sequel HM2: Wrong Number is smoother, satisfying but feels real or authentic. HM1 you like hurting other people, you may be feeling differently about it in 2 considering it's and IV's ending. I tend to be more biased towards things that make me feel like shet the older i get, idk what that says about me but yeah. I ofc love stuff like Uncharted or Crash but tragedy or hopelessness have a bigger impact on me. HM2's ending has that, Bloodborne's ending has that, Metal Gear Solid 3's ending has that and GTA IV most definitely has that, truly a masterpiece (screw the pigeons though, I got 199 and have searched all 200 possible locations three times already for that final one wtf lol)
GTA IV is the one that badly needs to be remastered/remade.
The writing, world, story, characters, sound design, physics and animation are still top tier even for 2022, but there are too many other technical limitations that hold the game back (bad textures, low polygon models, frame rate, input lag, lighting and shadow resolution etc).
Keeping everything basically the same but just modernising the graphics, fixing the responsiveness (it should feel similar to RDR2 for shooting), refining the physics and adding some quality of life changes (basically the changes from Ballad of Gay Tony into the main game) and it becomes an all time classic.
Unfortunately as the game stands right now it's hard to go back to.
I was so disappointed pretty much as soon as you get control of the first car in GTA V it's obvious that they had gone in a completely different direction and for me GTA V is the one game in the series that I just don't like, even though there's nothing wrong with it and is actually very good, it just doesn't feel good to play.
my favorite video game quote of all time, "war is where the young and the stupid are tricked by the old and the bitter into killing each other." chilling. I actually love the music in this game. The other day i was playing GTA4 and i was listening to some of my favorite tracks in the game while driving around and i felt a wave of nostalgia wash over me. That feeling is rare in GTA5, though i do have favorite songs in that game, just not as many.
When you said Saints row 2 felt empty, it's makes me very salty lol. In my opinion, I enjoyed Saints row 2 way more than GTA. It's had just as much detail as you described the open world of GTA, and it's had way more fun activities, missions and customization. Perhaps you should give it a try again.
As someone who grew up loving San Andreas and doing all the crazy stuff, someone who was then disappointed by how little you could do in IV, I've completely discarded the former for the latter's story. Every other game is fun, but IV is art.
22:04 This point is just flat out not true. As a person who is from New York City, it’s clear that the radio stations take A TON of influence from New York City radio and perfectly mirrors that into the game. Especially the songs that they chose. They perfectly fit the time when the game was made and the mood of the city at the time.
One of The Reason GTA IV is my fave is because as a New Yorker, it captured New York so well, and the radio like you said Felt like home lol
Despite having a dark theme, GTA 4 has the best comedy and sarcasm imo, I replay just for jokes
This game came out right when I was entering my teenage years and wasn’t gaming much anymore. But I had to play this because I loved the prior games in the series. The realism was so eerie to me. Even now, I make Niko walk and drive like a normal person because I’m afraid to break the immersion. It feels like a gritty crime drama TV series and I still love it.
This is the first GTA I got for myself to play, I loved San Andreas but I would only play it at a friends house, the story in 4 is great and the graphics blew my mind when i first played it
Of course GTA IV is still great. IV with Vice City is my favourite game in the series. Darker and more mature themes, realism and psychics were what made this game special.
And lol, there is nothing groundbreaking in Unreal Engine 5 :)
Fantastic deep dive into this game. I remember really liking the narrative at the time. A huge step up. Made us care about the protagonist and side characters. And the small details you pointed out are awesome. Attention to detail is a factor in creating a memorable experience.
Is my favorite GTA game and one of my favorite games of all time
Play through the main campaign about four times, lost and damned twice, and gay Tony just wants
But despite the DLC stories having more features and side content, that main story captivated me every single time I played
Great as I expected and tbh GTA 4 is my favorite by far and when I look at it now there was soooo much stuff that was taken out of the game in GTA V like the food mechanic and the not regenarating health
Honestly I just want the gameplay of GTAV, open world of RDR1, mission structure of RDR2, and narrative/atmosphere of GTAIV
Great review. IV is a staple of R* among the open world crime genre. The realism after years of a wacky over the top plots and stories. IV is still loved today, man people at the time didnt know how much a great game is IV. Although there is point where it has aged badly, its still a timeless classic.
I knew when 4 released in 08' that it was great. But in 2022 the attention to detail is basically still unmatched.
