The positives:
• I love the characters and main story in GTA 4. Niko isn't a protagonist I'd usually like, but I empathized with his feelings and struggles as an immigrant, and it isn't a perspective that's seen often in video games. Some of the side characters were hilarious. I laughed my ass off when Brucie banged his head into a wall.
•The graphics obviously are dated, but for the "gritty" story and setting it's in, the dark and smudgy graphics mostly work alright. I played this game on Xbox Series X, though I can't imagine playing this game on a original PS3 and an old TV.
Neutral:
•The gunplay is ALRIGHT for a 2008 game. I didn't love it or hate it. But I liked the ragdoll physics where characters would stumble when they got shot.
The Bad:
The driving. I know some people like it because they think it's more realistic, but I can't remember driving a car in real life that handles like cars in GTA 4. MAYBE a car manufactured before 1980 would handle that way.
Thankfully it's super easy to lose the cops in this game, otherwise I probably couldn't stand it. It's also a plus that there a lot of cabs. I mostly fast travel with cabs because of the "boat" driving physics, and the fact that I just don't think it's fun.
RATINGS:
Story and Characters: 10/10
Gameplay: 5-6/10
Overall rating:
7.5 out of 10. Pretty good game