Let’s Take a Look Back at Grand Theft Auto IV – The Most Serious Game in the GTA Series

Not long ago, PC gamers celebrated the release of GTA V on their hardware, and it was this production from Rockstar that managed to capture the attention of most of the fans. Hovewer, it wasn't the only notable event that occurred at roughly the same time. Almost exactly seven years ago Grand Theft Auto IV hit the market following a long wait. The game was by all means unique, not only because of its impressive scale and great attention to detail, but also the introduction of a very specific atmosphere, completely different from what had defined the series before. The console edition of this title met with an amazing reception, and even though few people seem to be aware of it, it was the second highest scoring game in history, with an average rating of 98/100. Second only to the Nintendo 64 version of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, it did one notch better that its successor, GTA V. Such results are not achieved by chance, although it's hard to deny that the game was not to everyone's liking. This resulted from a completely different emphasis of the narrative. Rather than a light-hearted atmosphere, we received a dark, heavy story, which was something unexpected of GTA. However, it wasn't the only aspect that intrigued critics and millions of fans around the world. What else made the production deserve such a unique position in the history of video games?

It Starts As Any Other Story…

First of all, we should mention the open world structure. Of course, this feature had already been present in the previous productions from Rockstar, but in the case of GTA IV the developers positively outdid themselves. And they did it in every possible aspect of the production. The size of Liberty City triggered a massive jaw-dropping reaction. Add the amount of stuff we could do in almost every corner of the city, and we get a sandbox so complete that it was only after the release of the game’s continuation that we received a title of a similar scale. It’s also impossible to overlook the details, which were numerous in the metropolis itself. You could see that the streets had a “soul” and were unique, and the people filling them were actually "alive". While visiting Liberty City one had an impression of traversing an authentic giant city. Only the best games manage to achieve this effect.

Liberty City was truly astounding in terms of its size and diversity.

In the end, however, it wasn't just the attention to each and every possible detail that triggered such a fantastic reception of GTA IV. This was also brought about by a whole series of gameplay-related solutions. Even though they constituted an extension of the solutions that Rockstar had already developed, this time they were enhanced and pushed to their limits. The most notable example is the option of using a phone. This element, already present in the previous installments, made its way to GTA IV, but thanks to a "simple" trick and the addition of several new options, its function changed completely. The mobile phone was no longer just a tool used in the narrative, but became a device that enabled us to delve even further into the world around us: we could call a friend, receive a text, look up information, call an ambulance, or switch to multiplayer... In other words, this simple gadget turned into a mini communication and command center, which did a lot more than just help us immerse deeper into the story. To make things even more interesting, we were also given the option to change the ringtone and wallpapers on our smartphone. Such a tiny detail would normally be of no consequence but becomes quite significant when we take into account that GTA IV in its entirety is composed of such minuscule, polished elements. This is where the game shows what it’s really made of.