GTA:IV Official Thread

[ras el hanout]

I've just done Deconstruction for Beginners first time. It was the first mission for me where the cover system really made sense, and I felt properly in control as I darted from cover to cover popping off shots at the bad guys and planning my route across the building site. I was a bit afraid it was going to turn into a timed chase at the end but it didn't and I coolly sauntered up to the final guy and executed him just as the sun was coming up. Excellent stuff.

Yeah, didn't it say "Quick, he's getting away!" or something? That was shit because on some fucking missions the fuckers do get away and yet this cunt just stood there waiting for his fucking end. But I think there were more people to snipe as you were on the lift. I did, they may have been just construction workers but the may have been gunmen.

But I didn't like that "Quick he's getting away shit."

In the mission before that or so with the police on the roof my blackman wouldn't follow me fucking down the stairs! Just stood there like a twat.

[Spacehost]

In what possible way is the drive like a cut scene?

Surely if you don't enjoy driving in a GTA game you're playing the wrong fucking game?

Isn't driving part of the core appeal of the thing?

Driving the same car, with the same people, down the same road, to the same destination, is not what GTA driving is about. It gets boring fast.

[Rowan Morrison]

I've just done Deconstruction for Beginners first time. It was the first mission for me where the cover system really made sense, and I felt properly in control as I darted from cover to cover popping off shots at the bad guys and planning my route across the building site. I was a bit afraid it was going to turn into a timed chase at the end but it didn't and I coolly sauntered up to the final guy and executed him just as the sun was coming up. Excellent stuff.

The cover system shafted me on one attempt as some goons came up behind me while I was in cover duelling with a guy in front. By time time I'd realised what was going on and left cover, I was as good as dead. My successful attempt was great, though, I made full use of the sniper rifle and the chopper with the backup landed right next to my sniping perch, so I blew it up from around ten feet away which I thought was the end of me, but I survived. Sadly after that I did have to take advantage of dumb AI coming up to my position one at a time, because there was no cover to work my way down with.

I made two trips back to the street to a nearby hot-dog vendor, too. It was a really, really poor performance that suggests I've got some room for improvement where the on-foot combat is concerned. I keep hitting LB for cover, for a start.

[SqueakyG]

I unlocked Alderney, so the first thing I did was Most Wanteds and races:

I've now done all the Most Wanted police car missions. The difficulty ramps up on Alderney, but that means they're the only ones that are a good challenge. A couple of them are good set-piece battles, actually. One of them had a

rocket launcher

, and at the multi-story car park one of them

threw a grenade at my feet!

. Great stuff.

I've done all races too. They were piss. Won every single race on the first try. Every other car crashes on the first corner and you never see them again. What's the point of that? I purposely chose a slow car for a few races, to try to get some excitement from the car in second place being right behind me.

[Blamsft1]

After two failed attempts at Waste Not Want Knots I got quite frustrated and the third time I just charged in without using cover. Surprisingly, that's when I succeeded. I tore through the first group of enemies with a shotgun and switched to an Uzi for the enemies inside the warehouse. Then I ignored the respawning enemies and just ran out.

[Wallace]

Re Deconstruction for Beginners.

I climbed the crane on the left as you enter the site and sniped all the leaders from there except for the final guy who as I couldn't get a shot.

Was a bit lucky on the way back down as there was a an angry mob waiting for me at the bottom of the ladder but an AK sorted that situation right out.

Didn't know you could execute the final guy though, bugger!

[ras el hanout]

The cover system shafted me on one attempt as some goons came up behind me while I was in cover duelling with a guy in front. By time time I'd realised what was going on and left cover, I was as good as dead. My successful attempt was great, though, I made full use of the sniper rifle and the chopper with the backup landed right next to my sniping perch, so I blew it up from around ten feet away which I thought was the end of me, but I survived. Sadly after that I did have to take advantage of dumb AI coming up to my position one at a time, because there was no cover to work my way down with.