@@djcease1996 Ive said it many times among the community. They managed to capture 07-10 so perfectly. I swear everything I play, i feel back in those years IRL too.
This really makes me hope that GTA 4 will one day, get ported to the Switch! It’s powerful enough, the game file is small enough to fit on the cartridge, it’s a stellar game which would work great for a super popular system!
While I may not be best from beginning to end there's just something about GTA 4 story that has remained solid. I don't know if it's the emphasis on realism or the idea that they want to keep things on a smaller scale if you compare it to capturing fighter jets to kill other enemy jets.
It's easy to view the trilogy has like a comic book-style movie referencing solid trilogy, but it seems like people are realizing that just because GTA4 was different doesn't mean that it was bad
Yes GTA IV is still great, i remember when i choose to take the money from Jimmy, and i realized i made the wrong choice, as i enjoy Roman wedding and suddenly he gets shot by one of Dimitri man. at that time it feels like really lossing a family member ngl. it feels empty without Roman in the game, i have to say character development in this game are truly great and still deserve to be one of the best GTA game ever.
The only other game that impressed me as much as GTA IV was Half Life 2 back in 2004. They both really raised the bar at their time and basically blew my mind the first time I played them. GTA IV still is my favorite GTA by far
I think it's worth mentioning that the two expansion have their own unique story, expand the main story of GTA 4 and both add new mechanics end game activities. The combined package is significantly better than GTA 4.
Definitely GTA IV was a ground breaking game. Very memorable for me because I got introduced to GTA with Vice City and loved it, but even then I knew it was cartoony graphics.
GTA IV was much more detailed and the storyline was compelling. I only wish my playthrough of it was portable to future PlayStation consoles because I'd would be nice to go back to it from time to time without having to play through the fully mission storyline again.
As for the "choices" in GTA IV, I thought they were very interesting. While yes, there was pretty clearly a right and wrong choice, I actually liked that. I think that is more like real life. Sure all our actions have consequences, but look at the case of Roman or Kate at the end. You said it well, we knew Roman for the whole game, he is our family and Kate, while nice, was a recent acquaintance. Sad, but Roman dying is far more detrimental to us because of Mallory, their unborn child and all that. I can't remember exactly, but I think I might have chose to kill Darko because he was basically pleading for it saying it would put him out of his misery, and since Niko is a cold-blooded killer in a lot of ways, but has some compassion at certain times, I might have went for the kill option, only to find out the consequences are that people around me don't care for my actions and lose respect for me. That's the RPG elements that make the game choices interesting.
Anyway, good overall review of GTA IV. Well done.
GTA 4 AND SA will always be the best gta games of all time people just sleep on them cause it didnt come out during they gaming era but if they tried them they would see what use older gamers are talking bout im only 24 btw so im still young
I liked the analysis a lot, I just finished the game recently and I tried to know what people thought about the game, and your analysis is very similar to the impression I had of the game, most people just criticize the game without much foundation or overestimate him.
I just love this video, I always try to watch videos like this while I make my lunch and your channel is just amazing, keep up the good work.
Your channel is gonna blow up mate, this content is insanely detailed and proper top quality. With this kinda quality and quantity your subs are gonna grow at a mad rate.
Yes it is! The classics wished they had and much content, carnage, variety and the amazing story that 4 had espacially San Andreas or being as good as 4. Being diffrent is what made this masterpiece of a game THE best GTA out there and even 5 wish it could come close to its greatness.
Always. And as a gta and crime simulator game, it's still the best. It has everything of what makes a grand theft auto experience good. Plus, the great dlc's and a way more fun gta online experience.
GTA IV is my personal favorite. Due to the gritty atmosphere, and physics. I’ve never seen AI react to getting shot in a game, quite like gta IV.
I agree. Adding stealth mechanics would have really added more depth on how to approach each mission and it would have also fit well with Niko as a protagonist and the realistic tone of GTA IV. Your analysis is spot on!
