Tbh, i'm not that impressed - GTA IV

Lord Nikon

Some points that I am annoyed about...

1. Screen to dark to see where I'm driving, sometimes during the day. Driving at high speed always results in a crash because I cannot see oncoming cars in time.

2. Cornering just doesn't work at well as you would like. You use the handbrake you end up doing a 180. You use normal break, the car is almost stopped completely.

3. With all the controls its hard to remember in some cases what controls what, and soon you making a phonecall.

4. Not sure if I'm shooting a cop or a pedestrian, too dark to tell.

Discuss

o1s1n

Lighten your television screen maybe?

Smellyirishman

The lighting does affect me at times, there was one point where I had to climb a flight of stairs behind a cabarat club and couldn't see where I was going at all, couldn't see Niko, couldn't see the stairs, couldn't see the target, pitch black, and it didn't get much better as I moved around.

I think the driving aspect just requires practice, maybe not, but I'd at least wait until you get all islands unlocked and have access to cars with better handling.

Lord Nikon

o1s1n wrote: »

Lighten your television screen maybe?

Yah, but GTA SA runs fine, infact all my games are perfect for brightness, just GTA IV.

123

had the same problems as you, controls arent too big a issue tbh pretty good button layout for the amount of things you can do.
To start off the screen is really really dark and you cant see anything, just push (On the ps3) start - then goto display - higher up your contrast
worked a treat for me

Nothing to do with brightness just higher the contrast

GrumPy

o1s1n wrote: »

Lighten your television screen maybe?

Intelligent input there. :rolleyes:

I have noticed it is very dark too. Quite annoying tbh. Very grainy, dark style graphics. If it wasn't for the improved physics and hd videos, the game looks like san andreas almost.

But GTA never had good graphics (cept maybe for gta3, wow factor 3d game!)

But single player is addictive, and multiplayer is simply hilarious and thats what is important. The darkness is a real annoyance though

Lord Nikon

I've borrowed a few cars, ie Mercedes CL AMG, and handles good. Hard to judge cornering in general though

123

Irish GrumPy wrote: »

Intelligent input there. :rolleyes:

I have noticed it is very dark too. Quite annoying tbh. Very grainy, dark style graphics. If it wasn't for the improved physics and hd videos, the game looks like san andreas almost.

But GTA never had good graphics (cept maybe for gta3, wow factor 3d game!)

But single player is addictive, and multiplayer is simply hilarious and thats what is important. The darkness is a real annoyance though

Raise the contrast from the games menu :rolleyes:

still dark coloured but atleast you can see

GrumPy

123 wrote: »

still dark coloured but atleast you can see

:rolleyes:

calex71

A few things bugging me about it too , I really miss being able to look to the left and right when driving shooting form the car is now much more of a pain when u have to swing the camera around with the stick.

No rampages either from what i can see, i saw hidden packages mentioned on the stats list too but have yet to find a single one

Gummy Panda

Try this

Worked for me on my ps3 displaying on a 720p screen

estebancambias

I'm very impressed to be honest, but I knew the lack of countryside would be a downfall. Not enough open roads for my liking.

I love the Niko charachter.

I do agree with you about the darkness.

miju

alls im gonna say is that after 3 hours of playing the handling on the cars are ****e IMHO

123

forgot to say set saturation at 85% and upped brightness by about 10% from default
Car handling isn't that great tbh but can be fun when your swing around wildy running over the peds
Awful for chasing people though

Tusky

As you get better cars, the handling drastically improves. I'm finding the screen to be annoyingly dark too. During the day its fine but at night its very very hard to see. Its almost as if everything is the same color.

I also find the mini map hard to read but then again, I have crap eyesight.

Having said that, Im loving the rest of the game.

Branoic

calex71 wrote: »

, i saw hidden packages mentioned on the stats list too but have yet to find a single one

There are collectibles. You just need to

go to Hapiness Island

to unlock them.

As for the OP's points, I'm really not finding the graphics dark, I think they're perfect, and I think the car handling and general controls issues will just sort themselves out with practice. I found cornering really tricky at the start, and car chases were a nightmare cos I kept crashing due to stupid mistakes. Not so much now.

