(cover picture taken from wikipedia)
Well, this time I would like to review GTA (Grand Theft Auto) 4. Not a full review actually, only about the parts that's quite impressive for me.
GTA 4 is the first game in the GTA Series that I've played. The second one is GTA San Andreas which maybe I'll cover in another post.
I played GTA 4 only recently (2013). Why ?
- I don't have good enough hardware. Only after I bought a new Graphics Card (the previous one came with the motherboard), I've begin playing some modern games. Even now I've experienced quite a lag during play. Seems I need to upgrade my entire PC (not just the graphics) to get a smoother experience.
- I usually played as "the good guy". GTA Series is notorious for having a criminal as the main protagonist, so naturally when I've heard about people renting a hooker in the GTA games, only to later shoot the hooker to get their money back, I said to myself "Dude, that's fucked up!"
And then not long after I got my new graphics card. I've tried GTA 4. I've become quite addicted so to it. The storyline is good, the graphics are great, the music is beautiful, and the 'sandbox' environment is huge.
Let's talk about the story first.
In GTA 4, we played as the antagonist : Niko Bellic,
Niko Bellic is a veteran of a war in Eastern Europe (most likely Serbia, considering he speaks in serbian).
Niko came to Liberty City, at first we thought it was because he was invited by his cousin Roman, but later we found that he's also seeking revenge for the deaths of his friends during the war.
Niko Bellic is a criminal, that's for sure. And during the game, little by little we know more about the guy, how the war changed him, and when you know more about him, you can't avoid feeling sorry for the guy. Really.
I've taken in some dialogues to highlight my point.
This is a dialogue that took place right after Niko kills a Russian gangster named Vlad, and tries to dump the body. Niko kills Vlad because Vlad is messing around with Roman's girlfriend Mallorie.
Niko When I was in the army... we were going on a mission... to ambush a
squad who had killed a lot of innocent people. They were our enemies...
but we never did it. There were fifteen of us. All boys from the
village. But one of us betrayed the group. It was a setup... for money!
Twelve people died, three escaped. I know the traitor was not me... So
for ten years I've been searching for the other two. One of them lives
here.
Roman Why are you telling me this now? Do you always get sentimental after
you kill people?
Niko You kept asking...
Roman Wonderful! You're here on some revenge mission for something that
happened ten years ago. And you don't care whose life you ruin on the
way?
Niko No.
Roman Well what?
Niko I don't know... I just want to know why they did it.
This is one of the dialogues when Niko goes out with Michelle (his first girlfriend in the city).
Mic So, what did you do in Europe?
Niko I worked, in tourism. In travel industry.
Mic Did you fight in the war?
Niko Sure.
Mic How was that?
Niko How do you think it was? Seeing your friends die? Seeing men have their
legs blown off? It was... it was... it ruined me.
Mic I'm so sorry.
Niko Me too.
This is a piece of the dialogue when Niko goes out with Kate (another girlfriend). I would discuss about Kate later, she's quite interesting.Kate So, are you another one?
Niko Another what?
Kate Another one like my brothers. A tough guy with a death wish. A man
eager to get into Hell as soon as possible.
Niko Probably.
Kate How annoying. What is wrong with you people? You men.
Niko What's wrong with me? Quite a lot, I'm sure.
Kate Why don't you want to live? To live a normal life, I mean - get
married, have kids, not steal, rob, kill. It can't be easier, than
having a job I mean?
Niko I don't know. I have lived a complicated life. I was in a war.
Kate Sounds like you still are.
Niko Maybe.
Kate Well, for a murdering, thieving idiot who can't talk about things,
you're kind of nice.
Niko Thank you.
Kate Don't mention it.
And
Kate Fair enough. A life time of trying to sort my brothers out has left me
a little sanctimonious. Forgive me... I'm sorry if this is a weird
question - what was the war like?
Niko It was great - you got to see people turn into animals and your close
friends die.
