[Multiplatform] Grand Theft Auto IV. Not as much fun as shooting real Albanians

The "Rolled Over" achievement is ... weird. I spent an hour at the airport trying for it, doing well over 5 rolls (yes, i know there is a difference between flip and roll) and couldn't get it. I basically give up and just slam into a car on the way to Ray's, roll only TWICE and it unlocks.

I guess there's no point in complaining, but I mean, WTF are the mechanics for this achievement? I have no idea why that happened unless it's glitched up.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

God damn it the two endings are both fucking depressing. I'm gonna go look up to see if there is anything better. God damn.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Having heard all you fine people talk about this game, I decided to head down to Blockbuster and rent a copy. Yes, the cars' handling takes some getting used to; yes, I find it an irritation that the franchise tradition of physically blocking off/not having available certain parts of the gameworld continues (more thoughts on this in a bit)... but those don't take away from the fact that so far, it seems to me that Rockstar has delivered. Right now, the LCPD's network just regained operational status, so I cleaned up a couple of minor crimes and crossed one name off the Most Wanted list.
That said... the irritation. It struck me as odd that having gone to all the effort to craft a living, breathing, believable city (IGN article), they then go and strain that believability with the abovementioned franchise tradition. Whatever else one might think of Saints Row, having the entire city explorable from the word 'go' is one thing they did right.
I would've thought the prospect of discovering more about Niko's backstory (and those of the various folks he interacts with) would be incentive enough for people to play through the campaign...

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Opening a new area gives you a little something extra to look forward to, and it's a solid sign that you're progressing. I get more satisfaction from that than seeing 21% game completion or whatever in the stats screen. It also allows you really get to grips with an area before moving on. I really don't mind areas being blocked off from the get go. I maybe even prefer it.

Most amazing jew boots

Plus, it is rather well explained in IV, and makes it more plausible that you get a six star wanted level if you cross to a forbidden section.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

My biggest gripe is that there should have been more checkpoints for you to load during missions. A couple of the missions where you can die or fail really easily (mostly in car chases) should have had a checkpoint that loaded up to the point where you drove to where the mission actually starts. I hate having to drive my honchos halfway across the city over again just because I hit an odd bit of terrain and the car I'm forced to drive during the actual mission flips (FIB bust mission I'm looking at you).

Also, the autoaim mechanism can be awfully retarded at times. It'll keep focusing on some asshole in the distance while a guy is standing right next to you blasting your face with a shotgun. It's times like this that make me wonder why people bother going through the game without using cheats. I went through about 30 percent of the game legitimately until the mission where you have to kill a certain someone in the club that can escape and ruin your mission. I kept trying to kill people so uh I wouldn't die and the jackass kept escaping off of the roof. The body armor just isn't as hefty as it was in the other games. And as a result from trying this mission over and over and having to rebuy weaponry I ran out of funds. Seriously, it's a black fucking market. These guns are supposed to be cheap in theory because noone is supposed to be buying them in the first place. So why is everything so bloody fucking expensive? It's not like the shop keep runs out of the things. Right, so then and there I said fuck it and added cheats to my phone. Fuck playing without cheats. I know the missions now and could probably get through them now without cheats but seriously learn how not to spike the difficulty level, R*.

Oh I just remembered what else pissed me off. Phones calls right after the mission ends and people and police still trying to kill you. Who the fuck's idea was that? I might actually want to actually listen to the phone conversation. Usually there are some humorous bits, but no I still have the cops on my ass and dipshit from the diner wants to blow my head off with a shotty. I'M SORRY COULD YOU SPEAK A LITTLE LOUDER I'M TRYING TO HEAR YOU OVER THE EXPLOSIVE PELLETS COURSING THROUGH MY FACE AND THE BLEEDING TO DEATH!! My only option is to listen to what I can while shuffling away futilely dodging fire or canceling the call to deal with the fucker(s). There's a place for realism in this game and it isn't here. You are free to have everyone right pissed at me after the silly phonecall.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Quote:

And as a result from trying this mission over and over and having to rebuy weaponry I ran out of funds.

Why didn't you just reload your save if you kept failing the mission? I mean, I agree with you, but if I fail a mission after wasting all my armor/assault rifle ammo I just reload from the safehouse.

