Brent L

I don't start a hit without finishing it.

Have you all completed the 6 star/5 minutes achievement? I did it earlier, not even on purpose. I opened up the second island, and decided to check out the Statue of "Liberty". While there, I thought I'd swim right over to the third island since it isn't very far at all. I got in a boat, and of course I got the 6 stars right away. I got to the land, and cruised around the industrial park for a while, then made my way up to a huge platform overlooking everything. After a while the achievement popped up and took me by surprise.

slop101

Use a motorcycle as your get-away vehicle for this mission, preferably the NRG900 - if you set it up at a convenient place by the exit, after you kill a couple cops, hoping that thing will get you out of their radius pretty quickly, as you can dodge traffic with it far easier than a car.

RForte1189

I must say, after about 4 hours of play, its the same old GTA. While the graphics, story line, and physics are vastly improved... I just cannot play another GTA. I had beaten virtually every mission in GTA III and Vice City and I'm all GTA-ed out, there seems to be nothing new to grab someone whose played as much GTA as I have.

mhg83

Well we all knew this was inevitable:

MADD attacks 'Grand Theft Auto IV'



By DERRIK J. LANG, AP Entertainment Writer Wed Apr 30, 8:40 PM ET

LOS ANGELES - Mothers Against Drunk Driving wants a stricter rating on "Grand Theft Auto IV."
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The organization is calling on the Entertainment Software Ratings Board, the independent organization that assigns video-game ratings, to reclassify "GTA IV" as an Adults Only game. The action-driving game, which includes the ability to drive while intoxicated, is currently rated Mature.

"Drunk driving is not a game, and it is not a joke," MADD said in a statement released Tuesday. "Drunk driving is a choice, a violent crime and it is also 100 percent preventable."

MADD is also calling on publisher Take-Two Interactive and developer Rockstar Games to consider stopping distribution of the game — which analysts expect to sell 9 million copies and make over $400 million at launch — "out of respect for the millions of victims/survivors of drunk driving."

In the critically acclaimed open-world game, players have the choice of patronizing a bar and then attempting to drive drunk. While virtually under the influence, the screen becomes blurred and the controls are more difficult to use. Players also have the option of hailing a taxi or walking. The intoxication effects wear off after a few minutes in the game.

"We have a great deal of respect for MADD's mission, but we believe the mature audience for 'Grand Theft Auto IV' is more than sophisticated enough to understand the game's content," Rockstar Games said in a statement to The Associated Press on Wednesday. "For the same reason that you can't judge an entire film or television program by a single scene, you can't judge 'Grand Theft Auto IV' by a small aspect of the game."

"GTA IV" follows the criminal exploits of protagonist Niko Bellic, an imigrant-turned-gangster who travels from Eastern Europe to Liberty City, the game's fictional locale based on New York City. As Bellic, players can hijack cars, earn cash for criminal activities, shoot innocent bystanders and visit strip clubs.

MADD declined to comment further about their statement.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080501/..._gta_iv_madd_3

-Theres no way Rockstar is gonna change it to AO rating. The Drunk driving is so much fun!

jonw9

^ That is just stupid, drunk driving in the game is MUCH harder than real life!!

I ran into the cop computer glitch, but it was in a car I had parked outside my safehouse for a while. Then I stole another cruiser, and nothing, so i get out, then back in and it worked.

Also, I have gone to the airport between every mission, and I still have not seen a darn chopper in the heli-pad. I swear i have gone through at least 15 times, at all times of day and night.

darkside

I have beaten all of them including the PSP ones and I feel the same way. The things that are new like the friendship stuff (well the dating was in San Andreas) is a complete hassle. The minigames are also pretty boring. I did enjoy watching the TV and surfing the net, but eventually I kind of did all of that and saw all the shows. It all seems a repeat now.

I'm left with the missions and I just don't find many of them that enjoyable. The combat was fun at first, but now I'm doing mission after mission of finding cover and shooting then moving to the next cover and repeat. Or driving after someone or tailing someone over and over. Though the combat is better this is really all the same stuff we did over and over in the previous ones and this new game is just as broken as the old ones when it comes to controls and glitches. Actually I would argue it is the most broken GTA yet.

I'm tapping out after 20 hours of play and I put my copy on Half.com. I have no interest in finishing it even if they patch all the horrible PS3 issues.

nickdawgy

I've played GTA III, Vice City, and San Andreas, plus some of the original GTA and GTA 2. I ahven't played LC or VC stories, though. In any case, how can you be all "GTA-ed out" when the new games come out every four years or so?

PopcornTreeCt

That's silly about the drunk driving. Is that somehow worse than all the murdering that goes on in the game?

devilshalo

I want to see The Men's Room show on Network TV.

As well as 72.

slop101

MADD needs to shut the fuck up about this non-issue if they want to be taken seriously about things that actually matter.

The drunk driving in the game pretty much sucks, and actually deters you from ever wanting to drive drunk - they should be championing the game since it discourages driving drunk by making it not fun and such a pain.

CKMorpheus

I dunno... I find the drunk driving fun, but in a silly absurd way. In no way does it make me want to go out and drive drunk. Niko says several times when he's drunk that he's too wasted to drive. Rockstar has their bases covered, MADD is just looking for something new to pick at.

