Grand Theft Auto IV takes place in 2008, within a redesigned version of Liberty City. The design of the city focuses on a recreation of four of the boroughs of New York City: Broker (based on Brooklyn), Dukes (Queens), Bohan (The Bronx), and Algonquin (Manhattan). The setting also includes the neighbouring state of Alderney (based on New Jersey).[19] Initially, bridges are locked down due to a terrorist threat, and police constantly pursue players if the bridges are crossed. The blockades are lifted as the story progresses, allowing the player to traverse between islands safely.
GTA IV PC Version
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In August 2008, Rockstar announced that the game would be coming to Windows on 18 November 2008 in North America and 21 November in Europe,[69] with additional development work by Rockstar Toronto.[70] Microsoft partnered with Rockstar in a US$50 million deal to bring two episodic downloadable content packs to the Xbox 360:[71] Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned on 17 February 2009,[72] and Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony on 29 October 2009.[73] Dan Houser wanted the episodes to show "a different side of Liberty City".[74] In January 2010, Rockstar announced that the DLC would be bundled as Episodes from Liberty City, released for PlayStation 3 and Windows on 13 April 2010 in North America and 16 April in Europe.[75] Episodes from Liberty City was also bundled with the main game in The Complete Edition, released on 26 October 2010 in North America and 29 October in Europe.[76] The Xbox 360 version of the game and its DLC were made backwards compatible with the Xbox One on 9 February 2017.[77]
In the month prior to launch, Rockstar and GameStop held a competition offering up to US$10,000 and a trip to New York City for the game's launch event.[99] Microsoft held a similar sweepstakes competition, offering consoles, games, Microsoft Points, a baseball bat, and an invitation to the launch event as rewards.[100] The official Grand Theft Auto IV website was redesigned on 8 February 2008 to show a preview of activities and locales within the game's world.[101] To encourage pre-order sales, Rockstar collaborated with several retail outlets to provide a special edition version of the game. It includes a metal safe deposit box, an art book, and the soundtrack CD.[102] The publisher also collaborated with Sony to release a 40 GB PlayStation 3 console with a copy of the game.[103] GameStop hosted midnight launch events at over 3,500 of its American stores, with contests and giveaways.[104]
When Grand Theft Auto IV was released to Windows in December 2008, it received generally positive reviews. Metacritic calculated an average score of 90 out of 100, indicating "universal acclaim", based on 40 reviews.[122] Reviewers liked the enhanced visuals[124][128][129] and the additional features,[1][123][127][129] but criticised the port for its inferiority over the console versions.[123][125][127]
The in-game features added in the port were well received.[127][129] The addition of the Video Editor was met with positive reactions; GameSpot's Calvert called it "a great way to get creative",[1] while Kieron Gillen of Eurogamer criticised the unpredictability in its timing.[125] Critics also praised the addition of the customisable radio station, which allows players to listen to their own choice of music; Tom Chick of 1UP.com named it the best feature of the port,[123] and Steven Hopper of GameZone called it a "great touch".[129] The port's upgrade to 32 concurrent players in the online multiplayer mode, as opposed to the console version's 16 players, was also met with positive feedback; Eurogamer's Gillen said that the "possibility for mayhem... increases",[125] while Will Tuttle of GameSpy felt that the player increase "changes the action significantly".[126]
The port's enhanced visuals were commended by many reviewers. GameZone's Hopper considered the visuals an improvement over the original versions.[129] Andy Robinson of Computer and Video Games called the visuals "impressive",[124] while Tom Orry of VideoGamer.com called them "superb".[128] Conversely, the port's system requirements, considered difficult to run with advanced settings,[1] received criticism.[127][128] Eurogamer's Gillen said that, though the Windows version is "the most attractive version", it's "annoyingly fiddly to get there".[125] GameSpy's Tuttle was able to overlook the demanding system requirements in exchange for the game's other features.[126]
Prior to and since the release of Grand Theft Auto IV, the game had been subject to a great deal of controversy. The game's depiction of violence received mass commentary from journalists and government officials, occasionally being referred to as a "murder simulator".[172][173] The ability to drink-drive in the game also received criticism, resulting in a request for the ESRB to change the game's rating.[174] Similarly, some gameplay features were censored for the Australian and New Zealand versions of the game, though these censors were subsequently removed.[175][176] Several crimes that were committed following the game's release, such as murder and sexual violence, were attributed to the perpetrators' experiences with the game, generating further controversy.[177][178][179] Former attorney Jack Thompson, known for his campaigns against the series, heavily criticised Grand Theft Auto IV prior to its release, filing lawsuits against parent company Take-Two Interactive, and threatening to ban distribution of the game if some gameplay features were not removed.[180][181] The game also generated further controversy and lawsuits from city officials and organisations.[182][183]