Quote:

Phones calls right after the mission ends and people and police still trying to kill you. Who the fuck's idea was that? I might actually want to actually listen to the phone conversation. Usually there are some humorous bits, but no I still have the cops on my ass and dipshit from the diner wants to blow my head off with a shotty.

... That shouldn't happen though. Clearing a mission removes your wanted level, and in the missions where you end up with a scripted wanted level, the mission doesn't technically end until you bring it down? Sounds like weird glitchiness because that's never happened to me and I'm 64% through the game.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

It's happened to me once before. I was being chased and I was near the checkpoint to end the mission and I thought "yay! I'm free"
Then there was a short cutscene, the game saved while the gta victory beat sounded off and still I was being chased by the cops and while I ran away, roman or someone called me.
I just tried to listen to the conversation while cops shot at me and I was walking away slowly ~_~
Soon after that, i tried to get away but somehow I aquired a 6 star wanted level and it was too late for me.
I just reloaded he game but I didn't get the call again.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by Forsety

Why didn't you just reload your save if you kept failing the mission? I mean, I agree with you, but if I fail a mission after wasting all my armor/assault rifle ammo I just reload from the safehouse.

Because I don't feel like loading a game and losing progress. I shouldn't have to do that. That's just bad design.

Originally Posted by Forsety

... That shouldn't happen though. Clearing a mission removes your wanted level, and in the missions where you end up with a scripted wanted level, the mission doesn't technically end until you bring it down? Sounds like weird glitchiness because that's never happened to me and I'm 64% through the game.

It's happened to me several times. After killing tons of bad guys the mission will end when the last one is killed and the mission doesn't always care if you have stars or not so you'll be chatting away on the phone afterwards while pedestrians and the popo shoot at you. You must have gotten lucky.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Bad design, or you're just impatient to finish the game considering that you've already spoiled yourself on the endings?

How ya doing, buddy?

You get autosaves after every mission though, how much progress could you possibly lose by reloading a save?

For the second thing, I guess so? I've played the game for like 40 hours though and it's never been a concern... so I guess I'm not just lucky-- I'm insanely lucky?

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Originally Posted by Shenlon

omfg! Ezabell's coke mission is so damn hard. I got frustrated and left it as is, I'm just ganna go for another mission for now and ignore it until I feel like it won't frustrate me.

Spoiler:

The Snow Storm is definitely challenging. Finish all the thugs and you'll end up getting hit by SWAT teams and police.

I just bought (or you can pick up) a body armor and put the vehicle I was in beside the open gate on the far left side after finishing the two thugs outside. Hopefully after snatching Elizabeta's coke you can shoot and go back to the place you came in from, hop in to the car and get the hell out. Hopefully you can make it out before your car sustains serious damage.


FINISH ABOVE BEFORE READING LAST SENTENCE.


And you fucking realize that Michelle works for the feds. Putanesca.

So yeah.

FELIPE NO

Dude, the Television is so amazing. There is an entire episode of some show making fun of Halo. It's quite amazing.

What are some of the best 'parodies' outside of the internet you guys have seen?

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Does that show have any specific gta time that it comes on.
I just saw the sorta man show thing and some show where celebrity's become felons. And thats all I really caught. It bored me the two times i turned on the tv then I just gave up on it

How ya doing, buddy?

Originally Posted by Shenlon

Does that show have any specific gta time that it comes on.
I just saw the sorta man show thing and some show where celebrity's become felons. And thats all I really caught. It bored me the two times i turned on the tv then I just gave up on it

There's actually some pretty fun stuff on the television if you just sit back and actually 'watch' it.

I thought the poker was pretty funny, as the commentators are just into what they're doing and always excited and NOTHING is going on during the poker game at all.

The Halo thing caught me by surprise, I was watching it with a bunch of people. I was thinking it was a G.I Joe thing, but the costumes completely gave it away, as well when their giant dildo ship went through that 'halo ring' in the sky.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

The History of Liberty City is pretty good too. It seems like a typical PBS/History Channel type documentary, but it's full of jokes and stuff that makes it really hilarious. I've only seen Part One so far, but it seems like there's a Part Two as well.

