OK so while Resident Evil five does take place in Africa and thus the majority of the inhabitants (and thus zombies), are black. Its been suggested by some that the game is racist in nature due to its treatment of none-zombified africans as being "zombie-like", in nature and appearance. The fact that your a white guy also suggests racism in the eye's of some.
The other four Resident Evil Games all took place either in Europe or the United States, so this little change of scenery if anything adds a refreshing change to the overused setting that is the United States.
Jim Sterling of Destructoid correctly pointed out in an article that what all the hype and criticism of this game as being "racist", suggests is that racism is indeed prevalent. When someone See's only the color of a zombie's skin and forgets the fact he wants to eat your brains, something is seriously wrong with the world. In other news, Jack Thompson is not a hack lawyer and is not mentally deficient in every way conceivable.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Video Game Industry-What recession-Part 2: Ubisoft seeks 900 new employee's!
Further confirmation that the video game industry is immune to the woes of other industry's during this recession has appeared in the form of Ubisoft seeking 900 new employee's. This wonderful piece of news was thrown into my lap by GameIndustry.biz, from which I have obtained the quotes to follow.
Breaking it down by the numbers, 500 recruits will go to Ubisofts newly established studios in Singapore, India and China While another 400 staff are added to the already successful and well established offices in Canada, Romania and once again, china.
"We have a dual priority of ramping up as quickly as possible in our newly created studios while also growing and keeping our leading position in our established studios," said Elham Mottahed-Asdaghi, communications manager for Ubisoft International Production Studios.
"We feel that the industry is relatively immune to the slowdown and we're not expecting that to change in the near future.
In the article two things stand out to me, the fact that the talent pool which depends on the education system was such a key factor and that in the case of Singapore, strong government made the difference for the upwards of 300 people who will be employed at the Ubisoft Studio.
"We've specifically chosen to establish teams in regions where there is a great system of education and therefore a continually refreshing pool of talent," he detailed.
"In our established studios, we were the pioneers in the region but our success has attracted competitors and so the competition for talent is tougher - but we work hard to ensure that we are attracting the best talent."
America is filled with thousands if not millions of young talented artists,programmers and designers who would gladly work for ubisoft but if ubisoft's lack of expansion in the US is due to a lack of quality education and despite the efforts of states like Georgia and Texas, lack of strong government backing for incentives to open up studio's here.
Meanwhile, Gameloft's Indian studio plans to increase headcount from 120 to 500 over twelve months after Ubisoft acquired them this year.
As for the expansion in china, last year Ubisoft opened a studio in that country with the intention to ramp up staff numbers from 10 to 200 within 12 months.
Mottahed-Asdaghi believes the combination of solid publishing credentials with creative and multicultural expression makes the firm an attractive prospect to recruits.
"We can offer a unique opportunity for international mobility, since we have dynamic studios in 19 different locations. Our corporate culture is to share our knowledge and our different cultural points of view in order to enrich our experience and therefore offer games that offer unique playing opportunities," he said.
"We encourage international exchange and creative freedom across the board. On the other hand, we are the second largest creative team in the world so our team members have access to solid publisher resources.
"In a way, we offer the best of both worlds - solid enterprise resources with a small developer, creative atmosphere," he added.
While Ubisoft is clearly an international not to mention FRENCH developer and publisher, its expansion is thanks in no small part to successful sales of its splinter cell and Prince of Persia series here in the US. The more recent smash hits that have been Assassins Creed and the soon to be Real Time Strategy game for the console, Endwar are only going to drive up revenue for the company but once again due largely to the US video game market being all but invincible to the recession we currently find ourselves in.
Read the GameIndustry.biz article here
Breaking it down by the numbers, 500 recruits will go to Ubisofts newly established studios in Singapore, India and China While another 400 staff are added to the already successful and well established offices in Canada, Romania and once again, china.
"We have a dual priority of ramping up as quickly as possible in our newly created studios while also growing and keeping our leading position in our established studios," said Elham Mottahed-Asdaghi, communications manager for Ubisoft International Production Studios.
"We feel that the industry is relatively immune to the slowdown and we're not expecting that to change in the near future.