CKMorpheus

A great 1-hour long radio chat on NPR about GTA, art, and the evolution of video games. Some great guests...

- Chris Baker, senior editor at Wired, his review of GTA IV, "It's Not Just About Killing Hookers Anymore," appeared this week on Slate.com
· Steven Johnson, co-founder and CEO of outside.in, and Distinguished Writer in Residence at New York University, he's the author of several books, including "Everything Bad Is Good For You: How Today's Popular Culture Is Actually Making Us Smarter"
· Stuart Andrews, self-professed game nut and videogame reviewer for the online journal Trusted Reviews and the London Sunday Times

http://www.onpointradio.org/shows/20...502_b_main.asp

beesonosu

Driving drunk, or even walking to the car for that matter, is painful but even more so when it is pouring rain at night and you have a bitchy date on the back of your motorcycle who lives half a city away. Don't get me wrong - I'm loving this game but something must be wrong when I'm working harder to get ass in GTA than in real life.

CKMorpheus

Motorcycles were some of my favorite vehicles in San Andreas, but I stay away from them whenever possible now. I always end up within an inch of my life by the end of my trip, I've fallen off so many times.

bunkaroo

Man I played this game WAY too much this weekend (but managed to break away to see Iron Man ).

Couple of thoughts:

-I started driving in the first person perspective. It's a lot easier IMO. Basically eliminates the crappy camera follow. Shooting is better too. Downside is you get to see less mayhem, but I actually like how realistic the city looks from street level. Not sure if you can look behind you in that view - haven't looked to see.

-The "Three Leaf Clover" mission was fucking awesome. Kind of like


-Finally got inside the statue after dying about 10 times trying to drop onto the higher level with the doors.

I'm sure it's that I'm used to the controls now, but I'm starting to come around to the high score review - the story kicks ass.

CKMorpheus

No kidding... I totally neglected most school responsibilities and am now working on an all-nighter to get it done. I think the news outlets should worry more about how much work won't get done because of this game rather than the effects it's violence has on the masses.

bunkaroo

I hear ya. I'm still up and I have work in the morning plus a ton of homework for Tuesday I should have done today. And now I'm downloading the new free NIN record so I won't be in bed for a bit. And all I am thinking about is how I would love to call in tomorrow and keep playing.

PopcornTreeCt

After putting in a number of hours into this game I'm starting to wonder what the expansions are going to be like. I hope it's a trip back to the "old country"

Gromit

Interesting. The only GTA game I've played is GTA3 and I didn't really like it at all. I rented IV from Gamefly and after a couple of hours of play, I was again wondering why everyone thinks these games are so good. I was just bored.

But I've been playing a bit more here and there and I find myself looking forward to being able to play again tonight. Maybe I'm finally "getting it".

I still don't think this is one of the best games of all time or even of the last year (I think Crackdown is more fun), but I'm starting to get into it more and more. I really think it's the story and the characters that are starting to pull me in. I want to know what's going to happen next with Niko.

Maybe it's because I haven't played the previous games and I'm not burnt out on it.

Michael Corvin

I'm with you 100%. Dicking around just isn't fun in this game after playing Crackdown. I don't get the ridiculous high scores either. It's fun, but not the second coming in the least.

maingon

So far this game is alittle over rated, New physics engine makes the car bounce around too much, Not realistic and not as fun driving the cars. Played San Andreas again this weekend, cars were easy to handle then. walking controls seem stiff and slow. GTA4 controls worse of the group, shooting is good but not as fun running around the city in this game. I also dont like the visuals. The shadows make everything look funky and fuzzy.

jdslater1

This game just became more awesome as I just got a BJ to the song "Cry" by Godley & Creme".

darkside

I think this is my biggest letdown. With the previous ones most of my love of the game was just the dicking around, but I have no interest in free roaming this city. The driving is no fun in this one due to the controls, overly crowded streets and typical bad NPC AI. I drove motorcycles all over Vice City and San Andreas looking for jumps and hidden stuff, but I won't even get on one in this game. I take cabs everywhere to avoid driving. That leaves mayhem, which I have tried a few times, but honestly blowing stuff up and running from cops is just not that much fun either.

I think so many other games are doing sandbox now that some of the novelty is worn off for me. Mayhem is done a hell of a lot better in games like Crackdown and free driving a big city looking for stuff was done a lot better in Burnout Paradise.

I will give this game credit for some great writing and interesting characters, but I just can't overlook all the flaws the way I did in previous GTAs.

Groucho

I like motorcycles in this game, but they went way over the top. You lightly tap the bumper of another car and you go flying 50 feet. Still, lots of hilarity to be found...for example, try slamming into a wall with a passenger on the back. (This game really needs a replay feature).

I also thought it was hilarious that the Vespa scooter is called a "Faggio".

nickdawgy

You guys are crazy. Messing around in this game is alot of fun, and the driving makes things so much better. Awesome crashes, crazy flips and peelouts, etc.

Plus, try calling for Roman's cab and then getting the cops on your tail. I did this, and put the view on cinematic. It was like a movie, the cab driver got cornered on a bridge and the cops shot him through the windshield causing him to slump over on the horn