6 Hours Into GTA IV

As the title of this post states I'm over 6 hours into the game and its been a wild ride. At first blush I could not escape a feeling of "yep..this is GTA not sure what the fuss is all about..." As I got a few hours into the game the atmosphere of the city began to rear its head along with the wonderfully rich cast of characters you encounter along the way. The more time you spend with this game the more rewarding it gets. It takes awhile to get a handle on the control scheme, this GTA plays much tighter than previous incarnations and it will punish the button masher and hot-headed. I'm still wrapping my head around the cover-mechanic and trying to improve my marksmanship but the driving I've more or less grown accustomed to. Each car has drastically different handling characteristics (I rolled many a SUV/Pickup Truck before the breaks became my friend) and its own unique sound and personality.

Beyond gameplay, I find myself constantly amazed at the level of detail in this world. I spent half an hour just watching the TV in Roman and Niko's safehouse. Each show has a script and is voice acted; Republican Space Rangers was a personal favorite of mine (take that Master Chief!) So far the biggest draw for me has been the storyline and the character of Niko himself. He's an instantly likable character and he has an incredibly expressive character model that really pulls you into the narrative of the game. I actually care what happens to Niko and I'm on pins and needles watching what Liberty City throws at him and his wacky cousin. I'd write more but I have to get myself back into the game to see what happens next. I'll post further impressions as I get deeper into the core of the game and give multiplayer a spin.