June 3, 2008
Liberty ain’t all that
Michael wrote this at 9:15 am:
So I’m not the world’s biggest fan of GTA, as you may have guessed already. I’ve played the various instalments of the third part of the series, certainly, but they’ve never really gripped me in the same way as, say, Halo. And even that was something I got a bit tired of as the series went on. Ironically, I find it’s worked in reverse for the misadventures of Tommy Vercetti and co - I have gotten more fond of the series as it has gone on. I can’t really put my finger on why that is. It’s not for the story, I’ll tell you that for nothing.
I think what has endeared the series to me is the freedom of it, the ability to go off and do my own thing. If you played San Andreas (which is arguably the closest the GTAIII saga has come to being an RPG; RPGTA, if you like) for any length of time, you eventually found that you’re able to do such mad things as launch off a conveniently placed ramp at the summit of a mountain - one which you’ve either just ascended or landed on in a helicopter or plane - using a mountain bike. And then leap off that bike before pulling the ripcord of a parachute. As for me, I spent an unbelievable amount of time at the various vehicle schools - especially flight school to get the rather snazzy Hydra. Yes, that’s right, I said snazzy.
When it comes to GTAIV, I find there is similar freedom but… I also find myself constrained by my real life values to an extent. Granted, I’ll take out the bad guys and even the cops; but only the latter if they fire at me and as a last resort. I might even chase after some poor beggar who owes someone money (although this was part of a story mission early in the game) and find I have to make a choice about them when I catch them… But it doesn’t mean I have to like it. I’ll stick to the rules, I’ll pay the toll at a booth, I’ll go after the most wanted criminals to clean the city up, I’ll even try to avoid running over pedestrians for God’s sake!
And then I’ll maybe go for a spot of bowling or pool.
June 3rd, 2008 at 12:03 pm
A couple of people have said similar things to me, that GTA IV isn’t as much fun to just fool around in as some of the other games were. I do agree regarding single player to a point, but this is where the multiplayer comes in.
Everything’s a lot more fun on multiplayer, even if it just fooling around on Free Roam mode with a couple of other players in a gang. I think most of the crazy carnage fun of GTA has moved into the multiplayer modes, although I still loved the single player mode.
June 3rd, 2008 at 12:21 pm
I dunno, there’s still a lot to be said for tooling around on a superbike popping wheelies and doing mad jumps. That keeps me entertained for ages :)
I miss the remote control planes and car bombs from the previous titles (unless I’ve missed them in IV) they were great fun :D
June 3rd, 2008 at 3:01 pm
My GTA morality is slightly skewed. I will always save someone’s life in a story mission if given the choice; however, if some random bloke so much as nudges me with his car he gets a bullet in the face without a second thought.
June 3rd, 2008 at 10:24 pm
I try to make honourable descisions and not just slay everyone but driving up the pavement through a bunch of pedestrians is one of my most favourite things to do in the GTA games.