Easily the best GTA to date, Grand Theft Auto IV nevertheless polarised popular opinion. Of course there was the usual cabal of knee-jerk hacks and bleary-eyed politicos calling for it to be banned, but they weren’t the only angry ones: For the first time since 1997, GTA fans weren’t happy either. For some, Grand Theft Auto IV was a giant stride forward; conflicted characters, rainy verisimilitude and more gritty violence than a Soprano’s boxset made GTA IV the first Rockstar game truly worthy of a “Mature” rating. But for others – those expecting more of the same raucous, guiltless fun the GTA games were famous for – Grand Theft Auto IV was a huge disappointment: Gone were the jetpacks, the Kill Frenzies, the silly haircuts, replaced by rusty hatchbacks and black-market Glocks.
Now Grand Theft Auto V is about to descend from gaming Heaven, and nobody knows quite what to expect. So far we’ve seen sunshine, and smog; MountChiliad, and the ghetto; homeless people, and fighter jets. There’s plenty of glitz and silliness on display, but here are five things we hope Rockstar remember from GTA IV.
5. Make The City Smaller & Pile On The Detail
The original San Andreas was huge, 13.9 square miles to be exact: A composite mish-mash of LA, San Francisco and Las Vegas, the cities proper were separated by miles of lustrous countryside which was pretty to look at, but too big and empty to be any fun. GTA IV is much smaller (about 6 square miles) but intensely detailed; the sprawling green dead zones that padded out San Andreas have been reworked into graffitied alleyways and bustling harbours.
The east end of Liberty City is an industrial hotbox of billowing chimneys and garbage truck exhaust pipes, offset perfectly by the hustle and bustle of Algonquin’s (Manhattan’s) city centre. In the north, there’s Bohan (The Bronx) and Holland (Harlem), dilapidated inner-city shitholes propped up by boarded windows and a thriving drug trade. And to the far west is Alderney (New Jersey) a cosy, exclusive suburb secured on all sides by white picket fences and expensive real estate.
Each neighbourhood has its own distinct character: Different architecture and pedestrian skins make Liberty City the most dynamic and vibrant GTA town to date. It’s the ideal setting for Rockstar’s brand of biting satire; considering the trailer and the latest screenshots, GTA V looks set to scrutinise the modern American city in even more detail.
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53 Comments
What a load of rubbish. You’re asking them to include three things most people hated about GTA IV; The constant and annoying social aspect, The smaller map (more detailed maybe but it was all the same block after block and you couldn’t have any fun, the cops were everywhere and traffic made driving less enjoyable), and the fact it was so serious and focused on the story and Niko’s gritty past rather than being a free roam sandbox romp. Also, the iconic soundtracks and celebrity voices are something that a lot of GTA fans enjoy. The celebrity voices helped bring Vice City a real character and Samuel L Jackson was fantastic as a cool, corrupt cat of a cop in SA.
I hope Rockstar have listened to fans and not articles like this asking for more “realism” and growing up. The fact is most GTA fans want a fun, escapist game where you can explore a huge world, fly planes, parachute off buildings, drive 4x4s into the mountains, set people on fire with flamethrowers, mod cars and all the rest of it. Story matters sure, it’s nice to have a good one, but people buy GTA for everything else you can do and the hours of fun it provides as well. It’s why SA was so hugely popular, and GTA IV was less so.
Vlado, I think you’re one of the few people that want a serious storyline. GTA was always known for being an over-the-top mockery of real life, but I think they balanced it pretty well in GTA IV. I actually wouldn’t mind if they made GTA V a little more funny, but just keep it refined to make it feel more fresh.
I agree 100% with you Viper! I’ve played countless games since the Atari 2600 in the early eighties. I should know what a gamer likes when playing a video game. You’ve nailed it well. The only things I liked about IV was the graphics (compared to SA, of course) and the physics engine (hoping it will be improved again for V). I hated the low poly, ugly colored trees, and hated the colors overall of the game (too dark or strange / sad for me. I guess it was the lighting) – (not so with V, which shows awesome lighting) And I hated the city jail. It felt like you were trapped in cement. We need the countryside too, and I am glad to see it comeback. I did like (from IV) the sense of scale. Suddenly driving a truck felt good, and the big cars felt big and tall.
couldnt agree more im sure what ever rockstar do will be great , i want as a fan of gta to be able to have fun whilst playing gta,i love that previous gta s like vice city and san andreas didnt take them self to seriously. and i thought that was what it was all about, the previous gta was to spaced out, it took forever to get anywhere and do anything.