And damn you Tritoch, I still haven't seen this 72 you speak of.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Republican Space Rangers is pretty funny stuff. I just turned on the TV, and there it were. Some day I'll just sit down and watch it all.
Speaking of comedy, does anyone else enjoy the radiostation WT... the one with the eagle? I just love Judge Grady. "You took a dump in the air filter!? AHAHAHAHAHAHA"
Classic stuff.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Originally Posted by RockgamerXIII

The History of Liberty City is pretty good too. It seems like a typical PBS/History Channel type documentary, but it's full of jokes and stuff that makes it really hilarious. I've only seen Part One so far, but it seems like there's a Part Two as well.

And damn you Tritoch, I still haven't seen this 72 you speak of.

It's only a commercial, but I think it came on for me while I was watching that same documentary on the history of Liberty City. There are billboards around town for it too. Republican Space Rangers is still probably the best thing I've seen on the TV, though.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by AcerBandit

My biggest gripe is that there should have been more checkpoints for you to load during missions. A couple of the missions where you can die or fail really easily (mostly in car chases) should have had a checkpoint that loaded up to the point where you drove to where the mission actually starts. I hate having to drive my honchos halfway across the city over again just because I hit an odd bit of terrain and the car I'm forced to drive during the actual mission flips (FIB bust mission I'm looking at you).

Also, the autoaim mechanism can be awfully retarded at times. It'll keep focusing on some asshole in the distance while a guy is standing right next to you blasting your face with a shotgun. It's times like this that make me wonder why people bother going through the game without using cheats. I went through about 30 percent of the game legitimately until the mission where you have to kill a certain someone in the club that can escape and ruin your mission. I kept trying to kill people so uh I wouldn't die and the jackass kept escaping off of the roof. The body armor just isn't as hefty as it was in the other games. And as a result from trying this mission over and over and having to rebuy weaponry I ran out of funds. Seriously, it's a black fucking market. These guns are supposed to be cheap in theory because noone is supposed to be buying them in the first place. So why is everything so bloody fucking expensive? It's not like the shop keep runs out of the things. Right, so then and there I said fuck it and added cheats to my phone. Fuck playing without cheats. I know the missions now and could probably get through them now without cheats but seriously learn how not to spike the difficulty level, R*.

Oh I just remembered what else pissed me off. Phones calls right after the mission ends and people and police still trying to kill you. Who the fuck's idea was that? I might actually want to actually listen to the phone conversation. Usually there are some humorous bits, but no I still have the cops on my ass and dipshit from the diner wants to blow my head off with a shotty. I'M SORRY COULD YOU SPEAK A LITTLE LOUDER I'M TRYING TO HEAR YOU OVER THE EXPLOSIVE PELLETS COURSING THROUGH MY FACE AND THE BLEEDING TO DEATH!! My only option is to listen to what I can while shuffling away futilely dodging fire or canceling the call to deal with the fucker(s). There's a place for realism in this game and it isn't here. You are free to have everyone right pissed at me after the silly phonecall.

I can't say I've had anyone shooting at me even once after a mission has ended. Also, I'm amazed that you're managing to get killed in missions without killing enough people to replenish your ammo from what they drop. Are you using the hiding behind cover button? I find that even when I get killed in missions I generally end up with more ammo than I started with with the possible exception of ones where you're chasing someone down in a car.

Also, reloading is dumb as the game makes the missions easier each time you fuck them up. Sometimes it's as blatent as getting free armour or guns that weren't there before or the getaway car being slower and sometimes the bad guys just miss a lot more.

At first I thought there should have been more collectable items lying around but having played through a load more, the only thing I ever really need to buy is body armour and even that's only if I'm feeling too lazy to go find any. Also whilst I agree that driving back to the mission point is annoying, you can always get a taxi there (Or at least nearby) and steal a car when you get there.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Originally Posted by Bigblah

Bad design, or you're just impatient to finish the game considering that you've already spoiled yourself on the endings?

What? Getting to the end of the game doesn't refute that I shouldn't feel the need to reload the game every time I make a mistake and have to restart the mission. I wasn't impatient. I retried levels several times and took my time. I did sidequests and all kinds of crap that I felt like doing. Really, what the hell, Blah?

Originally Posted by Forsety

You get autosaves after every mission though, how much progress could you possibly lose by reloading a save?

It really depends how long ago you saved and I save pretty much when I've made a lot of progress or when I'm going to take a break from the game or when I think key plot events are going to occur.