In the article two things stand out to me, the fact that the talent pool which depends on the education system was such a key factor and that in the case of Singapore, strong government made the difference for the upwards of 300 people who will be employed at the Ubisoft Studio.
"We've specifically chosen to establish teams in regions where there is a great system of education and therefore a continually refreshing pool of talent," he detailed.
"In our established studios, we were the pioneers in the region but our success has attracted competitors and so the competition for talent is tougher - but we work hard to ensure that we are attracting the best talent."
America is filled with thousands if not millions of young talented artists,programmers and designers who would gladly work for ubisoft but if ubisoft's lack of expansion in the US is due to a lack of quality education and despite the efforts of states like Georgia and Texas, lack of strong government backing for incentives to open up studio's here.
Meanwhile, Gameloft's Indian studio plans to increase headcount from 120 to 500 over twelve months after Ubisoft acquired them this year.
As for the expansion in china, last year Ubisoft opened a studio in that country with the intention to ramp up staff numbers from 10 to 200 within 12 months.
Mottahed-Asdaghi believes the combination of solid publishing credentials with creative and multicultural expression makes the firm an attractive prospect to recruits.
"We can offer a unique opportunity for international mobility, since we have dynamic studios in 19 different locations. Our corporate culture is to share our knowledge and our different cultural points of view in order to enrich our experience and therefore offer games that offer unique playing opportunities," he said.
"We encourage international exchange and creative freedom across the board. On the other hand, we are the second largest creative team in the world so our team members have access to solid publisher resources.
"In a way, we offer the best of both worlds - solid enterprise resources with a small developer, creative atmosphere," he added.
While Ubisoft is clearly an international not to mention FRENCH developer and publisher, its expansion is thanks in no small part to successful sales of its splinter cell and Prince of Persia series here in the US. The more recent smash hits that have been Assassins Creed and the soon to be Real Time Strategy game for the console, Endwar are only going to drive up revenue for the company but once again due largely to the US video game market being all but invincible to the recession we currently find ourselves in.
Read the GameIndustry.biz article here
Looking at the competition, Present and the Future of L337 Gamer Review
Well I don't often look at other start-up gamer journalistic blogs (though I should), something possessed me to do just that a few moments ago. I looked up L337 Gamer, both because of the similarity to L337 Gamer Review, and because the proper spelling "1337", is confused enough with L337, that it wouldn't affect the Google search too bad.
I've seen my competition and feel.....pretty damn good about my efforts through blogger. While Blogger may not be a flashy site like Joystiq or as professional as gameindustry.biz, its still light years ahead of the competition.
l337gamer.com
I've seen my competition and feel.....pretty damn good about my efforts through blogger. While Blogger may not be a flashy site like Joystiq or as professional as gameindustry.biz, its still light years ahead of the competition.
l337gamer.com
OK so this blog which is hosted by GoDaddy and the home page reads as follows, "All your gaming needs and desires from cheats to walkthroughs.". While I don't have walkthrough's, neither does this guy. His navigation bar gives you three options, home, upcoming games, forums. The homepage is just that little quote I listed above with unmet promises and a Gears of War vid featuring the song "behind blue eye's", by limp bizkit. The upcoming games section is thrown onto one big page and doesn't look appealing to the eye's with the month being mentioned after every damn platform (couldn't it just all be under a giant header "June" ?). Wii is spelled "WII", throw in another "W", and your likely to confuse the Wii section for section about world war 2. The forums don't work with the opera web browser,(or any of the other browsers that aren't IE or FireFox), so we can assume this blogger thinks we are back in 2006 when the only two browsers anyone seemed to pay attention to where FireFox and its evil corporate web browser competitor Internet Explorer (because some people assume that Microsoft = evil).
What I offer that he and others do not:
While its next to impossible. OK absolutely impossible, for one man to create a site or blog that can report and compete with the massive and well established big boys of gaming journalism like Joystiq and 1UP or even PC-Gamer. L337 Gamer Review isn't about competing. L337 Gamer Review is about one gamer and in time many gamers, writing reviews and reporting the goings on in the game industry. If I had to compare myself to someone it would be Jerry Yang of yahoo and fellow yahoo co founder David Filo. The two started yahoo out of nothing more then a few cobbled together PCs and servers in a trailer on the Stanford campus as a side project meant to categorize relevant sports data for their fantasy football competitions.
