Puyo and Daymonster talk about GTA IV

Below is Puyo's review of the Grand Theft Auto IV. Any writing in blue is my response/review.

Graphics:
meh, obviously nothing special. Frame rate isn't very good either. From a technological standpoint they aren't good, kind of bad actually. Artistically it is alright though. It has a nice style to it. The graphics aren't so bad that they ruin the experience or anything, but they could be vastly improved.

I agree with Puyo here, I really like the style of the game, especially the opening scene. I wasn't expecting amazing graphics of the people, because when you have a cast in the hundreds some stuff is going to suffer. But the certainly seemed to spend more time on the chicks.

As far as frame rate I have been pleasantly surprised actually. I was expecting a little pop up but I am really impressed with the level of detail in everything in the game.

Controls:
They're okay.
Walking around isn't too great. The camera turns really slow, even though I have my sensitivity on high (but I think that only effects aiming guns). It would have been a lot nicer if they let you set the sensitivity for the camera. The camera can be annoying at times.
Fighting is okay, it can be a bit clumsy.
Driving is pretty good for the type of game it is. Each car drives differently and the physics system is good enough to make it a fun experience. The camera can be a hassle though.
I haven't used any weapons, I'm not that far along in the game yet.
I like using the cell phone so far.

I agree with the camera, it can get brutal when you are trying to see who you are inevitably running over when you are pulling a U-turn, but overall it gets the job done.

I was thinking the cell phone was going to be lame but it's integrated pretty well, I have already pissed off my "girlfriend" my calling her to much to try and hook up.

Gameplay:
Pretty good so far. I've only done like 3 or 4 missions and a little bit of random stuff.
Most of the missions so far have just been learning the game. Learning how to drive, fight, dating, using the phone, etc. They seem like they'll become more fun when I get into the meat of the game.
Since I haven't gotten any weapons I haven't got to do much goofing off yet. I look forward to it. The highlight so far was stealing a cop car then turning on the sirens and seeing the cars pull over and clear a path for me as I sped down the highway.
The mini games are all well done so far. They have a lot of skill to them and are fairly fun. There also seems to be a lot of them, all I've done so far is pool and bowling though.
There were also a lot of funny things in the game such as the radio stations, the tv stations and other random stuff you see on the street.

I think you and I are probably at the same spot in the game, only played like an hour of single player. I think once we get into the real meat and potatoes of the mission the little things like how the punching works won't be as trouble some.

I thought bowling was kind of lame, did you get beat by Michelle by one point too? I think it's rigged. It's definitely the little things that you aren't expecting that makes GTA IV great. Like puyo said, taking a cop car and seeing people react is awesome. I saw this dude running from the cops and I stopped him and the cop thanked me. You can do things like call 911 from your cell phone, or surf fictitious websites at the internet cafe hilariously named tw@.

Watching TV might be my favorite thing so far though, the commercials and parodies are awesome.

Multiplayer:
Haven't played it yet, I'm looking forward to this and I probably wouldn't have bought the game if it didn't have it. I just want to learn the controls and everything before I jump in.

Multiplayer is what sold me on the game and on getting for 360 (I assume you realize now Eternal I got it for 360 after I tried to message you last night to play multiplayer) I only got in a couple games and most of the time was spent in Free Roam, essentially 16 players can do what ever they want in the entire city. We had a giant vehicular melee in Times Square errr.. Star Junction. It was really fun to out run cops and other criminals with two people on a moped.

Overall:
Obviously I haven't played enough of the game to get a total impression of the game yet. I wouldn't give it a 10/10 like everyone seems to be. There are so many things that could be better in the game such as the graphics and controls. The gameplay seems pretty good though. So far it looks like it will be an 8 or 9. I'll be playing it some more.

I agree, I really think the game will be a 95/100 or better by the time I get through the game. Since the beginning is all about learning the controls and the missions are not to exciting yet, the game tends to show it's flaws. I also think that any game with a 50 plus hour single player and very deep mutliplayer experience should be rewarded. Usually GTA games are a crappy shooter, a crappy racing game and a crappy RPG rolled into one good game, this one isn't that different but with a pretty cool storyline and really fun Multiplayer I think it will end up being deserving of all the praise... at least I hope so.

So for the KofC clan here's the list of who has GTA IV for 360:
The Daymonster
Squatting Bear (and through extension: Pablito and Josey)
Adeclipse
LocoPuyo
Unky Eternal (extension: Playboy and eventually Warthog)

Unknown:
Tilla
Dammer

So according to my calculations within the first few days 81% of Xbox 360 install base will own Grand Theft Auto IV.