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Well, I finally got the game and I have to say that it is amazing. This is by far the best GTA out yet. I have put around 3 hours into it and I am very impressed.

The first thing I noticed is the language. The language is vicious. F-bombs and N-bombs are extremely abundant and are usually every other word. Although there are a lot of bad words the dialog is very good and the voice acting is great. Let me put it this way - so far everything they have said didn't seem out of place or gratuitous. Also listening to Sam Jackson is a treat.

Now for you whores out there the graphics are much improved overall. In some places the game will look a lot better than Vice and in other places it will look a lot worse than vice. The graphics are highly stylized and the color and lighting effects may take some adjusting. My biggest problem is the red haze that is taking me some time to get used to since everything seems red and it is hard to distinguish between some things. It is not red all the time - just during certain times of the day.

The game world is absolutely alive and amazing. There was some worry on my part as far as empty streets go, but rest assured that peds will appear during the right time of day and in the right places ie, don't go into a dark alley and expect tons of peds. So far I have seen ~15-20 peds on screen at the same time with around 6 cars - and no lag. The peds talk to each other (you can hear them talking), and to you. When they talk to you, you can respond kindly or harshly and if you respond harshly you may piss off the ped and start a fight with them. Peds are more detailed and better looking and some ladies now have a case of the jigglies - like hookers or bikini babes on the beach. Gang members flash signs and smoke weed (smoke and all), and chill by your car if you park near them. Recruiting members is awesome and doing drive bys with them is even better - something you really have to experience to understand the joy of. Cops are the BEST and they roll around busting other people on bikes, in cars or on foot, and no they just don't start chasing people for no reason - they have to be provoked. Criminals abound and muggers are back as well as carjackers so you better guard your things. I can't stress enough how alive this world is - it literally goes on without any input or provocation from you. Just walking around you will see people talking, cops busting, gangs fighting, muggers mugging, carjackers jacking and people living out their daily lives without you. Also peds seem to have more health than before, and if you start a fight with one and beat them near death they can get afraid and duck for mercy or run away.

Cars are a little different now, especially since you have to become good at driving. Each car feels different and unique enough that you notice. Now when cars explode a residual fire remains for a while after which makes it look a lot better. One thing that bugs me is the car camera angles and sometimes the default is too low or it gets low, almost to the floor, and I find it tedious to always have to fix the camera angle. Cars move really fast on the highway and it is really like a real highway. If you pull over you better hit the gas to get back in or risk getting smashed. On a funny note cops usually don't obey the traffic signs so they often roll through stops and red lights. Don't you hate it when they do that to you for real?

I wasn't sure what to expect with the new fighting system, but it is easy to adjust to and it was hardly any effort to get comfortable with. I like it a lot better than the old system. Recruits who roll with you stay back and never get in your way and they tell you when they are hurt and need to back off. They are a little slow to respond to commands or to follow you sometimes, but nothing too bad. They are their own entities for the most part anyway.

Well, those are my impression of some of the major stuff that I have witnessed. If you have a question about something maybe I can answer it.

nice, the living world sounds awesome

Great. I was waiting for a review from you.

didnt read it all.. scared of spoilers.. but is there indeed multiplayer in the game like previously reported? you can pm the answer if you feel people will not like you posting it out in the open... thanks!

Originally Posted by zewone Great. I was waiting for a review from you.

Thanks

OPM confirmed multiplayer as I am sure the other reviews have as well. Also there are no story spoilers in my impressions.

Originally Posted by Scrubking Thanks

Heh, I'm just teasing so don't get upset, but this is like me posting a review of Halo 2 or KotOR 2...

How is the music?

Time to break down the review!

**SPOILERS** (SPOILERS should be added to the thread title)

Now for you whores out there the graphics are much improved overall. In some places the game will look a lot better than Vice and in other places it will look a lot worse than vice.

If it can look a lot better and a lot worse, how can it be much improved?

My biggest problem is the red haze that is taking me some time to get used to since everything seems red and it is hard to distinguish between some things. It is not red all the time - just during certain times of the day.

Adjust your TV, it's an orange haze.. the sun also has a killer glare.

So far I have seen ~15-20 peds on screen at the same time with around 6 cars - and no lag.

Not sure what island you're living on, but if I have 5 peds on the screen and a few cars, there's noticeable slowdown.

Recruiting members is awesome and doing drive bys with them is even better

This I'll definately agree on.

I can't stress enough how alive this world is - it literally goes on without any input or provocation from you.