I recently received not one but two emails relating to Atari's upcoming Dragon Ball Z Burst and Alone in the Dark. I can't even begin to describe the feeling of joy I had reading those emails. Its those emails that keep me going and going the extra mile rather then burning out at the sheer immensity of the task. I for one would like to see Atari resurrect itself in much the same way Apple Computer was able to do so. Weather a company with a reputation for retro games of yest er year can do this is still in question but for some in the media and close friends to write off Atari is in my view a mistake.
If I had to sum up what I have that others in the same boat don't have in 3 words it would be, Content, passion and the presentation to get it out to fellow gamers.
The future:
In the future I plan to move away from blogger and create a fully independent blog and or news service for gamers. There are plenty of talented writers and fellow gamers out there who need an outlet for their views. I think L337 Gamer could be that outlet. As for design, I plan to implement flash in small amounts and then expand the sites interactivity as the share of potential viewers/subscribers with a high speed Internet connection not only expands (pretty damn big as is), but also as the amount of data expands beyond 100MB to 500MB over the next few years. Yes that means L337 Gamer is going to keep going throughout the summer, fall and make a huge splash in the spring of 2009.
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Georgia shows wisdom in pushing through tax credits for video game production and other media.
While most states that pass laws involving video games (like 99.99%), have to deal with censorship launched by overactive lobbying groups with words like "family", and "concerned", thrown in, Georgia is proving to be a refreshing exception to this rule. Georgia's Governor, Sonny Perdue has signed into law the 2008 Entertainment Industry Act which is meant to attract investment and create growth in the states local entertainment industry.
The Act offers:
Now all of the above are eligible for an additional 10% tax credit if they include an animated Georgia promotional logo within the finished product.
"We expect a significant increase in film and television projects, and Georgia will be the most competitive state in the country for video game productions," stated Bill Thompson, deputy commissioner of the Film, Music and Digital Entertainment Office, a division of the Georgia Department of Economic Development .
"Georgia is one of the few states whose entertainment incentives support the video game industry," Thompson said.
Personally I think its refreshing to see states like Georgia, which we don't typically think of as being as economically diverse as say California, Midwest or new England to be looking ahead at creative industry's to replace and expand beyond the old manufacturing jobs.
You can view the bill yourself by opening up this link
The Act offers:
- 20% tax credit for productions including
- TV
- film
- music video's
- Commercials and Video games
Now all of the above are eligible for an additional 10% tax credit if they include an animated Georgia promotional logo within the finished product.
"We expect a significant increase in film and television projects, and Georgia will be the most competitive state in the country for video game productions," stated Bill Thompson, deputy commissioner of the Film, Music and Digital Entertainment Office, a division of the Georgia Department of Economic Development .
"Georgia is one of the few states whose entertainment incentives support the video game industry," Thompson said.
Personally I think its refreshing to see states like Georgia, which we don't typically think of as being as economically diverse as say California, Midwest or new England to be looking ahead at creative industry's to replace and expand beyond the old manufacturing jobs.
You can view the bill yourself by opening up this link
Friday, May 16, 2008
Red Alert 3 GameTrailer:
Game Trailer.com has provided us Red Alert universe veterans with a first glimpse of actual game play. The game play seems to keep things familiar for veterans while introducing a new layer of paint to the franchise. I'll have more information when I can release information from the beta. Can't wait to send the kirov's on a bombing run and unleash the awesome power of the chronosphere this October.
One for the record books- Grand Theft Auto IV becomes the highest entertainment earner within 24 hours of release according to Guinness
Grand Theft Auto IV has shattered Halo 3's record of being the fastest selling video game according to Guinness World Records. Grand Theft Auto claiming the title as the highest ever entertainment earner within the first 24 hours of release, selling 3.6 million units and generating 310 million dollars in revenue.
This achievement overshadows last years record by Halo 3 which generated 170 million dollars, Spiderman 3's 60 million dollars and the fastest selling book, Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows which brought in 220 million dollars.
Rockstar's 4 installment in the Grand Theft Auto series reached the 500 million dollar mark in its first week and has been topping the charts worldwide since its release (April 29th).
