Grand Theft Auto IV (Warning: Spoilers)

So I'm done (with the story at least). All in all, a bittersweet ending (with either the Deal or Revenge option). I'd have to say though, the Revenge option provides the less bitter ending. Though Kate was a sweet lass, the relationship with her seemed to be going nowhere. But still, she was much better company than Alex, Kiki and Carmen combined. I'll miss her.

I don't think I'll attempt to do 100% completion though (I've never managed that with any of the prior games in any case). So what to play now....

 

Apparently if you sleep in your safehouse with a wanted level to get rid of it, your cars will be 'taken by the police.' Maybe that's what happened to mine...

 

There's another possibility: you were driving around, you parked your car on your safehouse, but went on to do something else without saving in there first. You saved elsewhere (whether on another safehouse or via the auto-save when completing a mission/task) and then saved again to get rid of a wanted level. Thus, suddenly a car you thought was safely parked may have misteriously dissapeared for no good reason. I think the same thing happened on previous installments of the series; where you had to 'secure' a car in your safehouse's parking by saving at that safehouse you just parked it in.

 

Like I said, that's not what happened because the car had been there for several reloads.

 

Well, if the cops actually impound your car(s) if you sleep/save to get rid of a wanted level, then that's both one humorous and annoying little feature I wasn't aware of.

 

OK, am I the only one who actually LIKES Kate, at least as far as her role in the grander scheme is concerned?

Once I got over the fact that the game absolutely means it when she says early on that she and Niko are "just friends," she becomes, more than anyone else Niko comes across, the game's conscience. Packie's regrets over how his family turned out just compound it. That one phone call you get after Pegorino's dead is just such the ****ing heartbreaker as a result.

I'm hoping the DLC gives us some more stuff to buy. I ended up with over 700 grand in my pocket. But there's that one mission that pays out over $200G, I think. I was still kinda shocked when the "500G +" Achievement popped up.

I only fracked up on "Out of Commission" because I kept blowing through the section of road blocked by the Mafia cars, and going back out onto the street instead of finding the ramp (that jump being the best part of the mission, I might add). Once I got in the helicopter and realized that the goal -- in typical GTA bull**** fashion -- is to follow Pegorino, not shoot him in the boat, things were fine.

It's a weak-sauce final mission (especially when "A Dish Best Served Cold" is so very, very great), but the ending in and of itself is thematically satisfying. Will try the "Money" ending tomorrow.

(While I'm here, I'd like to toss a kind, respectful "**** YOU!!" to the [guy] at Rockstar who had the bright idea of making a bridge in Alderney where I quite literally have about 6 inches of clearance for the helicopter the only barrier between me and the "Under The Radar" Achievement.)

 

^That bridge is made even worse by the fact that if the helicopter even barely touches the water it gets sucked it no matter how furiously you pull the right trigger.

 

I rather liked Kate, but losing only her is far more palatable than losing both Roman and Kate if you go for the money mission. I do think though that the finale missions for the deal are a bit more challenging, especially the final aerial chase and shootout at Happiness Island.

At the end though, you'll get a call from Kate, telling you how sorry she is for all that went down and telling you to call her if you need to talk or naything. However, she doesn't pickup the phone ever if you decide to call her, so wth?

 

I chose the Revenge route, because it is much more satisfying. Plus, Kate was annoying anyway.

 

Man, I wish this thread had HTR spoilers. I'd like to talk about it, but I can't in here because I haven't completed the game yet.

 

The revenge ending is the way to go. No one should even bother with the deal ending. Getting to kill Pegorino and Dimitri was great. The wedding shooting is much better, also. I never really bought Niko's reaction to what happens if you take the deal. Jeez, Roman dies and Niko's only reaction is to shoot and kick the hitman after he's already dead? Plus, he loses Kate anyway. It was a bummer.

I also really liked how the internet provided a bit of extra closure on the story with the articles about Bryce Dawkins' "scandal" and Jon Gravelli.

