User Score
6.0 out of 10

Mixed or average reviews- based on 1367 Ratings

User score distribution:

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  1. MartinZ.
    Sep 17, 2009
    9
    I like it how the most users here whine about the shitty performance on their pcs. Well yes, the game requires a very powerful pc to run it smooth, yes, the game requires windows live ( which sucks, but you can make a offline profile to save your game), yes the game requires the shitty social club for multiplayer (which i dont play, so i turned it off), yes it comes with the motherfucking secure rom. BUT the game itself is addictive and beautiful. I can play it on my i7 920@2.67GHz and my gtx260 and 6gig of ram on all very high settings without a single crash and with decent fps. I played the game many days for now and not one bug occured to me. Besides of the damned programs you need to play it its a very very good game. I didnt enjoyed most of the gangster movies that i watched in my entire live that much than this game. And no, I am not a fanboy, I work hard for my money, and no, you dont need 5000 bucks to play this game, i payed 1000;) Surely a lot of the low rating user out there cant afford a new or at least a good pc;) And why i gave 9 instead of 10? Coz of the missing AA in the game which make look the shadows and a lot of the texture a little bit outdated. Expand
  2. Mwargh!
    Jan 12, 2010
    6
    The port is horrible. Graphics look horrible when not driving around (then the game actually looks great) in your car that loses grip at every corner. Euphoria is really fun, but not long lasting fun. The controls are quite horrible at times, the main character is boring, NPCs are luckily much better made, quite a few missions are just tedious and the cellphone and "friends" are retarded. I have no interest in playing mini-games, ever. The story would be good, if only the missions weren't so shitty that you often forgot why you were even doing them. But, it was fun at quite a few times, and once you imagine that perhaps the rubber factory in town sucks at making tires, driving gets quite fun. You still wish Niko could shift gears properly though. All in all, even with all the shit hiding in every corner, there is the fact that I did actually enjoy the game quite often. It's not a bad game, but it's not really a good game either, there is little from the previous GTA games to be found, but somehow I feel like "at least they tried". A weak 6. Expand
  3. JeffL
    Jan 19, 2010
    9
    This game has gotten a lot of flak for its terribad optimization, which when the game launched I hear was almost as bad as the word I used to describe it. The complaint was that you need a quad core processor, and it's been more than a year now, so Rockstar has done something to make it work quite well on my computer with a Pentium D 3.4 (OC'd to 3.62). The game is beautiful even on medium settings and ~20% view distance, the textures fairly shoddy in spots, but not a huge problem because the beauty comes from elsewhere. The focus is on the world itself and its overall feel, the people getting into fights because of a fender bender that has nothing to do with you. Nuts mumbling to themselves or making prophesies that you can listen to or not. They don't care, they've got their own lives. The physics engine is the real star on the technical side, and is so detailed and realistic that combined with the incredibly detailed design of Liberty City itself we have a real world here - a world that competes with the best MMORPG's for immersion. The narrative is fantastic, and the characters are some of the funniest and most vivid I've seen (and I've only played about 10 hours). This you've all heard, though, so I just want to respond to all the scathing reviews made a year ago and say that Rockstar's fixed the game's major problems, and any dual core processor should serve you well. If you picked this up on Steam's holiday sale like me you're lucky, now start playing if you haven't already! Expand
  4. magnetmanca
    May 17, 2010
    9
    I like this game a lot. I've played GTAIV for years and I still think it has some playability in it. Most people back in the day probably had slow PC's when this game was first brought out but now cpu's are way better, especially when you have a Phenom to boot. The Graphics kick the crap out of any previous GTA, plus the people are more life-like than in San Andreas. The Car handling IS great more realistic than before, and anyone who says otherwise probably never drove a car before. The only things I'm missing is some of the stuff they took out from San Andreas like flying airplanes, you only have helicopters. If they could make an expantion pack that had a whole new city that you fly to via the airport that would be awesome. (hint hint) Expand
  5. ColbyA.
    Dec 13, 2008
    4
    I have not played the game myself on PC - though I have on Xbox - but I have done some research on the game, and thought it would be good to explain the likely reason GTAIV has such low scores here. In case you're reading this and haven't done your research, GTAIV for the PC is a poorly executed port and is riddled with glitches and bugs. The game is as good as the 360 version, but wait until some patches come out to repair the poor programming! Expand
  6. JaredJ.
    Dec 16, 2008
    0
    Here is the perfect example of what is wrong with the world today. Titles like this screams; "PLAY ME AND YOU THINK YOU CAN REALLY DO IT!!" And sadly 82% of the time people think they really can. This needs to stop and should have been stopped a long time ago, I will fight Rockstar to the death on "G.T.A. V" but so far it's a rumor that I'm afraid might become all to real. This offers nothing but meaningless, mindless chaos based off of the world that this garbage started. Expand
  7. ChristopherS.
    Dec 16, 2008
    0
    Unplayable due to bugs on two seperate PCs. My personal review scale is based upon quality of product on release. Of course, even after the first patch, the game still insists I have a XBox 360 controller on my PC, and has a camera that is stuck in a constant rotate mode. That, and 50% of the time, it fails to load textures. This is after a patch. A verify of game integrity on Steam then caused the game to stop starting entirely with a "Failed to contact key server" error, likely some combination of errors from both Activision and Steam servers. Do not buy this game on PC before doing your research. If you have an X-Box 360, purchase it there and save yourself the hassle. This game is fantastic on XBox 360, but PC users just can't get to the content for the ridiculous number of bugs. Buyer beware. Expand
  8. JosephV.
    Dec 16, 2008
    0
    Broken, Does not even work. The game crashes after 3min of playing it, NO fixes. Also the graphics and shadows are terrible and there is no AA, instead you get a blurring effect which like it says just blurs everything instead, making things even worse.
  9. TuureO
    Dec 18, 2008
    2
    This game doesn't deserve anybody's money. I had to download 5 different applications, register to many clubs before even being able to play it, and after that i still got a error message. Then when i started the game, and changed the resolution and refresh rate (1600x1200, 85 Hz) The screen went black saying "Sync out of range", so clearly, my screen can't handle that much of refresh rate, but the thing is, i couldn't not change them back since all I could see was black. Absolutely ridiculous. After few weeks when not getting any useful help from rockstar, i had to think of something. Then, i thought maybe i should take few screenshots of the menu, and it worked. The screen was black, but i could take screenshots of it. This way i was able to navigate through the menu with sounds and pictures. The game itself is great, buggy and heavier than crysis, but after that much of trouble, it doesn't matter how good the game is. 2/10. Expand
  10. OveS.
    Dec 18, 2008
    1
    Never got this game to work. No help from support. Bought it through Steam and their forum is full of people with the same problems. The PC port was not ready to be released.
  11. RobertD.
    Dec 2, 2008
    10
    This game is incredible and has far surpassed my expectations. The sheer quantity of what's on offer is only surpassed by the quality with which it is pulled off. There have been only improvements made since the console versions so why is it getting such a low average compared to those versions. Reviewers should review the pc version as stand alone and the fact it's already been seen on consoles should not have any impact on their rating. Pull your socks up reviewers, it's only gotten better since the April releases and they pulled in averages of 98%! Expand
  12. JamesL
    Dec 20, 2008
    5
    It's a nice game, if only it utilized the PC better! Low draw distances, the inability to tweak graphical settings to get a balance between frame rate and eye candy lowers the score. In terms of gameplay it is good old GTA with a huge open world concept but with a minimum requirements PC everything goes downhill. Quite unfortunate because they should have made it a little more customizable (in terms of graphical options etc) so that most gamers could enjoy the game better. Expand