The PC version allows to import music files for playback in a custom radio station. Rockstar Games has removed some music tracks from the game due to expired licenses. Same with Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City. See Restore removed music
Rockstar's vivid tale of Niko Bellic, an immigrant with convictions powerful enough to rocket him through the crumbling substructures of Liberty City's world of organized crime, is now out on PC. The Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 games shipped this past April, and with this one you'll find a few alterations and additions those who waited are sure to appreciate. Despite what's been put in, if you've already played the console versions it's hard to recommend picking this one up, even though it now includes space for up to 32 players in its multiplayer matches and a robust, easy to use replay editor for recording and fashioning clips from your in-game actions.
Still, you'll be doing quite a bit of mission restarts, and that often means repeating large chunks of the challenges. Many missions break down into an initial travel segment, some kind of escalation event, a conflict, and an escape. Getting through the on-foot shooting sequences, a real headache with the clunky control schemes of games past, has been made much better with the inclusion of a cover system and, as with all PC versions, mouse and keyboard support for aiming and shooting. From behind cover it's possible to blind fire, rapidly pop out to unload a few shots, or move cover to cover, a system that doesn't always work perfectly but is a definite step up for the series. It's possible to use a gamepad as well, which handles vehicles better than a mouse and keyboard. You can even switch freely between the control devices. Juggling the two input methods depending whether you're driving or shooting is pretty awkward, but it's great that Rockstar built it in without forcing you to fiddle with a control input menu toggle. And if you have to pick one, it's far easier to shoot from a moving car with the mouse and keyboard.
The strength of story and character along with the amazingly detailed world are undoubtedly going to make strong impressions on whoever dives into this version of Liberty City, but GTA has always been about moments. Remember that time you went off the stunt jump and landed on the pedestrian after slamming through the light post with the police chopper crashing to the ground in the background, setting off a string of explosions rocketing through the stalled traffic? With the PC version you'll be able to actually save that sort of thing using the replay feature. Hitting F2 will save a chunk of gameplay roughly 30 seconds long to your hard drive and make it available for use with the integrated replay editor. This suite of tools will let you drop in filters, splice together clips, add text, attach music, adjust camera angles and more so you can recreate your favorite scenes however you see fit. Want a string of shots of you firing at traffic jams from an attack chopper? Remember to hit F2 every time you're in that situation and splicing them all together should be no problem, giving you the opportunity to save and savor those quirky, seemingly impossible-to-repeat moments that pop up in GTA's unpredictable world.
To enter into the editor mode Niko utilizes his cell phone, which acts as a sort of hub for a wide range of activities. It comes into play during the course of missions for checking messages and talking with the game's vibrant, well-realized NPC population as well as serving as a tool built to allow players to live Niko's life as if it were a real one. NPCs will call to talk, for instance, with no purpose other than broadening your sense of their character. You can go on dates, organize a game of darts or pool, and manage relationships much like you might outside of Rockstar's world. Many of these diversions turn out to be fairly tedious after a while, but they're entirely optional so you can just leave them alone if you prefer.
Beyond that there's plenty to discover in Liberty City, a stunningly realized virtual version of New York City caked with all the dust, wear, and dents you'd expect to see while walking down an actual street. There you can engage in the missions, sure, but also immerse yourself in activities strictly frivolous, from heading to Internet shops and clicking through fictional junk mail to sitting back in a dimly lit apartment and absorbing the glut of programs and commercials that, in typical Rockstar style, wryly torpedo popular culture. 2ff7e9595c
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