Automóvil magnífico IV del hurto

Realmente deseé odiar Automóvil magnífico IV del hurto.

Había decidido no comprarlo temprano en su bombo-ciclo. “Engáñeme dos veces, vergüenza en mí” era mi actitud. Había comprado Automóvil magnífico III del hurto y Vice ciudad debido a las revisiones que brillaban intensamente apenas de alrededor de cada uno, pero mí lo encontró tiresome, sophomoric, moral arruinado y - el peor de todos - no mucha diversión al juego. Esperé completamente GTA IV para ser más igual. Cuando nuestro redactor jefe me informó él le enviaba mi manera, yo se preparó para el peor.

El peor no sucedió. No odio este juego, aun cuando él tengo cosas sobre él - muchas cosas que sea odioso. Es, en cierto modo, como dos juegos separados intercalados sobre un solo disco. Uno de esos juegos es el sophomoric, duro de controlar, laborioso y aburrido festival de las misiones recargadas que recordé de las ediciones anteriores. Pero el otro juego es a scripted brillante, análisis cariñosamente generalmente observado del sueño americano y New York City particularmente.

La escritura, el diálogo, y el actuar en este juego están más allá de magnífico. Eso en sí mismo marcas el juego imposible odiar. That the writers so effectively persuade players to sympathize with the characters, including the player’s sociopathic Eastern European avatar, speaks volumes. And the most important character, of course, is New York City itself. No one who has spent any time in Brooklyn, Queens, or Manhattan can fail to be stunned at how effectively Rockstar has distilled these boroughs to their essences: making them navigable in reasonable game time, while still preserving their character.

Little, it should be noted, has changed about the core gameplay, and when you drift away from the script, the game deadens and ossifies. The sensitivity and subtle humor of the spoken-word aspects of the game only serve to widen the chasm between the script’s high quality and the visual game’s penis-joke mentality. Apart from the missions, there is precious little to do in Liberty City if you aren’t interested in mayhem or exploitation.

The save system, as in previous games, is ponderous. A mistake late in a mission can force you to replay it from the beginning, including the pointless and boring drive from your house to where the action is. It’s as if the game is begging you to stop playing it and find something more fun to do, such as playing Mario Kart.

GTA IV is a seriously flawed game with a split-personality. The sandbox portion of the game presents a false choice between being bored or engaging in brutality. The game’s setting and screenwriting, however, contain moments of great insight and beauty. If you can accept the moral ambiguity of choosing to play a game that presents murder as inevitable and acceptable, then you will find parts of GTA IV to be entrancing.

I don’t hate GTA IV. But I still don’t want anyone to watch me play it.