Grand Theft Auto 4

I'm a late comer to the GTA series. Despite the enormous popularity of GTA3 - San Andreas and Vice City, I didn't bring them into the house because I thought my kids were too young to be playing these games. With GTA4 I found out what I was missing.

The sandbox genre was basically defined with the GTA3 games, and the newest installment shows why Rockstar is still king of this mountain. First off, the world of Liberty City is huge! So huge the game provides you with a road map, including the subway routes and you actually will likely use the thing. We've seen huge sandbox worlds before, but never packed with the level of detail that we have here.

Second, story and character are fantastic. Great voice acting and character animation combine with a strong script to create characters and scenes that are memorable. When you care about the characters, you care about what happens to them, and this game makes you care.

Third, I love the dark, satirical, mood of the game. One major component of this is the radio, television and Internet media that are created just for the game (yes, you can watch TV and serf the Web in the game if you like). The radio programs and ads are particularly biting, and often drop dead hysterical. The abundant, and interconnected, media also serves to add to the depth of the world, making the whole experience more immersive. For example, you'll see a billboard for a play, later hear a commercial for the play, then, while listening to the news, hear an interview with one of the performers in the play. This all happens seamlessly and naturally.

But the best part of GTA 4 is the gameplay. Cover based combat seems all the rage in shooters right now, and I think GTA4 provides the best working model for it yet, creating a fast and exciting shooting experience. But beyond that, GTA4 provides so many different elements that listing them all would be a chore. There's the obvious gun fights and car chases, but it also varies from bowling, to racing, to dating, to just going drinking with your buddies (but then whistle for a cab to take you home). For goodness sakes, the game provides you a button to flip from high to low beams on your headlights. As far as variety in the missions (including the optional ones) little beats this game.

The downloadable content is even worth talking about. The Lost and Damned expansion gives about an additional 10 to 15 hours of game play that is of as high quality as the original, creating a story that weaves in and out of the story and characters of the original. And out today is the second expansion, The Balad of Gay Tony, which also looks amazing.

GTA4 provides a package that can't be beat and is easily one of my favourite games that I've played in the last year.