Game Review: Grand Theft Auto 4

Many people may think I'm a hypocrite for even playing this game; I played GTA3 once and was repulsed with the utterly antisocial foundation of the oft-described 'kill cops and hookers' game. Well, if that you really think I'm stupid enough to simply change my mind and decide I want to spend my time killing digital cops and hookers, than I guess you: a) don't know me very well, and b) shouldn't bother reading the rest of this entry.
GTA4 is a monolithic game. Costing over $100 million to make and meticulously recreating NYC, from geography to climate, GTA4 represents a masterpiece of computer programming simply from an artistic standpoint. No other game I've ever seen so utterly envelops the player in an environment that is all but physically tangible. In most cases, the only changes made are to the specific names of locations and landmarks (Statue of Freedom vs. Statue of Liberty.) It is truly remarkable from that standpoint alone and for anyone that doesn't play video games, this is genuinely a remarkable achievement in and of itself. You simply feel like you are in NYC.
GTA4 is also the first true sandbox game I've ever played. A sandbox game is one where, should you choose, you can abandon the story, the missions, and every pre-planned aspect of the game and do whatever you want. The game provides a vast array of activities that extend beyond the core campaign. You can go shopping; go for helicopter tours of the city (there are 5); date different women (all of whom have separate personalities, sometimes multiple [wink!]); go to a restaurant or bar; go bowling, play darts or pool; race cars; use police computers to respond to crimes in the area; use a firetruck to respond to fires, start fires and call a firetruck, steal a firetruck, set it on fire, put it out, then escape in the police cars that respond; take a boat out to visit the Statue of Liberty...err, Freedom; sit in your apartment and watch TV (there are whole TV shows you can see); drive around and enjoy one of the dozen or so radio station that have hundreds of songs and radio shows; or, should you choose, shoot cops and hookers. The point is, like a real-life sandbox, GTA4 allows the player to make of the game exactly what they want to--there are almost no limitations. It's fascinatingly open in its possibilities.
My primary complaint about the previous version of the game I played several years ago was that it encouraged you to indulge in completely anti-social/illegal activities with no acknowledgment of the complete moral vacuum it created, endorsed, and encouraged. GTA4 is completely different in my opinion. Whether playing the single-player missions or just sandboxing, the game's main character repeatedly acknowledges the remorse he feels for his illegal activities and the life he has chosen as a criminal. Along similar lines, the game responds accordingly to whether the player makes the character perform compassionate or illegal activities. If you stop and give money to a homeless person or take a friend out to dinner that is feeling down, there is some positive reinforcement and rewards. If you choose to shoot innocent bystanders and take their money, other bystanders call the cops, who will give chase and try to arrest you; and running away simply makes the entire city mobilize to chase you down and punish you--you'll even hear about your crimes on the radio and get chided by any number of radio presenters as a degenerate and blight on the city. There are rewards and punishments assigned to virtually any moral decision the player makes throughout the game. This essentially alleviated my primary concern about playing the game--you are never forced to do anything that you don't want to or find distasteful.
Now, as with many other medium, particularly film or television, this video game's setting and environment is the criminal underworld. It most closely resembles the world in the Godfather films, or perhaps The Sopranos. If you make a film about the mafia, you're going to be exposed to what they do; it is exactly the same for video games. There is a critical need to make sure that anyone who plays a game where you control virtual criminals should be old enough to distinguish between reality and fantasy, and the age-related game rating (M) should absolutely be enforced; I would have a real problem with children playing a game like this. But for all the reality the game meticulously recreates, it is still nothing more than a fantasy world and digital pixels are a far cry from the reality that motion pictures and television shows present. Nothing in GTA4 is as dramatically or emotionally intense, or graphically violent I might add, as any number of mafia films I've seen in my day; enough with the video games are worse than other mediums arguments!
Anyway, I was utterly surprised with how much I enjoyed the game. Once I completed the missions, I spent nearly 4 times as much time just wandering the city, completing side missions, and enjoying the engrossing environments offered.
On the flip side, once I did complete 100% of the side missions, I realized that I had spent so much time playing GTA4 that I gave up video games for 40 days, partially because I wanted to focus on developing a few neglected talents and activities, and partially because I doubt I'll play any game this year that compares. Sorry, HALO 3, but GTA4 has won this round...