Automóvel grande IV do roubo

Eu quis realmente odiar Automóvel grande IV do roubo.

Eu tinha-me decidido não o comprar cedo em seu hype-ciclo. “Engane-me duas vezes, shame em mim” era minha atitude. Eu tinha comprado Automóvel grande III do roubo e Cidade Vice por causa das revisões incandescendo apenas de aproximadamente todos, mas do mim encontrou-os tiresome, sophomoric, moral falido e - o mais mau de tudo - não muito divertimento ao jogo. Eu esperei inteiramente GTA IV para ser mais do mesmo. Quando nosso redactor-chefe me informou emitia-lhe minha maneira, mim preparou-se para o mais mau.

O mais mau não aconteceu. Eu não odeio este jogo, mesmo que tenha coisas sobre ele - muitas coisas que seja hateful. Está, em algumas maneiras, como dois jogos separados imprensados em um único disco. Um daqueles jogos é o sophomoric, duro de controlar, festival ponderous e aborrecido das missões recarregadas que eu recordei das edições precedentes. Mas o outro jogo é a scripted brilhante, análise lovingly realizada do sonho americano no general, e New York City no detalhe.

A escrita, o diálogo, e agir neste jogo são além de superb. That in itself makes the game impossible to hate. 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.