I agree with you 100%. San Andreas was the best GTA and still is. GTA IV was pretty, but not half as much fun as San Andreas. The story line was much stronger and CJ was a better and more interesting character than Niko. I hope GTA V is more like San Andreas. This Edward Smith character does not know what he is talking about. Maybe GTA IV is his first GTA.
I agree completely. I also disagree about the radio-It allows you to have better music and can better immerse you in the time period.
No, buddy want a extremely story line go play. Godfather.
Wow,this article is a f*cking load of sh*t
I completely agree with this! I will say that i think the map should have more diversity than IV, because the map in IV could get depressing after miles and miles of dense infrastructure. IV would have been perfect if there was a countryside, like in SA. Another thing I think r* should keep from IV is the driving aspect – the car physics were excellent and made police chases feel a lot more realistic. I think if people want a ridiculous game where you can do anything without any of the gritty realism, they should play saints row.
Totally agree with Viper and Todd, these seem like the elements everyone would be glad to get rid of!
i have to say i much prefer tunes i know. its why the 80s game was the best. it reminded me of my childhood and watching miami vice :)
A large map doesn’t mean it will be a good game. Quality over quality. Why did the 14 square miles matter if you didn’t visit at least 7 of those square miles.
What a crap list, this is everything that is wrong with GTA4, It was serious yet boring, none of its characters were memorable, the city was a copy paste block after block and the soundtrack was absolutely terrible compared to SA and Vice City
Why would you want a small map? The small map was in my opinion one of the major disadvantages of GTA IV. I think with better technology and the time rockstar have spent working on this game they will be able to deliver a large map with a great amount of detail. Anyway you can’t exactly call San Andreas badly detailed considering it was made 8 years ago or so.
Make everyone happy buy adding two modes…Realism and Silly modes…but who cares we don’t control rockstar so no use whining if my comment goes down the s***hole
this article is rubbish no one wants this stuff bring back the cheats, gangs wars, clothes, gyms, riots thats what I liked about GTA
I’m quite ashamed to see these comments are coming from GTA fans…our stupid generation.
Stupid comments above me lol.
GTA IV had, without a doubt, the best story of any urban, open world, 3rd person crime game. The physics still tromp that of any other game I’ve seen in the genre. The “sacrificed” the crazy antics for a realistic set of characters and much better overall gameplay. The only problem I had was with the ridiculous expectations of all your friends in the game (giving you two minutes to pick them up from across town and drive them somewhere to play some irritating minigame before driving them back across town) though the dialogue and backstories associated with each character was rewarding. Well THAT and the lack of variation in mission structure. I’m not saying I need to be doing crazy, over-the-top stunts in every mission and I’m not saying that there wasn’t any variance… I’m just saying that most of the missions fell into the category of “drive here. get this thing/person/information. drive here. kill these people. drive here. end.” However, I have no doubt that Rockstar’s upcoming title will be their masterpiece. I was blown away with Red Dead Redemption and very pleasantly surprised with L.A. Noire. The finale in the Max Payne series was an incredible blend of an insanely well written narrative, intense and fluid gameplay, combined with stunning graphics. That said, I have no doubts that GTA V will be amazing no matter what they do. Everyone complaining about the article or about GTA IV… you can have fun with Saints Row 4 (which will, no doubt, be an even bigger disappointment than 3).
I miss the feature of gaining driving skill etc from San Andreas, I also miss the driving test type things where you get scored on things like 90degree parking etc, that was also in San Andreas, damn I miss that game, Gta IV sucks in my opinion.
I’m relieved to see that I’ve provoked some intelligent, considered debate. Thanks guys!
yeah, your “article” sucks arse, 5 things – make the map smaller. good one, where are the others?
Just a passing comment xtravision( that’s DVD rental store ) had an list of games to pre order and gta v was down for march 2013 ,never do this sort of thing but ……………
Why dont we just let rockstar do their thing. Gta IV came out four years ago, rockstar have grown since then, with RDR, La. noire, and Max Payne 3 showing what they got. Gta V is going to be the mother load, some people will agree when i say that it will be the best game of the year, having four years in development im pretty sure rockstar have some surprises in store for us.
Smaller?? Are you frigging nuts? Make it bigger, much bigger!!
Really a smaller map??? I want a bigger map and so do alot more people. I hated the music in IV and so did alot of other people. Make the music like Vice City and San Andreas. No Celebs??? Why not??? I really liked them in San Andreas and they could fit well in V. The social aspect in IV was the worst thing I ever seen. Getting calls after calls and we lose our freedom in a open world game. Keep things serious??? Are you kidding me. IV had too much. I couldn’t even get too much into the storyline with it. Your ideas would kill GTA V not help it.