 

...And, it seems, we're going to have to wait a bit longer for the GTA IV DLC:

---

[color=blue][b]Extra GTA IV Content Bumped to Holidays
The Xbox 360-exclusive episodic DLC slips a bit.

by Ryan Geddes

June 5, 2008 -[/b] Microsoft and Take-Two made headlines when they announced last year that they'd be joining forces to release [i]Grand Theft Auto IV[/i] downloadable content exclusively for the Xbox 360.

That content was supposed to arrive this fall, sometime between August and October. But GTA IV publisher Take-Two Interactive said in its quarterly financial statement today that the DLC has been pushed to the start of company's next fiscal year, which runs from November 2008 through January 2009.

The decision was made to "provide a better balance in Take-Two's release schedule," company officials said. [i]Midnight Club: Los Angeles[/i], another upcoming Rockstar Games title, is set for release on Sept. 9 for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

Take-Two and Rockstar are still mum about what exactly gamers can expect from the GTA IV downloadable content, although the company does officially refer to it as "episodic."[hr][/color][/blockquote]
So, I gotta ask everyone...what special ability do you think Kate would've given Niko, anyway?

Superpowers when drunk. She is Irish, after all. It would turn the game into [i]Crackdown in Liberty City[/i]. It would be the ****ing coolest thing ever.

She'd probably let you kick her back door in, [i]Carlito's[/i]-style.

Anyone else find it weird that when Kate turns your advances down, there's this long pause of the two of them sitting in the car together...and then she gets out? Maybe there's some kind of "Kiss-Kate-on-the-Cheek" code.

 

I read that it's only being pushed back about a month or so, so that Take-Two can use it to beef up their next fiscal year. It will be still make it's "fall '08" release date because it will be out in November instead of October.

I read all that on Gamesradar.com

 

GTA story:

So, I was in the internet cafe the other day, checking my email to see if Alex had responded to my inquiries off of craplist. Nothing came in. So I started surfing the internet and came to a website advertising child beauty pageants. Clicked on the link and was immediately taken to an LCPD webpage informing me that an office would be visiting my location shortly. I walk out of the internet cafe and I immediately have a 5 star wanted level. I hop on my bike and flee. After eluding the cops on the streets I took my bike to the vicinity of a stunt jump pointed out to the water. I hit the jump, land in the water and evade the cops by swimming out to the middle of the harbor.

I stand amazed at the depth this game offers.

 

[image=http://www.penny-arcade.com/images/2008/20080502.jpg]

 

I just finished it on the PS3. I chose the 'revenge' route, and I'm glad I did.

Kate was terribly annoying.

 

LOL. I gotta try that one. I really havent bothered to surf the game's net that much. Wonder what happens if you try to buy meds off that Mexican site...

 

The Sun "paper" is a **** tabloid that isn't even worth being used to line a bird's cage.

There's also a "Free James Pedeaston!" website, since he is in prison, in Bali. You may remember him from the "Wild Traveller" radio show in GTA: San Andreas. (The Thai-ladyboy accusation stuff on that site is especially howlingly funny.)

Also, is that Jim Norton as the Warcraft player who hates Christmas cards on WKTT? That bit is hilarious.

 

There are too many chase missions! I HATE chase missions!

I'm a little disappointed with the missions in general to be honest. I enjoy just exploring and messing around the most - how far into the game until Alderney is unlocked?

 

It's right after 3 Leaf Clover, which is a mission for Packie. Dunno where you're up to though, so can't say how far it is. I thought it was on par with the other games though.

 

I've just finished my second mission with Packie, so I shouldn't be far off.

 

Yeah, Alderney is unlocked after "Three Leaf Clover" (one of the best missions of the game, along with "To live and Die in Alderney"), because that's the last Packie mission and then you're prompted to go help out that miserable smack-head brother of his, Derrick, who's slumming in Alderney.

 

So I decided to try the 100% completion thingie. Now I've reached 20 level vigilante, completed more than quite a few of the Most Wanted hits, popped more than half of the flying rats and doing the stunt jumps when I can find them. Yet my completion level only at about 87% Now I thought popping the pigeons, doing the jumps and completing the most wanted hits allotted for just about 10% or less of the completion thingie. Am I missing something here?

 

Have you:
done all the races?
Stolen all the cars (Brucie and Steve)?
Become friends with everyone?
Done every activity with everyone?