# Anyone else think GTA IV is the most overrated game of all time?



## heavyrain11 (Jun 14, 2011)

I bought it again recently to give it another try having previously owned it a few years ago but I just can't get into it. I just don't find it any fun at all. From the washed out dull graphics to the terrible cliche characters and awful car handling. 

I think there are a lot of better sandbox games out there that are just more to play. It's strange because I do really like some of Rockstar's games - GTA III is one of my favourite games of all time and I just finished play RDR which was amazing. Nevertheless I think GTA IV easily tops the list as the most overrated game ever. Just my opinion


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## Ali477 (May 7, 2012)

OP if you play on PC you should try out some mods you can download texture packs to help improve the graphics ect, i brought the game a while back and hardly play the story mode i just mess around with awesome mods like this


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## Resonance (Feb 11, 2010)

I don't get why anyone plays GTA games when Just Cause 2 exists.


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## Nocturne Lurker (Aug 27, 2012)

The GTA series aren't my fancy anymore. I lost interest in sandbox games about four years ago, there isn't any more good games out.
Still looking forward in V.


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## Twelve Keyz (Aug 28, 2011)

I like GTA games but the controls always bothered me.


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## Brasilia (Aug 23, 2012)

I only bought an XBOX 360 so I could play GTA IV.


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## JohnnyWhite (Nov 3, 2012)

No, Heavy Rain is


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## heavyrain11 (Jun 14, 2011)

JohnnyWhite said:


> No, Heavy Rain is


How dare you:no


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## arnie (Jan 24, 2012)

I loved San Andreas on the PS2 but when I tried to pick GTA IV it got boring after about 10 minutes. :no


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## erasercrumbs (Dec 17, 2009)

I'm not a fan of the GTA games in general, and I've tried really, really hard to like them. I didn't even like Red Dead Redemption, even though I'm nuts about Westerns. There's just something about Rockstar's game design that doesn't mesh with me.

On the other hand, I loved Heavy Rain.


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## Fanta can (Aug 13, 2011)

Has anyone played Sleeping Dogs? How does it compare to the GTA series?


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## heavyrain11 (Jun 14, 2011)

LowKey said:


> Has anyone played Sleeping Dogs? How does it compare to the GTA series?


Playing it right now - bloody amazing game. It's everything a modern sandbox game should be - fast paced, amazing graphics, great storyline, variety in missions.

I'd strongly recommend it.


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## heavyrain11 (Jun 14, 2011)

erasercrumbs said:


> I'm not a fan of the GTA games in general, and I've tried really, really hard to like them. I didn't even like Red Dead Redemption, even though I'm nuts about Westerns. There's just something about Rockstar's game design that doesn't mesh with me.
> 
> On the other hand, I loved Heavy Rain.


Quite surprising that you don't like RDR since you like westerns. I would honestly rate it as one of my favourite games of all time.


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## Joe (May 18, 2010)

LowKey said:


> Has anyone played Sleeping Dogs? How does it compare to the GTA series?


Fighting style is similar to Arkham city apart from with guns. Gun usage isn't as much as other sandbox as the main focus is on melee combat. Worth buying.

I liked both Heavy Rain and GTA IV too. GTA IV probably is noticeable for hate because it is so popular but like any game it depends on the person really.


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## Diacetylmorphine (Mar 9, 2011)

I liked it, but compared to San Andreas it did feel a bit hollow.

I liked sleeping dogs too, the voice acting/characters were pretty cool.


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## fingertips (Jan 11, 2009)

how could it be? it isn't even _in_ the final fantasy series. >:]


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## gorbulas (Feb 13, 2004)

uh, didn't know gta iv was highly rated. never played it but I didn't hear a lot things about it so i always considered it to be the worst in the series.


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## Luna Sea (Apr 4, 2012)

It was probably the most overhyped and the most disappointing, but there are lots of people like me that found it boring, so I'm not sure it's overrated.

I still can't believe they went from one of my favourite games of all time in San Andreas to something so bland and forgettable.


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## sleepytime (Feb 18, 2011)

heavyrain11 said:


> I bought it again recently to give it another try having previously owned it a few years ago but I just can't get into it. I just don't find it any fun at all. From the washed out dull graphics to the terrible cliche characters and awful car handling.
> 
> I think there are a lot of better sandbox games out there that are just more to play. It's strange because I do really like some of Rockstar's games - GTA III is one of my favourite games of all time and I just finished play RDR which was amazing. Nevertheless I think GTA IV easily tops the list as the most overrated game ever. Just my opinion


Kind of agree with you. I do think GTA IV is technically amazing (at least it was at time of release), but I got kind of bored of it half way through. RDR is a much better game imo, I really hope they make a sequel to that.


