Is the new Grand Theft Auto game REALLY that good?

[Dolphin-UK]

I think you see where I am heading with this...

Yep, I agree, you need a new wife.....

[Dave Gray]

OK, here's what I think of the game so far, good and bad things.

If you've never played a GTA before, you'll probably be amazed with the wonderful things, as well as the shortcomings.

The most amazing this about this game is how complete it is.  The world exists around you, and if you can think it, you can probably do it.  There is a fully fleshed-out radio, with many stations, television, with many stations, and Internet, including email.  All of these things are inter-related, as well as chatter on the street, billboards, commercials, cell-phones, police datebases, and people you talk with on missions.

These things tie together in a way that draws you into the world.  Also, everything is not linear.  You set things up now that will happen later.  Here's an example of what I mean:

There was this one situation where I needed to "off" a guy.  I didn't know where he lived, but I knew that he was gay and used the game's equivalent of match.com.  I went to an Internet cafe and logged on and tried to set up a date, after finding his profile.  Then, I went about my business.  A little while later, I went back and checked my email, and he replied with a place and time to meet, at a diner.  So, a reminder was added to my cell phone.  Again, I went about my business until a little alarm went off reminding me about the date, so I drove to the spot, met the guy, chatted for a bit, and then blew his face off with a shotgun.  After it was over, I dialed up the guy who called the hit, to let him know the job was done.

In that one mission alone, the Internet, email, cellphone, etc are all tied together to make one cohesive world.  The game continues to do this, over and over, in surprising ways.  If there is an ad on the radio for comedy shows, you can go to the show.

There are still negatives to this game, and some of that comes from the juxtaposition of how great the rest of it is.  Because the world lets you do so many things well, and because people react so cleverly in so many situations, when something doesn't make sense, it sticks out.  For example, there are so many funny situations that can happen while you're on a date, but it would be impossible to program for every possible scenario, so sometimes things come up that are out of character.  You can ditch your car and go swim across the river, and your date will follow you, never mentioning it.  It's a minor thing, but these things continue to happen, and from what I can tell, because of the scope of the game, are unavoidable.

And while the controls (especially in gunplay) are improved, they are not even close to the quality of control we've come to expect from standalone shooters.  The same is true with platforming elements.  Jumping, running, etc -- they can't hold a candle to the kind of precision you'd get from Super Mario Bros, but you shouldn't expect that.  Sometimes movements are jerky and you don't feel like you're as nimble as you'd like to be.  If you'd played the series before, you'll be comfortable, but if you're new to it, things might feel a little wonky.

In this particular GTA, I find things to by really dark at times.  Since many parts of the game can happen during the day or night, there have been a few times when I've been carrying out a mission that takes me to a back alley in the middle of the night, and I can't see a thing.  You don't have a flashlight or anything, and you have to pretty much result to "feeling around" to find your way out.

Above all, this game is really smart and really funny.  I laugh out loud almost every time I play it.  The cell phone is a great way to build character development without breaking the action, something that the previous games couldn't do.  They use it as a way to add narrative and make for some very comedic situations.  While you're running from the SWAT team, your buddy may call you asking if you want to meet at the titty bar, and you calmly respond "I'd love to, but I'm a little tied up at the moment."  It's great, and these things are timed perfectly.

I have only scratched the surface of what this game has to offer, but I'm very impressed with what it continues to offer.  If you have the means, you should definitely check it out.  No matter what kind of stuff you're into, there's enough stuff to do in this game, that you're likely to find something you'll enjoy.