Video Game Industry- "What recession ?" Game sales up 47% and 9.5 million Wii's sold in the US.
Amidst gas prices that are set to hit 4.00 dollars nationally by summer and a declining dollar, We here in the USA are showing that one industry will not only not go down but prosper. Forget china's 12% growth, video game sales are up 47% (1.23 Billion for the month of April). While Microsoft announced its 10 million mark for 360's sold to date, Sony is projecting to sell the very same number of PS3's this year. Not to be outdone the Wii has sold a shocking 9.5 million units and demand is still as strong as ever (just go out and try to buy one).
While GTA IV was key factor since it launched just two days before the end of month and racked up 2,850,000 between the 360 & PS3 versions, several other titles also did extremely well for the month according to sales data released today by the NPD Group
1. Grand Theft Auto IV (Xbox 360) - 1,850,000
2. Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo Wii) - 1,120,000
3. Grand Theft Auto IV (PlayStation 3) - 1,000,000
4. Wii Play (Wii) - 360,000
5. Super Smash Brothers Brawl (Wii) - 326,000
6. Gran Turismo 5 Prologue (PS3) - 224,000
7. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Explorers of Darkness (DS) - 202,000
8. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Explorers of Time (DS) - 202,000
9. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (Wii) - 152,000
10. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (360) - 141,000
And here are the Hardware figures for April:
1. Wii - 714,200
2. Nintendo DS - 414,800
3. PSP - 192,700
4. Xbox 360 - 188,000
5. PlayStation 3 - 187,000
6. PlayStation 2 - 124,000
While GTA IV was key factor since it launched just two days before the end of month and racked up 2,850,000 between the 360 & PS3 versions, several other titles also did extremely well for the month according to sales data released today by the NPD Group
1. Grand Theft Auto IV (Xbox 360) - 1,850,000
2. Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo Wii) - 1,120,000
3. Grand Theft Auto IV (PlayStation 3) - 1,000,000
4. Wii Play (Wii) - 360,000
5. Super Smash Brothers Brawl (Wii) - 326,000
6. Gran Turismo 5 Prologue (PS3) - 224,000
7. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Explorers of Darkness (DS) - 202,000
8. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Explorers of Time (DS) - 202,000
9. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (Wii) - 152,000
10. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (360) - 141,000
And here are the Hardware figures for April:
1. Wii - 714,200
2. Nintendo DS - 414,800
3. PSP - 192,700
4. Xbox 360 - 188,000
5. PlayStation 3 - 187,000
6. PlayStation 2 - 124,000
The Gaming Mecca that is Japan is home to many exclusive bundles, up until now there was some fear that Sony's MSG 4 PS3 bundle would be a strictly Japanese affair. Not so, according to Sony's Official PlayStation.Blog. The Limited edition PS3 Hardware Bundle will be available exclusively from Konami.com for a whopping $600.
What you Get:
- 40GB gunmetal PS3
- matching DualShock 3 wireless controller
- Metal Gear Online
- exclusive Blu-ray disc with 2 hours of additional content (making of documentary + look at Hideo Kojima's Production team)
- MSG4:Guns of the Patriots Limited Edition game
Pre-orders from a minuscule supply begin on Monday the 19th.
Solid Snake Thinks different...uses 5G iPod
OK so we've seen the extensive presence of Mac and Apple products in movies like Accepted, Disturbia, Transformers and hell, the fruit sporting company has even had its computers make appearances on sitcoms like Sex and the City. O and lets no forget the endless number of News networks and sports casters who also use macs. The point is that Apple products have hit Hollywood and most other forms of media but not really made a dent in an industry far bigger then movies or news. VIDEO GAMES!
Yes there is the iPhone SDK which allows people to make games for the phone that is officially the crack cocaine of the tech world. Yes Aspyr makes games for the mac and the ipod has a long list of developers too.
But what about an ipod just being in the background. Well Metal Gear solid four will give you that and a little bit more as said device (a 5GB ipod), is not only is MP3 player of choice but also probably interactive. That's just my assumption. I mean its got to serve some purpose other then to just exist as an item on a list of tools for snake to whip out at his leisure.
