Posted by Bob Mackey
Grand Theft Auto IV is a game completely dependent on--and some would say subservient to--its story and characters. Sure, other games in the series have their share of colorful cast members and interesting twists, but IV decided to scale back on the gameplay a bit in exchange for hours upon hours of babysitting Niko Bellic's friends. It was novel at first, but soon became disappointing after the realization that the limited content of these artificial social interactions replaced the endless playground fun of GTAs past.
So what happens when the oh-so important characters of GTAIV run out of recorded lines of dialogue? The answer is about as unsettling as anything else in the bleak life of Nico Bellic.
Jumping back into the game after its finale results in a few perfunctory calls from Nico's friends about the tragic events of either ending; but after that, nothing. There are no new people to meet, or anything for Nico to do besides live a completely aimless life in Liberty City. I really didn't expect Rockstar to throw in a lot of post-game content--after all, I'm surprised I even finished the damn game--but trying to play GTAIV after the final mission just feels wrong and empty. Maybe this is a testment to how important Nico's social network is to the game--or maybe the removal of said social network reveals the game for what it really is.
It could also be that, in some stroke of genius, Rockstar was somehow able to convey how unsatisfying revenge actually is, but I think that's giving them too much credit.
So is anyone else out there having similar problems getting back into GTAIV after finishing the game? I still have a few (non-story) things left to do, but I really don't want to make Nico find pigeons for me after being sentenced to such an empty existence. Yeah, he's a sociopathic mass murdered--but he's got heart.
Related Links:
The 61FPS Review: Grand Theft Auto IV, Part 1
Yahtzee Rolls With the Big Dogs, Takes the Piss Out of GTA4
61FPS EXCLUSIVE: Peaceoholics Protest Rockstar Games and Grand Theft Auto 4
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About Bob Mackey
For a brief period of time I was Bull from TV's
Night Court, but some of you may know me from the humor column I wrote for Youngstown State University's The Jambar, Kent State University's The Stater, and Youngstown's alternative newspaper, The Walruss. I'm perhaps most well-known for my bi-weekly pieces on Something Awful. I've also blogged for Valley24.com and have written articles for EGM, 1UP, GameSpite and Cracked. For all of my writing over the years, I have made a total of twenty American dollars. It's also said that I draw cartoons, which people have described with words such as "legible." I kidnapped the Lindbergh Baby and am looking to do so again in the future.
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