I did try to live under a rock for awhile and actually ignore Grand Theft Auto 4 and all of its pre-release hype, post-release ridiculous reviews and everything in between, but apparently I failed. Not hopelessly mind you, but failed nonetheless. I did watch a few video reviews, you see, couldn’t help but check a few admittedly impressive trailers, noticed the impressive sales and even though I haven’t yet gone for either GTA 4 Xbox 360 or GTA 4 PS3, I must admit to being quite a bit intrigued. GTA 4 it seems, is an incredibly polished, huge, ridiculously detailed and feature-laden game, but impressively it’s more than that too, and no I’m not talking about the apparently decent story either. Nor the abundance of mini-games and new mechanics.

What really got me was the brilliant -obviously stylized too- recreation of New York City, which, the way I see it, is the first time a city has been so vibrantly portrayed in a video game. Now, I may just be wrong about this as I haven’t gotten my hands on the actual game yet, but it felt beyond right. It felt as if someone has really managed to present a beautiful, detailed, interpretation of NY with a distinct but well-meant touch of sarcasm (how very contradictory) using some utterly amazing technology. What’s more, the thing is interactive too! And it’s even got what look like normal people in it!

For a more elaborate look and an accordingly longer post though, I’m afraid you’ll have to wait for me to get a copy of the thing, which hopefully wont take too long…

Posted on May 1st, 2008 by konstantinos