Kate Sorry. I knew it was a dumb question. It's just, I hoped it wasn't so
awful for you.
Niko No. It was seeing your home destroyed, seeing members of your family
die. My aunt, Roman's mother, she was... she was... she was raped and
murdered. I found her. Roman does not know - he thought she died in a
house fire.
Kate I'm so sorry.
Niko The world is hard. What are you going to do?
Kate Maybe you're right.
And when finally Niko confronts the person he's searching for (Darko Brevic). Niko can either choose to kill him or let him live. I't's actually a cliche story element, about "revenge is not going to change anything", but I like the way it's executed.
Here's the dialogue that happens if Niko kills Darko :
Roman There you go, you got your revenge. How does it feel?
Niko I don't know how it feels. I'm trying to take it all in.
Roman This is the moment you've been waiting for for so long, Niko. What do
you mean you don't know how you feel?
Niko I mean I don't know. I feel empty, okay? I feel empty.
Roman That's something, at least.
Niko No Roman, it's nothing. The emptiness is what I was trying to get rid
of by finding Darko. I've been empty ever since that day. I thought
that revenge, that killing Darko, might fill me up a bit. It might give
me some substance.
Roman And it hasn't?
Niko No, it hasn't. Does that make you happy?
Roman Of course it doesn't make me happy but maybe this is good for you.
Maybe now that you know that revenge is not what you were after you can
look for fulfillment in other places. Healthy ones.
Niko Maybe... maybe, I don't know.
and if he spared Darko :
Roman You did the right thing, Niko. It is not often that a man can be sure
of that but you definitely did the right thing. Be proud of yourself.
Niko Let's have a fucking party, break out the champagne. I let a diseased,
traitorous junkie live after hunting him for over a decade. Shit,
someone hand me the keys to the fucking city.
Roman There's no need to take that tone, cousin.
Niko I'm sorry if my tone offends you, Roman. But this has been a very
difficult moment for me. It took every fiber of my being pulling in the
same direction, not to kill Darko, to not get revenge for all those
lives he took away.
Roman What made you spare him, Niko?
Niko I don't know. I wanted it for so long. He would just be dead like
everyone else from our village. I was the one that survived the first
attack. Living is not easy.
Roman No.
Niko I would live through killing Darko as well, but then, when I looked at
him, I realized that nothing would change if I killed him, revenge
would not somehow shut the book on what I have seen. Only those who die
get closure, the living do not.
Roman So, you keep living and you try to have a happy life. You try to move
on.
Niko I try to, yes.
Naturally, at first I would spare Darko (I'm a good guy remember). But after that I reloaded my save file and kill Darko, just to see what happened. I believe the dialogue when Niko kills Darko is 'stronger' to get the message "revenge doesn't change anything" to players.
And this is a piece (very small piece,I'm trying not to divulge the ending) of the dialogue that happened during the last mission.
Niko I came to this city wanting revenge, I let that desire build up inside
of me for many years. I let it eat out everything good in me. It took
me over. I cannot allow that to happen again, not to me, not to <cut>
Well, those lengthy dialogues are just very small pieces of the entire dialogues in the game. I'm personally amazed on how much dialogues existed in the game.And during the game, not only you learn about Niko, you also learn about his friends. I already mention earlier about Kate. Kate is one girlfriend that didn't have sex with Niko (she believes in abstinence before marriage). If you "tried to get lucky" after a date, the scene is only both Niko and her looking at each other in the eyes.
We can learn about Kate not only from his interactions with Niko, but also when Niko interacts with Kate's older brother Packie (they're from the Irish mob family McReary).
Now here's some of dialogues when Packie tells a bit about his family and Kate was mentioned.
Niko People don't change, do they?
Packie One time I remember Frankie and Gerald going at it. There was just this
feeling in the air. This feeling that told me - this one ain't like all
the other fights. They didn't stop. There was a look in their eyes. It
was fucking animal.
Niko What ended the fight, who won?
Packie There ain't winner in a fight like this. I thought the only thing that
was gonna end it was one of them dying. Ma had walked out when it
started, didn't want to nothing to do with it. It ended when they was
in the kitchen, Gerry was on top just smashing Frankie's head into the
floor. Then he looks up and he sees Katie huddled up in the corner
crying and shaking. They both just stopped when they saw her. Kate
stopped being a kid after that. You know what I mean?
Niko I think I do.
and
Packie Sure but you're like Gerry - a weird combination of crazy maniac and
thoughtful controlled guy.
Niko Thanks, I think. I always liked Gerry.
Packie I remember one night, years ago, a bit after my dad died, he came home
covered in blood. Like he'd been rolling around the floor of an
abattoir. Must have killed someone, I guess. I never found out. And he
had this weird look in his eyes, like he was possessed.
Niko Yeah?
Packie Yeah. Yeah, Kate saw the whole scene, him, insane like he'd ripped a
man's throat out, blood everywhere, the showering, the burning of
clothes... I think that was when she realized just what we were like -
she was young then. She was never quite the same after that.
Niko No?
Packie No. well, it must have been hard, realizing your brothers kill people.
Wasn't hard for me, but I always knew what life was like.
And here's some dialogues when Kate had a date with Niko
Niko Is nice to get to know you too, seems like I've gotten pretty close to
everyone else in your family.
Kate You poor bastard, you have. I don't normally socialize with people that
know my family. Try to keep those two sides of my life separate. I
guess it's nice be honest for a change. Rather than me keeping secrets
about my family from you, you're probably keeping secrets about my
family from me?
Niko No comment. You don't normally take the guys you date back to meet the
family?
Kate Date? This isn't a date, Niko. We're just getting to know each other.
We might be friends and that's all. I couldn't date you... someone like
my brothers. I couldn't do that to myself.
Niko Alright then, this isn't a date. We're just two people, hanging out.
Kate That's it. But it's nice. I'm enjoying myself.
Niko Me too.
and
Niko With a family like yours, I would have thought you would have learnt to
cope by now.
Kate My whole life has been learning to cope. I sort of can, but it's those
moments when you can just forget that I value most.
Niko I too have things I wish to forget. The things that happened to me back
home, the war... Actually, I wish to forget some of the things that
happened to me here, in Liberty City as well.
Kate I'm sure you do, Niko. Maybe it's something other than forgetting that
you need though. Maybe it's a break from it all... a new beginning.
Niko I think we all need new beginnings.
Kate I was in therapy for a long time, Niko. It helped me a lot. It taught
me how to get by, how to detach myself from people who upset me.
Therapy works... it sort of works.
Niko I do not need some quack trying to get inside my head.
Kate I wasn't suggesting that, Niko. I was just saying that therapy is one
of the reasons I'm still here today. Everyone needs a way to cope with
his or her pain. I just hope that the way you choose to deal with yours
is productive, not destructive.
And
Niko For a long time there was only one thing in my life that I cared about.
This one thing, it drove me, it gave me motivation in everything I did.
Now, after everything I have been through, I am not sure that life is
so simple. There can be no one thing that gives us purpose.
Kate I don't know. I think life can be simple if you let it be. I think that
life can have meaning. I want to be productive, I want to help people,
I think that if I went back to school and became a teacher...
Niko This is a good thing to do, you will help people. You should go back to
school and become a teacher.
Kate Maybe I will.
Niko Whether this will satisfy you though... that is another matter. We want
things because we think they will make us whole. There is a void in us
that cannot be filled.
Kate I hope you're wrong.
Personally, I felt really sorry for Kate. She's a tormented soul. Her family, the McRearys are really fucked up.
Niko can also have up to 3 additional girlfriend : Carmen, Kiki, and Alex. I didn't like any of them. Carmen is a gold-digger, Kiki is a jealous control freak and Alex thinks too much of herself.
