5. Social Commentary
GTA IV represents undoubtedly the most grown up game in the series so far. One of the many ways that Rockstar achieved this maturity was to lace the story with sharply observed subtext and social commentary. Of course Previous GTA games have housed similar sentiments too, to a degree, but in IV the social commentary is really hammered home. Its a contemporary story about a foreigner on the run, whose search for freedom takes him to a land that became a slave to capitalism long ago. Its a tale filled with irony and tragedy, propelled by a character thats as flawed as he is badass. Because its set in a present day world (where previous titles have been scattered in time throughout the last 30 years) it cant help but comment on the zeitgeist; what were feeling today will always be more socially relevant than what we were feeling in the 80s. Nikos tale of enterprise in a modern day America often draws attention to the fact that in reality, all Americans are immigrants and that the country itself was built on the sweat of outsiders. Youd watch an awesome movie again right? Well the plot of GTA is like 10 awesome movies, stretched out over 40 hours. Definitely worth another look in.