The fact its a 5GB ipod leaves me wondering just how long Metal Gear Solid 4 has been in development. For all the hoopla Sony is giving the game and the amount of the time its taken to make Solid Snake re-appear as an old man in sore need Alzheimer's medication, Snake had better teabag the hell outta Master Chief.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Microsft & Sony "10 million", marks reinforce Hardcore gameing
Not to be outdone by yesterdays announcement by Nintendo that it had sold six million wii's in Japan, Microsoft announced it has reached (and surely passing as you read this), the 10 million mark here in the United States.
My initial reaction is that it was about damn time someone hit the ten million mark and I'm glad it isn't the wii. Why ? Well while the Wii has the casual game market down pat, if it had reached the ten million mark first then other console manufacturers would drink the kool-aid as though the four hundred pound jug of juice himself were stricken with hemophilia.
The "casual", gamer demographic while several times larger then the hardcore gamer demographic, is mostly made up of people who will purchase the wii or DS to play WiiSports (the game the wii comes with), or BrainAge for those moments on the bus or sitting at home when boredom threatens to take over a puzzle solving exercise or list of childish math problems is preferred.
The "Hard core" demographic by contrast to there casual counterparts glacial pace of game purchases, scoops em up like they are treasured commodities. The hardcore gamer will purchase 3-5 games a year if they are strapped for cash and rent out a couple dozen in the same period. The best case of both fusing to together in matrimony seems to be Gamefly, which is quickly becoming the Netflix of games. That's another story though.
Looking at the other numbers microsoft is no doube happy to flaunt in the face of Nintendo, its online service now could make for an impressive commercial reminiscent of the ones Blizzard used to make for World Of Warcraft. With 12 million online, how can you go wrong with xboxlive ?
Well considering Microsoft isn't differentiating between the gold members (who pay around 60 US dollars or the cost of one 360 game a year), or Silver members (who pay nothing and can't play multi player games online), the actual value of that number is up for dispute.
Microsoft to date has sold 19 million Xbox 360 consoles worldwide.
Sony meanwhile predicts it will sell 10 million PlayStation 3's this year, a million more then it sold last year and easily equaling Microsoft Worldwide sales. Remember that Sony currently retains the position for having the biggest console (anyone need a George Foreman grill impersonator?), and boasts the ability to play blue-ray (Sony's now victorious high end media platform).
For all the crap I tend to give Sony about Home (which Sony now admits was vaporware in its original second Life type form), or its game selection (which should be helped by Metal Gear Solid 4 coming out this year....finally), it could well become highly competitive platform at least as far as publishers are concerned.
Though Microsoft doesn't see it that way. "History has shown us that the first company to reach 10 million in console sales wins the generation battle. We are uniquely positioned to set a new benchmark for the industry," said Don Mattrick, Microsoft's senior vice president of Interactive Entertainment Business.
Can't we all just get along ?
Friday, May 9, 2008
Apple Video Game Console rumors: PIPPIN 2.0 ?
Ok, so I love Apple computer. I'm using one to write this blog,search the internet and create flash and dreamweaver files. If I'm the stareotypical machead that some would like to paint me as, then the news that Apple Insider gave us earlier today, that Apple has filed for patents on a 3D motion controller for the AppleTv should have me singing in the non-existant arizona rain right ? Wrong!
Just because Apple has filed the patents doesn't mean it will pursue a path that its already been down before and come out of with its tail between its legs. Pippin was the game system and 1996 was the year of its launch. Against the N64,Playstation and Sega's multiple consoles, it failed and closed up shop a year later.
You could argue that the Apple of today is an entirely different animal then its 1996 predeccesor. For one you've got the inspirational salesmen and apple evenaglest, "steve jobs", who's reality distortion field could do wonder for initial sales.
Secondly, Apple is flushed with cash from the ipods,macs and iphones that have been flying off the shelf. The stock is currently at 182 dollars and thats with the economy in recession. Itunes has even been projected to account for 25% of all the worlds music sales within a few years.
Not a bad position to be in....but.
Apple hasn't gone after the gaming market in a significant way. Apple's Macbook Pro's and Mac Pro desktop are the only real gaming machines and thats largely due to there graphic cards not being inadequate. Still upgrading and video card support have been issues with macs. Though the Mac Pro could be making some big inroads as a PCgamer cover story I read awhile back implied.