  13. KurtH
    Dec 22, 2008
    0
    Core2Duo e6600 OC'd to 3.5ghz, 4 gig g.skill RAM, Win XP SP3, 8800 Ultra 768mb. Game runs terribly. Just like everybody else says, this is one of the worst console ports to PC I've ever seen. Ever. I'm not sure what's worse....lazy Rockstar developers or incompetent Rockstar developers...but it's one or the other. Even with low settings, the framerates are horrible. I have the latest nVidia beta driver recommended for the game and keep my PC in top condition (no spyware, defragged, etc.) I can play Far Cry 2 with max settings at 1680x1050 widescreen and get consistent 40-60 frames per second. I play this game on minimum settings and get below 20 frames per second? That tells you something right there. Not to mention the fact that the interface by itself looks and feels so clunky, that it's obvious there was absolutely no work done on this game to make it PC friendly. Previous GTA ports to the PC seemed very lazy as well, so I figured they would have learned their lesson and made this one spectacular. I was very very wrong. Rockstar should be completely ashamed of themselves. If a second patch (and probably fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh patch) doesn't completel eliminate the framerate and other issues, it will be completely obvious that Rockstar has given up on PC gaming altogether. Expand
  14. hankhank
    Dec 23, 2008
    10
    best game
  15. DanB
    Dec 24, 2008
    1
    Good game, BAD optimized, CRAP Rockstar support. I give 1 for this. PC games needs attention, not a poor port.
  16. KurtS
    Dec 24, 2008
    3
    The actual game is pretty fun and entertaining, and at this point I expect to continue playing it. I have not had any severe technical problems. However, the overall product is awful and frustrating enough I had to vent by writing this review. The graphics and performance is terrible. Rockstar has claimed this is a "next generation" game and current generation hardware is only capable of playing the game on "medium" settings. If that is true, the game should at least look and perform like a current generation game on current generation hardware, but that isn't the case at all. It uses DirectX 9. There is no anti-aliasing. Shadows flicker and look horrible. Textures and character models lack detail. Frame rates are sub-25 on recommend settings. Options to customize graphic detail is limited. Aside from graphical issues, this game requires you to join two online networks (Games for Windows, Rockstar Social Club) for full functionality. There is no option to turn off "mouse-look" when driving a car, which makes driving extremely difficult. You must manually turn the camera using the mouse at the same time you are steering the car. Loading times are rather slow compared to other games. Purchased through Steam, the game does not include a manual and there is no easy reference for all the instructions, moves, and tips that only come up only one time in-game. To sum it up, it looks, feels and plays like a bad port of an older console game. I'd give the game itself at least a 7, but this as an overall product deserves no more than a 3. Expand
  17. FotisJ.
    Dec 25, 2008
    4
    This is supposed to be a satire on capitalist greed, and it is but not only in the way the creators intended it to be: Rockstar is bent to create its own community channel and everybody who wants to play has to join them. The same goes for Microsoft's Games for Windows live. You cannot even save your game without being logged in both 'clubs'. Not to mention the technical problems etc. In the end they will blame the pc as a difficult platform for games instead their own incompetence. Expand
  18. WimHermans
    Dec 25, 2008
    10
    Notwithstanding the ridiculous high requirements from PC side, game is just the best made until today. Great job, everyting is possible! If you can play it you ll enjoy. but not many people will be able to play it thats the biggest prob
  19. jp
    Dec 26, 2008
    5
    This game could be a 10 if Rockstar wasn't so lazy. They made the most graphically demanding game out for the pc right now, and they didn't include the option of utilizing dual video cards. Also the control options are extremely weak, especially for the helicopter. The fact that you can only map one key per control is just pathetic, and the fact that the game won't recognize a joystick is incredibly weak also. But, it's still fun to kill time and the story line is great, just too much to detract from the score until they patch the current problems. *Also, I'm running Vista 64 and with the new patch just released to make the online play work, I have to run the game in compatibility mode for Windows 2000..... that's just really lazy on rockstars part, considering they don't seem to be rushing towards any solutions judging by what I've read lately. Expand
  20. Marmoo
    Dec 26, 2008
    5
    i agree with what has been said here on both sides of the arguement
    i will give it a 5 for now as i installed it and game ran and it looks superb but what has been declared on the box for spec is a load of bollocks...you need a quick proccessor(s), VERY LARGE ram and big hard drive and graphics gard...i got it all except ram (i got 1.5 RAM) so off out to buy at least another 2 gig of ram for me
  21. JimboS.
    Dec 3, 2008
    5
    After such a cracking debut on the consoles, the PC version has turned out to be nothing more than a poorly ported turd. This release reeks of a Christmas cash-in rush job. Numerous forums across the internet discussing the PC release will attest to the dismal performance issues experienced across the spectrum. Even the most highly spec'd rigs crumble before this shitty beta release. Thanks for cashing in Rockstar. I don't think I'll be supporting your products in the future. Expand
  22. MattT
    Dec 30, 2008
    9
    This is a great game. I dunno what all the problems were that people were having with the copy protection or Rockstar Social Club, but I didn't hit any major hurdles getting this game up and running. It installed fine on my up-to-date install of Windows Vista Ultimate 32-bit. Took a minute to make my account for Rockstar and Games for Windows, but the game started up fine and ran fine. Sure, I do have a good video card and the game isn't running at full-detail, but it's a very resource-hungry game. Think about it, the engine renders a LOT at once running around in the city. Multiplayer works great and I've been having a blast playing Mafiya Work. The only thing that is ruining the game is people cheating in multiplayer, but hopefully that'll get sorted out. Expand
  23. cappie2000
    Dec 4, 2008
    10
    One of the most anticipated games of 2008; the controls are perfect, the sound and graphics are stunning!.. the storyline is the best I've ever seen in a game so far, and its my favorite genre: free roaming, mission driven gameplay.. This game has everything I want from a game, therefor, it gets a perfect 10 from me!
  24. RegretfulB.
    Dec 4, 2008
    2
    I have every reason to believe there is a great game in here somewhere. Unfortunately, the ludicrous system requirements that in no way justify ok-but-not-better-than-everything-else-out-there visuals render the game almost completely on playable on all but the lowest settings, which makes the game look even worse. Don't buy this game. It's insulting to think people are changing money for a product that was clearly unfinished by uncaring designers. Expand
  25. AJM.
    Dec 5, 2008
    0
    The "minimum spec requirements" seems to be a complete lie. I figured since my computer met those I could play it at the lowest settings comfortably. Instead after upgrading all my drivers/ installing securom and all the other garbage rockstar requires the game still crashes my computer when I tell it to launch. Basically I paid $50 to install useless 3rd party software and a game that freezes my computer when I try loading it. Expand
  26. HugoC.
    Dec 5, 2008
    9
    Great game, great graphics, best pc game of the year. For those how rated this game with lower scores, because they can't run this game on highst settings, please read the technical support from rockstar website. This masterpiece was made to be playable with more great graphics in the future. Now with the medium settings you can enjoy a better quality than the consoles version. This is a real good game. Expand
  27. PeterH.
    Dec 5, 2008
    0
    This is an abomination in PC world, not a game. On top of DRM, you have to be signed in in two separate online services for multiplayer and game saving. The buginnes of this release is almost epic. And then publishers will blame piracy, instead of looking in the mirror.
  28. FrancescoP
    Dec 5, 2008
    3
