GTA V (There may be spoilers)

[Buchstansangur]

I don't like the interiors much, they don't really enable any core parts of the gameplay (except for sneaking, perhaps). I like fun ones like casinos with games you can play though.

Before GTA IV was announced I was really hoping it would be set in London, but I no longer want that. It would have to be set in a way for Americans to get it, which means they'd have to create the sort of London you see on US sitcom specials. A more realistic London GTA would be great, but probably not going to happen in this franchise.

[mobias]

, and they have missed out "More interiors", which I think is the biggest key to breathing new life into the GTA franchise. It's frustrating to drive past loads of cool looking places, but not be able to go in.

Also, I'm quite happy to stick with a contemporary time period.

Yup totally agree with that. I love exploring interiors, remember the big shopping mall in Vice City with the CD shop and all the clothes stores? I loved all that. Its still a bewildering thing for me with GTAIV why they had the museum in that one mission but then wouldn't let you go in it again after that. There must be some technical issue with how the game works that they have to lock it off.

I like anything in GTA where you can make a point of going somewhere just to see something for the hell of it. There was a post in that GTAforums site where someone suggested they put a zoo in the next GTA and I thought that was a great idea. They could use the animal  models from Red Dead Redemption but have them all in cages. I'd actually prefer things like that to all those stupid little mini games like darts and pool that very few people seem to bother playing. I'd prefer quirky things to see.   

[El Unicornio, mang]

Yup totally agree with that. I love exploring interiors, remember the big shopping mall in Vice City with the CD shop and all the clothes stores? I loved all that. Its still a bewildering thing for me with GTAIV why they had the museum in that one mission but then wouldn't let you go in it again after that. There must be some technical issue with how the game works that they have to lock it off.

Yep, whenever I think of Vice City one of the things I remember is the shopping mall! It might have been the novelty of having something like that for the first time in a game, but I remember finding it exciting. There are some cool interiors in GTAIV like the office building and the subway (and the night club in BOGT), but I think they could have done more.

[Dead kate moss]

I loved Vice City, San Andreas even more. But they ruined the flying car cheat in SA. In Vice City you could glide beautifully around, it made it into a whole different game. In San Andreas you just shot in the stratosphere at the slightest touch.

I was looking forward to GTAIV but after the negative word - that it was too realistic, lots of boring driving, too many repetitive missions, and too easy to set off the cops (I think it was Charlie Brooker that made those criticisms) I held out, and that plus the fact that I'd need to upgrade to a PS3 made me decide to quit gaming altogether. Red Dead Redemption looks fun, and maybe I'll get back into gaming if the new GTA sounds a return to form.

Vice City had the best music, imo.

[Benjie Trufflesnort]

Its still a bewildering thing for me with GTAIV why they had the museum in that one mission but then wouldn't let you go in it again after that. There must be some technical issue with how the game works that they have to lock it off.

Now that's odd. It must only happen after the mission as I wandered in to it way before the mission and bobbled around for ages inside looking at stuff thinking "It's amazing they put this much detail in to something which isn't even used in the game!" only to discover what a stupid thought that was once the mission came about.

I did exactly the same thing some time later with that penthouse apartment in a sky scraper quite near the museum too sometime later - thinking again "It's amazing etc.." only to be surprised again that it turned up in a mission.

One thing that doesn't though is the "Heart of Liberty City" - did you ever find that?

[Little Hoover]

See while people were excited with the shopping mall in vice city, I was thinking "why can't you go into that bowling alley" So I'm baffled by people who think the mingames in GTA IV were shit, while interuppting you to go on social events and dates was a bit shit, the fact that you can actually do other things besides driving and killing goes along way to add to the immersion of the city, which is why I was always dissapointed with Vice City because people went on and on about the freedome it allowed, while I was thinking, if there's a golf course and a building that says "bowling" outside I should be able to play golf and go bowling. To me it hadn't offered much that hadn't been offered before.

[mobias]

So I'm baffled by people who think the mingames in GTA IV were shit, while interrupting you to go on social events and dates was a bit shit,

The mini games weren't necessarily shit, just a bit dull. They seemed to be there for the sake of it. In VC you could got to the sports arena and race cars in your spare time, in GTAIV you could go and play darts. In San Andreas there seemed like an infinite amount of side games to waste your time on. In GTAIV there was so little and what there was was just dull. You could go to see a cabaret act but then when you got in it was actually just a bit of a dull cabaret act. Rockstar could have really gone to town with that and given us a really surreal and funny cabaret or a stand up comedian who wasn't Ricky Gervais giving a half arsed performance. There's any number of other comedians who could have done something really creative with the idea of doing a virtual gig in a virtual gaming world like GTA. Why not get someone like Kevin Eldon to do some weird and hilarious stand up routine.  So much of GTAIV, creatively speaking, seemed to miss fire badly. It needs a director with a single creative vision. The game desperately wants to be a movie but can you imagine a movie being directed by multiple people. Of course its going to end up a mess.