I have to HARD disagree with the Radio Stations part... Just stick to Liberty Rock Radio/Radio Broker/Vladivostok FM/Electrochoc and it all sounds and fits PERFECTLY with the environment imo 🤷♂️ granted if your not into music that is a little slower overall and kinda gives off a dark/brooding/somber tone (that's the vibe I always get, or at least the handful of songs on each of those stations I listed that spring to mind when thinking of GTA IV personally) then yeah I can understand thinking that it isn't as great as Vice City or San Andreas 🤔
Granted this is also talking about PRE 10th Anniversary Patch which removed a bunch of songs (especially off Liberty Rock Radio) and COMPLETELY BUTCHERED Vladivostok FM, actually resulting in only like 2 Songs remaining and replacing the entire Station with really shitty songs (in comparison to the original) that aren't even from 2008 (actually from around 2012 I believe roughly) which makes it feel completely out of place on top of it being bad... The only solution is to have the game Physical and play it on a PS3 or Xbox 360, PC you can mod it all back in but it won't be there by default, and having the game Digital on PS3/360 and ANY Version running BackCompat on Xbone/Xbox Series X|S you're FUCKED 😂
22:12
what
Vladivastok FM is one of the best radio stations in any GTA game
fight me
gta4 has the best story in the series (in my opinion).
the reason i think this way, is because it is by far the most realistic and emotionally attachable storyline in the series.
the gta trilogy game's stories are based off of pop-culture movies set in their time space, so they are unrealistic and more action-comedy focused.
gta4 is focused on a realistic scenario where an ex-soldier that served in the yugoslavian war and witnessed the war crimes that occurred is aiming to set revenge at one of his squad mates that had murdered and mutilated 50 children during the war just for "fun".
the story gets deeper when he has to smuggle into the united states to liberty city (like in real life, most east europeans used to smuggle into the united states through new york), and when he meets his uncle he then realizes that life in the big city is not bright and glamorous after all, learning that his uncle's heavy reliance on the Faustin-Rascalov russian crime family of the broker borough in liberty city. and the story from there escelates quickly when niko is very unpleasant to withness the way that vladimir glebov (roman's loan shark) is treating roman
the story from there on escelates rather quickly, just because niko's past allows him to become emotionless when murdering hundreds of people just so he could find out where the soldier who betrayed his squad is and seek his revenge on him.
and this is, in my opinion a VERY realistic scenario, that fits the realistic setting that rockstar have crafter and the realistic physics and game engine and combine all of them together pretty well to create one of the most realism inspired games ever made - and yes, GTA4 is significantly more realistic in the majority of aspects compared to GTA5 (which took a more arcade-ish approach)
Omg, the GTA IV soundtrack playing at the end of your video absolutely sent shivers down my spine!
There is such a huge amount of nostalgia for me about this game, even though I have played the GTA Trilogy before. 2008 I was probably just the right age (born '95) to get a grasp at all these deep themes the game is touching: The horrors of war, the bitter half-truth of the American dream, and how the choices you make in life will follow you around and determine it forever.
This game truly has taught me more about life than school ever could've.
Oh, and it probably helped that I didn't find it as fun anymore to just type in some cheat codes and reak havoc on the City for hours 😅. The narrative was just too good to waste the precious little time I was allowed to game every day on that
GTA V: What the American dream looks like
GTA IV: What the American dream is actually is
That gta 4 opening song must be one of the best svores ever
I honestly don’t know which game I love more RDR2 or GTA IV
DANN SUCHEN SIE IHN
ICH WILL FEGELEIN SEHEN! SOFORT!
Meanwhile GTA V focused way too much on variety and I only cared for Michael and Trevor through the whole game.
To date, GTA IV is still way better than GTA V. I find myself going back and playing GTA IV so much more than GTA V. the story was so much more compelling to me.
I just wish it wasn't so easy to die in the newer GTAs. Police chases by realism turned into stressful duels and wondering if I would survive. In the old trilogy, I was just having fun. But these are changes along with more realism. I hope that in GTA 6 when I go off the road and enter the pavement I don't trip over the curb and break my neck. There must be some limit because the game ceases to be entertainment and becomes work, as in the case of simulation games.
Incredible game from characters to the city itself. I don’t think i can go back to the older rockstar mission structure after playing through rdr2 but i really need to revisit this title in the future.
I’m playing through GTA IV right now as an adult. I haven’t played it since I was 10-12 years old, and I’ve played a lot more GTA V, and honestly, this game brings back so many good memories, and reminded me of all the fun stuff about the game like the psychics, and the story, it’s so much better than GTA V IMO, I love this game.
I know you don't like the music, but listen to the song 'New York Groove' while driving down Main Street at night. It never gets old.
GTA San Andreas has a very big open world. But only like 1/4th of it is actually interesting.
