GTA IV Review

The Grand Theft Auto series has had its up and downs over the past few years. It’s had its big releases, upgrades and its share of controversy. With this new one we have a lot of ups and downs but mostly more up than down. So this is definitely worth all the hype that you have been hearing about. Popping in the game for the first time I went back to that feeling I had when I first started playing GTA III. There isn’t a menu or anything like hat when you start it up, it just starts going with Neko coming in on the ship and making his way to Liberty city. That’s the basic start premise and I won’t ruin anything else for you since I feel its better to go in knowing nothing really and that way you enjoy every bit of this game that it has to offer.
The game play is pretty much the same as the last titles with some major upgrades in certain areas. The biggest and most noticeable is the combat/gunplay aspect. They really took the time to try to get this right this time around by looking at what some other titles have done and giving it that GTA twist on it. You have three different types of attacks that’s you can use. X is the kick, A will be used to dodge, block and disarm an enemy in some form or fashion, B and Y are the main attack buttons with the fist or weapon you use. The left trigger will set you up on your lock on to do either of these two actions by setting a redical/enemy health bar on the enemy. This feels really good and is easy to pull off and execute, speaking of execute there is now an ability when the redical flashes to execute an enemy. With the driving all I can really say is that it isn’t the best and feels rather tough at times to not hit every damn car, person or object that is in the environment around you. The driving feels kind of sloppy because its so tough to control a car. The turning is my biggest grip it feels like it either isn’t enough and I cut it too wide or I cut it way to tight and I turn myself around. Then again this could all depend on the cars and I haven’t drove them all yet.
As far as visuals/audio this has the best cut scenes I have seen in awhile as far as content. When I say content I am meaning that when the characters interact and chat with one another it feels like I am watching a TV show or a cop/robber movie. The characters feel real and seem like people you would meet in New York. The facial features look very good and sync up very well, my only problem is that I had to have subtitles on because it was hard to understand some people. That’s not a huge issue and isn’t something I would frown upon because the accents are kind of cool, since not many eastern European guys are main characters. The problems I had with the 360 version was that the game has a ton of pop-ins with the city objects and buildings. The cars and people don’t really pop in much so that’s not a huge issue but the surroundings themselves pop-in like crazy at some points. The frame rate as well has issues and isn’t a huge deal but some clipping does occur when you try to enter buildings or when you get to close to certain buildings. These issues are not major and don’t really break the game, but I want to see if the PS3 version fixes this issue since it will have a install to the HDD. The audio is very good as usual with the slew of radio stations and sounds of the people screaming of the streets and the sounds of the city itself all sound fantastic. The only sound issues I see is that if you don’t have subtitles on or change the sound options, you will have a hard time listening to someone who is in the car with you or on the phone with you. Yes, I said that you can call people on your cell phone while driving. I wont go into more about the phone as again I want you to go in blind. But it is very cool and customizable.
Finally Multiplayer, Multiplayer is easy to get into with you phone and once there it’s basically all the modes you can think of being available to you and are all easy to jump in and out of. The biggest issue I will have and I had wit it is that in the missions were you have objectives and stuff to do, if you’re not playing with friends you will not be able to complete them because people fool around and want to do their own thing. Issues with pop-ins and such greatly increase in this mode even with only two people messing around in “free mode.” All in all multiplayer will be a fun addition to this game but the game itself has so much content to it alone you will have plenty to do without having to worry about playing multiplayer all the time, but I definitely say you should check it out.
So GTA IV as I said is well worth the wait and is probably going to be the biggest game of the spring/summer next to MGS4. The presentation is well done even with a few minor hiccups here and there. That is an issue you can overlook and you have overlooked it for the last three games that have released, so nothing to really worry about because the game is just that good. So when you see this in the store shelves and you have not picked it up yet, slap yourself and go to the counter and purchase this title.


Overall: A

Mario Kart Wii Hands on

The next generation of Mario Kart is blazing a new path on Wii! New tracks, new racers (including Miis), new rides and 12-player racing via Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection makes for the ultimate Mario racing experience!

With all the new additions, don't expect Mario Kart Wii to skimp on the details. All your favourite Mario Kart features return, such as classic tracks, cup modes, battles, boosts and ghost data. Mario Kart Wii isn't an update - it's a breakthrough!

Similar to Mario Kart DS, players will be able to take full advantage of Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. You'll be able to race against up to 11 other players from around the world in massive online races or race against your friends. You can create rooms for friends to join and even text chat while you're waiting for other racers. The online function of Mario Kart Wii also lets you join a friend's race in action and be a spectator until the next course launches.

When you're not going full-throttle toward the finish line, you can see how you stack up against others in the Mario Kart Channel. Here, your best times on tracks are compared to other racers from around the world. You can also see which characters and control methods were used to record this time. See someone with a better time than yours? The Mario Kart Channel also lets you download their ghost data to your Wii and race against the best!

You've been racing as the Mushroom Kingdom's finest for a long time, but now there's a new racer in town: Your Mii! Put your Mii behind the wheel and take on all comers! For those who want to get in the game even more, Mario Kart Wii comes packed with the Wii Wheel. Shaped like a steering wheel, you place the Wii Remote inside the Wii Wheel's casing and get ready to ride! In addition to the Wii Remote, you can also use the Wii Remote and Nunchuk controllers in combo, or use a GameCube Controller to take those tight turns and challenges Mario Kart Wii throws at you.


FULL REVIEW WILL BE SOMETIME THIS WEEK ON THE NEXT VGA EPISODE OR WILL BE ON HERE. JUST WAIT AND I WILL DELIVER I ALWAYS DO.