Grand Theft Auto: Arrested

[Coca Cola Zero]

"The paramedics will fix you up for $990. If you don't want to pay to be healed, scare them away." That was more expensive than I expected, so I fired a couple shots to send them running.

Whoa, $990? It is possible I didn't have that much money on me when I tried this before, maybe that is why they never tried to heal me. Some kind of in-game tip or a snarky comment from a paramedic about me being too poor to be treated would have been nice, though.

Re: Taxis... you can take them basically anywhere. If you're heading somewhere that isn't named/important, just set a gps route before you get into the taxi and then tell him to take you to your destination when you get in.

[Moore]

Sorry, but I'm not a glutton for punishment. If I stop enjoying a game I generally stop playing it. I don't really understand doing it any other way, but I guess some people do.

And it's not as if I tried once and gave up. I tried over 7 times, probably more like 10, until I no longer possessed a desire to play anymore.

And like I said, once I stop having fun with a game, I stop playing.

So, instead, I decided to play Saint's Row, which has a far less interesting city, but is much more fun to actually play.

understandable, but I liked the game, so I had fun doing it 10 times or so to get it completed. Not that I did it 10 times in a row or anythnig, that would be boring. But I like motorcycle chases, so I dont mind doing them a mere 10 times. I've played level 1 of pacman like 5000 times.

[Moore]

And do what? I tried to do this when I was getting frustrated with a mission (one of the super-early ones, which doesn't bode well for later), and it was like Assassin's Creed: New York in that there's not a damn thing of interest to do. Hey, I can steal cars, and... um, beat up pedestrians. And once I saw a guy who gave me stuff. But that's it.

Does more stuff appear as I trudge through the missions?

random missions, phone call missions, cab driving vigilante missions, getting acheivements, multiplayer etc...

[JPR]

Whoa, $990? It is possible I didn't have that much money on me when I tried this before, maybe that is why they never tried to heal me. Some kind of in-game tip or a snarky comment from a paramedic about me being too poor to be treated would have been nice, though.

Yeah, I tried this yesterday, too, and it was 880 for me (I didn't do it). You do know, though, that if you steal an Ambulance it heals you, right? So what you have to do is call them, have them show up, then wave your gun around at them, but steal their car before they can get to it, or kill them.

Then, when you hop in the ambulance, your health goes up by about 2/3.

[zengonzo]

when you hop in the ambulance, your health goes up by about 2/3.

Argh, I was at the tail of of a big mission, fought my way through a horde of agents and police, escaped with a mere speck of health left, managed to run around about eight blocks while dodging through cop fire, finally got to a hospital and right as I was pulling the door handle to an ambulance I was shot in the fucking head!

It was a hell of a run, though. Can't wait to do it again. I love this game.

[Mink Staccato]

you can also take them to mission destinations.
and as a protip, for timed delivery missions and stuff, the warp doesn't move the clock

Woo-hoo! Thanks. I'll try this tonight. A big whopper of a complaint, gone!

-Mink-

[Adam Altmann]

I'd like to retract my previous statement that was along the lines of:

"Stop complaining about the women-as-sex-objects thing, because really, what did you expect from a Grand Theft Auto game?"

I didn't mind it so much at first, because whatever, what did I expect? But I'm about a dozen hours into the game, and it still seems like every third conversation with Roman contains references to titties or foursomes or whatever else. It's honestly just tiresome. There's a certain threshold for juvenile shit like this, and they are well past it.

[Jazar]

That's a shame. I was tired of it after the intro cutscene.

[zengonzo]

But that's Roman. That's Roman being juvenile - his character.

[Lum]

And he eventually calms down about the great American titties.

For those of us who play GTA4 mainly to hear Vladivostok FM, you can listen to it at work, too!

[BlueJackalope]

But that's Roman. That's Roman being juvenile - his character.

Gotta say....<SPOILER ALERT>










I thought it was a very effective when Roman got shot 'cause he wouldn't stop screaming.






<END SPOILER>

[Shadarr]

But that's Roman. That's Roman being juvenile - his character.

It's Roman, and Jacob, and The Men's Room, and radio ads, and the talk station.... At some point it's no longer just the characters, it's Rockstar.

[Wholly Schmidt]

It's Roman, and Jacob, and The Men's Room, and radio ads, and the talk station.... At some point it's no longer just the characters, it's Rockstar.

Amen. I'm glad I'm not the only one bugged by it. It's funny, when it comes to the tone of the games, Rockstar has the presentation and polish nailed, it doesn't feel fake or ring hollow, but a lot of it is still just very accomplished juvenile gags that sometimes make me embarrassed to play it around people that aren't gamers or 13. Saints Row was trying to hit the same tone in the humor, but it felt like it was designed by a committee of out of touch marketing guys and ended up feeling very forced.