    Somebody have already called this the WORST PORT EVER, and I can just, sadly, agree... My pc (athlon X2 2.8Ghz, 2Gb ram, ati HD3850 512Mb, XP sp3) can run fairly well games like crysis, grid, fallout 3 and anything else, even with AA turned on, and believe me, gta 4 graphic is not even close as shiny as that of those games... But somebody must have rushed things a little too much to deliver this game before xmas, and the result is this embarassing alpha release of a game which will take a long long time to fix and still, I guess, will inexplicably suffer from poor performance... Too bad rockstargames. Tomorrow I'm taking the game back to the store. Expand
  29. MattS
    Dec 5, 2008
    2
    Words cannot describe how disappointing and annoyed this game has made me. Not only does it have the most painful install experience I have ever encountered, it takes 10minutes to load every time you play. Then the textures and buildings dont show up. Unplayable. It is also necessary to navigate through the awful rockstar *social* club interface each time the game is loaded. The social club is also set by default to load on startup. Avoid until this is patched. I cannot emphasis this enough. Really, what went wrong? Not cool Rockstar. Expand
  30. JohnS.
    Dec 5, 2008
    2
    I have a 9800 GX2 OCX, a Liquid Cooled Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 running at 3.6GHZ. 4 gigs of Crucial Ballistix PC2-8500, and a EVGA 780i motherboard, and i cant seem to get over 14 frames per second. And for some reason the game wont let me use all 1 gig of video memory my card has, it says i only have 498mb?! And it restricts me from putting any of the settings higher if it uses over that amount. So all i got was a big laggy city with cars that drive like they are airboats. Expand
  31. SergeyR.
    Dec 5, 2008
    2
    I played this game on xbox 360 but i wanted it to get on pc only beacause of the playability, the highest resolution and the ''more fps'' but i was really disapointed. the game itself is awsome but i currently have xp professionnal 2.5 g of ram a sli 8800 ultra and a quad core 3.6 ghz and i have BIG troubles get more then 40 fps in mid graphic settings. THE GAME IS MORE HEAVY THAN CRYSIS!?!?!?!? and there is no, even in max graphic settings, comparaison between the two games in term of graphics. Expand
  32. MattR
    Dec 6, 2008
    1
    This game has the potential to be absolutely great, but it falls flat on its face. I've tried to enjoy it, but he blatant memory leak which this engine has has me restarting every half hour to clear out whatever it is that is cluttering up my system resources. After a few missions, be prepared for stutters and frame drops to unacceptable levels - if you could even get them to an acceptable level to begin with. Top end systems cannot run this thing at medium settings and achieve over 30 fps. The decision, as well by Rockstar to use a lighting system which does not allow for ingame Antialiasing nor does it allow for forcing it in the control panel is, to say the least, astounding in its ineptness. Jagged edges are on everything: cars, buildings, signs, vegetation...the great draw distance is useless as everything in the distance shimmers from lack of AA support. The shadows used are horrendous and there is no scalability options to turn them off, leaving you with blobs of black that look like a bad spray paint job. Rockstar did give us an option to turn on motion blur in game, unfortunately it just superimposes a blurry overlay to the entire world, making it look like your viewing the game with less than 20/20 vision. Long story short, this is the worst console to PC port I have ever seen and Rockstar should be ashamed. It is obvious they are completely out of touch with PC gamers and quite frankly, if this is the outcome, please Rockstar, stick to console games....we dont' want you. Stay away until it is positive that patches fix this error lest you face the utter disappointment so many of us have already. Expand
  33. ChrisV.
    Dec 6, 2008
    0
    You are forced to sign up to games for windows live and rockstar social club to run the game. You are forced to be logged into games for windows live in order to SAVE you game. You have to have the disc in to play. You have to be logged into both accounts to play online. The game runs terribly even on supercomputers.
  34. A.N.O.
    Dec 8, 2008
    5
    bugs,Bugs,BUGS!!! so many glitches and bugs that it was almost unplayable. and if you take in account that i have a superb pc with a 9800 GX2 graphics card, 2.4 quad core cpu, and a 4 GB Ram and it still didnt work properly... i have it on the 360 and i got it as an early christmas present, and i was really disappointed. another could have been. (oh yeah, and look at the difference between the critics and users score; weird?) Expand
  35. AliA.
    Dec 8, 2008
    0
    Although the installation was easy thanks to Steam, everything you've heard about the graphics and performance bugs are true. My game runs, but with broken light-effects. I'm truly annoyed at Rockstar for prematurely shooting their wad and creating this retarded bug-ridden port.
  36. MichaelG.
    Dec 8, 2008
    3
    No support for any other controller but microsofts...What BS is that?!?! Required to install C0ckstar social network and winblows live just to play single player?? Not to mention i get a fuzzyness with my ati card, and with my current machine crappy performance with low settings!!!! there isnt anything that looks so system intensive!!! I'm very disappointed with Rockstar on this one.... The only saving grace is the acting is astounding, AWESOME. Cool story and the characters make it believable. Best I've seen in a game so far. Expand
  37. ademills
    Dec 9, 2008
    2
    Game may be good but the crap you have to join and the waste of time working it all out is beyond stpid. Spend an hour loading everything before getting to play, and then it wouldnt save my game becasue something hadnt gone right. Sheer stupidity, though more likely arrogance
  38. RyanC.
    Dec 9, 2008
    10
    Despite its numerous bugs and the fact MOST STEAM versions are corupted the game is amazing. GET it on DVD and install it that way. Bugs are getting errored out of the game but the detail and interaction with in the city is amazing. I would give it a 9 for all the bugs but The fact it takes AI to such an amazing level its just aw striking. follow a person around the citty listen to them talk to other ppl shoot even follow them into a cab by holding DOWN USE KEY its great fun once u get passed all the bugs and the HORIBLE MEMORY leak. Expand
  39. MarkC
    Jan 12, 2009
    1
    Well, Rockstar really screwed up this one. Rockstar is known for releasing quality games, and this is no exception. However, this game is filled to the brim with so many bugs and terrible optimization, I don't recommend anyone to buy this for PC. My PC is much more powerful than my 360, runs games amazingly. This game, however, runs worse than running every single on my computer simultaneously. And, as you all know, I'm not the only one experiencing these problems. I remember when I first booted up GTA 3 on my 98 PC, with 64 MB RAM, 900 MHz Processor, and it ran better than a PS2. Did they forget how to optimize code? Shame on Rockstar. Expand
  40. BrianL
    Jan 16, 2009
    3
    I bought this game on the back of widespread praise from the gaming press and online review sites, where it was a 10/10 game, 5 stars, game of the year etc. Well I don't know if any of those critics actually played this game or were just reviewing the rock star press release, but this is most definitely not game of the year, disappoinment of year perhaps. Lets just start with the install, the retail box carries the "games for window" logo, nothing remarkable in that, I guess M$ is trying to lock in the PC games market in a pincer movement against Sony, unfortunately it's we the PC gamers who are being cut down in the crossfire. You need a windows live account to play the single player, you can't even save a game without windows live installed. But I hear you cry, we don't need no stinking windows live account, Rockstar begs to differ, install windows live or else buddy! Also you have a game controller (I personally roll with the Logitech Rumble Pad 2), wrong answer! You can only use the microsoft approved controller, there is a work around but why the constant whoring to the M$ dollar, the PC is an open platform, microsoft may provide the OS but they shouldn't have the final say in what games controllers/multiplayer accounts you may or may not use when gaming? The biggest problem for me though, after I jumped through the M$ hoops, clicked no I don't want to login to Rockstar social club, am I sure, good question, why don't you ask me another million times before you let me start the freaking game? Where was I, oh yes, the number one gripe I have with this game, not the only gripe, but the biggest is the driving physics, how the hell can you make a sandbox game and make getting from point A to point B such an exercise in frustation? Time and time again you're asking to chase someone down, quick he's getting away jump in your poorly handling jalopy! This will crash against every pillar, lampost, and cop car in the course of your pursuit of said fleeing villian who will sail effortlessly into the distance, obviously rubbish car physics are just something for the player to worry about. Playing this game of the past two weeks I'm constanly reminded of the game Driv3r, a game mercilessly parodied by various grand theft auto games in the past, but for all its faults I actually enjoyed Driv3r, sure it was hyped by the gaming press before it's release, was chock full of bugs, the car handling was rubbish, bikes even worse, but it was a laugh, this is something that I cannot say about Gra4d th3ft Aut0. For shame Dan Houser, for shame! Expand