I will say ultimately that GTA 4 is a game, sure, but it definitely is not as much of a masterpiece and the perfect GTA out of all like most fanboys seems to claim, and you may know what kind of people I'm talking about. The ones that put San andreas, Vice city and GTA 5 as bellow 4 just because Niko has a dark backstory and nothing else, which is just infuriating to know people think that way.
GTA 4 is flawed but fun, it's not perfect and definitely not for everyone, it killed so many good things from the past games in favor of making it more realistic, but it also proved that realism doesn't equal good.
I don't mind the repetitive mission/action design because I love the Gameplay(Gunplay/Physics/Driving)but you definitely do have a point about the Sandbox aspect not improving, it would be great if they had the RPG elements in GTA IV as well but at the same time I think they focused on other things in GTA IV and it paid off for the most part, also some of these issues are solved in DLCs.
Aren't all GTA games repetitive? I swear, most of the missions in every GTA game are like this format:
- Go to a specific area.
- Shooting, killing, robbing, and other related things that's about combats.
- Outrun the cops, or escape.
@@legzzzzz mission design has always been the weakness of GTA/RDR games but since everything else about it is great nobody notices, I didn't even realize it until recently
The entire point of the friends thing is that you have to strategically pick which perks you want. You don’t need to “spin plates” to keep them all happy with you. Just pick the perks you want. Technically, you don’t really need any of them at all. I’ve finished the game multiple times without ever needing to call a friend for help.
The gamr was very captivating, and I loved the dark, gritty and grounded themes of the story.
Your editing is awesome. I agree with most of what you had to say, but the negatives you brought up were not as big a deal to me. This is one of my all time favorite games.
The one thing I absolutely don't agree with is your point about the radio stations. I think they are really good, almost all of them. Although I do understand what you meant, by this point listening to the Vibe in broker or jnr in algonquin is just as nostalgic to me as hearing hall and Oates in vice point, or listening to k-rose out in the boonies. And I also think that IV has more musical variety compared to previous entries in the series. There's rnb, pop, funk, electronic, rap, rock, hard rock, fusion (?), euro, jazz. VC mostly had 80s pop, plus some early rap, some rock and whatever radio espantoso was (which was great btw, that radio station is a default to me). SA had a lot of variety as well, but still it didn't feel that diverse. A lot of 90s rap, funk and soul, rock and country, and some god awful electro... I know I'm missing some things, but I'm just going by how I remember it. I'm just saying gta IV's radio is still iconic to me. 🙂
GTA 4 is my favorite GTA game.
After I heard this game was going to get a remastered version I was worried because of how badly the GTA Trilogy ended up with so many bugs at release that the original is said to be a lot better and I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s still a broken game.
Don't count Rockstar out. The Definitive Edition is really their first setback.
I'd be more hopeful for a GTA IV remaster than the original trilogy as GTA IV is very playable today. If they just touched up the graphics that would be great. I feel like the original trilogy needed remakes rather than remasters. GTA 3 and VC have a lot of issues.
Best protagonist, story and original soundtrack of the entire series
You'll never convince me GTA IV wasn't the best GTA. Still my favorite. I've played through it so many times and still love it.
I know you were mostly looking at story mode or campaign. But I think you definitely should have at least mentioned the online aspect. The online was the first big step into multi-player for the gta. It was alot more bare bone then gta 5. You couldn't own anything not even guns, you had to find them. But to me that was a great equalizer. You didn't have everyone running around with a small arsenal on their person. If some was well armed you respected it more because you know they took the time before hand to find everything. I still remember spending hours in the city with friends in free roam. Driving around in cars with friends doing drive bys on other players. Having small gang wars with other groups, racing around in the city in our own made up races. Playing cops and robbers, racing helicopters list goes on.
Alejandra always says the same thing to me.
Roman's cousin, nice to see you again.
Damn Dude you deserve A LOT more subs. Quality content, I mean it! Thanks for the video
Killing playboy x is also the better choice cause you get Playboy X extremely dope apartment !
Nah Killing Darko is much more satisfying and the dialogue that goes with it fits more thematically with the game. Really Let's Niko feel it
My personal rankings of the 3D games (haven’t played the spin-offs or 2D originals.)
1. GTA V: All around the best game in the series IMO. Hate the online but love single player.
2. GTA San Andreas: Extremely revolutionary for its time and I love how big the open world is while also feeling super dense.