Games are a sum of many parts and with GTA it possibly has the most parts of any game I can think of. Trouble that Rockstar has now is gluing all those parts together. With past GTA's the parts seemed to naturally gel together but with GTAIV not only where they not sticking together bit some elements like the dreadful adolescent school boy humour seemed so at odds with the mature and extra serious tone of the rest of the game. The humour in VC was fantastic, the humour in San Andreas slightly less so but still enjoyable enough but by GTAIV we're getting 'babies overnight.com' and similar stuff  as our immersive soundtrack to a game that's desperately trying to be the Wire.

[Little Hoover]

There's racing side missions inGTAIV. admittedly street racing instead of round a circuit but it's essentialy the same, they certainly could have had more interesting side games, although I certainly spent a fair amount of time on bowling and pool altogether. But I still think offering those sort of activities goes some way towards making the city feel like a living breathing place. I just didn't find the appeal of aimlessly driving around vice city as appealing as everyone else seemed to. I'd already partly got that out my system with the original GTA. Obviously being able to explore it in 3D add's a lot, but then GTA 3 had already done that. Vice City certainly added a unique atmosphere but in gameplay terms wasn't a huge step up from what had already been delivered. That's why I never quite get what was supposed to be so revolutionary about it.

Also your Eldon suggestion is weird, yes I'd prefer that but most regular people wouldn't. Also Kevin Eldon's simian features aren't going to be as amusing in a game. They presumably got him because the Housers like him and he's someone that Americans might have heard of.

[mobias]

Vice City certainly added a unique atmosphere but in gameplay terms wasn't a huge step up from what had already been delivered. That's why I never quite get what was supposed to be so revolutionary about it.

Also your Eldon suggestion is weird, yes I'd prefer that but most regular people wouldn't. Also Kevin Eldon's simian features aren't going to be as amusing in a game. They presumably got him because the Housers like him and he's someone that Americans might have heard of.

I think Vice City is a real milestone in game atmosphere rather than game play technicality. I happily just drove around the city listening to the incredible music. The whole 80's vibe was just so brilliantly done. Flying across VC in the Apache helicopter listening to Can't Stop Loving You by REO Speed Wagon as the sun comes up is still the greatest gaming moment I've ever experienced. It just captured a brilliant gaming vibe all in one moment. GTAIII for all its technical originality has nothing to match it and nor indeed for all its technical superiority does GTAIV.

Kevin Eldon was supposed to be a weird idea. I saw him during the Edinburgh festival and just thought he was brilliantly funny in an easily accessible kind of way  and and very theatrical. I just suggested him as a way to demonstrate how I think Rockstar could have thought outside the box when it came to those GTAIV shows you can go and see. I thought they seemed really half arsed and pedestrian. Why not do something clever and original there?  I can easily see why they chose Gervais, you know get a big name in there, but boy was he shit.

One thing I thought they would do with GTAIV, and its something I'm sure they will do with future GTA's, is have a concert hall where you can go and see live bands. I think they could do something really cool with that and have, with different game updates, a change of bands playing the same venue. I bet you anything they do that in the future.

[falafel]

And do what, stand in a virtual room for an hour? Wouldn't that be a little bit too much like being in the audience in Guitar Hero? Doesn't really seem that sensible to me. On the other hand, a virtual music festival in a large city park would be fun but... totally implausible.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

I think Vice City is a real milestone in game atmosphere rather than game play technicality. The whole 80's vibe was just so brilliantly done.

That's really all it's got over the others of that generation, I think. I found the actual design of the place a wee bit boring to drive in, it being mostly flat with narrow roads. 3 and (obviously) San Andreas both felt more varied in terms of landscape.

I haven't stuck with 4 long enough to try the darts, bowling etc. but I certainly felt the similar distractions in San Andreas were a good addition. It always seemed silly that they included that big golf course in Vice City but didn't let you do anything while you were there. True, it had the racing arena, but that's basically just more driving.

a virtual music festival in a large city park would be fun but... totally implausible.

That was part of my idea for setting it in the 60s/70s. Although I think it would need to involve actual missions rather than you just standing there.

[mobias]

And do what, stand in a virtual room for an hour? Wouldn't that be a little bit too much like being in the audience in Guitar Hero? Doesn't really seem that sensible to me. On the other hand, a virtual music festival in a large city park would be fun but... totally implausible.

In the Ballad of Gay Tony you could go clubbing and do a spot of dancing whilst trying to pull a surprisingly foxy virtual chick. And on top of all that you could get pissed at the bar. I'm sure with a little bit of thought there's all sorts of things they could have you doing whilst attending a virtual gig. A moshing mini game would be fun, how about stage diving?

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

Didn't Saint's Row 2 have a side quest minigame that involved you providing security at gigs? I think I remember that from one of the trailers.

[mobias]

That's really all it's got over the others of that generation, I think. I found the actual design of the place a wee bit boring to drive in, it being mostly flat with narrow roads. 3 and (obviously) San Andreas both felt more varied in terms of landscape.

I haven't stuck with 4 long enough to try the darts, bowling etc. but I certainly felt the similar distractions in San Andreas were a good addition. It always seemed silly that they included that big golf course in Vice City but didn't let you do anything while you were there. True, it had the racing arena, but that's basically just more driving.