Yet at the end of the day, GTA's "success" is just as annoying as Saints Row's failure.

[zengonzo]

It's Roman, and Jacob, and The Men's Room, and radio ads, and the talk station.... At some point it's no longer just the characters, it's Rockstar.

You're right. They do infuse the totality of the game with a bit of juvenile humor. And some less subtle humor.

But they also include subtler humor, and I think more often than not the juvenile humor is a reference to what we have in real life. We have thinly-veiled sexism plastered all over society, and they are simply pulling the veil off.

I can understand the annoyance, but every time I catch a hint of explicit juvenalia in the game I think of it as calling out the implicit juvenalia in reality.

Nico even criticizes these perspectives, particularly with Brucie and Roman.

Dunno', I think the humor goes deeper than the skin in these cases.

[Chuck Jordan]

Amen. I'm glad I'm not the only one bugged by it. It's funny, when it comes to the tone of the games, Rockstar has the presentation and polish nailed, it doesn't feel fake or ring hollow, but a lot of it is still just very accomplished juvenile gags that sometimes make me embarrassed to play it around people that aren't gamers or 13. Saints Row was trying to hit the same tone in the humor, but it felt like it was designed by a committee of out of touch marketing guys and ended up feeling very forced.

I dunno, I'm getting a similar vibe from GTA IV. It doesn't feel like what 14-year-olds think is cool and "edgy," it feels like what 30-year-olds think 14-year-olds think is cool and "edgy." At least with GTA III, you got the sense that it was a genuine, sniggering lack of class tacked onto this at-the-time innovative game engine. Now, it's just morning DJ or FX network lowest-common denominator crap that's annoying and incongruous with the rest of the world. It's a big, beautifully-realized game world filled with crap. See, the bowling alley logo looks like a cock and balls! How subversive! And don't even get me started on that "cabaret;" I hope I never have to go inside there again.

But I'm not just ragging on the game, yet again: I played for a couple of hours last night, doing a couple of missions and then putting them on hold just to drive around. And there's just no getting around how compelling it is to pick up a car or a motorcycle and drive around the city. I still wish there were a better game around it, but that experience is worth $60 right there, and I'm engrossed enough to want to get back into it and see how this story develops.

[Marcus]

You might think it is juvenile but it is a lot closer to how some people act in real life then you might think. Especially if you take in to account the type of people they are depicting.

[Skipper]

One thing is for certain. If we get a PC version of this the mods will be fun as shit. Such a huge open world just begging for mods.

[BlueJackalope]

It's Roman, and Jacob, and The Men's Room, and radio ads, and the talk station.... At some point it's no longer just the characters, it's Rockstar.

Yeah, most of it is as unfunny as it is over the top. I keep spamming the radio button when the news or the commercials come on.

I have to believe its the Housers who just think this stuff kills and no-one can edit their worst instincts.

[Shadarr]

I still like listening to the radio ads and news. A lot of it is funny, and some of it is good parody/satire. But there's a relentless misogynist tone to a lot of it that just wears on me. Either Rockstar is really down on women or else they're making fun of their fans. Either way, it's not good.

At least in Saints Row there were female homies and NPCs.

[RichardC]

Great. Finished Final Destination, and now I can't get down the street without a Disc Unreadable Error...

[zengonzo]

At least in Saints Row there were female homies and NPCs.

One of which was a stripper with giant tits with star pasties, a g-string and toting an AK ..

[ElGuapo]

*slight spoiler*

Nico has a conversation at one point with someone who asks if Roman will ever settle down and get married. He responds by saying that Roman still acts like a little boy and he's not sure if he'd make a good husband yet.

This is a breathe of fresh air to me. I like Nico the most of any GTA protagonist, so far. Not only is he cool and professional (they gave give a great back story and reason for being good at what he does), he's a a bit above the world around him. When the characters around him make gay jokes, for instance, he just rolls with it and doesn't stoop to their level. I wish more characters in the story were like this.

[Kevin Grey]

*slight spoiler*

Nico has a conversation at one point with someone who asks if Roman will ever settle down and get married. He responds by saying that Roman still acts like a little boy and he's not sure if he'd make a good husband yet.

This is a breathe of fresh air to me. I like Nico the most of any GTA protagonist, so far. Not only is he cool and professional (they gave give a great back story and reason for being good at what he does), he's a a bit above the world around him. When the characters around him make gay jokes, for instance, he just rolls with it and doesn't stoop to their level. I wish more characters in the story were like this.