I made two trips back to the street to a nearby hot-dog vendor, too. It was a really, really poor performance that suggests I've got some room for improvement where the on-foot combat is concerned. I keep hitting LB for cover, for a start.

I just sort of ran through it. I'm pretty shit but the little computer people are worse. I don't think Rockstar gave them lock-on.

[SqueakyG]

So I was taking

Kate McReary

out for a drink. I thought it would be a nice fun time. Light-hearted piss-up. But then she and Niko start talking on the car journey, and I learn one of the most heart-breaking things about Niko and Roman's history:

Niko's aunt/Roman's mother was raped and killed by enemy soldiers during the war in their country, but Roman doesn't know this. Roman thinks his mother died in a fire.

I didn't expect a such a moment of serious characterisation on a drive to the Steinway beer garden for a pissup.

Anyway, one more thing I'll say about the game: I've been playing it way too much. To the point where I'm dreaming about the game every night. I am Niko in my dreams... it's scary! Also, I think if you play the game for too many hours each day, the day/night cycle fucks you up mentally. I was playing at 3am, but I had no idea it was 3am because it was daylight in the game. It unbalances your sense of time awareness. I think previous GTA games were immune from this because the day/night cycle was too fast, but at 48-minutes per 24-hours. GTA IV's cycle can fuck you up if you're addicted.

The "addiction level" in the stats is great, of course. I noted "Bummed in the Gob". But I also noticed "Beats any Meat Injection" from Trainspotting.

[Ste Pickford]

I failed that Deconstruction mission precisely because of that message about him getting away. I was doing really well - I'd picked off a load of extra blokes with the sniper rifle after doing the lookouts, and was taking it nice and carefully and slowly. When I heard the helicopter and got the 'he's getting away' message, I thought I'd better run to the end, expecting the mission to fail if I carried on at this pace, and I got slaughtered.

Used the rocket launcher on the 2nd attempt to take out the copter (from a tip in this thread I think), and then finished it off at a more enjoyable pace.

I definitely don't enjoy sections of missions wher fail you if your target gets out of radar range. Seems a bit out of key with the free-form nature of the game and the city, and forces a style and pace of play upon the player which other parts of the game avoid.

[Pob]

I'm enjoying the vigilante missions too, but I find that perps in cars are so keen to pepper you with bullets that you don't really have the time to engage in the long, ram-filled chases that characterised police missions in the earlier games. That's a shame, but the game makes up for it when it leads you to a huge shoot out, and it's nice to have a bit of variety.

I know - I wish there were sub missions in which you could just chase down cars in whatever vehicle you wanted.

It was the same with San Andreas, but at least the first couple of Vigilante missions were against unarmed cars, and you could just do those over and over again. Saying that, my favourite way to do Vigilante missions in Vice City was to cut the enemy car off and pump bullets into it as it went past, shattering the windows and bursting the tyres.

After that I decided to see if the cops would help with more than one attacker at a time - they won't, but I did have an ace five minutes of running past pedestrians, smacking them on the back of the head as I went and building up a little troupe of Benny Hill chasers who eventually did beat me to a well-deserved death.

Whenever I go to Heli Tours, there's an attendant standing right near the edge of the pier. The temptation is always too much, and I generally end up boxing him into the sea. The first time I did it, I was amazed to see him swim over to the ladder, climb up, and calmly walk back to his starting position.

Most on the first island were fairly simple. There was one that I really enjoyed though, about ten guys hiding in the dump with SMGs, I pulled the handbrake and got into cover behind the car at the entrance and took them out one by one with my trusty pistol. It felt like a proper shootout

The Most Wanted missions are brilliant. I did a great one in an appartment block that had a really grimy 70s cop film feel about - all blood splats on dirty walls, people tumbling down stairs and screams of terror. It was like the end of Taxi Driver actually.

[ras el hanout]

I definitely don't enjoy sections of missions wher fail you if your target gets out of radar range. Seems a bit out of key with the free-form nature of the game and the city, and forces a style and pace of play upon the player which other parts of the game avoid.