I know in retrospect Vice City doesn't seem like it had much but I had endless fun with it. I agree about the design of the city being a bit dull but they packed a great game into it. Tommy Vercetti was the best GTA protagonist we've had by a country mile and the story and missions were, for their day, really good. Also I think the size and simplicity of the city kind of focused the whole experience better than any other GTA I think. I know a lot of people were just overwhelmed by the sheer size of San Andreas.

The other thing people haven't mentioned in regards to their criticism of GTAIV was its lack of cheats. San Andreas and Vice City had some fantastic ones that just made the game ludicrously fun. I've no idea why they ditched them GTAIV, maybe it was all tied up in them wanting people to take it more seriously.

[falafel]

Heh, I cheated my way through IV! You type a number into the cellphone. It's got all the standard ones from VC and SA...

[mobias]

Heh, I cheated my way through IV! You type a number into the cellphone. It's got all the standard ones from VC and SA...

Yeah but there's no cheat for arming old ladies with rocket launchers and making them psychotic like there was in San Andreas and there's no cheat for increasing your cars wheel size so it can drive over buildings like there was in Vice City. Also my favorite ever GTA cheat was the one that messed with the vehicle physics in Vice City so any car that crashed into you was sent smashing off buildings or just flying off into oblivion. I'm easily amused.

[falafel]

I have no memory of that. It sounds awesome.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

The cheats were indeed fantastic fun and really gave the games a new lease of life once you'd finished the missions and got tired of just driving about.

[mycroft]

In the Ballad of Gay Tony you could go clubbing and do a spot of dancing whilst trying to pull a surprisingly foxy virtual chick.

The dancing minigame in the gay club is also great - a big camp bloke spots you and challenges you to a dance-off!

[Pepotamo1985]

I think Vice City is a real milestone in game atmosphere rather than game play technicality. I happily just drove around the city listening to the incredible music. The whole 80's vibe was just so brilliantly done. Flying across VC in the Apache helicopter listening to Can't Stop Loving You by REO Speed Wagon as the sun comes up is still the greatest gaming moment I've ever experienced. It just captured a brilliant gaming vibe all in one moment.

Yeah, that's why I fucking loved Vice City...for the time, the game looked beautiful, just perpetually sunny and blissed out, and I too, like a nerd, often just went for drives, enjoying the 80s radio (they nailed all the stations perfectly on this one) and occasionally gunning people down. It felt so deliciously Miami Vice, and I didn't really care that the maps were boring, they might have been flat but they were varied as fuck. There was tons of shit to do once you'd completed it as well, it truly kept you interested long after you completed it. I almost totally forgot that I completed it yet afuckingain earlier this year, I nailed it in a few days and it was still tremendous fun. I think it probably rates as one of my favourite games ever, purely by token of it being one of the few games I actually like.

Tommy Vercetti is/was the best protagonist of any GTA game by a country mile as well.

[glitch]

Didn't Saint's Row 2 have a side quest minigame that involved you providing security at gigs? I think I remember that from one of the trailers.

Yup and it meant you could do such great things as throw autograph-hunters off sky scrapers or into jet engines.

[VegaLA]

Liberty city has been Google-street mapped!

http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/29/gtas-liberty-city-recreated-in-google-street-view-reveals-your/

Sort of.

Well... its almost June and no word on GTA V. I honestly thought something would have been announced by April end but nothing.
E3 next week so maybe some news will be exposed then?

[Subtle Mocking]

Well, it's been announced. Trailer coming soon:

http://www.rockstargames.com/

[Jemble Fred]

I'm a bit surprised that they're going to do something so big at the arse-end of the console generation. When it finally comes out, maybe it will be the last must-play hurrah for the 360 and PS3, but I'd imagine it will date quickly. Perhaps they'd even soup it up for re-release when the next consoles do come out.

[Jamie Oliver is fat]

Well, it's been announced. Trailer coming soon:

http://www.rockstargames.com/

is that 11th february, or 2nd november?

[Subtle Mocking]

It's next week.

[Consignia]

I'm a bit surprised that they're going to do something so big at the arse-end of the console generation. When it finally comes out, maybe it will be the last must-play hurrah for the 360 and PS3, but I'd imagine it will date quickly. Perhaps they'd even soup it up for re-release when the next consoles do come out.

I don't think we are genuinally at the end of this generation yet. Whilst there's no doubt Sony and Microsoft are scrambling to put out new stuff, I think it's quite along way from market. But regardless of what I think, they did put San Andreas out quite late into the last generation, so it's not really that surprising that they'd make another sequel such good seller for platforms with huge install bases. Let's face it, the GTAs have never been the first out the gate for any new platforms.

[hoverdonkey]

That 'V' looks quite Saints Row in style

[Jemble Fred]

I don't think we are genuinally at the end of this generation yet.

Well I suppose it depends on how long it takes them to actually get GTAV on shelves, but by that time I'd be surprised if there were many publishers looking to make any really big splashes on the current gen, when developers have exciting new toys to get to grips with.

[Subtle Mocking]

That 'V' looks quite Saints Row in style

Someone on IGN mentioned it bearing a resemblance to one of the gangs in San Andreas...