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## burrito (Aug 29, 2012)

GTA IV was disappointing after loving San Andreas. It was a pretty game but it seemed very bland and repetitive. It was a *horrible* mistake to leave out tanks, rocket packs, jets, parachutes, bikes etc. Felt like a big step backwards. imo the Saints Row games carry on some of the best elements of the GTA series.

Red Dead Redemption was wayyy more fun (even with its flaws) for me. Also Bully was a great game. Its criminally underrated and one of R*'s best imo. I dont know why they dont use its fighting system for the GTA games? It feels solid.


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## JohnnyWhite (Nov 3, 2012)

To the OP: Just playin, I loved heavy rain. amazing story. GTA IV was amazing in terms of how it revolutionized the series and sandbox games, in general. But, yeah, the story got boring pretty quickly. My friends and I actually had a lot of fun with it online, instead. There's nothing more fun than killing noobs online via drive-by, with your buddies. The races were also fun lol.


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## fingertips (Jan 11, 2009)

i wish they'd emphasise the sandbox bit over the gritty-storyline-with-token-moral-choices-and-full-of-scripted-chases bit


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## Puppet Master (Jan 1, 2012)

The GTA series in and of itself is extremely over rated but a number of games have it beat like Heavy Rain, Call of Duty series, any Ninja Theory title.


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## Lil Sebastian (Feb 26, 2012)

Nah. I can see why people don't like GTA IV (I liked it and really like TBOGT) but it cant be most overrated on a timeline that Halo existed. Ooooh I went there. 'Av it.


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## GotAnxiety (Oct 14, 2011)

San andreas was the best hands down and the orginal 2D ones were good as well.


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## avoidobot3000 (Aug 22, 2010)

I think games like this start to get boring after the first couple of good sequels.


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## sleepytime (Feb 18, 2011)

Lil Sebastian said:


> Nah. I can see why people don't like GTA IV (I liked it and really like TBOGT) but it cant be most overrated on a timeline that Halo existed. Ooooh I went there. 'Av it.


I agree on Halo, I could never understand the hype for that. It's an ok game, but there are far better FPS games out there, it's not even in the same league as half-life.


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## Rixy (Oct 4, 2009)

Puppet Master said:


> The GTA series in and of itself is extremely over rated but a number of games have it beat like Heavy Rain, Call of Duty series, any Ninja Theory title.


Ninja Theory? You mean the guys that made Heavenly Sword which is almost forgotten along with Enslaved that got absolutely raped in sales in 2010?


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## gorbulas (Feb 13, 2004)

sleepytime said:


> I agree on Halo, I could never understand the hype for that. It's an ok game, but there are far better FPS games out there, it's not even in the same league as half-life.


 the Halo series could have been great and there was lots of hype for the game but then Microsoft forced Bungie after they bought them to make it a console only title to promote the xbox (yes there been PC ports but its an afterthought).

yeah I liked San Andreas the best ... the first in the series is fun with cheats on too


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## Luna Sea (Apr 4, 2012)

JohnnyWhite said:


> GTA IV was amazing in terms of how it revolutionized the series and sandbox games, in general.


How do you mean? I can't really see anything revolutionary about IV. The only things that come to mind that they "revolutionised" were the things pedestrians talking on phones and other pointless things and the wanted system, which they ruined; not being able to just ignore 1* wanted levels and drive on, and Pay & Sprays being made pointless made it less fun (albeit more realistic, which R* seem to be the only ones to think was the point of GTA).

When I was playing IV it struck me how the rest of the industry had moved past GTA. It felt like 2006 having to reload a save game to not lose all your weapons and armour, and not having health regenerate.


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## whattothink (Jun 2, 2005)

GTA II trumps all.


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## ShadyGFX (Jul 18, 2012)

I don't think it's overrated because I didn't hear much hype about it. It's a pretty good game thought. Not as good as San Andreas though.


