final follow-up from me on this subject:
-- most unique missions the series have seen thus far. balancing all of the relationships w/ the main NPC's is a challenge, but always fun.
-- yes,
you can drive drunk in-game. but having tried i can attest that it's NOT a good idea. oddly enough, taking a cab home is just as nauseating a ride.
-- the character of
Niko Bellic is layered, deep, yet open to interpretation. the FACIAL EXPRESSIONS in this game tell the story. the emotion. better than anything i've seen in a video game before.
-- gameplay is good. what you'd expect, only turned up a notch. those new to the series will possibly struggle w/ some of the driving and/or some of the game concepts - but veterans will settle in quickly.
-- what i've played of
multi-player is ridiculously fun. i should say, however, that i've played four minutes of "deathmatch" and hours upon hours of "freemode". myself and one other kid in particular have made a habit of finding creative ways to end our characters life; jumping off a skyscraper into the blades of a waiting helicopter (that the other guy was piloting), hitting a jump at full speed in THE fastest and fiercest car in the game .... into a waiting, hovering helicopter (i piloted THAT one
), those just scrape the surface of the insanity.
-- the over-the-top,
anti-conservative political slant found in nearly ALL of the "comedy" found in the in-game media (TV, billboards, radio, etc) gets old quickly. seemed a LOT more balanced in previous game incarnations - taking little shots at BOTH ends of the spectrum. maybe i'm nuts, but there IS no balance in this game. very noticable. and very dull over time.
for the sake of full disclosure, i'm nothing NEAR a "conservative" and normally get a kick out of Colbert-style humor. if *I* find it grating, it's GOT to turn off most gamers who hold "conservative" values. odd business move.
...of course, it
doesn't seem to have harmed sales at all