The tax man

Driving is not too much of an issue for me. Wasn't expecting great car physics, they never are in GTA games IMO.Was dreading it after two weeks of Forza 2. As above I've "acquired" a few sporty looking numbers that are ok in the handling department.
Brightness is an issue at times. The mission were you have to climb a series of ladders on a building site was too dark to even see the ladders.
Haven't tweaked in games contrast yet,just the TV for a few minutes.

Main thing....I'm loving it so far.

mehfesto2

I think the cars handle more realistically, which can be either seen as a good or bad thing. You realistically wouldnt take a 45' corner at 90mph! It makes for an intresting learning curve if nothing else. Some handle horribly though, motorbikes, especially.

I agree about the lighting - the amount of times I've had to change the brightness and contrast. It's either too dark to see walls etc., or too bright to see your phone!

The lack of pushbikes, gyms, body-upgrades, turf-wars, desert style areas etc so far, are a bit disappointing, though.

Then again, I did find a bloke doing thai-chi on a beach tonight, watched Ricky Gervais on the telly, got chased about four blocks by a bloke I tried to rob - who was heavily armed, I've been a victim of road rage, prank fonecalled the paramedics and drove into the sea drunk. All in all, a good day. I also shot a pigeon and was told "99 flying rats remain!"

Kovik

I have difficulty with lighting when during the (real life) day with glare on the TV. Otherwise, it's okay. The darkness adds a lot to the city's aesthetic in my opinion.

The driving is certainly different from previous titles, but to a certain extent the old turn mechanics made earlier driving extremely easy. This game took a turn toward realism and toward greater consequences for actions. As much as I liked burning through the streets of Vice City without fearing the results, the new approach adds to this very distinct contribution to the series. At first I was sceptical, but I've really taken to the trigger button control system and gotten used to the driving mechanics.

pH

I have a 360, and have to say GTA IV is a disappointment for me.

Gameplay wise it seems exactly like the last one, drive here, follow these red dots etc. I hate the way you have to redo stuff when you fail, the save system is awful.

The missions seem to require no thought or planning, just basically your standard console nonsense - learn them and repeat until you get them right. What I'm getting at is they don't seem to need any strategy.

The driving ones seem to have a high degree of randomness, the timings are quite tight (for example the later LJ ones) basically learn the route, floor it and if you get bad traffic spawn then restart.

The combat cover system is not great, lots of missions the enemies seem to be spawned right on top of you and I can't do anything with the melee system at all.

The city seems like a sham, it's lovely but there doesn't seem to be any need to explore it or go off the missions. So far I've 'found' 2 pigeons and 2 molotovs. It looks so real but scratch the surface and it feels like it's cardboard cutouts. Other games for me have made large scale worlds and lands come alive much better.

The traffic spawn system still seems very artificial, you start with cars around you but then the spawn seems to die off.

Not really impressed by the internet and the mobile phone either.

On the other side the story is great, and lots of the gameplay is fun (when it's not frustrating me - but we've seen it all before in previous GTAs and other games).

I accept that I'm not a huge console gamer, and have zero interest in the MP side of things, so my impressions aren't that representative - so flame away!

slinky2000

I'm having tha same problems with the brightness and handling!

whats worse, when I set it to be more than 3/4 the way up on contrast my ps3 locks up!

Mimikyu

This post has been deleted.

bluemachaveli

Was playin the 360 version over the weekend and the color was awful. Just made a few adjustments in display settings and it was fine.

I got my PS3 version today and the display is perfect, no tweaking, no complaints.

I love the car handling. Its a bitch at the start but when u get used if it its great fun.

orestes

I was having all of the same problems that omst people have mentioned for the first while I was playing the game. Like someone else said, the darkness can be taken care of easily in the settings screen when you pause, and although the controls and driving are a pain in the ass to get used to, I reckon they will just be a matter of practice.