Shut up troll, I see you on YouTube trolling the trailer.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGH!
You didn’t write exactly what we all expected! Wah! Wah! Give us what we want; never say what you’re thinking! Man, the game industry is so unoriginal: We wish the new GTA was more like the old ones.
You give people a biased media and connect them like never before and you do tend to get a circle jerk where people only want to hear opinions that match their own. Diverse opinions that might open a debate are rarely prized. But for what it’s worth I liked the article.
Rockstar needs to take both San Andreas and GTA IV and expand on the comedic/unrealistic but fun aspects that made San Andreas fun and try to implement them into GTA V, little things like mini games in the long run make a huge difference to fans especially after scaling liberty city as well as the outskirts of GTA IV it can get boring and there seriously needs to be an overhaul of that functionality. As far as story goes, keep it serious but don’t go as far as GTA IV, Rockstar experimented with IV as its first high definition Grand Theft Auto game and in the end realism obviously overtook the craziness that we know and love from San Andreas. If they can capture the country side from San Andreas, change up the radio stations and keep them more diverse instead of the regular depressing strange music that plays usually (excluding liberty rock radio), have a brand new assortment of cars that don’t necessarily have to be from previous GTA games but judging by recent screenshots of GTA V it would seem they are taking their chances on some of the leftover cars that unfortunately did not take make it to GTA IV they will have themselves a very diverse game and honestly with all this it will feed most of the fans exactly what they are looking for. You have to remember as a developer you have to expect that these days realism goes above a beyond the call of duty when it comes to anything in the game, based on the trailer and the screenshots that would even be comparible to something you may or may not see on next-gen consoles they obviously have put enough effort into making this game as realistic looking as possible, so based on this you can immediately assume the game will have the same realistic feel as GTA IV but the choice of San Andreas leads me to believe that the goofy side of GTA the we all missed will be back again.
I agree with this article 100%. GTA IV was an incredible game. Yeah the others were good, but I think it has to mature with age rather than decline into a massive, murdering, sex circus.
It’s not called that…
Definitely liked the serious tone more than most. I think that there should be a strong element of humour in the game, but not just obvious ridiculous stuff. I feel like GTA has grown, as good franchises should. People are asking for the game to be the same as san andreas or as vice city, but surely that would just be a regression. There are plenty of games for non-sensical ultra-violence, and whilst GTA has generally be awesome for it, and it should be included as an escape, Rockstar are better than that and i’m sure there will be a good storyline driving through it.
No more small maps!!!!!!!!
One feature of saints row which was good and could work in GTA was that you do missions for a real celebrity(burt Reynolds)
This could be great in GTA as it has a completely more realistic feel than saints row and personally I’d love to be completing missions for a household name
We all know GTA will continue with its seriousness! For me and many others we know this is stupid and while I hoped they would listen to us, they most likely wont! For me the GTA series is dead and i’m going to enjoying bashing San Andreas in CJ’s gimp suit flying over area 51 and trying to evade the law, while you lot play the utter tripe that will be GTA V
to all of you who want GTA to be a saint row clone (all 12 year alods)
if you want over the top dildo playing caracter changing gave just buy saint row.i am sure if you where over 15,you want a story more like GTA 4
thnx man great artikel.
Okay so here is my opinion… Having a huge BIG BIG map even without enough detail or what they called it (empty) is even funnier and more experiencing OPen WOrld! Though ofcourse we gamers need a spot in the map where details are involved including alleyway, small path, driveways with lots of people and traffic and street foods stalls, homeless beggars, psychos, drug dealers.. And talking about small map… Hey you cant even drive your fast ferrari like Cheetah on your small MAP! I hope next next gta will cover our country Philippines! I wanted to see children on the streets… I also wanted to see hospitals full of busy personnel and patienst… Schools when daytime… All of that in real time!! If player gets jailed, then get to jailed and do some convict does when in jail… Cleaning.. Fighting.. Even break in jail with stealth! Even have insanity that you will get to mental hospitals.. If you study then get better job… If you choose not then get no job.. Churchs with real time mass.. And any JOBS!!! Even EARTHQUAKE… FLOODS… Disasters.. Do you think its FUN? Or not?
i disagree with everything in this piece, you are telling rockstar to continue with everything that made gta iv crap. it was such a boring, dark depressing game. hopefully rockstar dont see this rubbish
And I Disagree with all!
