Niko Bellic’s story – GTA IV

January 5th, 2010

Over many years, Rockstar Games built games that tried to bring stuff that we, decent and equipped in a brain people, do not do, into the gaming world. What kind of stuff?

Well, stealing, killing crazy amounts of people, driving over pedestrians, selling drugs, dealing with mafia is simply all Grand Theft Auto series is about. There are many reasons of why they succeeded in doing that – but as the biggest one I’d name openess of the world. It’s truly eye-popping how in GTA we can do almost everything we want, without being limited to very closed areas, simple missions and very few other possibilities.

Life is complicated; I killed people, smuggled people, sold people. Perhaps here, things will be different

And usually, this advantage was just enough to bring thousands of gamers in front of their machines. But with GTA IV, Rockstar took it even further. The game finally consists not only of huge world, but also of a plot that is very appealing to most of us and huge number of other improvements.

The plot

American dream – full of filthy amount of money and naked women, chased by thousands of immigrants, arriving to the US with very high hopes… Just as Niko Bellic – main character in GTA IV. But he stands out on every other aspect – as the game progresses, we find out more about Niko’s brutal past, previous life, Europeans going after his life and, maybe most importantly, we get to know the guy.

Daddy’s back, you bitches… Daddy’s back, you bitches!

Niko turns out to be a man with a sense of humor that fits into the game perfectly, quite smart thoughts and a moralty that fades out with every step he makes and every bullet he fires. Don’t make me even start with comparisons to main characters in previous versions. If I’d want a total douchebag, I’d just run San Andreas with its lame CJ guy.

The story develops wonderfully, too – we slowly get to know all the important people of Liberty City, kill few of them and plan to fuck the rest. In short, it has everything a good story needs. Sadly, the ending kind of sucks.

The city

It’s what I like the most in GTA IV – city, developed with crazy attention to every single detail, moody, full of people behaving in their very own way. Perfect. It has its own foggy, dark Brooklyn, filled with skyscrapers Manhattan and a bit less impressive New Jersey.

Every part of Liberty City is alive. As the weather changes, people take their umbrellas out and crazily run into yellow cabs. As I take my gun out, they scream, curse and get the hell out of the streets. See what I’m talking about? Not a static place anymore, full of people scared of psychopaths.

And important place of it is the radio and… the Internet. Radio news establish to event all around the place and also manage to crack us up with typical, Rockstar humor. Music hits the spot too – depending whether you’re a fun of smoothy jazz or rap, you’ll find it enjoyable. Personally, I loved Electro Choc and JNR.

The fun

I haven’t had so much fun in the entire series while simply driving along the city with a quick stop for a burger to regenerate health, and obviously passing all the missions. Every single one of them is much more complex than in previous versions – not the level we all hope for, but yeah, they’re longer and way better. Most importantly, we get to shoot way more!

And who doesn’t like to grab old-school Kalashnikov in one hand, grenade in other, and blew some warehouse in the earth? Come on, it’s entertaining!

My favorite mission is definitely one when you get to rob a bank with a bunch of Irish bastards. It involves running away through the subway. So it’s simply fucking awesome, trust me.

But as written earlier, game is way more fun itself! Moving around with cabs, exploring the city, passing by people, stabbing someone in the back once in a while, and many other cool stuff you just gotta see. However confusing may be calling stabbing someone in the back cool stuff, though.

Summing up

If I’d want to write about every little improved detail in GTA IV, it would take years.

It’s a game that makes previous versions look like an unpolished diament, now killing your eyes with its glance. Or something. I always sucked at metaphors. Just make it more cinematic, and for God’s sake, do something with PC performance.

Fingers crossed for fifth version, Rockstar!

Anyway, just get it. Definitely made my Christmas Break more fun. And you guys, stay tuned for Mirror’s Edge review. If I ever get through that shit without smashing my computer.