The one thing that I don't like is the way you can just lose the cops so easily. It's handy for missions, but I used to love tearing around for ages while being tailed by the cops and going through road-blocks and all that kinda stuff, but now long-term car chases don't seem to be as easy to get going

degrassinoel

no darkness problems here, adjusted brightness and contrast in game, using it on a standard non hd tv - the crt type (sony trinitron 21"), i didnt need to change any tv settings and its working like a charm, even the dark parts like behind the cabaret place, admitedly tehy are dark, but not so dark that you cant find your way up the stairs with ease.

maybe its just me, but i havent had a problem with it yet.

Lord Nikon

Long term car chases seem to be a thing of the past. Nothing better than burning along with a 5 star wanted level in SA, dont think we'll see this in IV.

Actually, I prefer SA.

orestes

orestes wrote: »

I was having all of the same problems that omst people have mentioned for the first while I was playing the game. Like someone else said, the darkness can be taken care of easily in the settings screen when you pause, and although the controls and driving are a pain in the ass to get used to, I reckon they will just be a matter of practice.

The one thing that I don't like is the way you can just lose the cops so easily. It's handy for missions, but I used to love tearing around for ages while being tailed by the cops and going through road-blocks and all that kinda stuff, but now long-term car chases don't seem to be as easy to get going

try getting ur star rating beyond four, no way i lost em when it hit 5 dead as a dodo.

Captain Chaos

For me the radio is the biggest let down, in Vice City and SA it was class, I would just drive around listening to it, not so with 4, I mainly just turn it off.

Overall though so far for me GTA4 is Saints Row with a far better story, presentation, and a bit more depth.

I have both the PS3 and 360 versions and I don't see the lighting issues that others are having at all but for me the PS3 version is very blured and the 360 is alot sharper.

joe123

Captain Chaos wrote: »

For me the radio is the biggest let down, in Vice City and SA it was class, I would just drive around listening to it, not so with 4, I mainly just turn it off.

Overall though so far for me GTA4 is Saints Row with a far better story, presentation, and a bit more depth.

I have both the PS3 and 360 versions and I don't see the lighting issues that others are having at all but for me the PS3 version is very blured and the 360 is alot sharper.

Ive the 360 version. Darkness was a problem untill i messed round with the settings. Have to agree though the Radio is REALLY disapointing in my oppinion. Ive found myself trying to listen to it but not liking anything. Smashing Pumpkins is the only song I like on it.

The radio compared to Vice City and San Andreas its a let down. Before opening them games I knew alot of the tracks. Looking at this one I hardly know any.

Enjoying the game so far but havent really got time to give it a good bash yet.

AdMMM

Just because you don't recognise the songs on the radio, doesn't mean they don't have the potential to be good. Personally I'm enjoying most of the stations and feel the songs are well suited to the game. The fact that many of them are unknown songs doesn't bother me in the slightest.

Brightness was a problem for me too, but a quick dip into the options screen was enough to sort this out. It now looks very bright during the daytime but I'm not experiencing any of the issues mentioned above such as being unable to see my phone. I reckon these are dependant on TV settings rather than game settings.

At first I found the car handling to be extremely heavy and found it difficult not to plough into 5 pedestrians at every corner, but then I realised that I was trying to speed around corners at around 60mph and have simply adjusted to the new (more realistic) mechanics. Some of the sportier models handle very smoothly though.

For everyone that's complaining about certain issues, I say give it a few days of playing to get used to it. First impressions aren't always accurate when a series makes such a drastic leap!

rizzla

I'm having the darkness issues too. I've started to do main missions during the daytime and social activites at night time.

Also, as for the cars and driving, I found pumping the brakes before cornering helps alot.

Music bugs me too. Just can't get into much of the tracks.

As for the story, it started off weak I thought but it's gradually uilding and sucking me in.

The tax man

mehfesto2 wrote: »

I also shot a pigeon and was told "99 flying rats remain!"

That explains why a pigeon in a tree was glowing red. Didn't have a gun at the time. Tried jumping up towards it.:D

ShaneU

It is very hard to see where you're going at night with no lights around, I guess that's realistic though.

ShaneU

The tax man wrote: »

That explains why a pigeon in a tree was glowing red. Didn't have a gun at the time. Tried jumping up towards it.:D

Ha, I did the same, I was like "wtf there's a glowing bird up there".

