Grand Theft Auto IV (2008)

I loved Grand Theft Auto IV. I never fully finished any other games in the series, but in terms of story and gameplay, I finished this one with great joy and satisfaction. It got a great story, good mechanics and a ton of stuff to do.

The story revolves around Niko, a immigrant from Serbia who came to the States for the American Dream. This dream however turns into a nightmare and the reason why is not worth to spoil and is something that one needs to experience for themselves.

Like all GTA games, you can free roam a huge city with stores, places of interest, food chains and a whole lot more. You can go wherever you want, whenever you want. The map is filled with hidden easter eggs and time specific events, and the map and its content alone, can keep you occupied for hours.

You progress through the story, keep in contact with a lot of different main and optional characters, each providing you with missions and challenges. You try to keep your relationship with them on a healthy level by meeting with them, play some darts, drink a beer, taking your girlfriend out for diner and it almost feels like a real life simulator sometimes. Relationships can go bad and sometimes, people do not want to talk to you anymore, so keeping an eye on their happiness is surely recommended.You earn cash, spend it on new fancy cars, clothing and weaponry and overall, become a feared mobster that takes care of business.

Grand Theft Auto IV looks amazing. Even today, the “outdated” graphics were no problem to look at and the framerate is still smooth as ever. The cars, character models and environments look still fine and I think GTA IV really aged well.

Grand Theft Auto IV allows you, just like Vice City and San Andreas, to import your own music tracks in the game. You get in your car, put on the radio and your own music is blasting through the game. It enhances your experience sooo much by just being able to do this.

Controlling Niko, cars and aiming your weapons all feel responsive and accurate, with the exception of the helicopters and some of the mini games like bowling and playing pool.

This is a game that can suck you in, letting you play for hours. You explore, roam, complete stuff, unlock stuff, buy stuff, and overall, just always keep you busy. If you want to play darts for three hours, go ahead. If you just want to become a millionaire, complete as many side missions first, it is your call.

The achievements in this game keep it even more interesting and gives you even more purpose to play. Going to the airport, get the cops on your tail and try to spin your car 180 degrees in a ramp was just so much fun.

The only problem I had with Grand Theft Auto IV are the horrendous helicopter controls. I am not sure it is on purpose, but flying a helicopter in this game is just as hard as doing it in real life. Especially in the end of the game, where you need to act fast and fly a Black Hawk helicopter after a terrible chase scene, it was pure torture.

I liked The Lost and the Damned DLC for the main game. It had a good story, atmosphere and improved driving mechanics.
The expansion revolves around a classic rival biker gang revenge story with lots of fighting, betrayal and gang violence. The game also has improved driving mechanics for motorcycles, something that very welcome for a game in which you mostly drive Harleys. There are many new vehicles as well.

I really liked the biker setting of the game and it reminded me of series like Sons of Anarchy. The story was almost just as good as the main game, and although classic and a little cliché, it was well written and played out.

You can now blow up enemy Harleys with pipe bombs in true biker style. You can complete several gang related missions, raids, races and mini games to gain control of the streets. The amount of different bikes throughout the DLC is amazing, and every one is responsive and looks badass.

The biggest irony, in my opinion, is that this cute little DLC from GTA IV, made a far more supreme biker gang game with the appropriate aesthetics and atmosphere, than games like Ride to Hell: Retribution.

The Lost and the Damned is an excellent piece of DLC and maybe one of the better ones I played in a long time. This is the kind of expansion in which I hope they make a full GTA release from it. This DLC is another reason that I still think Grand Theft Auto IV is the best in the series.

But nevertheless, I loved every second of this game, its story and its content. It will keep you occupied for hours, and I would surely recommend it to everyone.