  41. briannielsen
    Jan 18, 2009
    2
    I had fun at first, but before it ended the game became tedious and annoying. This coupled with the amount of glitches and technical flaws that the PC version is littered with makes it almost too frustrating to play. I'm a fan of the series but I'm very disappointed in this instillation.
  42. JohnF
    Jan 22, 2009
    1
    While this port of the game is terrible and really a dissapointment when we wated half a year longer than consoles. What really gets me is Valve selecting to show the oddly high ratings for a game that is generally awful. If they don't show real users opion I think they should take the ratings down or move away from metacritic.
  43. JakeX
    Dec 23, 2009
    10
    Awesome game great storyline, dialouge, And much better then Saint's Row 2 By far!
  44. SethB
    Dec 23, 2009
    5
    10 for the game itself 0 for the PC version. My PC has well over the requirments yet the thing wont launch at all. well a black window pops up and then an error message "GTA4 has stopped working" searched the web and found stuff that helped others, but did not help me. if u r absoloutly inytent on geting it, then go ahead, i reccomend waiting for a real fix from rakstar. they havnet gotten off their asses and done anything the last year and a half, so things arent looking good. this is AFTER i updated to the latest patch. after first install, the game launched. however there were no textures. their were the models and lights. thats it. Expand
  45. TimothyL
    Sep 22, 2009
    10
    This is without a doubt one of the best single player games of all time, and it is even more of a certainty that it features one of the ultimate video game story-lines. The plot is so engaging, the characters instantly likeable, and the cutscenes are anything but boring. Controls are not mastered instantly, but are gratifyingly responsive and comfortable from the beginning. Some have mourned the loss of the arcade feel of previous games in the series, but this is stupid; yes, it was a proven formula, but the jaded realism of Rockstar's youngest child makes for a sensationally fun game. You can't have honestly played this game and not have marvelled and spent hours pushing the limits of the ridiculous physics of the game world. The graphics deserve a whole passage to themselves in my opinion: I have played Crysis, but these graphics are on a totally different scale. The incredible attention to detail, accompanied by an original visual style, especially in the facial rendering, combine to make an experience that is simply irresistible. I have an 8800GT, 4GB RAM and an e6400 o/c to 3.2Ghz, and it runs on medium-high graphical settings with no lag or other problems. If you don't have a powerful enough P.C, as I did for a long time, don't be quick to down this game. Seriously, save for an upgrade as this game is worth it. Rockstar admittedly however made a terrible decision to integrate with Windows Live, and the unavoidable Social Club. Hopefully in time these services will improve or be phased out because at the moment they are a pointless obstacle, detracting from what is otherwise a masterpiece. Expand
  46. JK
    Dec 13, 2008
    2
    This game is undoubtedly fantastic on XBox 360 or PS3, but don't buy it for PC! It has inane copy protection, no customizable keyboard controls, and ridiculous system requirements to run at a decent frame rate. It is thoroughly disappointing! Don't buy it!!!
  47. Joel
    Dec 13, 2008
    9
    this game is awesome, the story is great and your always interested of what is going on and cut scene are not a paint to watch. The computer as a video editor which is awesome 10x better than the halo video play back. the only bad thing i can say is that, some times the AI isn't that good but other then that it is a must buy.
  48. PaulC.
    Dec 15, 2008
    1
    Where is all the stuff we were promised. Another "on rails" shooter. Sanbox ??? Where ?? These is so little to do other than follow the plot. And it seems like hard work to play. Vice City had you having your own pad. St Andreas had you pumping iron etc. This just has you doing samey missions over and over. After 4 hours play I tried to take it back. "Game" wouldn't have it. I'm REALLY dissapointed. Hell "Bully" was better than this rehashed "on rails" garbage. Expand
  49. JJJ.
    Dec 19, 2008
    2
    Game looks bad on a Phenom w/ATI 4850. Same on Rockstar for releasing this game in the state it is. Look around the web and you'll see I'm not alone in having severe issues. I can run Fallout 3 in all its glory on my Samsung 226BW without a hitch but GTA looks worse than a PS2 game.
  50. MichaelK.
    Dec 21, 2008
    5
    Having played the game on the PS3, I know it's a quality game...but the port for the PC is simply atrocious. On above-the-recommended system requirements the game was simply unplayable even on on 800x600 resolution. It's a horrible, horrible port, and it's rather unfortunate that the BEST platform the game, turns out to be the worst treated. Just makes me sick...
  51. jimjim
    Dec 28, 2008
    4
    What a disappointment. This game is a lazy effort to bring gta 4 on to pc. It fails miserably.( WARNING. If yothink you will be able to run GTA 4 well because you can run crysis you are wrong. Apparently that rule no longer counts!) Unless you have a very new rig i would not advise buying this. The frame rate is ridiculous and it is the most recourse hungry game ever. It is a shame because i know from ps3 and xbox 360 that this game deserves 9 or 10. Expand
  52. FilipK.
    Dec 28, 2008
    0
    It is impossible to play this game! You must have 30 different registrations, but, more important, you must have an insane computer! Critics give it good mark looking only at gameplay. I'd probably give it a good mark too, when it just worked! You have a problem even with changing your own settings. I believe it's stupid thinking from America, because if you set your settings too high, your computer can burn and you can sue them!!! It NEVER played on my computer. They shouldn't realease it yet. Expand
  53. AnonymousMC
    Dec 28, 2008
    1
    this version of the game is one of the biggest ripoffs in gaming history. many pc gta gamers waited for the day this game is released for so long and in return for their hard earned 50 dollars they get something that doesn't even start out of the box. even after figuring out how to make this game work most people will be faced with severe performance issues, stuttering, missing textures, crashes in the middle of the mission or worse. Expand
  54. Aug 12, 2010
    9
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I'ts one of greatest action game i been ever played. Graphics is very realistic, story is intresting.... But game have many bugs. This is biggest negative of the game. Expand
  55. Oct 14, 2011
    9
    This game would have been the best PC game of all time if the scores are to par with the Xbox360 and PS3 versions if it weren't for the following: high system requirements, lag issues, graphics would have been sharper on some areas and too much odd content. As of version 1.06 of this game, most of the issues have been fixed and this gets my vote. If you don't have a 1.5+ GB high-end video card, you cannot max out all the graphical settings for this PC game. Expand
  56. Dec 29, 2012
    0
    Don't get the hype, there is nothing "revolutionary" about this game. All I experienced was an extremely dull game with often repetitive missions and monotonous combat.
  57. Aug 16, 2010
    9
    So many people give this game a 0/10, and why? I'll analyze the various reasons people are rating it down. SecuROM: This is probably the only one I really agree with since I had problems with it too, but the game doesn't deserve a 0 because of it. As long as you know what you're doing you can use it without the SecuROM giving you any problems.
    Games for Windows LIVE and Rockstar Social Clu
    b: I really don't see where people are having problems with these. They're usually logged in before my game gets to the menu and that doesn't take too long. They don't really take any performance away and with Games for Windows LIVE you get some achievements to get too.
    Performance: I understand this, but take a look at the requirements before you buy the game. If your PC doesn't meet them, don't get it for PC. I know it's kind of tough on PCs, but it runs pretty smoothly for me on a Sapphire ATI HD 4850, AMD Athlon X2, and 2GB of RAM.
    Gameplay: I guess some people find it boring compared to other Grand Theft Auto games (or just find it boring in general), but if you don't like the game then I guess you'll be more careful before you buy another game in the series then.