Froot

One of the lads in the house picked it up on the PS3. Sound and graphics are good and it seems like an improvement over San Andreas. I played it for less than 5 minutes, got bored and went back to playing my guitar :P

W1llz0rz

Winters wrote: »

Hi.

As you might notice beneath your fingers there is a full keyboard which is filled with all the letters of the alphabet and also other handy characters which can be used for grammar and punctuation. You should look into using this to its fullest capacity for the pleasure of all of those who try and read posts on boards using the English language, which you do not seem to be using.

You know people like you are starting to be WAY more annoying than the people who use text speak. So what, get over it, it happens so tough ****. Deal with it, unless you have some masterplan to eventually tell EVERYONE on the internet who talks like that to stop. It's been around for the last 5-10 years and it's definately not going to stop anytime soon so all you people who waste space on forums complaining about these people just get over it...... please.

As brightness issues in the game go, I noticed that right away too. I simply went into the display settings in the game and upped the brightness and contrast a little and now its perfect. Obviously whoever set the default is a bit of an idiot.

I suffered from the darkness problem at the start, but a little tweaking of the games options and i was ok there.


I dont know whats wrong for me to be honest. I've been playing for about 9 hours now, and i havent really done any missions. Just been going around the city and robbing cars and killing people, but its just not that much fun.


Whilst its all very GTA, it just doesnt appeal to me as much as i thought it would. I'm hoping i can put it on tomorrow and be really sucked into it. There seems to be a lack of vehicles. Aside from the themed stuff like bin lorries and airport themed taxis, i keep seeing the same jeeps and cars over and over.

The cover system is a good addition and makes shooting more fun and strategic.


I think the 10/10 reviews were unfair. I wouldn't give this a 10. Of course I havent played the whole thing yet, and have only had it for a day, but my initial reaction and thought would be a 7 or 8 out of 10.

Night time is incredibly dark, and most of the surrounding areas are just too gloomy or something. day light is good and clear, however.

Seems to be just GTA III with a mix of some of SA's features, but running on better graphics.

Its been ok to play thus far, but im getting bored. With III, VC and SA, i would literally play until i needed to sleep. This time around its just not the same. The impossible-to-escape-from police force dont make it much fun either. I enjoyed a big car chase and gun fight in SA, but here its a case of being shot dead as you open a car door.

GTA IV is like a "what would GTA be like if it were real" kinda idea, i think.

Hopefully i'll feel better about it tomorrow, because as of right now, im not hugely impressed

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

W1llz0rz wrote: »

You know people like you are starting to be WAY more annoying than the people who use text speak. So what, get over it, it happens so tough ****. Deal with it, unless you have some masterplan to eventually tell EVERYONE on the internet who talks like that to stop. It's been around for the last 5-10 years and it's definately not going to stop anytime soon so all you people who waste space on forums complaining about these people just get over it...... please.

but it's not going to happen here. If you want to advertise your stupidity to the wider world through txt spk go right ahead, but not here.

never here.

tman

As said above it does take a while to get used to this new style of GTA when you're so used to the GTA III/VC/SA style. Give it a few hours (until you get the "fed the fish" achievement) and things really start to get going and the game digs its claws into you...
Can't wait to get home and play it some more, this is going to be a long day in work!

can't figure out how they managed to cock up the default brightness levels so much though. Played for a couple of hours before I thought of going into the display options to sort out the darkness (my monitor is usually fairly bright, and I'd already tried cranking that up high...)

Plug

W1llz0rz wrote: »

You know people like you are starting to be WAY more annoying than the people who use text speak. So what, get over it, it happens so tough ****. Deal with it, unless you have some masterplan to eventually tell EVERYONE on the internet who talks like that to stop. It's been around for the last 5-10 years and it's definately not going to stop anytime soon so all you people who waste space on forums complaining about these people just get over it...... please.

Seriously, text speak is the language of Satan!


Anyway back on the game. Im not impressed really. Saying that I only played about 2 and a half hours. The lighting is crap, the radio stations are crap and having to listen to Niko's stupid accent is crap!
I hope the next GTA does a return to vice city and be set in the 80's:)

Mr E

Anyone else have sound issues on the 360? With any other game, turning my TV up to 12 is good enough to hear whats going on. On this game, I have to turn it up to 18 (and its at full volume internally).