*Slight Spoiler*

Yeah, I appreciated how Nico kind of put Roman in his place when he started going off about Mallory sleeping with Vlad. When confronted with why Nico didn't tell Roman about it, Nico basically responded with "Well gosh with all the sleeping around you do on her, I didn't really think you would care."


*End Spoiler

[JamesL]

I'm eight or nine hours into the story and I'm really not feeling it.

First of all, the first hour or so should be both a tutorial and a small showcase of the game itself, so it hooks you and you're compelled to keep playing. Instead, it's insufferably boring, and most of the first few missions are "drive to X," "pick up X," other missions that are essentially impossible to lose, and mandatory goddamn bowling (I still can't get over this).

As far as the story goes, I think the dialogue and characters are stiff and boring (nowhere nearly as good as, say, Psychonauts), but everyone else seems to love them. However, GTA4's gameplay changes are laughable. You can duck behind cover. That's it, really. The lock-on mechanics are poorly copied from Crackdown and then watered down, and they ultimately don't change much, because if you're in a situation where you really need to shoot a lot of people you're going to lock on and fire and lock on and fire just like San Andreas. The police search radius is mildly interesting, but there are so many cop cars roaming around that the chases play out pretty similarly to San Andreas. The GPS is convenient, but isn't mich else. GTA4 is totally and wholly devoid of any sort of significant gameplay innovation besides the ability to get behind something. Even the three or four dozen missions I've played so far are straight out of San Andreas (pick up this guy, drop him off here, have a chase sequence, follow this guy without spooking him, cover this guy with a sniper rifle).

To me, GTA4 feels like Madden. I'm basically playing the exact same game I did a few years ago, except with prettier pictures and the sandbox equivalent of "New, realistic pigskin ball makes you feel like you're really playing!" as the sum total of the game's new features.

[Lum]

Also, without spoiling anything, Roman's character does change as the game progresses.

I know Tom's said this as well, but if you're unhappy with the game, get to at least the Bohan missions (where you earn a second safehouse) before completely passing judgement. The story steps up and gets more mature, and the difficulty level in general starts to kick in (for example you can't just heist cars with impunity - last night I tried to jack a car in Russiatown and was swarmed by three nearby cars full of angry Russian mobsters who opened fire with Uzis. Guess I picked the wrong car to jack.)

[Chuck Jordan]

I like Nico the most of any GTA protagonist, so far. Not only is he cool and professional (they gave give a great back story and reason for being good at what he does), he's a a bit above the world around him. When the characters around him make gay jokes, for instance, he just rolls with it and doesn't stoop to their level.

I don't know about that; last night I sat through a long cutscene setting up the (first?) "Ivan the Terrible" mission, and Nico kept digging at Vlad, calling Ivan his boyfriend and asking him if he was going to give him a kiss, etc. I haven't seen any signs that any character is more or less "enlightened" than any other one.

[Jason Cross]

And he eventually calms down about the great American titties.

For those of us who play GTA4 mainly to hear Vladivostok FM, you can listen to it at work, too!

Sweet, the album is on Zune marketplace. Zune pass ahoy!

[zengonzo]

I don't know about that; last night I sat through a long cutscene setting up the (first?) "Ivan the Terrible" mission, and Nico kept digging at Vlad, calling Ivan his boyfriend and asking him if he was going to give him a kiss, etc. I haven't seen any signs that any character is more or less "enlightened" than any other one.

Yes, he does stoop a few times. Don't we all? I still think his tone is more mature and discerning than most of the characters around him.

[Wholly Schmidt]

I still like listening to the radio ads and news. A lot of it is funny, and some of it is good parody/satire. But there's a relentless misogynist tone to a lot of it that just wears on me. Either Rockstar is really down on women or else they're making fun of their fans. Either way, it's not good.

At least in Saints Row there were female homies and NPCs.

Yeah, and there was some funny stuff on TV too. But you're dead on about how it just wears on you.

[IndridCold]

I'm glad I'm not the only one feeling worn down by the constant barrage of juvenille sex humor. It's almost like the guys who wrote it have never actually been in a relationship.....

[VERY MINOR SPOILER]



I'm not too far into the game (haven't gotten yet to this aforementioned 2nd safehouse), but the worst offender so far has been the driver of car that Roman dispatches when you call him as ask for Car Service. Almost arbitrary injection of the word 'pussy' 3 or 4 times into every sentence causes my wife to give me grief over the nonense dialog coming from the television. It's getting embarassing for me to have to keep saying "Yeah, but the gameplay itself is awesome!" over and over to her in order to justify my playing it.


[/END MINOR SPOILER]