    Really though Grand Theft Auto IV is a good game. It has the best graphics for a Grand Theft Auto game so far in the series and if your PC can run it, get it. As usual you can expect to find mods and a custom radio station, but you also get a video editor which is interesting if you want to make your own Grand Theft Auto movies.
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  58. Nov 8, 2011
    9
    I don't undestand the negative opinions. Ok, when this game was released has a lot of serious bugs. But now, 3 years before, Rockstar has released more of 7 patches... I played this game last 6 months, and i really don't found any serious bug. I think the really bad and serious problems was resolved. The people that vote negative this game, please change your opinion, is possible now on Metacritic. This game is one of the best !!! [9/10] Expand
  59. Mar 10, 2011
    9
    Great game but lot of bugs. This game often crashes my PC. The background story is highly addictive and the city is good modeled. My pc is not so powerful, i've got Windows 7x64, 4 GB RAM DDR2, Dual Core Processor E6750, and a first generation Geforce GTS 8800 with 640mb of memory.
  60. Aug 10, 2012
    10
    The best AAA game ever. Rockstar North had amazingly high hopes for this game and pulled it off. Is the story worthy of literary awards? No, but as far as videogame stories go, it is friggin Shakespeare. They actually get you care about the characters, and you really want to know how things turn out. The driving is first rate, smooth and fun, but still requiring skill. It's great fun to master the mechanics, and then proceed to drive fast and furious. The combat, a little clunky, but it is a minor flaw in what otherwise is the best game of this generation. Expand
  61. Nov 6, 2010
    10
    I don't see what the problem is. My computer was a relatively cheap one (purchased over 2 years ago for $1400 and the game ran perfectly. It had an amazing plot and cover based third person gameplay. The best GTA game to date.
  62. Nov 17, 2011
    10
    Terrific game. GTAIV offers vast improvements in the graphics department over its predecessors. The game's controls were sometimes annoying - like when it demanded you tap "A" repeatedly in order to sprint, rather than just holding down a certain button to keep sprinting as long as you hold it down. It was also annoying to have to log into the social club and GFWL every time you boot up the game. That being said, this is still GTA, it's still every bit as fun (if not moreso) than its predecessors. The graphics are superb - a vast improvement over the last generation of GTA titles. The story is also better, and the world is generally more believable and realistic. Whats more, the control system for aircraft in this game makes them much easier to control than the PC editions of Vice City or San Andreas. There are more strip clubs, and the strippers and prostitutes are now rendered in high definition glory, LOL! Ah, the joys of GTA. That stuff aside, there is realy a terrific game here that should not be overlooked. You'll get the familiar GTA-style storyline, with a more serious flavor to it. It has nearly all of the elements that made older GTA games fun, except perhaps airplanes, airports, and businesses you can buy like in Vice City. As for the negative reviews... we all know it's just people whining about the DRM... whether it's GFWL or the social club. Yes, the game requires a modern computer to run nicely. What do you expect? The game came out in like 2008 or 2009. I always laugh at these people who are surprised their 5-year-old "gaming-laptop" can't run it nicely, so then they go to complain about the game and whine. The bottom line: make sure you have a quad-core processor, a reasonably-new video card with at least 1gb memory, and 4gb of RAM. Then get ready for a terrific new installment to the GTA series =). Expand
  63. Nov 26, 2010
    6
    I am being honest here. GTA 4 for (random four) the PC is neither a bad nor good game. I cant blame the people that say it is not good. It's requirements are pretty high advanced to play this game with well graphics. The visuals are nice but it doesn't mean its good. The game play isn't well done but at least it has a well thought out plan to TRY and give it a nice port. I don't neither an XBOX 360 or a PS3 (yes i suck), so i have to play the game on my computer, for i am a pro at typing and playing FPS games that way. Grand Theft Auto deserves itself a 6. Rockstar games were trying. Expand
  64. Apr 23, 2011
    10
    epic game, almost perfect virtual world, very fun gameplay and pretty good multiplayer but unfortunate not enough players.
    definitely worth the money!
  65. Jan 2, 2011
    9
    The overwhelmingly negative reviews of this game are completely unfounded. If you can't get this game to work, you're doing something wrong. There's no two ways about it.