AngryHippie

Spent a good 12 hour day at it yesterday.....
The car handling gets better the less you use your handbrake, just like real life!
The lighting is a little on the dark side, but I haven't come to a point where I can't see whats going on yet, but I was playing on a 42" flatscreen, with contrast up full and brightness at 75% and colour at 80%
As for the radio stations, well they are growing on me, slowly, was a little disappointed initially, but San Andreas was a very hard act to follow to be fair.
Gameplay is good, Plot is deep and twisted, Shooting has improved yet again on San Andreas, Motorbikes are a ****ing death wish, just like real life.... Avoiding the underwater world was a good move from San Andreas, it was just too much to have to go collecting oysters.....
My biggest concern is that I'm 19.75% complete after day 1, This does not bode well compared to the months of fun I knocked out of San Andreas, But time will tell. so far its getting 8 out of 10.....:)

miju

I've just read that there are no planes in GTA 4 to fly only helicopters which to be quite frank sucks balls

this game is really becoming a let down for me

Big_Mac

I like it. I'm not a massive game geek, but I like what I like and I've always been a fan of the GTA series.
Screen was dark but a fidddle with a couple of settings and its all sorted. I have to say that I like the fact that the cops are easier to lose. SA and VC was too tough to loose the cops and i nearly always ended up wasted or busted.

BTW anyone notice that when you get wasted you manage to keep your guns after the hospital?

Handling was a BEATCH to get the hang of, but I'm getting better at it slowly but surely. It definitely adds another aspect or realism to the game. I fell over laughing when I crashed into something and went flying out of the windscreen (more than once). Maybe they should have given Nikko the option to wear his seat belt.

Roll on 4, I get to play it again..........

Basq

miju wrote: »

I've just read that there are no planes in GTA 4 to fly only helicopters which to be quite frank sucks balls

this game is really becoming a let down for me

Was I playing you in multiplayer last night miju? Was playing someone called kdac (who I thought might be KdjaC).

As for the game, I quite enjoyed it but I'd a few pints on me so I just played one mission on single player and then was up til 3am playing 'Free Mode' on Multiplayer.

No sound or brightness issues on my 360 (that I noticed anyways).

Neamhshuntasach

I have no problems with it at all. Granted i've only played it for a few hours Monday evening and last night. I've the 360 version and i'm playing it on a CRT screen and i've no issue with darkness or contrast whether it's day or night.

As for the handling corners i just hit the brake/reverse button followed quickly by the handbrake and swing the camera around to the direction i'm turning. Requires a bit of practice but i found hitting the brake first slows the car down enough to allow you to handbrake into a corner without spinning around out of control.

Jip

American cars don't do corners in real life so from reading this thread the handling sounds very realisitic

Ciaran500

Can't believe people are complaining about the darkness when you can tweak them just the way you want in the options.

I'm a little dissapointed that it seems to be the same game as previous GTA's in a new city. Really enjoying it though, no game can replace the GTA experience.

RAIN

Wow i dont have any trouble with the cars, i do miss bein able to look from side to side on the vehicles. Corners are fine! i tend to use handbreak and normal break at the same time.I think its one of the best things about it.

When i first switched it on the sun was blaring in the window at home and it did seem kind of dark. When i put on the artificial light it was perfecto.The first island seems to be very crampt at first but once you learn the layout its fantastic.

RAIN

I think i can se why people are a little dissapointed,the game was hyped so much and we were all told what you can do in it but the first few hours of the game dont offer instant access to all these things - im 4 hrs in and havent seen an internet cafe yet!

Plus when people are used to SA and having all the cheats and doing rampages and flying jets its hard to settle back into a story.

The darkness thing i dont realy get though,the opening section of the game was the darkeset everything else looks amazing,.i cant get my head around how good the cut scenes are !

Rb

miju wrote: »

I've just read that there are no planes in GTA 4 to fly only helicopters which to be quite frank sucks balls

Wow, that sucks.