3. GTA IV: Physics engine is amazing and has the best story in the series. Lower than San Andreas because it’s more restrictive and I had more fun in SA tbh.
4. GTA Vice City: Great 80s vibe and use of colors, best radio stations, and still holds up today. However the map is still pretty small by today’s standards and SA basically did everything Vice City did but better. I still love this game though.
5. GTA 3: Still fun just feels basic compared to the rest of the series since it was the first 3D title.
Note all GTA games are like 10/10s in my book and better than 99 percent of games out there.
For me, it’s IV > San Andreas > V > Vice City > III.
GTA IV was my first Grand Theft Auto, along with its DLC. The game was ultimately impressive and touching. While not as expansive as San Andreas, LAD and TBOGT expand on this with more features. They gave the game more weapons, more activities, more characters with connections to the main game, and crosses three narratives together perfectly. I still enjoy playing TBOGT after a full year of playing all 3 games.
i also made a video a month ago how well they optimized the game, and it's still holds very well in 2022, but of course barely anybody saw that...
GTA IV is my fav GTA just behind GTA Vice City. back when I was a teenager I didn't like its theme, now that I'm older, I fell in love with the game and its theme. A more dark, gray and depressive entry compared with the others
Got tired after finishing gta 5 twice and omg it still very much holds up
Derek McCreary was the name of the oldest McCreary kid. He’s the one who came from Ireland. Gerry was the other brother who was picked up by the police and in jail awaiting trial. Btw Derek is an informant according to the LCPD Database, so I always chose him in Blood Brothers despite Francis McCreary being annoying.
Lmaooo I agree . I felt bad for Derrick but I killed him , I needed Francis police support
Gta IV didn't get 10/10s everywhere for nothing.
It's the best video game ever.
Enough content
Enjoyable gameplay in anything you do in the game
Outstanding story
Expressive visuals
Living world
And so much more.
Your channel is criminally underrated
"Scarface copied Vice City"
Meanwhile Vice City copied Scarface, the movie.
as an hardcore player u have the option to choose not to use the health pack rather than making the enemy less or they giving less damage to us where we can run and gun or most of them die to a 2 shots of pistol rather than smg or Rifle. this could be further tuned by an option which may
1. toggle for Health pack and armor also increasing variety among them from 25%- 50%- 75%. as per necessary
2. Redoing the health mechanics where we have 500 health and loose health if we get shot , more loss in upper body or lower if in lower body but this only seems good in paper and is worse for gameplay.
3. Accurate weapon stats - balance from damage, range, recoil and the gameplay itself, like locking the weapon to a single slot where if we choose a different weapon its hard (on 0-10) its 7 to get through but choosing different weapon might scale it down to 6 and further enabling option 1 lowers it down to 5ish.
Most important part: Play Testing the game to different audience and balancing it that way. Maybe play test the previous version of the game itself to get some of the idea of how the features or additions pans out to the next or current game.
I think CS:GO does this best where they constantly adjust the game according to player feedback, if this was implemented on GTA online, Then GTA Online could be sold like Red Dead Online and I would be happy to pay the 20 USD in my region.
I really enjoyed your review and assessment of the game!
However I disagree with you on your point about Saints Row 2 at 31:00. Sr2 has probably one of the best open worlds in a video game and rivals that of SA and Vice City. With each section of the world you get so many different types of people and places you can discover. From goths to trailer trash to college students to drug dealers to yuppies. All the different areas you can find like a trailer park, graveyards, gentrified areas, a university, poor suburban neighborhoods, giant tourist attractions, a prison island, a casino, and the list just goes on and on. The world and people of SR2 are so unique and stand out. Every single section of the map has its own feeling and people to it that really makes it unique.
I feel in many ways it rivals the worlds of gta IV and gta SA IMO
Oh wow that's good to know, I didn't realise it's open world was that dense. I played like the first 2 hours for this review, but it sounds like it gets better the more you play. I'm planning to review the SR series next so I'll see in my opinion changes whenplaying SR2.
I'll play GTA IV until the day I die.
