I got pissed about the checkpoint issue, too. But think of it this way, it's nothing new. No past GTA's have had a checkpoint feature. Do what I do...if you are getting fission mailed alot, take a break and play something else, or go on a date or just goof around awhile. Before long, you'll be ready for the mission again.

Question who should I waste Playboy X or Dwayne? Both are pretty interesting characters.

You might want to put spoiler tags in your post, for those who haven't gotten there yet.

As for my answer...



= J

The difference is that past GTA games actually gave you more freedom to approach missions in various ways, unlike GTAIV which actually restricts your freedom with scripted events that keep you glued to one set path for most missions.

Let me explain.

My favorite thing about previous GTAs were the way you could get creative at approaching a mission and setting things up to you advantage by using it's open world. Want to block some guy from getting away? Park a bus behind his car before the mission.

But not in IV...

For example, some jerkoff is about to drive off when I confront him. I know this, because I already failed, and now I'm trying again. I go out back to shoot out the tires of the car this asshole is going to jump into. That spooks him off, so again, mission failed. Fine; gunfire out back, he can hear it, it's "spooky". I restart, go out back, and use my knife to slash the tires. He's spooked again. What, he's some kind of omniscient? So then I steal some cars and park them to block the getaway car before triggering the mission. When I run after the getaway car, my blockade magically disappeared. This is just retarded. Screw this!

For all of the claims of an open-ended world, I'm still having to play through one set path with practically no room for the improvising I enjoy, that previous installments had in spades. They pretty much took my favorite thing about the open-world improvisational gameplay of GTA, deleted it, and forced me to complete the missions their way, instead of mine, like before.

Sure, this can make things easier for the player, but it's not like you have to do that - it's just an option, and the more options you have, the more fun the game. What they've done is given us more "things" to do (which I just see as chores), but they also went and restricted the sandbox in a way that wasn't restricted before. It's like learning to ride a bike, but instead of the training-wheels coming off, they add more wheels. Their mistake was taking something out of a game that was already a good feature in previous editions.

Again, this was always optional - it was sort of like a difficulty slider, where if you were up for the challenge, you tackled the mission head on. If not, you found another way around it - your own way, which is what made it rewarding. But still, it's not about it making the game easier or harder, it's about trying different things - different approaches and methods that mixed up the gameplay and kept it fresh. I think of it as sort of a puzzle or a brain teaser of how I can use the world around me to help myself out.

But now, most of that is stripped away, and I'm just left with the approach dictated to me by the developers. Hence, less freedom, in a game that should give you more, or at least the same...

Anyway, my point is that my favorite feature of GTA games, that was present in previous generations, is egregiously missing in this one, making it a lesser experience.

R*, if you're gonna restrict my freedom and set me on a linear path for a mission, give me checkpoints. Otherwise, give me the freedom to do what I want.

In the game where they should've let us eat the cake, they went and took the cake away...

Also,

What missions open this up? I haven't had X on my list for a while.

Bah, too late, I saw it.

You make some very good points. I do not, however, see the issue with check-points. I think I am 25 missions in and have failed 4 times. Maybe this will increase soon. I don't think it will bother me too much, as this is traditional Rockstar.

I recall on GTA:SA that the game would monitor how many times you failed a mission, and would make the subsequent attempts easier, in order to make the game more playable. Has this concept been abandoned?

Lastly, I wonder how much was left of (i.e. linearity, ability to block cars) because more effort was used for multiplayer? I personally don't care about MP, but in reading an interview with R* it seems their goal is a MMORG (??) where they can collect money on a monthly basis from wannabe gangsters. I have even less interest in that.

Sorry guy! You're right I should have put this on a spoiler alert. It's just I've played this game so late at nite. My brain was on frak at the time.

To those talking about the 6 starts achievement on the last page. Remember to get the achievement you have to survive 5 minutes at that level. It has nothing to do with evading the wanted level, as I noticed some folks asking how to I get away or also someone mentioning that it did not unlock for them. Hence a very easy method is using the chopper as long as you do not have the last island unlocked.

I think this might be going on to some degree but I'm not sure.

I was having a bitch of a time chasing someone down on a motorcycle, and after like 10 failed attempts it seemed like there was less traffic. Now that could have just been the time of day.

I always have to remind myself not to try and gun down people I'm chasing so soon, because I always wind up losing focus on driving and crashing. If I just stay with them the whole time they eventually stop.

I don't know about the ability to block cars, but with Packies car-bomb ability, I am able to plant bombs on cars I know I'm going to have to chase and destroy, and then with the press of a button, massive fireworks!

He's not your guy, friend.

You can always edit your post to add the spoiler tags so that the rest of us don't have to see it.

Well he's not your friend, buddy!

I guess this may depend on if when you fail a mission, if you retry or load a save. I am guessing if it is the latter, then the game would have no idea it was your 15th try.

There is definitely way more traffic during the day on Manhattan than at night. At night you can usually fly through everything but star junction, during the day there's a ton of traffic.

I don't think anyone has mentioned this yet, so I'm going to throw it out there to make sure I'm not crazy.

Several times when I've been driving cars (possibly only the crappier cars?) right before my cell phone starts ringing I hear the buzzing sound radios often make when a GSM cellphone broadcasts it's availablity to the local tower. The buzzing stops and then the phone in the game rings, just like in real life. This is in the game right? Other people are hearing this?

If so, it's absolute genius.

I've heard this as well, and, the first time, believed it was simply an actual GSM phone nearby (my brother-in-law has a GSM phone, and his does this when he is here).

Then, it happened other times, and I realized it seemed to be exactly what you are indicating. Hilarious little touches like this are why I am growing to love the game even more...

Happened to me too and I thought damn, my HT never picked up my cell before.

Cool touch for sure.

This was during the day when I experienced less traffic. I never re-load a save; I retry through the text on the cell.

Maybe it was a weekend or just super early in the day?

I also like the backfiring of cars. I just noticed that the other day on a Banshee and it surprised me. Wondered what was wrong with my car.

Yeah, I had that problem too. I automatically assumed "chase this guy" meant try and gun him down while driving at full speed.

I hit that guy the motorcycle with my car and him and the bike flew up over me landed back on the road and took off. In past GTA's he would have been thrown off the bike and possibly killed. That's when I knew you just had to follow him.

My first mission annoyance: