Grand Theft Auto 4: blah!

Discussing with a good friend of mine this morning that is as big a gamer as I am, prompted me to write this blog. Basically we stared at each other (via IM) going: "Most people rate it 10/10, I don't get it, do you?" , "I don't really like it, do you?".

I am big fan of the series, so of course I was there at release date and bought my copy. I was excited as a fly on sh*t. I was quickly disappointed. I am halfway through the game and I have just dropped it. Didn't get hooked like the other series, just powered through half the game and then... just dropped it. I have only done this once before with GTA Miami. GTA San Andreas is one of my all time favorite games.

Main gripes are:

1. The driving SUCKS, this is a BAD driving game. I mean it is really worse than the previous games. I loved one car in GTA3, I loved the bikes in both SA and LCS (PSP). Here most of the cars are slow, bounce around like hip-hop cars and the controls are just sluggish. Coming off a game like Burnout, which I just finished, this feels just painful.
   
2. The fighting SUCKS, this is a BAD FPS. The fighting controls are sluggish, the fights are too easy.
   
3. I don't want to role play a heroin dealer. I am sick and tired of the "dark relativism", maybe I am growing up but organizing heroin deals to buy the latest shoes so that my russian friend looks good is just not a story line I relate to. Going to strip clubs and watching a 3D model do dirty things, is fine but I can't have the kids around and then shooting them up?
   

On the plus side

1. Graphics are good
   
2. Story has depth, it is more a movie than a game. Really it feels like a chopped up version of Scarface in NYC but interupted with "you drive the car from A to B"
   
3. Shooting pigeons is the most fun I have had in this game, but that lasted a day until I realized I was free-roaming shooting pigeons in a virtual world.
   

The most odd point is something I both like and dislike: the TAXIS. In this version of the game you can ride the taxis and speed through moving. Which is great: I don't hijack cars EVER, I just get in a taxi and pay and get there at once, it speeds up the game. But the downside is that I don't listen to the radio, I don't "drive around" I don't drive at top speed. I never get into the mood of the game.

Bottom line it is ALL VERY BORING TO ME.

I will put recommendations for 2 games I have really liked: Burnout Paradise, FANTASTIC GAME, fantastic driving, graphics, music. Then I am playing IRON MAN... not for everyone but I do like the controls of fighting (flying not so much) but it still beats GTA4...