So I went to the midnight opening and stood in line for about an hour to get my copy. All around me were large beef-fed college kids that looked like the type that would enjoy murdering people in a fantasy world, and I had a dark moment as I contemplated my place in the world. Then I got my copy and promptly got over it, leaving the mall at 12:45 AM.
I downed a deeeelicious Dunkin' Donuts vanilla chai and raced home, then began to play. I've played a lot since, and I've formed some solid opinions. Here they are.
• The main character is great- Niko Bellic is the series' first sympathetic protagonist. You feel for the guy and his situation. You get the ability to choose whether to kill or release some of your mission targets once you find them. Whenever I can I let them go. I'm no saint, I still like plowing through crowds of innocent people on the sidewalk.
• The vehicle handling bugged me at first- pressing the handbrake button makes you swerve and slide all over the road, and there's very little control over the cars. With practice I saw that it just takes finessing, and is that sloppy to make certain that going full speed is a very dangerous affair, to be used in extreme circumstances.
• The graphics are just amazing, especially the little details like the texture of the streets, the way your tires leave skid marks, and damage to cars like blood stains and everyday dents and gashes, maybe bullet holes, etc.
• The lack of fixed-wing aircraft is a sore spot for me. One of my favorite ways to get around in San Andreas was to take a plane to wherever I was heading and jump out overhead, parachuting down and enjoying the sight of an airline jet crashing in the middle of an intersection. It should be noted that the helicopters don't have parachutes either, so... no more skydiving, from what I can tell. That. Stinks.
• I've played the multiplayer a bit by now and I haven't played MUCH but I was almost bored by the action. You can free roam about the city with up to 15 other people, go on multiplayer mission massacres, have team battles, stuff like that. It's fun, but it's not... FUN. I may need to play more.
• No user music collection station. They had this in San Andreas and I used it all the time. It's a real shame, it seems like this would be a simple matter.
• Maybe it's just that I'm a country mouse, but being trapped in the city all the time is wearying and depressing. I liked being out in the countryside in San Andreas now and again, just launching myself off of cliffs at high speeds and dirt biking over rock formations.
• I'm greatly enjoying finding a gas station, standing in front of a pump and shooting it. When you die, you die in slow motion, so when the gas station explodes and you fly for two city blocks and collide into stationary objects it's realllllly fun to watch.
All in all, I'm enjoying the game greatly but it's not video game crack driving the chemicals of my brain. I don't quite understand the run of perfect reviews... that seems a bit much to me. It's a 9.4 out of 10, I'd say.
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