    On to the review. And what a masterpiece this game is. The story is like something out of a Hollywood film, the characters are well developed, the cover and combat systems are very easy to use, the graphics are gorgeous.
    .. There's very little not to like.

    That said, there are a couple of niggling little problems. Despite the generally smooth graphics, there are still occasional texture popping problems. Controlling the protagonist can also be a little difficult in constrained spaces as he has a somewhat wide "turning circle". Another gripe I have is that quite a few of the missions (especially early in the game) are too easy. However, these issues are minor and do not impair gameplay in any significant way.

    The game merits a solid 9/10.
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  66. Jun 11, 2011
    10
    I first played this game on a crappy 2.4 single core AMD computer with 2.5 gb of DDR 1 RAM and a NVIDIA gt 220. It ran like crap, and I had to restart my computer to close it, because my computer couldn't spare the processing power. I love this game. I sunk 24 hours into it even with a terrible system. I now own a computer that runs it like a **** Specs: AMD Phenom 3.4 GHz, NVIDIA GTX 460, 8gb DDR3. This game is still amazing. The sheer volume of stuff to do is astounding, and the game reacts realistically to almost every situation. The radio stations are hilarious as all get out, and there's even cameos from famous comedians (Ricky Gervais). I don't touch the gay stuff so much, like dates, but the gunplay is well done too. The cover system is a little buggy sometimes, but it's much better on the PC than on the consoles. My only complaint was that the music on the radio sucks, but you can make your own radio station (Death and Sacred Oath rock). As for the rest of you giving it bad scores cause of your system, don't review a game if you can't run it right. It just makes the game look bad unfairly. Your system sucks, this game owns. Expand
  67. Feb 8, 2011
    10
    In my opinion it is sad that the game is rated so badly by the reviewers. In my opinion for the PC this game is a masterpiece of programming. I love the graphics, I love the engine, I just love everything of this game. In the beginning I had a huge problem running this game but when I updated it everything was fine, even running it better than Episodes from Liberty City at the same graphics. The controls are good, the graphics are awesome, the gameplay is awesome... What else? Expand
  68. Feb 13, 2011
    10
    love this game, it's a huge favorite. Runs clean on my pc. Love it on xbox 360 as well. Multiplayer greatness as well. I love the fact that there is a free roam mode for multi player. I play it via Steam with my usb xbox controller and its mapped out very well. Running it on a Geforce GTX 460
    AMD Phenom2 Quad core
    8GB Ram 64bit Win 7
  69. Oct 5, 2012
    3
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. GTA IV was a big step back to me. Look at the massive array of vehicles in San Andreas. Bicycles, dirt bikes, quads, tractors, different types of helicopters and airplanes, the jetpack, etc. Why take all that stuff out?

    GTA IV also completely **** up the physics of the game. Driving is half as fun as it was in the previous games. And people generally respond to this by saying that it's "realistic", but no. It's not realistic in any way. Making it slow paced and boring doesn't make it realistic. It just makes it slow paced and boring.

    The shooting was improved a bit, but still needed a lot of work. The people who defend this game will claim that sticking your arm up while behind cover will cause Niko to shoot inaccurately, but it certainly hasn't worked that way for me. It seems to shoot wherever I point, regardless of the fact that Niko isn't even looking or aiming. Also, when you do choose to aim from behind cover (for whatever reason), it will cause your cross-hairs to move up a bit. Not a serious issue, but it's stupid that you have to keep in mind to aim a little bit below their head.

    The weapon variety was also significantly reduced and simplified compared to San Andreas. Of course San Andreas also had weapons that were just flat out better than others, but GTA IV's weapon system operates by "tiers", where you have tier 1 weapons, tier 2 weapons, etc. One tier being completely better in every way than the other. It leaves no room for options and determining which weapons are best for you personally. Of course, SA had SOME weapons which were flat out better than others, but to a much smaller degree than GTA IV.

    Niko is a walking contradiction, he speaks out against violence, but he's perfectly willing to kill if he gets money for it. Meanwhile, the guy he's trying to track down ends up telling him that he sold him out for $1,000. Niko acts all surprised and offended by this - but he does things like that all the time. The cheesy attempt to include a "2deep4u" story winded up backfiring. Rockstar should have stuck with the classic humor based, light hearted style story, rather than what was the equivalent of a B movie written by some emo kid.

    Ultimately, my dislike for GTA IV can be traced back to one thing - Lack of variety. Look at all of the content from SA that they just flat out REMOVED. Just look at the build up of content and gradual perfection of concepts from GTA 3, to Vice City, to San Andreas. I thought Rockstar would continue that system. I was under the impression that what we saw in SA would be perfected and build upon, just as they had done in the past - Not just completely thrown away. I really thought Rockstar was on to something. I thought they had it figured out. I guess not.
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  70. Apr 20, 2011
    5
    Caved and downloaded it from Steam over the weekend given they were giving it away for just $5. Now that I have the game up and running it seems like fun but yes it was a PITA to get working. Windows Live took several installs and reboots to get running. I've skipped the "Social Club" entirely. I have a dual core OC'd to 3.6Ghz, 4 meg of ram and a GTX460 1Mb video card and I can just about get a steady 40fps at 720p. This is following the presumably several patches it has undergone previously. Like Crysis this is a system taxer to the point of ridiculousness. Unlike Crysis, even with everything cranked up it still doesn't look good. In the end I added the ENB mod which adds anti-aliasing and now it finally looks like a semi-decent game. GTA games were never known for their steady frame-rates or stellar graphics but at least you could jump in and enjoy the great gameplay on consoles. I'm happy with the install now but man it took some tweaking to get it to a point where now I can "just jump in." Expand
  71. Mar 27, 2011
    10
    This game is completely awesome. In my honest opinion it easily blows the other titles out the water. Its sad to see that a bunch of people who must be using Atari Mainboards marked this game down to a measly 4.9. I run this game with FULL settings and have no "Herky Jerk" problems, as some have put it. This include ASx16 Full Shadows, Textures, View Distance. 1055t X6 @ 3.5, HD6850, 8gb 1600mhz ram Expand
  72. Apr 16, 2011
    9
    GTA has come of age- great graphics, fun story and missions (as usual!). Bugs? I've had zero issues with my Steam copy- not sure what everyone is banging on about....
  73. Nov 25, 2011
    10
    I would say that this game is much better on a 360 or PS3 than it is on PC. The reason for this is short and simple: Games for Windows. I respect Windows, and I'm running it on my computer as I type this, but one thing is clear: they need to back the hell off of the gaming market, because they're ruining a lot of nice games. Some good examples: Bioshock 2, GTA IV, The Witcher, Alone in the Dark, and many more. The Games for Windows seal is more of a curse than anything else. Luckily, I bought this on Steam for $4.99, so I didn't waste too much. The game itself is great, so I've given it a 9/10, but Games for Windows has nearly rendered it unplayable. God dammit, Windows. Expand
  74. Aug 1, 2011
    9
    The game had a lot of issues about the performance, but, the engine of physics and graphics are amazing, even we are at 2011, the game still up to date, so, worth having this game and upgrade your computer!
  75. Nov 28, 2011
    8
    Stand-alone, GTA IV would be a 9/10, but compared to San Andreas, GTA IV is a step forward in graphics, and back in mechanics. The new (well, 3 year old) game engine was built from the ground up, allowing optimized graphics (for console and powerful PC's), but restricting many mechanical abilities, like semi-truck trailers and such. Overall it's a great game, but is lacking content wise compared to SA, hence the 8 instead of a 9. Expand
  76. Dec 10, 2011
    9
    Grand Theft Auto IV is the best GTA game and maybe the best SandBox game but on consoles.....
    On PC this is very good game with very good graphics. GTA IV is one of my favorites games but this can be better. Too many bugs, no bad but no good optimalize ruined this perfect SandBox. Graphics in game is really nice but i can't play on max. because i have old but no bad PC...[optimalize....]

