A reader goes back to play GTA 4 and argues that it does many things better than GTA 5, especially in terms of its story.
With all the hype and excitement for GTA 6 I thought I’d go back in time to 2008 and check out the first Grand Theft Auto of the Xbox 360 era and play GTA 4. You don’t expect to go back to a 16-year-old game and not come across some problems and I was initially wary of giving it a go, because I didn’t enjoy the GTA Trilogy remasters at all.
The remasters were just bad though and didn’t necessarily mean the games underneath were, they just weren’t being presented in the best way possible. So, I went into GTA 4 with some amount of optimism, even though I remember having issues with it even at the time.
I spent most of last weekend playing it and I have to say that somehow it’s actually better than I remembered. I think that has to do with me being prepared for the car physics being weird and the combat janky, but for me the combat has never been an important part of GTA. Instead, it’s the exploration and the characters and I think in GTA 4 they’re the best they’ve ever been.
The first thing you notice, other than the graphics have held up very well, is that Niko is a much better protagonist than anyone in GTA 5. I didn’t really like any of that trio but while Niko is a deeply flawed person he feels like a real human being, not the cartoonish exaggerations that are in GTA 5. He wants to do the right thing most of the time, or at least feels bad about some of the things he gets involved in, and that’s important.
More importantly though, and I think this was the big flaw of GTA 5, but GTA 4 has a proper plot, with a beginning, middle, and end. In GTA 5 things just happen at random until the game suddenly wraps up the story out of nowhere and in an incredibly rushed and unsatisfying way.
But in GTA 4 there’s actual build-up to the finale, as everything moves to an inevitable conclusion and there are actual consequences to your actions, not just the lame final decision at the end of GTA 5. People get what they deserve and things aren’t just played for a joke.
In terms of gameplay there are issues, I don’t think anyone would say there aren’t, but while it feels a little out of place it’s now obvious that the weird vehicle handling is because Rockstar were trying to do the physics more realistically. That’s not always that much fun but it is at least more ambitious than the bland racing in GTA 5.
I’m still not sure why Rockstar overcomplicated the combat so much in the early games and that’s kind of indefensible. But, like I say, it’s not really the focus of the game and you do get used to it.
The mission design is also very good and while that’s definitely one thing that GTA 5 did well I’d say GTA 4 is just as good, with a more realistic take on the GTA world that does include some mundane tasks, but I think that adds to the immersion and sense of reality. The lack of mid-mission saves is a real pain though.
So yeah, I would definitely recommend GTA 4 and I honestly think it could be the best of the series. I would absolutely love to see Rockstar do a remake or remaster with modern graphics and controls. Just maybe don’t use the same people to do it as did GTA 3.
By reader Goldin
The reader’s features do not necessarily represent the views of GameCentral or Metro.
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