The problem is it's not consistent. Sometimes the characters can get away and sometimes, like, the guy you have to take out from Chinatown - he fucking ran all over the city despite me being miles behind but if was great fun chasing him. So when it tells you somebody's getting away and then they don't get away, that's a real kick in the balls.

I think the police are far too easy to escape from too. You don't even have to escape, just keep heading where you were heading.

[Wallace]

Used the rocket launcher on the 2nd attempt to take out the copter (from a tip in this thread I think), and then finished it off at a more enjoyable pace.

I used the sniper rifle on the pilot which resulted in an explosion when the bullet hit his head

[Rowan Morrison]

I just sort of ran through it. I'm pretty shit but the little computer people are worse. I don't think Rockstar gave them lock-on.

Yeah, I think my problem was I was tackling that mission a bit too tactically, moving from cover to cover and all that. I probably should have tried the run & gun approach. I did take a car with me as far as I could on my second attempt, but that didn't particularly go well.

It's like someone said earlier, distance is the killer. Let someone get too close and find yourself reloading, and it's all over. Fire early, fire often,

I know - I wish there were sub missions in which you could just chase down cars in whatever vehicle you wanted.

At least you can terrorise innocent drivers to much the same effect, but I do miss the car-on-car battles. They were always best in the first game, though, before they introduced tyre damage and stingers. I guess if there's a bulletproof police vehicle somewhere in GTAIV then the problem will be solved.

[Puck]

After two failed attempts at Waste Not Want Knots I got quite frustrated and the third time I just charged in without using cover. Surprisingly, that's when I succeeded. I tore through the first group of enemies with a shotgun and switched to an Uzi for the enemies inside the warehouse. Then I ignored the respawning enemies and just ran out.

Yeah, pretty much my tactic in the end. Realising the AI didn't possess the same mad combat skills as me, i.e., unable to take cover, I decided to become their bullet sponge and charge forward like a deranged AK wielding Scarface.

Borne initially from frustration, I was immensely surprised to find that this tactic worked.

[Pob]

At least you can terrorise innocent drivers to much the same effect, but I do miss the car-on-car battles. They were always best in the first game, though, before they introduced tyre damage and stingers. I guess if there's a bulletproof police vehicle somewhere in GTAIV then the problem will be solved.

My current plan is to steal a NOOSE van and get it back to the safehouse so I can tackle those 'stolen vehicle' missions. I'm hoping it will be tough enough to survive being sprayed with uzi fire.

I also really want a FIB car for the Most Wanted missions, but that's going to be a tall order.

[Talk Show Host]

The problem is it's not consistent. Sometimes the characters can get away and sometimes, like, the guy you have to take out from Chinatown - he fucking ran all over the city despite me being miles behind but if was great fun chasing him. So when it tells you somebody's getting away and then they don't get away, that's a real kick in the balls.

I think the police are far too easy to escape from too. You don't even have to escape, just keep heading where you were heading.

Star difficulty?

[Fugitive]

I used the sniper rifle on the pilot which resulted in an explosion when the bullet hit his head

That can happen in real life, and it's why I never became a helicopter pilot. I just wasn't prepared to take the risk of dying in an explosion if I was ever shot in the head by a sniper.

[K]

Star difficulty?

Even on three or four stars it's way too easy.

[Timmo]

On the subject of bullet-proof cars, the co-op mission at the airport has a nice get away with you driving a couple and trying to keep the poilce off.

[therev]

Yeah, I think my problem was I was tackling that mission a bit too tactically, moving from cover to cover and all that. I probably should have tried the run & gun approach. I did take a car with me as far as I could on my second attempt, but that didn't particularly go well.

I find with most missions a combination works best, but favouring the use of cover.

Just be sure not to get too close to anyone with a shotgun. Those things hurt.

[Rowan Morrison]

I think the police are far too easy to escape from too. You don't even have to escape, just keep heading where you were heading.