Yes some of the pushes toward dual releasing games for Mac and Windows by EA are impressive but when it comes to the console market, people are already flooded with choices and two of them dominate the high end (Microsoft & Sony), while the trusted brand that is Nintendo offers up basically the same product apple has gone ahead and patented. Motion sensory controls and and weak graphics aside, nintendo has the software to blow away whatever console or AppleTv add-on comes along.
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Grand Theft Auto 4 Review
GTA 4 has been eagerly awaited by the masses for months if not years (depending on your level of fandom or lack of enthusiasm for San Andreas). So I like any vigilant vigilantee made sure to preorder several months in advance, marked the day on my calender and pulled an all nighter to ensure I'd get a top spot in line before my local gamecrazy opened up at 10am on the 29th.
Why all the excitement ?
Ever since Rockstar released Grand Theft auto 3 back in October 2001, a key buzz word entered the gamers vocabulary and made developers readjust how they make games, "Sandbox". Where most games require you to progress in a linear motion toward a predestined conclusion that concludes the game. The whole notion of sandbox type gameplay is that you can ignore the main plot and just explore the virtual world, perform side mssions or just get something different out of the game.
The setting of the GTA series has revolved around three fictional cities, Liberty City (modeled off of new york), San Andreas (Los Angeles, San francisco), and Vice City (Miami). Liberty City is the Setting for Grand Theft Auto 4 and in returning to the setting of its hit predecessor Grand Theft Auto 3, a lot of attention was paid to making the realistic and detailed remake of New York City. Pedestrians drink in game knock offs of starbucks, there is a wall streetesg time square in the city as well, with hot dog vendors and fictional stocks displayed across massive outdoor screens. Its truely immersive and car jackings,shoot outs and copter crashes asid, gives you enough of a look at new york to consider moving there. If your up for taking a taxi everywhere (yes they managed to copy gridlock traffic and ideotic drivers as well.
Everything in moderation
San Andreas was a massive game when it came out and remains so. The whole sandbox mode was really taken to excess as you had to commute to locations and interact with characters set in a world more akin to being the Oblivion or Marrowind of the GTA series. Even with a noticably smaller landscape, Liberty City is still massive in terms of oppurtunities. Below are some stats.
52 Neighborhoods in 5 districts with 3 islands that can only be reached via a swim tailor made for olympic competitions. 19 Resturants serve you nourishment with everything from Burger shot to a fancy dinner while hot dog vendors and soda machines are also present in in unknown quantities throughout the game for a quick snack and the same health restoring goodness. When near a soda machine you can prolong shoot outs with police until you either have no more bullets or the machine is destroyed by a barrage of bullets.
There are four major shopping locations where you can customize what your character wears to his meeting with the mafia, prison breaks or to his date with the girl he met online.
Twelve Service locations provide everything from the internet (3 internet cafe's), car wash (4 locations), or getting your car repainted to not match the description the cops have at anyone of the five pay 'n' spray's.
Using the internet to answer emails,find dates and communicate with relatives is also one of the unique aspects of Grand Theft Auto 4. To my recollection I can't remember anything having as detailed a recreation of the internet in a virtual world existing on console (even if most of the sites are inactive dummy sites made to fill space on your browser).
If you wanted a night on the town or just a chance to get away from the game's story and enjoy yourself in a side game of pool or bowling, there are a total of 14 Entertainment/Nighlife locations. This includes 4 bars (where getting drunk really does impeed your movements), and two strip clubs (where 3 different levels of private dances in a backroom will leave you 200 dollars poorer). There is also a comedy club where you can catch cinematic antics that will either have you laughing or pressing the A button like mad to skip the torture that some would find comedic.
When it comes to a crime ridden cities like those found in the GTA series, its no surprise that they go overboard on Emergency services and the Liberty city of Grand Theft Auto 4 is no exception with 28 emergency services total (15 police stations, 7 Hospitals, Fire Departments).