At times it's alive and kicking.. other times it's dead on arrival with sound so quiet you'd think the sound was on mute.

Just walking around you will see people talking, cops busting, gangs fighting, muggers mugging, carjackers jacking and people living out their daily lives without you.

I thought it was pretty awesome when I saw a car turn into a driveway and the guy get out.

Two player mode is awesome. My brother and I played that for two hours. He would drive and I would kneel on the top of the car with my pistol and do drive-bys. Then I found an uzi and we did real drive-bys.

One of the most awesome things was when I was riding my bike, minding my own business. I hear sirens and I'm like WTF, I didn't do anything.. and here comes this car FLYING by me.. and there goes a cop.. I was like whoaaa, that's pretty cool.

I love it so far, though. For all the hype, I'm suprised it held up. I spent four or five hours tonight just doing absolutely nothing. I mean, yeah, first mission.. but after than, exploring.

I even stole a weiner mobile.. woo!

A lot of your intrepretations of what I said are just wrong so maybe get a better grasp of what I said before trying to so quickly find fault.

It sounds... so... so... violent...

Originally Posted by Scrubking A lot of your intrepretations of what I said are just wrong so maybe get a better grasp of what I said before trying to so quickly find fault.

Um.. what? So basically.. you're posting a review, and if someone disagrees with a legitimate point, you nosell and deny? What the hell?

Seriously, what did I interpret wrong?

i thought it was strange about the driving system also, it was almost like the camera used to automatically adjust when you got in or started driving in the previous games. now it takes longer for that to happen and you are better off doing it manually.

also, thank god that the eating/workout system is not tedious or annoying. i spent maybe 10 totaly minutes in the gym so far and i have no fat and "chiseled" status.

i put around 3 -4 hours into it also.

EDIT: fixed a typo

Really having a hard time deciding between getting it now or waiting for the Xbox version.

Originally Posted by SteveMcQ Really having a hard time deciding between getting it now or waiting for the Xbox version.

If you decide to wait, make sure you have no friends that have the PS2 version, that you never see the PS2 version in action, that you never read anything about the PS2 version, and that, most importantly, never play the PS2 version. As soon as you see/play it, you'll kill to have it. It's that good.

Originally Posted by Scorch If you decide to wait, make sure you have no friends that have the PS2 version, that you never see the PS2 version in action, that you never read anything about the PS2 version, and that, most importantly, never play the PS2 version. As soon as you see/play it, you'll kill to have it. It's that good.

That's how I feel about it now, although I'm making a concentrated effort to wait on this one - I have too many older games that are dying to be played.

Originally Posted by Scorch If you decide to wait, make sure you have no friends that have the PS2 version, that you never see the PS2 version in action, that you never read anything about the PS2 version, and that, most importantly, never play the PS2 version. As soon as you see/play it, you'll kill to have it. It's that good.

Now that's an endorsement if I ever did hear one. Should put that last lines on the cover.

That said, anyone that has played or know of the major differences between GTA(III and Vice City) PS2 and Xbox versions? Has the little problems (whatever they may be) on the PS2 fixed on the subsequent Xbox version?

The Xbox versions have better sound, graphics and allow for custom soundtracks.

Originally Posted by SteveMcQ Now that's an endorsement if I ever did hear one. Should put that last lines on the cover. That said, anyone that has played or know of the major differences between GTA(III and Vice City) PS2 and Xbox versions? Has the little problems (whatever they may be) on the PS2 fixed on the subsequent Xbox version?

Much cleaner visuals. Seems quite a bit more "fluid." Driving is better. And, as mentioned above- custom soundtracks. I'd say they did a nice job. I enjoyed them originally on the PS2 & I was very impressed with the job that was done on the XBOX.

Originally Posted by SteveMcQ That said, anyone that has played or know of the major differences between GTA(III and Vice City) PS2 and Xbox versions? Has the little problems (whatever they may be) on the PS2 fixed on the subsequent Xbox version?

The controls were mapped a little differently for the Xbox versions due to the lack of 2 shoulder buttons. You use the right analog stick for drive by shooting instead. Not really a big deal unless you've already played the game on Sony's system and become accustomed to it. Otherwise the only real problem is that every now and then (maybe 10-20% of the time) if you try to use a custom soundtrack all of the peds go silent until you reboot your save. If you use the in game soundtrack it never happens though.

Also, as any review will tell you the textures are a little cleaner, the draw distance is a little better...and it's all in 5.1.