    On low grahics i have max 30 fps...... This isn't my PC fault because i played Crysis 2 on high graphics but Crysis 2 have better optimalize......
    Missions on game is really no lined and all times u can played new kind of missions. I advice this game all GTA fans and people who likes great SandBoxes. My rate is 9.1/10.
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  77. Aug 16, 2011
    10
    i played this game with a acer 4551 with an hd4250 and it runs on low graphic but you will have fun, now i have a phenom 955 + hd5770 and i run this on maximun quality, just punt the shows on high and this will double the fps, the game is sick, this is real enterteiment
  78. Sep 16, 2011
    9
    Wow, I have to preface by acknowledging the immense hostility in the user score towards this game. I did not play this on the PC at the outset, but I have since been playing it, and although I hear it was incredibly buggy out of the box, patch 1.07 as it stands is wonderful. If you have the machine to play it, it is one of the more beautiful games for the PC, with a rich modding community behind it which tries to push the graphics even further. The controls aren't exactly great for mouse and keyboard, but it happily accepts the 360 gamepad, or you can use an emulator to use a PS3 pad. The game itself is pretty damn awesome, and I really have to stress how much better it looks than the console version, as well as having a "clip capture" feature similar to onlive's brag clip feature that allows you to capture and post the details of the random zany accidents you get into when crashing sports cars. I don't like that it uses the "social club", I despise all extraneous logins for any game, but you don't have to log in unless you want multiplayer.

    All in all, because GTAIV is an amazing game, and it really takes advantage of the graphical capabilities of the PC version, unlike so many ports (and I have to add, the graphics tuning utility is EXTRAORDINARILY friendly and informative).
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  79. Jan 11, 2012
    7
    rockstar games are better on consoles they dont care a lot about pc gamers but the game is good not like gta :sa but still it good its big with good graphics and good story ,.,. the dlc was worth the money its the same map with a new story... and some c4 and golden uzi and the DAO-12 WOW?! the very disappointing thing is that i have max out the settings and a lot of **** stuff are happening like a lot of cars are very damaged in the back but the graphics arent too good .. i mean when i look back for one sec i see the houses on low details and then maxed and the cars are sill disappearing when they are on my back :C this isnt cool Expand
  80. Jul 5, 2012
    9
    PC version worthed the wait. PC version lacks motion blur and depth of field and provides much better graphics and controls, especially LODs. The only thing missing is anti-aliasing, though i've added FXAA via nvidia control panel. -1 for AA-lack and some bugs. Still, the best GTA and open-world game by far.
  81. Sep 16, 2011
    9
    I'm not one of these, which gives 0 to game because it didn't run on them PC's. I gave this rating because game isn't as awesome as game for 10 should be. Cons: formula isn't nothing fresh. of course, shooting, driving is improved, but it's not deserve the highest score. Even with absolutely gorgeus main plot.
  82. Dec 19, 2012
    5
    I've already reviewed this game at great length for the Xbox 360; mainly noting its dissapointment compared to San Andreas or indeed any other GTA (except maybe GTA III). If you're looking for single player content, this game simply doesn't have any. With a generic (for a GTA game) story, repetitive missions, and a plot/setting/context with zero creativity and some half-arsed mini-games thrown in; it's definitely a game which Rockstar played it safe with - something which nobody expects from a Grand Theft Auto title- which always push the boundaries in open-world freedom of expression and creativity. Multiplayer is new and it has got some good variety but somehow doesn't feel right either. The reason for this is down to the controls. Only official Xbox 360 controllers are supported, and the auto-aim means multiplayer has almost zero skill in combat. It's still fun to play though occasionally due to the variety, which includes three co-op missions. So if you decide to use mouse and keyboard, you'll find the default button mapping to be pretty much perfect. However, the one thing that ruins the whole experience of making it fluent; and this applies more on PC than console - is the extremely clunky response for movement and the camera. Sometimes you feel that you have no control over Niko. My final complaint is with the stability issues and lack of optimisation for PC. Yes, you can still have your own music station as before, but the graphics are far too inefficient. Don't get me wrong, this is an amazing looking game even for today, but it is in desperate need of anti-aliasing even at 1920x1080, especially given the nature of the game. If you don't have around 1.5GB dedicated graphics memory you can't really max it or run it well. I have a 1GB GTX 560 Ti and considering I get 48 FPS on BF3 on High in multiplayer, you'd think this game on max would be a piece of cake. But the draw distance consumes ridiculous amounts of VRAM. The Xbox 360 version, despite getting crap framerate, had at least more consistency in graphics. Screen tearing, freezes, pink textures, AI behaving weird, bugs, glitches - anything you can think of is present. Given the quality of the game as a whole, these technical issues make a mockery of all the claimed $100 million budget. There's also the problem that there is no cfg file where you can adjust anti-aliasing or set a frame limit. You can manually limit the frame rate by entering a command line into a shortcut pointed at the executable, but this still doesn't make for smooth gameplay experience. Even commandline fixes within the game directory can't fix the random freezing, crashing and sometimes textures not loading bugs, which is extremely frustrating. OK that's me done complaining. So what credit does this game actually deserve? The most notable and most significant in my opinion, is how the driving mechanics and the car designs themselves are better than any other open-world game. Not only do cars look beautiful and unique, but they handle differently too. It's very fun to just drive on this game and very rewarding. Better than a lot of racing games if you ask me. Other accomplishments include a decent attempt at capturing New York City. Although most of the city looks pretty bland and copy and pasted throughout and most of it doesn't get used in the main story, it's still not a bad effort given the size. It's very grande and distinctly recognizable. The city does feel authentic and AI is quite good - certainly more realistic than the previous games which had rubbish ragdoll physics and very blocky movement. This is down to the brilliant Euphoria engine in conjunction with RAGE. Other good points about this game include the very nicely paced progression and robust game mechanics such as the combat and the wanted system for losing cops. The classic GTA humour and chat stations are here too. The attention to detail is also impressive- everything from easter eggs to the realistic volume of the radio according to how far away you are from your car. What else? The only thing that remains to be credited is that overall, as a package, it's a solid game. It may not do anything new or do anything exceptionally well, and the content is lacking. However if you consider it on its own without comparing to other open-world games it's a very high quality game on the whole. Sure the PC version isn't optimised and it deserves negative marks for its lack of innovation and the miniscule amount of content for an open-world game, but if you can overlook these issues there's a decent experience to be found here. Just tread with caution and be prepared for some heavy technical issues on the PC version. Expand
  83. Oct 7, 2011
    10
    Just a fun as all the other GTA's but with better graphics. The characters are more fleshed out and the story is up to GTA standard. These are the big positives, now the negatives. The ending requires you to be a pro helicopter pilot to complete the game, something you don't have to learn anywhere else in the game to the same degree of expertise. Also, if you fail as this very poorly thought through part of the game you need to spend 10 minutes of pissing around just to have another shot at it. This is almost as frustrating a the stupid alien world in half-life 1.