You can also car jack a police car to use its computer to police Liberty city yourself. Taking out Liberty cities most wanted is an in game achievement in and of itself (manhunt 15G, cleaned the mean streets 20G). Lastly you can also call for either an ambulance or liberty city's finest to come to your aid or to meet their end, by simply dialing 911 on your phone and choosing which service you would like.
Some other points about the geography of the game are that their are 16 points of interest, examples of which are "Funland","Soldiers Plaza", Broker Navy Yard and statue of happiness (Liberty City's version of the statue of liberty). There are 9 major bridges you can use to get to any of the major districts, an airport the size of of one of the districts (bohan), and 3 parks you can use to go for a jog or mug the snobby none-gamer pedestrians.
The Story
With Geography, realism and breathtaking scope, Grand Theft Auto 4 could be forgiven if its storyline was just average, as is the case with most games that manage to excell in everything but leave the narrative out of the equation. Grand Theft Auto 4 however shines. You play an eastern european immigrant, Niko Belic lured to america by tales of riches told by his cousin in Roman in emails but also the need to find a shady character from your past. You meet several character with differing personalities on your quest for answers and the american dream so espoused by your cousin. You can go on dates with girls and try your luck at the end of the date. Take either your cousin or friend to any of the resturants or places of entertainment to raise your friends positive view of you (if all friends have 90% view then its an 20G achievement). As you move up the criminal worlds social ladder, you'll see ever more impressive safehouses (one in each district), where you can save your game and see 6 in game hours fly by or opt to change your clothing. Through your cheap cellphone (which becomes more stylish 30% of the way in game), you can call friends,inquire about missions,recieve messages,login to multiplayer or confirm that a certain someone is sleeping with the fishes. By pressing start and going to the stats section you can see how long you've played but also how much of the game you've completed. If you just follow the story and ignore Brucies raceing missions, then you'll complete the game at about 60% progress. Even after completing the story mode though, you've still got 40% of the game content left to enjoy. It takes about 50 hours to complete the story campaign but doing it in 30 is an achievement.
Decisions, Decisions.
As a fan of Biowares Role Playing Games, I was thrilled that Grand Theft Auto 4 allows you access to different content based on your decisions in certains situations. You can for example choose to either kill certain people or let them go if thier promise to reform themselves has touched a soft spot in your heart. Be warned however that decisions have consquences, choosing to kill the rich guys friend may equal cash but it may also sever ties much the same way killing the rich or well connected guy by sticking to your principles leaves you financially strapped.
Whichever way you choose to go toward the end of the game, know that someone gets married, someone also bites the bullet and leaves Niko belic's life for good. One Choice, Two endings. Grand Theft Auto Delivers.
10/10 score.
Why all the excitement ?
Ever since Rockstar released Grand Theft auto 3 back in October 2001, a key buzz word entered the gamers vocabulary and made developers readjust how they make games, "Sandbox". Where most games require you to progress in a linear motion toward a predestined conclusion that concludes the game. The whole notion of sandbox type gameplay is that you can ignore the main plot and just explore the virtual world, perform side mssions or just get something different out of the game.
The setting of the GTA series has revolved around three fictional cities, Liberty City (modeled off of new york), San Andreas (Los Angeles, San francisco), and Vice City (Miami). Liberty City is the Setting for Grand Theft Auto 4 and in returning to the setting of its hit predecessor Grand Theft Auto 3, a lot of attention was paid to making the realistic and detailed remake of New York City. Pedestrians drink in game knock offs of starbucks, there is a wall streetesg time square in the city as well, with hot dog vendors and fictional stocks displayed across massive outdoor screens. Its truely immersive and car jackings,shoot outs and copter crashes asid, gives you enough of a look at new york to consider moving there. If your up for taking a taxi everywhere (yes they managed to copy gridlock traffic and ideotic drivers as well.
Everything in moderation
San Andreas was a massive game when it came out and remains so. The whole sandbox mode was really taken to excess as you had to commute to locations and interact with characters set in a world more akin to being the Oblivion or Marrowind of the GTA series. Even with a noticably smaller landscape, Liberty City is still massive in terms of oppurtunities. Below are some stats.