It can be a chore sometimes, but it's rarely a challenge or, realistically, a laugh. They'll murder you if you try to take them on properly and they don't give good chase - even on a straight when you're in a shit car, they're pretty useless. If they were as brutal with their cars as they are on foot, that'd be interesting. I thought busting through the toll bridge might make those long trips more exciting, but I've usually lost the stars by the time I get off the bridge.

[Padaxes]

I prefer being able to escape rather than that, "oh no point in even trying lets just go back to my last save" I got in previous versions.

[Pob]

Wow, I find the police chases amazing. Sometimes you can shake a four-star level just by haring off down the expressway, sometimes a minor misdemeanor such as shooting a pidgeon escalates to a full blown, cross-city chase involving several different cars, leaping off roads and hiding in alleyways.

[kerraig UK]

I definitely don't enjoy sections of missions wher fail you if your target gets out of radar range. Seems a bit out of key with the free-form nature of the game and the city, and forces a style and pace of play upon the player which other parts of the game avoid.

thats what fcks me off the most. Especially when there are so many variables that can mess you up. Its the one thing saints row go so right. At the very point the guy would have 'got away', he'll do something else like turn round and try to run you down or get out and try to blow you away. If you didnt mess up you got the chase in full, but if you did mess up you had an emergent bit of gameplay instead of a mission fail.

[Rowan Morrison]

I prefer being able to escape rather than that, "oh no point in even trying lets just go back to my last save" I got in previous versions.

Well, yeah, but I want to have to work to escape, without resorting to the occasional potshot at a policeman's leg to let them know I'm still around. Really, I just want interesting chases where I'm the target, and they don't seem to happen - cars behind can't keep up, and cars in front pull over and get passed. I got a twinge of hope when I spotted a big van-based roadblock ahead of me the other night, but I just drove straight through it and carried on my way.

Much as the stingers in VC annoyed me overall, they did make for some interesting situations in which you'd need to switch cars or do some swift evasive driving, so the chases could be quite varied and hectic. Maybe it'll be better on five or six stars, but I've shot down three choppers and killed what must have been half a precinct and not risen above four...

[Pob]

I agree - it shouldn't matter if the target gets away. You should be able to chase them all over the city until you get them.

I was well relieved when that union boss didn't get in the helicopter and fly off. I was in no position to take him out when that chopper arrived.

[SM47]

Fucking hell, I was doing the Kiki dates for the

Clear Wanted Level

perk and then a short while after I took Kate out on a date. After I dropped her home, Kiki phoned me going mental saying she'd seen me out with 'a cheap slut'!

[Tom*]

I've noticed a few of the chase missions for the Italians have these scripted vehicles (waste trucks, buses, random cars) moving in to block your path at certain points. I failed one a few times and the same vehicles were there trying to stop me - luckily I worked out when to avoid them. Not sure if it would be less fun without them but it certainly makes it more linear for such a freeform game.

Also agree about what they said on yesterday's GFW Radio podcast - GTAIV is one of the most schizophrenic games out, in terms of how character involvement relates to the gameplay.

Anyway, back to wooing Kate...

[ras el hanout]

I landed my helicopter on Alderney and that shit went off, like ten star, but even then I drove around for ages and if there had been an escape route I'd have taken it.

But that earlier mission with Dimitri in the warehouse with all the cops right outside the door. I was like, well how in the dickens do I get out of here?? I'm surely not supposed to just walk out the door in front of them, so after checking the warehouse (the roof graphics were fucked) I just sauntered out of the door and got into the closest police car and drove around a couple of corners to lose them. I've swapped cars mid chase because I've wanted to, to mkae it more exciting.

Fuck the police.

[robotattack]

I really, really despise 'Waste Not, Want Knots'.

I've tried it twice now and both times I've failed it because

Gordon and Michael got themselves killed

.

I couldn't be bothered to try again last night because of the unending, unskippable drive there. filled with Packie talking incessantly about nothing at all.

The very worst thing is that

even the other NPCs start taking the piss out of Packie during the journey for being so incredibly boring.

After failing it twice Packie says "let's just listen to the radio for this journey" (or something like that). You still have to do the drive though.