Forum Overview :: Gamerasutra :: Let me assist your memory using mine

[quote name="Lizard_King"]Which of course selects the extremes. Note that virtually every exceptionally bad mission could have been salvaged with even a basic checkpoint system, which goes back to my point that sandbox games can fuck a lot of things up with me until I become convinced that I am wasting time on the hamster wheel of their arrogance. That plus GTA4's reluctance to allow me to apply any of my possible tools in most required missions make the game unplayable for me. <b>Missions of Note</b> In a good way: -Three leaf clover and most McReary activites apart from the stupid girlfriend, and I liked Derrick's missions as well. -Some of the little Jacob stuff, which down to the helicopter RPG duel was about on par with SR2 for cartoonish absurdity -Some of the Dwayne/Playboy missions, which again were about on par with the average shenanigans in SR2 -The Gambetti family mission to kill Kim, where despite being slathered in stereotypes they made sure it mattered whether I did my job well and got to him before he got to his vehicle (this one's fresh on my memory because I happened to do it the other day when I tried the game again just to be sure I hated it. Phil Bell was again the end of that visit). In a bad way: -Two motorcycle invulnerability chase -One car invulnerability chase -Any other chase with invulnerable segments -Chick in the trunk -Any mission which began with multiple driving segments that you had to repeat if you failed -and on that note, Phil Bell and his suicidal run into the warehouse which was based around the worst infiltration plan in the universe -Any mission which concluded with a bullshit kill him or let him live choice (many) -Any mission which required you to conduct an absolutely ridiculous betrayal/act of scumbaggery that was not only a bad thing to do generally, it was the opposite of -pragmatism and common sense (many). -Ray Boccino and his sidekick Johnny, the worst diamond thieves -Bernie Crane, which by the way set a great precedent for the upcoming Gay Tony dlc -Everything I've seen about the ending, which sounds like a Galactica Season 4 level travesty. Mediocre: everything else <b>Side Activities</b> Good side activities: Hitman -Manhunt (because the combat set pieces were mostly decent, and the missions were relatively open in how you approached them) Passable Side activities: -Car theft (dinged for silly AI countermeasures to theft, delivery place having no easily accessible taxi hotspot nearby) Bad side activities: -Stunt Jumps: normally I have a little fun with these, but the irritating way the game handled healing, death, reloading as well as the vague criteria for success at times made me very risk averse. -Everything else. Dating, bowling, QUBED, paramedics whatever. I don't do them in games I mostly like, such as SR2 either. But they really clashed with the "realism" twist they tried to add this time, and I thought the phone call based rewards were bullshit. Let me tell you what I really want is to bust out my cell phone when I need something right away. <b>Core mechanics</b> Good: -The original idea for the setting and protagonist had a lot of interesting dimensions. They pissed away all of that good will, but I'll still count it as the game gave a great first impression. -Combat on foot mostly felt great -Driving without combat was solid -multiplayer was ok for an afterthought -The commie radio station -drunk driving, although I wish it was more than just a gimmick Bad: -Ally AI was terrible. Do not attach mission failure to it at every turn. -In game rewards were appallingly bad. Safehouses, clothes, dates for lame abilities, whatever. Just terrible. -Dating and date activities -Craplist and fake internet generally. .hack did a more credible job, and that was not a good game or one that games in this genre should emulate. -Money was worthless, despite being your character's supposed motivation. Hey Roman, how many millions should I accrue before I can stop being a bag man? Many -open world games, particularly those with Bad Guy main characters, confront this eventually, and while some try to compromise between the thuggery on display and your status, GTA4 boldy chooses to completely ignore any attempt to reconcile it -Driving while shooting was garbage. With no coop and no allies who could shoot worth a damn, this was significant -No value to cars or reason to get anything nicer than whatever's driving by. Garage mechanic was shit, I especially liked it when I'd take a taxi home and he'd pull up into the rear of my sportscar. -Healing. Fuck calling 911, and fuck the hospital -Equipment and respawning. -NO CHECKPOINTS. -Toll Booths. Seems small, reflects the way that the selective realism of the devs was wrongheaded from the ground up What I'm getting at here is not that I want you to agree that GTA4 sucks. That's fine, and I can see where someone would prioritize the stuff I put under "good" and not mind the rest so much. But I never will, and Fortinbras can eat a dick if he thinks his act is going to convince anyone of anything other than his need for that dick. What I would like to avoid is an endless cycle where I explain to you my reasoning and you reply with NO TASTE FOR CRAFTSMANSHIP or chapter 3452 in your passionate feud with Creexuls. [/quote]