Here's a dialogue of Niko and Carmen when they go out and get drunk. Carmen thinks she's better than Niko.
Niko This is good. I'm enjoying myself.
Carmen Fuck you, Niko. You think you better than Carmen? You ain't. You ain't
fucking shit.
Niko Okay, thanks for the vote of confidence.
Carmen You lucky Carmen's hanging out with you, baby. She's so out your
league. She should be going out with rap stars and football players,
not hoods like you. Every time Carmen agrees to go out with you, you
getting real lucky.
Niko Sure, I am. I really appreciate that.
Carmen Screw you, asshole. [punch]
Niko Watch it, Carmen.
Here's a dialogue of Niko and Kiki (also drunk, what can I say, I like getting people drunk, they started to show their original nature). Kiki is actually the nicest one of the three. If only she's not overly attached.
Kiki Who was that bitch? Was she one of your cheap whores?
Niko What are you talking about?
Kiki I saw you looking at her. Don't pretend you weren't. Go to her. Go to
that cheap fucking bitch.
Niko Look Kiki, I don't know what you're talking about. I was in there with
you. I wasn't trying to pick up other women.
Kiki Don't try to fucking play me, Niko. I've got connections in the courts
and I can make sure you're kept where I want you.
Niko I don't respond well to threats, Kiki. Chill the fuck out.
Kiki You chill out and keep your fucking dick in your pants. That's not too
much to ask, is it?
Niko I wasn't looking at anyone. Shit.
Some other reviews stated that after a while Kiki began to stalk Niko. That's creepy. I haven't reached that stage yet, But I already received a phone call from her claims that she saw Niko with another woman.
Here's a dialogue of Niko and Alex. Alex is a lifestyle blogger. She thinks she's independent, but in reality, she's still receiving money from her parents.
Niko So, this blog you write. Is that all you want to do?
Alex God, I've never thought of it that way. I've never thought that writing
my blog was "doing" something. It's just an extension of my
personality. I'm creative.
Niko Yeah?
Alex I've always kept diaries and, you know, thought really deep thoughts. I
don't go in for all the bullshit... the trivial stuff. One day the blog
just happened. I was going through the stuff on www.blogsnobs.org and I
realized that I had to get Alex Chilton out there. I had to expose my
deepest thoughts to the public and that's when I created the Liberated
Woman blog. It's as much a part of me as an arm or a leg.
Niko Or a mouth, telling everyone who cares to listen about your life.
Alex That is so right. People need to hear about me. I really touch people.
I'm writing a novel which is going to be so much deeper than the stuff
on the blog. It's about me. It started out as a blog, but it's
evolved... into so much more than that. I mean sometimes, I think bits
of it, they are so beautiful and sad and... they make me cry.
Niko You think people are going to read this?
Alex People really relate to me. They can take a bit of my life and see it
as their own. And that's because my life has so much in it and it's so
much richer and deeper than everyone else's. I mean, they relate to me
because I'm better than them.
Niko I was trying to figure out why it was that I related to you so easily.
That must be it.
Well, that's a criticism for me too. After all, I wrote this blog to share my thoughts to other people too, although my life is not THAT interesting.
And here's a dialogue when they get drunk.
Alex Man - I'm loaded... I can't wait to get online.
Niko Sounds fun.
Alex What the fuck do you know? You're old, old and poor. You dick.
Niko You're an annoying drunk.
Alex I'm not drunk. I'm special. Yep. Special. You'll be able to tell your
kids you knew me, before that I was famous. And that I had a fun side.
Niko Really fun.
Alex I'm special, dickhead. People want to know me. I have fans. Do you know
how that feels, to have fans?
Niko No.
Alex It's lonely. It's so fucking lonely. I'm amazing and I hate myself.
Well figure that out.
Niko Beats me.
And
Alex Man, I am so drunk you look kind of cute.