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## Rixy (Oct 4, 2009)

I think I touched on this in another thread somewhere but GTA IV suffered from it's indecision over being a wacky sandbox or a realistic story telling the struggle of a war hardened individual suffering from the haunting memories of his past. Talk about a jarring shift in tone. Even when you take it for it's story, it's still not very interesting. The only interesting characters were the McRearys and the lack of any impressionable antagonist hindered the entire quality of the game. The whole game was slow to kick in and the cars handled awfully. 

A decent game? Sure. 10/10? Blow me.

It had no real gimmick to it other than being GTA. At least Red Dead had it's Western setting. Sleeping Dogs has brawler combat and over the top driving. Saints Row has infinite levity making the original GTA games look straight. I'll credit GTA with basically launching the Sandbox genre which is a brilliant construct but for me the formula has been executed in a superlative manner in other titles. 

tl;dr: Yes, the game is very much overrated. Not really through the game's fault but the hype that everyone gave it. I may be tempted by GTAV, who knows but so far I haven't even been bothered to check out the previews.


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## Genelle (Aug 19, 2009)

The only GTA game I enjoyed was the original.


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## AngelClare (Jul 10, 2012)

No, GTA IV is one of the finest games ever made. Whatever your personal feelings about the game are, there is no denying that it was a phenomenal technical achievement when it was released. Not only did you have this amazingly detailed city but the subway system actually worked!

I will admit that GTA 3 was more groundbreaking for its time. But GTA 4's refinements and story distinguish it from its predecessor. Some of the choices and killings were emotionally difficult to do. It's also extremely funny but humor is subjective.


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## rymo (Sep 6, 2009)

Yes, GTA IV is easily one of the most disappointing games of all time. In fact, even on its own merits disregarding the hype, it is just a downright bad game. A nicely designed city and cool physics, but horrible controls/shooting mechanics and absolutely nothing interesting to do.


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## Luna Sea (Apr 4, 2012)

AngelClare said:


> No, GTA IV is one of the finest games ever made. Whatever your personal feelings about the game are, there is no denying that it was a phenomenal technical achievement when it was released. Not only did you have this amazingly detailed city but the subway system actually worked!


But the subway system was totally pointless. Things like that are the reason GTAIV stands as the pinnacle in style over substance. They forgot that the point of the game was to be fun to play, not just a graphics *****'s wet dream.



AngelClare said:


> I will admit that GTA 3 was more groundbreaking for its time. But GTA 4's refinements and story distinguish it from its predecessor. Some of the choices and killings were emotionally difficult to do. It's also extremely funny but humor is subjective.


I also thought the story was terrible and pretentious in how over-ambitious it was. We had this character who spent half the time being a cold-blooded killer and half whining about stuff. And then the stupid romance plot, which made no sense unless you chose to spend hours driving Kate around.


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## AngelClare (Jul 10, 2012)

TristanS said:


> But the subway system was totally pointless. Things like that are the reason GTAIV stands as the pinnacle in style over substance. They forgot that the point of the game was to be fun to play, not just a graphics *****'s wet dream.


It's an open world game. Wouldn't you agree that creating a world with as much detail as possible is important to an open world game? And you go through the subway in various missions so it's not pointless. Especially the bank robbery where you escape with bags of money into the subway--the best GTA misson ever.


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## Luna Sea (Apr 4, 2012)

AngelClare said:


> It's an open world game. Wouldn't you agree that creating a world with as much detail as possible is important to an open world game? And you go through the subway in various missions so it's not pointless. Especially the bank robbery where you escape with bags of money into the subway--the best GTA misson ever.


Nowhere near as important as having fun, non-repetitive missions. San Andreas was an amazing open world game without having a fully-operative subway system; all it added was an "ooh shiney" thing that no one used except to abuse the fact that cops wouldn't chase you if you went down the subway tunnels.

I'd say that on the scale of things that are important for an open world game, stuff that was present in SA but not in IV is bigger: a massive map, different areas (not just one samey city), planes, tanks, parachutes, more helicopters, etc. There's a reason why I've spent a hell of a lot more time on SA and Just Cause 2 than on IV.


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## iloverum (Aug 13, 2011)

Vice City is the highlight for me, cartoony tongue in cheek style, hollywood voice cast, glitzy colourful city, funny missions, 80s soundtrack, film references (scarface etc), great cars and handling, it was all so much fun and stylised and somewhat innocent, just like that era. i remember i used to play "multi theft auto" and just drive round listening to my custom radio music dodging others fighting each other or join a car chase, GTAIV mp got boring after a few weeks if that.


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