52 Neighborhoods in 5 districts with 3 islands that can only be reached via a swim tailor made for olympic competitions. 19 Resturants serve you nourishment with everything from Burger shot to a fancy dinner while hot dog vendors and soda machines are also present in in unknown quantities throughout the game for a quick snack and the same health restoring goodness. When near a soda machine you can prolong shoot outs with police until you either have no more bullets or the machine is destroyed by a barrage of bullets.
There are four major shopping locations where you can customize what your character wears to his meeting with the mafia, prison breaks or to his date with the girl he met online.
Twelve Service locations provide everything from the internet (3 internet cafe's), car wash (4 locations), or getting your car repainted to not match the description the cops have at anyone of the five pay 'n' spray's.
Using the internet to answer emails,find dates and communicate with relatives is also one of the unique aspects of Grand Theft Auto 4. To my recollection I can't remember anything having as detailed a recreation of the internet in a virtual world existing on console (even if most of the sites are inactive dummy sites made to fill space on your browser).
If you wanted a night on the town or just a chance to get away from the game's story and enjoy yourself in a side game of pool or bowling, there are a total of 14 Entertainment/Nighlife locations. This includes 4 bars (where getting drunk really does impeed your movements), and two strip clubs (where 3 different levels of private dances in a backroom will leave you 200 dollars poorer). There is also a comedy club where you can catch cinematic antics that will either have you laughing or pressing the A button like mad to skip the torture that some would find comedic.
When it comes to a crime ridden cities like those found in the GTA series, its no surprise that they go overboard on Emergency services and the Liberty city of Grand Theft Auto 4 is no exception with 28 emergency services total (15 police stations, 7 Hospitals, Fire Departments).
You can also car jack a police car to use its computer to police Liberty city yourself. Taking out Liberty cities most wanted is an in game achievement in and of itself (manhunt 15G, cleaned the mean streets 20G). Lastly you can also call for either an ambulance or liberty city's finest to come to your aid or to meet their end, by simply dialing 911 on your phone and choosing which service you would like.
Some other points about the geography of the game are that their are 16 points of interest, examples of which are "Funland","Soldiers Plaza", Broker Navy Yard and statue of happiness (Liberty City's version of the statue of liberty). There are 9 major bridges you can use to get to any of the major districts, an airport the size of of one of the districts (bohan), and 3 parks you can use to go for a jog or mug the snobby none-gamer pedestrians.
The Story
With Geography, realism and breathtaking scope, Grand Theft Auto 4 could be forgiven if its storyline was just average, as is the case with most games that manage to excell in everything but leave the narrative out of the equation. Grand Theft Auto 4 however shines. You play an eastern european immigrant, Niko Belic lured to america by tales of riches told by his cousin in Roman in emails but also the need to find a shady character from your past. You meet several character with differing personalities on your quest for answers and the american dream so espoused by your cousin. You can go on dates with girls and try your luck at the end of the date. Take either your cousin or friend to any of the resturants or places of entertainment to raise your friends positive view of you (if all friends have 90% view then its an 20G achievement). As you move up the criminal worlds social ladder, you'll see ever more impressive safehouses (one in each district), where you can save your game and see 6 in game hours fly by or opt to change your clothing. Through your cheap cellphone (which becomes more stylish 30% of the way in game), you can call friends,inquire about missions,recieve messages,login to multiplayer or confirm that a certain someone is sleeping with the fishes. By pressing start and going to the stats section you can see how long you've played but also how much of the game you've completed. If you just follow the story and ignore Brucies raceing missions, then you'll complete the game at about 60% progress. Even after completing the story mode though, you've still got 40% of the game content left to enjoy. It takes about 50 hours to complete the story campaign but doing it in 30 is an achievement.
Decisions, Decisions.
As a fan of Biowares Role Playing Games, I was thrilled that Grand Theft Auto 4 allows you access to different content based on your decisions in certains situations. You can for example choose to either kill certain people or let them go if thier promise to reform themselves has touched a soft spot in your heart. Be warned however that decisions have consquences, choosing to kill the rich guys friend may equal cash but it may also sever ties much the same way killing the rich or well connected guy by sticking to your principles leaves you financially strapped.
Whichever way you choose to go toward the end of the game, know that someone gets married, someone also bites the bullet and leaves Niko belic's life for good. One Choice, Two endings. Grand Theft Auto Delivers.
10/10 score.
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