Originally Posted by Forsety

For the second thing, I guess so? I've played the game for like 40 hours though and it's never been a concern... so I guess I'm not just lucky-- I'm insanely lucky?

I dunno. I remember always getting that shit after assassination missions you do later on in the game. While you kill them your star level goes up and it doesn't go away after you kill the last guy and the mission is over. Niko pulls out his phone to talk and the cops just play duck hunt with you. *shrug* Just one example but it happened like half the time in my play through.

Originally Posted by Dennis Franz

I can't say I've had anyone shooting at me even once after a mission has ended. Also, I'm amazed that you're managing to get killed in missions without killing enough people to replenish your ammo from what they drop. Are you using the hiding behind cover button? I find that even when I get killed in missions I generally end up with more ammo than I started with with the possible exception of ones where you're chasing someone down in a car.

Well in the one mission where you have to chase down a guy on foot you don't really have time to pick up drops and you run out of ammo for good guns and your hiding mechanic has the asshole get away so you have to run out guns a blazing and since body armor gets demolished ever so easily it's easy to get killed and like I said since you don't get the drops you have to go buy weapons all over again. I just got fed up.

Originally Posted by Dennis Franz

Also, reloading is dumb as the game makes the missions easier each time you fuck them up. Sometimes it's as blatent as getting free armour or guns that weren't there before or the getaway car being slower and sometimes the bad guys just miss a lot more.

I only got the free armor once. Nothing else like that happened. Would have been nice.

Originally Posted by Dennis Franz

At first I thought there should have been more collectable items lying around but having played through a load more, the only thing I ever really need to buy is body armour and even that's only if I'm feeling too lazy to go find any. Also whilst I agree that driving back to the mission point is annoying, you can always get a taxi there (Or at least nearby) and steal a car when you get there.

A taxi isn't always nearby and the taxi will with good judgment get you as close as it can which on some missions can mean a decent walk. But I suppose that's not too bad. Doesn't make it any less annoying.

Yeah, I was looking for collectible stuff too. The pigeons are amusing though. I've found like 3 of them I think.

FELIPE NO

Originally Posted by AcerBandit

I wasn't impatient. I retried levels several times and took my time. I did sidequests and all kinds of crap that I felt like doing. Really, what the hell, Blah?

Okay I take that back, maybe you just really suck at the game!

Tee hee!

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

o u~

Actually I am willing to admit at that point in the game I did suck and was still getting adjusted to it. I could probably tackle it easily now, but the game did suddenly spike its difficulty after a long streak of fairly easy missions. My friend says they gave me some pointers that I just must have completely not noticed because it wasn't until much later in the game that I figured out burst fire by accident. Doh.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I agree the difficulty certainly ramped up after awhile but it was never too bad. Most of the time I went into the huge scale gun war missions barely even losing any armor, cover system works too well sometimes-- and I noticed in some missions you can just run right in with the carbine assault rifle and tap it while holding auto-aim and OBLITERATE everyone in the general area.

I did the assassin missions at the end of the game (before the final string of gambietti(?) missions) and I don't ever recall my wanted level sticking after killing a target... TBH, I fully relied on the way it instantly removes itself after the "now saving" appears in the top left corner.

Your wanted level will come BACK if you just stand there like a doof, because when the ambulance comes (if it bothers) I guess they identify you? Hard to say, but it's like when you blow something up or aim a gun at someone, if you stand around that general area for too long you get busted after firing weapons, hit and running, etc.

Edit: Yeah, "burst fire" headshots own people. I guess that's what I mean by "tapping" for the assault rifle. Just aim a little up and you'll often instant kill people even.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

I just beat the game.

Spoiler:

The last few missions are pretty great. I know I probably should have let Darko go, but after everything to go through to get to him, it seemed far more satisfying to blast his bitch ass away. Same with Dimitri.

However, I found the actual ending itself kind of lacking. When I finally got put back in the game after the credits and stuff I was like "Oh, huh. It's over." though I guess they have planned DLC and stuff so we can sort out the shit with

Spoiler:

Bulgarin. Seriously no more mention of him after the diamond thing? Kind of a loose end.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Spoiler:

if you chose to do the deal with Dmitri rather than kill him the ending is a lot different, someone else dies and you handle Bulgarin and Dmitri instead. I'm not sure there will be any download content to add Bulgarin into the equation because of that.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?