I disagree as well with everything. GTA 4 was a horrible game
smaller map? First suggestion was enough since you are obviously absolute moron
I am surprised that I missed this great post the first time round. Kudos on the post and perspectives.
now i am idle becoz i complete gta iv. now i am waiting for gta v. plse to release the game
good share!!keep go on!!!nice post!!
It’s not that you ‘didn’t write what we all expected’, it’s that you seem to have made a list of everything that the majority complained about in GTAIV and said it was the best bits. And then have the gall to
I really hope the next GTA is a return-to-roots with a new story, not further diluted with un-fun realism. It was never about graphics or realism, now it’s becoming the focus.
I hope they’re gonna make a San Andreas Stories and let us play as a Mexican for once. It would be nice to start off as an illegal immigrant working as a low pay landscaper then link up with the Mexican Mafia and Cartel. Need more clothing options. Need to bring back car customisation.
The story might be “grown up” and I liked it, but taking interesting things from SA and not using them in GTA IV, that ain’t really a sign of growing up.
Where are the RPG elements like body-building, getting fat? Where are the numerous clothing choices, why is there less shops, why can’t we mod cars as we did in SA, why can’t we dual-wield small firearms? Why can’t we do licenses for car, bike, plane? Where are those side missions, like spraying, with bonuses waiting for me after completition.
Not saying you should spray and get four firearms for it, but why not have some side-missions involving stealing guns (like Stealing from Uncle Sam mission in SA) and be awarded for it by having some guns unlocked for you at your own house maybe?
On the other side, I am glad for getting rid of ambulance, taxi and firetruck mission, I am glad for better physics of car, people and better graphics. With the way LC is alive, breathing, more realistic. But only in this scale. I don’t want to crash my car and die, so you can be satisfied with realism in this game, do not make GTA into something like Mafia I, where you could die in a car.
GTA IV added many things, but took loads away. And they did not took away childish things, what the f*ck is so childish about RPG elements and tunning cars? Tell me.
I won’t play SR, because SR is a f*cking annoying crap of a game, but don’t change GTA from GTA (yes, its own genre) to something Max Payne wise, storywise only. I don’t want to have GTA like Max Payne, I have Max payne for that.
What you simply suggest is to totally change the GTA to something that is not GTA. And that is why I do not like your article.
This article is ridiculously poorly thought out.
I believe San Andreas and Vice City were both amazing games and GTA IV a very poor game. Here’s a quick list of why I didn’t particularly like GTA IV and I hope that Rockstar rectify these in the next game:
1) SMALL/CRAP MAP – Yes it’s small, but what’s even worse is that the whole map was the same in GTA IV!! Any decent free roaming game needs a varied map! Think of Zelda and the ocarina of time. AWESOME map not because it was the biggest, but because it was varied and fun to explore!
2) DRIVING PHYSICS – The driving physics in GTA IV aren’t even realistic! It’s unrealistic and you can’t get any speed because all turns are 90 degrees and you’ll go skidding off AND there are no decent roads to get some decent speed anyway!
3) NICO – Ok, I know people will disagree but I didn’t like Nico as the protagonist at all. Nothing made me care for him and his stupid cousin. I would’ve liked the ending better if both Roman, his wife and Nicos girlfriend all died.
4) BUDDY SYSTEM – NO, I don’t want to play darts with you!!
5) MONEY – WHY even have money when you cant’ do ANYTHING with it??!
6) MISSIONS – All missions in GTA IV can be summaried thusly: Drive over there, kill person/persons, drive away.
I could go on and on. Basically GTA IV was a terrible game and seriously the story was crap. Yes, people will say it’s “mature” or whatever, but it really wasn’t. GTA is not Shakespeare and it never will be. It should be about an underdog working his way up to the top the dirty way because he comes from a underprivilaged background.
With the exception of your third point, this is basically the opposite of what I want Rockstar to do with GTAV.
Yah. You’re living in opposite land. You’ve almost picked out all the worst things in GTA IV and asked to do it again. I couldn’t read the article because it was so backwards.
From my scanning of it you forgot to mention they should up the realism in the driving and cop activity so we can have even less fun!
At least you had one thing right. You don’t need celeb voices. Other than that, back to the drawing board on your article!
San Andreas is an overrated piece of crap, GTA IV destroys it in every way possible. Keep bring in things from the BEST GTA game made, and less stupid stuff. Keep the lame RPG elements to where they belong, in RPG games.
I stopped reading at “Easily the best GTA to date”.