Niko Thanks.
Alex How do I look?
Niko Good. You always look good. That's not the problem...
Alex And what's the problem?
Niko The problem is your personality. What is wrong with you? You are so
superior and nasty, but your confidence is clearly pretty thin, and you
always seem on the edge of a breakdown.
Alex Fuck you. I hate myself as much as anyone. I know what is to be an
artist. What do you do? Fucking nothing! You're a loser, loser. I can
get into any club I want. I can sleep with any man I want. I can do
anything. And I'm an intellectual and I can read!
Niko Well done. Well done and shut up. Please!
I would choose Kate over any of them. Yes, she had her own issues, but she got the best personality among them.
* Personal Note :
- In real life I would never had more than one girlfriend at the same time. But this is a game. Get over it.
- If you ever played Japanese dating sim (or RPG that has built in dating minigame such as Harvest Moon), you would be surprised on how fucked up the women in GTA 4, compared to the 'innocent' girlfriends in those games.
- Yes, there's another girlfriend named Michelle, but she only stayed during the beginning. She has her own agenda.
Well, It's time to end my rant about the characters. There are also other interesting characters, you can play the game yourself to discover your own favorite character.
And now let's talk about the Environment.
GTA 4 takes place in Liberty City, a fictional city based on New York. There's even a slightly modified statue of Liberty, touted as the statue of happiness in the Game. Some real building such as MetLife, also had a replica in the game.
(the fictional GetaLife bulding and real MetLife building)
In my opinion, the city is beautiful, yes there is also slum parts of the city, but some places are really awesome. When I traveled across the city, sometimes a surreal feeling engulfs me. I could spend a lot of time just driving around the city during the night (my favorite time is dawn, travelling through bridges, the lighting makes it very beautiful), while listening to the music.
Note: Yes, I've used games as means to escape from my sometimes boring life. I'm guilty for that. I would rant about video games escapism at another time, probably when discussing about Final Fantasy Tactics Advanced, because it's a better example.
The music in the game is provided through radios. While driving, you can change the frequency to a specific radio station, There are a lot of radio stations, each with their own genre, and also some are talk-show radios, airing ridiculous talk-shows. A feature I rarely used is that you can also use your own music in the game (user tracks).
To go from one place to another, you can either ride a car, a motorcycle, a boat or a helicopter. There's also a railroad track, which I very rarely used because there's no sufficient information about the route. And oh, I almost forgot, you could also rent a cab if you didn't want to drive.
During my first playthrough. I struggle with the controls. Each vehicle had a different handling. For example the turning radius of a car is different with another car. This made me crash so often. There's also an added difficulty that in my country, we drive in the opposite side of the road. My favorite type of car is a Feroci, it has good turning radius, good braking, and decent speed. But on my second playthrough, It didn't matter quite much what car I'm using, I guess practice makes perfect.
And oh, I forgot to mention, because the title of the series is Grand Theft Auto, Niko changed cars so much during the game : From shitty cars that's so hard to turn, to Exotic Cars that can turn like they had a center axis (I tend to over-steer instead of under-steer).
I still hate helicopter missions though. The controls are radically different, and you can't use the mouse to change the field of view (because the mouse is also used for movement).
Well, it's time to end my simplistic review. It was a great game indeed. I didn't like the ending though, because it's not a 'happily ever after' ending. But maybe it's what make this game so memorable.
After I played this game, I began to try other GTA Games, notably GTA San Andreas, which I also like, but in terms of dialogue and story line, I like GTA 4 better. There are also other clones such as Saints Row. I've played Saints Row 2 on PC, buggy as hell. Haven't tried Saints Row 3 yet.
*Note : San Andreas is bigger, a lot more activities. The graphics are poorer but what do you expect, it's older.
I wrote this post on August 2013, and GTA V will be out a month from now (September 2013). Probably a while before a PC version came though (September release is for consoles). I hoped that it will also be a great game.
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