Goodness gracious that freaking theme music gives me chills. I absolutely adore this game. To Loving things up a bit i did a playthrough with no HUD and free aim. Although i always play on free aim with whatever shooting game i play. Also GTA$ has been the least restrictive in terms of how you complete a mission/s. GTA5 RDR2 both have extremely tight parameters as far as deviating ay from the mission area and GTA5 goes as far as having a skip mission option which shows the games are made for young children
Cool video mate - really putting in the work 🙏🏼
You have to master every vehicle in this game, due to their unique handlings, in order to be able to enjoy it properly
It's understandable that there's not a lot of goofy side content because you don't want that to conflict with the game's serious tone.
Yakuza: **takes a long bong hit** "Good call bro, that sounds like a disaster.
I also as far as GTA clones, I had more fun with Sleeping Dogs than most GTA games. I was sad when United Front went under.
Sleeping Doga had SUBSTANCE. It had the Hong Kong setting. The Martial arts combat. The dope Asian-electro soundtrack. The Hong Kong crime syndicate- cinema vibe.
That is what made it so unique. While the idea may not be the most _innovative_ , the _execution_ definitely is.
Man that game deserved so much more.
I disagree on a few things, i think the health pickups are balanced especially because the combat can be so annoying and overwhelming. Also the radio is awesome, especially beat 102.7 and liberty rock radio. Funk flex and iggy pop both brought the vibes as DJs
Amazing video man, I personally love that radio
Cheers! That's good about the radio. That point was just personal taste so it's good to see other people enjoyed it. There are definitely good songs on there, but I preferred SA and VC overall.
please try out the spinoffs GTA Vice City Stories and Liberty City Stories
One day!
Wtf?? I've owned my copy of GTAIV since days after it originally launched, even got 100% completion on it a few yrs later, yet I don't recall ever picking up the happiness island sweater. Also, did you know you could drive a forklift? I think that was also new to me after grabbing the sweater
To be honest. I agree with your stance on radio stations, except for one station: Liberty Rock Radio.
Some tracks that are Classic Rock staples and other songs such as Street Kids, Turn You Inside Out, and Dominion/Mother Russia that you never hear on actual classic rock stations.
It's "deep-cuts" like that which makes me realize that Los Santos Rock Radio just doesn't have as many standout tracks. I miss discovering songs like the haunting synths of Genesis' Mama to the talkbox solo of Rocky Mountain Way by Joe Walsh.
Liberty Rock Radio also has Iggy Pop as the radio host. I think he perfectly suits the type of music that LRR plays.
Talking shit about modern music, vulgar explainations of songs or even experiences GTA universes' Iggy has been through.
It fits the tone of GTA 4. A game more darker than the games before it and now, even the ones after it.
I have been binge watching your videos and wow man, I have never enjoyed such an in depth analysis of games in a very long time! love it cant wait for more
Dude you need way more subscribers for what you put out.
Another very good review indeed! GTA IV was the game that made me get a PS3, still can remember the shine in my yes when I saw Niko breaking the window of a car to get in, back in those days I only played SA… When GTA V came along I was a bit disappointed at the lack of depth that GTA IV had.
Btw is The Godfather (PS2) in your review plans? Was it a game you used to play? I remember I absolutely loved that game, how you could slowly take over the city, business by business, district by district. It was so cool! I miss it.
Thank you mate. GTA IV was completely ahead of its time and some of the details are still impressive even now. Hard to believe it came out in 2008! I'm not currently planning to play Godfather, but maybe one day I might. It depends if I can find a version to play, either through backwards compatibility or steam. We'll see though
@@TwinSticksReviews If you play The Godfather game, you're better going for the Wii or PS3 versions as they have extra content.
@@paulbell3682 The Godfather would be a review I would really look forward to watching from @TwinSticks, I played it such a long time ago and have many good memories, but an in depth review of it would be very interesting!
The only complaint I have about Niko's movement is the way he moves down the stairs: why in the world does Niko keep limping when he goes down the stairs? Even when he is at full health, he still does that; even at the very beginning of the game, before he ever gets hurt anyhow, he already does that...
Yes, we all know he was a soldier back in Croatia and his left leg could have been permanently injured there, but he never limps when he simply walks or runs, even up the stairs. He only limps when he is headed down the stairs.
it's just the faulty animation, I guess, but at least, the animation isn't as ridiculous as it is in Vice City where Tommy will keep running, even when there's a wall right in front of him, lol!
Try doing that in real life, huh? No, you can't: walls, cars, fences, etc will absolutely prevent you from going forward and you will not pretend to keep running in the same spot either, lol!
My favorite is San andreas but IV is a close second