    What we have is a **** with a beautiful drop dead body but hideous head. Very frustrating ultimately! But if you put a paper bag over its head and don't ever bother finishing the game because it's a pointless exercise in a game like this anyhow then you get to enjoy one hell of a ride. Another small negative I experienced were serious game stopping technical issues related to playing it on a dual core, you should have quad! Its a very enjoyable sandbox game with some very nice imagery.
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  84. Oct 20, 2011
    10
    Why are you people hating???????? Just because you have a bad computer? Not the games fault! It is amazing. Amazing graphics, amazing gameplay, amazing multiplayer, amazing everything! I have it for PS3 and it runs smoothly on the career. On multiplayer, its a bit hard to get in a game, you need to have good internet connection, but its still AMAZING! STOP putting bad reviews cause you guys cant play it on awesome graphics!!!!!!
    This game deserves a 11 out of 10. Yey, it's that good.
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  85. Oct 27, 2011
    10
    I think the best game that has appeared in the world! I really like, the best gta is released! I like the whole story, the protagonist straight genius! Very good game and who does not say that computers are stupid or do not like him the whole topic.
  86. Dec 3, 2011
    10
    Number 1 On My Top 3 List It's Best Game Ever Funny Story,Drugs,Guns,Action,Bowling,Pool,Mcdonalds,Internet Cafe,Missions And Best Of All N
    I
    K
    O
    NIKO
    B
    E
    L
    I
    C
    BELIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  87. Dec 22, 2011
    8
    This game is fun with so many mission. However it will be kind of boring for just doing mission. Also the game requires a good cpu and graphic card for smooth game play. Anyway fun game overall!
  88. May 25, 2012
    6
    I quite enjoyed this title but upon completion I felt I was really limited with what there was to do. I would love to have been able to collect a wide variety of vehicles and buy property etc.
  89. Mar 13, 2012
    7
    If it wasn't for Rockstar banging their heads on the keyboard while writing code for the PC port this would've run better. Fortunately they mitigated most of the issues in 1.0.4.0, but things got worse when they changed the shadow mapping system in 1.0.7.0 as I'm getting lower framerates on my mid-end PC. Heck, I've seen games with better graphics that churn out more fps than this.

    The ga
    me seems a tad easier than the previous installments thanks to the cover system (I played through the Gay Tony EP and it was indeed a relief compared to the coverless combat of the III-era games), but the main campaign's overall length seems a little daunting imo. Expand
  90. Mar 21, 2012
    9
    1 thing i could say. AMAZING amazing graphics amazing story and you look at the sense of humor this game has and the game is more "open world" than the previous versions
  91. Apr 25, 2012
    9
    I've been playing the Grand Theft Auto games since the first one got released, and this is certainly one of the best ones in todays standard. Sure, personally I prefer Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City over this one, but it's still a very enjoyable game.

    As always, Grand Theft Auto is best played on a computer.
  92. Nov 13, 2012
    9
    I have been playing Grand theft auto series since the very first version of this game. I remember I used to run it from a floppy disk. Its great to see how much this game keeps evolving. I really do not understand why so many people is bashing on this game. While I understand there are considerable flaws mentioned before as bugs and glitches, every damn game has them. BFD. Anyway, the game has a few additions compared to the older GTA series, it has several interactions with NPC characters as friendship, dating etc. I see many people complaining about them, that it takes out the real action of the game, complaints about the story being too long. I don't get it. It is not like you are being forced to date every npc in order to progress as they only add certain perks during the story. When a game is too short, people complain about it. When its too long, they complain too! This game is a great addition to the series and one of my favorites by far. Lots of in game content to do if you wanna stall your progression a bit, you can unlock perks from dating chicks and raising up friends rep, get extra cash from side jobs, there is just lots to do for a single player game. This game is not intended to be finished in one or two sits, if that is your intention, you should stay away from it. Also, to maximize fun, I totally recommend not to use any sort of cheats and take your time with all the game brings up to this release. As for the graphics, I play with 2 different computers, the poorest GPU I play this game with is a nvidia 9600gt, which is pretty old and run the game pretty well. It is not all about your graphics card, you need enough RAM memory and a decent processor to get it run smooth. I bought it for about 13-15 bucks on steam, I am about 40 hours played and there is still lots to do. Worth every penny. Not to mention there is still the multiplayer option, for those who like playing versus or free for all matches. The only thing I can really say that I dislike about the franchise this far is the requirement of social club and games for windows live registration. You got to create one account on each site in order to utilize all the game features. All in all, its a really fun game if you are a fan of the series and worth every dollar spent. Expand
  93. Jul 30, 2012
    3
    If your gonna get GTA IV get it on consoles This game is amazing but frame rate issues due to poor optimization make this the most un-fun irritating experience I've ever been forced to play aside from batman dark tomorrow
  94. Nov 7, 2012
    4
    My initial opinion of the game was high but I soon began to see it's flaws. First the campaign is pretty good but drags on too long, and go here and kill this type missions get repetitive. The game also holds your hand for too long, with tedious tutorial missions. The main character Niko Bellic is a really cool character, almost too cool to the point where he feels manufactured and not a believable character. The buddy system where friends call you up wanting to do activities is incredibly annoying and unnecessary also they punish you for not doing stupid things with your "friends." Onto technical issues, oh where to begin, the frame rate dips often, texture pop-in and blurry textures are everywhere. The controls are pitiful they are so unresponsive and unnecessary, it's incredibly frustrating. So in my opinion buy the game just not for PC. Expand
  95. Aug 17, 2012
    6
    Grand Theft Auto 4 is a great game, don't misunderstand me, but the PC version is insane. Because it needs an insanely powerful PC to play it. But, still, if you have a super powerful PC, than this game will be fun, single player and multiplayer. Can't wait to play the console version. 65 out of 100 (For the powerful PCs, 96 out of 100)
  96. Aug 15, 2012
    8
    GTA singleplayer gameplayer never fails to entertain me, at least not until I've done everything possible in the game about three times over. GTA IV holds true to that, except with a disappointing end game where you're still limited for monetary income even after the storyline. No army to fight against, no endless wallet, and sadly it's a console port which definitely shows. The multiplayer can be difficult to get working, but a playerbase exists and offers some cheap laughs. Windows Live is a noteworthy problem, but not a gamebreaker. Expand
  97. Nov 29, 2012
    10
    If you don't mind the 'realism' this is one of the best action games ever. The game looks awesome, the storyline is epic, the weapons are fun, and you can have at least hundred hours of playtime..
  98. Nov 27, 2012
    10
    I can say that this game is very high on it's requirements to run it for pc. But it is awesome for it's modding community and thats actually why I got this game. The modding community is awesome and there is very much mods that are available to download. It is just amazing how much mods it is there. The main storyline isn't bad, it has much awesome missions, but after completing them many times you might want to do some fun with the game, and get some mods. That is what I did. I highly recommend you to buy this game. :) Expand
  99. Nov 27, 2012
    10
    This game is one of the best games I ever played. It is very fun and I can't stop playing it. The graphics are very good, and the playability is very well-made. It's worthy of a ten.
  100. Dec 22, 2012
    10
    Personally one of the only games in my steam library (besides Portal series/HL series) that I've actually completed and played again! The new generation of sandbox gaming.
Metascore

Universal acclaim - based on 40 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 38 out of 40
  2. Negative: 0 out of 40
  1. It's the peripheral distractions of both going out with Roman, and meeting your girlfriends, that really make your virtual life so worth living. Although incredibly simplistic, they're oddly touching...One of the finest videogames ever. [Christmas 2008, p.87]
  2. The most grown-up GTA and the best realised, but it doesn't respect the PC much. Enjoy the multiplayer madness if you can. [Christmas 2008, p.96]
  3. A genuinely ground-breaking blockbuster in videogame history. There were moments playing GTA IV that I thought back to my initial experiences with games, and realised exactly how far we've come. There's never been anything quite like GTA IV in the world. That there makes me genuinely happy to be a gamer.