My one true gripe with GTA IV

[ainsz]

Now it seems we all had our complaints with GTA IV. wether it be the new serious tone, the new driving mechanics, lack of planes etc. I feel that most of us adapted well to this new approach to GTA games. I at first depised the the new driving mechanics but today I love them and prefer them so much more than last gen GTAs and I hope Rockstar don't trade them in for something simple. I had other initial complaints with GTA IV that have since become features that I now adore, but there is one problem that I have never got over.

 

Niko Bellic. He's the well crafted, deep character we can all connect to. He was interesting, although sometimes a tad dreary, his history told a quality story that had reached Liberty City and allowed us to witness it's climax. For me however, that's the problem. GTA has always been about freedom, having the ability to stray away from the plot and reek havoc on the city in anyway you wish. Obviously you could just go on a quite stroll around, or a shopping spree at Amu-Nation but that was your choice but in the end we all wanted to go on a rampage. My point is in GTA IV, having this seemingly fragile character that was already cemented in with a history, personality and morals, doing some crazy sh*t felt rather odd. When ever i was speeding through the streets of Algonguin, running peds. over, I had a massive smile on my face while in my head I have this picture of Niko in the passenger seat with his arms crossed and disappointed expression on his face. That was the problem it was always like I was separated from Niko when doing my own thing, like you was always dragging him along with you, yet while doing the missions I was really connected with him. That's all fine until you've completed the missions but then what? After the main story I just felt like leaving Niko to it and let him go bowling with his friends while I ventured off in to multiplayer free roam. Of course there I could play as a faceless character and do what ever, in free roam that character was a GTA me.

 

Now I'm not saying I want a faceless protagonist in GTA V, but someone more akin to Tommy Vercetti. He was cool, had a personality and was interesting. But there was also room to make him into the character you wanted him to be, and it wouldn't mess up the whole plot. Tommy Vercetti fitted in any where. After a mission of taking mercedes to a strip club, it felt normal to immediately go beat an old lady with a bat. However the great thing was it felt normal if you didn't aswell. After a mission you could go do anything and go back to the story whenever, the whole game flowed together amazingly. In GTA Vice City you were Tommy Vercetti or in San Andreas You were CJ even if the game was a bit over the top, San Andreas was a place where you could be over the top, also I think all the customisation options in SA were put in so you could make CJ into more of a GTA you. Instead of you playing as Niko Bellic, who was already fully made for you. It's like Rockstar created a real deep character so you could connect to home easily but instead just created barriers. I've always felt that Niko would fit well in a game similar to Heavy Rain that is fully story focused.

 

So in GTA V, I'm hoping for a more open protagonist, that isn't afraid to go killing prostitutes but is also interesting. However, if the narrator from the teaser is the main character, then I'm not keeping my hopes up high as he speaks of having kids and a wife. Of course I'm still super excited for the game and I still love GTA IV, this is just my thoughts on how charcters limit a game like GTA. I'd appreciate to see what you think, I don't expect you to agree with me. I hope my post is well written and I got my point across. I've proof read but it isn't great when on an iPhone..

[Ryan]

You could have easily used one of the existing protagonist topics. No need to create a brand new topic just for a rant.

 

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