A little comparison

[Rhazzy]

i know most of u heard about Saint Row 2...its the rival of GTA as open sand box play game...ived tryed it today and i saw that the grapichs are way bellow those of GTA IV and i thought...man this game is going to run at 60 fps on my pc...well for my surprise it didnt...i have 25-30 fps ingame,on high settings/without AA(30 fps most of the time)...Well the thing is if u try to play GTA IV at those fps u will prolly realize that the game is unplayable...but in SR 2 is not the case,even at those fps the game is smooth and there is no lag.Anyhow,looking now at GTA IV(in wich i have 60 fps in some areas and about 40-50 rest of the time)with his stuning grapichs and at SR 2 with his poor grapichs(but with a much better story line & game play,as i heard)i have to say that R* did a hell of a job with GTA IV...so yeah there are games out there that perform worst than GTA IV !

[Benevolent]

I've heard that SR2 is more fun and has better variety than GTAIV, but is almost as equally spec hungry and the graphics are nothing to write home about.

 

Meh. I think I'll play through GTA first before deciding if I want to try it out.

 

I bought a new pc a week ago and it arrived today - the Chillblast Fusion Osiris, as per this link, albeit with a couple of modifications (changed the motherboard and added extra psu and cooling, but everything else the same)

 

http://www.chillblast.com/product.php?prod...04&cat=0&page=1

 

Installed GTAIV this afternoon, full of advanced fear based on what I'd read about the game, but I have to say it runs sweetly at the automatically detected settings (mostly medium across the board). Fraps shows average FPS of around 30, often more like 35. which might seem low but doesn't when you're playing. In fact, rather the opposite - its smooth and slidey and fun all the way.

 

Sure, the installation is a right ball-ache and there's the odd glitch in textures now and then, but nothing that gets in the way of the game mechanics and the truly immersive, living and breathing nature of the iconic city Rockstar have created.

 

I can understand and appreciate that others with different specs have had a multitude of issues, ranging from the minor to the spectacular, and from that point of view I guess Rockstar should have invested more time and expertise in their transfer from the consoles, but I can only speak for myself when I say this game is a masterpiece of storytelling, open world freedom and a graphic design that regularly leaves me slack-jawed in awe. And I do wonder whether some of the carping about not being able to run it with everything maxed out is a little bit sour grapes from those who think their machine should kick ass at whatever they throw at it. Sure, its got to hurt when you've spent so much on a piece of kit only to find its gonna need even more cash sinking into it (especially in these times), but thats PCs for ya. If you always appeal to the lowest common demoninator, you'll go the way of the X Box and PS3 crowd and you'll never see much innovation and envelope-pushing. Funnily enough, its the first GTA game I've played in any format since I was addicted to Vice City on my ancient PC years ago. To place the two side by side is to really see how far technology and gaming has come. Which is either comforting or scary, I don't know.

 

Ultimately, I've no hesitations in recommending this to anyone who has a machine that can play it. That might seem like a truism and damning the game with faint praise, but its not meant that way. Its a classic, and it gets my two thumbs up.

 

Having said all that, I bet it crashes and lags like buggery on me tomorrow. I'm cursed like that.

[thales100]

Ultimately, I've no hesitations in recommending this to anyone who has a machine that can play it. That might seem like a truism and damning the game with faint praise, but its not meant that way. Its a classic, and it gets my two thumbs up.

 

 

I agree 110%.