Grand Theft Auto IV

 PC
User Score
7.1

Mixed or average reviews- based on 3557 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2,149 out of 3557
  2. Mixed: 739 out of 3557
  3. Negative: 669 out of 3557
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  1. Joel
    Feb 28, 2009
    3
    This game, regarding game-play only, is a strong 7. That gets halved thanks to the Rockstar "club", Microsoft Live "club", and technical issues. Average, but there are better and more extensive sandbox games out there. The PC implementation of this game is HORRIFIC. Truly terrible in just about every way imaginable.
    Completely unplayable out of the box. Required re-installation of    This game, regarding game-play only, is a strong 7. That gets halved thanks to the Rockstar "club", Microsoft Live "club", and technical issues. Average, but there are better and more extensive sandbox games out there. The PC implementation of this game is HORRIFIC. Truly terrible in just about every way imaginable.
    Completely unplayable out of the box. Required re-installation of video drivers, special tuning and de-tuning just to get textures and shading to look like something half resembling the Xbox 360 version. Frame rates are terrible even on modern high end PCs.

    I can see no reason for this to have a metacritic score above 75 for game-play, or above 40 once you account for the failed PC conversion. Unbelievable.    … Expand
  2. erei
    Jan 4, 2010
    3
    This GTA is a real GTA, no problems with it. The characters we meet and the hero are fun, and are still the GTA spirit. But the port is probably the worst never seen, we have lots of inexplicable FPS drop, crashes, various bugs,... Even capcom did better port. You need a high end Graphic card to play the game, with low settings. The game is very long, probably too much, there is a long This GTA is a real GTA, no problems with it. The characters we meet and the hero are fun, and are still the GTA spirit. But the port is probably the worst never seen, we have lots of inexplicable FPS drop, crashes, various bugs,... Even capcom did better port. You need a high end Graphic card to play the game, with low settings. The game is very long, probably too much, there is a long beginning, and many "useless" missions. The friends, and social thing we have ingame are quite fun and new, but sometimes get boring. You want to call friends NPC all day, and have dinner with them, and enjoy sending mail ? Buy sims3, we are in GTA... Conclusion : Pro : -NPC and hero are cool, as usual with GTA -story is interesting enough -the awesome amount of extra content is really cool (from cinema to tv show and internet) -graphism are not too bad, but not specially good con : -FPS drops on most graphic card (i have a nvidia 275GTX and i need to play on very low to keep my fps above 20) -bugs, bugs, and sometimes, bugs -the "friends" system become more and more boring further you go in the game. Expect to do something with one of them at least once by half an hour to keep them friendly. Spending about 10m to do so. So it make 1/3 of the game involving social things with IA. -many repetitive missions, slow beginning -all the copy protection there is, rockstar social club + windows media live,... Honestly, i guess there is far less trouble if you hack it. Advice : buy it, and download an illegal copy for installation purpose. I guess on console i should have note 6 or more, but im PC user, and your port is total garbage.… Expand
  3. njemtrn1129
    Jun 11, 2013
    0
    i really think i just wasted 20 bucks. after having to sign in twice, the game wouldn't let me advance after the first autosave because it wouldn't download my account, and when i chose the option to not autosave, the game got stuck in a loop and took me back to the autosave options. ive played this game on other platforms and loved it, then i download it and noticed microsofts recenti really think i just wasted 20 bucks. after having to sign in twice, the game wouldn't let me advance after the first autosave because it wouldn't download my account, and when i chose the option to not autosave, the game got stuck in a loop and took me back to the autosave options. ive played this game on other platforms and loved it, then i download it and noticed microsofts recent tendency to kill everything it touched.

    i would recommend this for any platform other than the pc. Microsoft had to go messing things up again and totally destroyed the game.    … Expand
  4. notBOB
    Jul 30, 2017
    3
    Pros:
    -love the voice acting
    -story is OK -runs well on my system Cons: -BORING! Chase with car, or motorbike, or... kill the target to get a little money that can't actually be spent on anything - mindless driving. If I was too young to have a licence this might be fun but... - repetitive quests with no real point to them whatsoever. Starts out with a guy I thought was trying to    Pros:
    -love the voice acting
    -story is OK
    -runs well on my system

    Cons:
    -BORING! Chase with car, or motorbike, or... kill the target to get a little money that can't actually be spent on anything
    - mindless driving. If I was too young to have a licence this might be fun but...
    - repetitive quests with no real point to them whatsoever. Starts out with a guy I thought was trying to better himself but instead becomes a mindless psychopathic thug... who kills for money that can't be spent on anything
    - GTA 5 is funny. GTA 4 is boring.
    - installed it for the third time intending to force myself to finish it. Just couldn't bring myself to do it. It is BORING!    … Expand
  5. Dirtman73
    Dec 5, 2009
    3
    The good? Compelling story, awesome voice acting, realistic physics, superb audio on 5.1 speakers, attention to detail, Liberty City is big! The bad? DRM, RockStar Social Club (mandatory sign-up), Windows Live (mandatory log-in), shoddy PC port and coding, runs like crap on my high-end computer, subpar graphics, overly realistic car physics, unintuitive and unchangeable gamepad controls The good? Compelling story, awesome voice acting, realistic physics, superb audio on 5.1 speakers, attention to detail, Liberty City is big! The bad? DRM, RockStar Social Club (mandatory sign-up), Windows Live (mandatory log-in), shoddy PC port and coding, runs like crap on my high-end computer, subpar graphics, overly realistic car physics, unintuitive and unchangeable gamepad controls (possibly the worst I've ever experienced), lengthy learning curve, bugs & glitches galore (even after latest patch), the radio stations are entirely uninspired, horribly implemented camera modes, sparse documentation, etc. etc. etc. I could go on and on. It looks like RockStar have gotten way too big for their britches. They obviously don't give a fig about the PC market, so why bother releasing atrocious console-to-PC ports anymore? Spare us computer owners the pain, please!… Expand
  6. JamesF
    Jun 3, 2009
    4
    The game itself simply amazing, as anyone who has played it for 10 minutes should know. However, PC user have again been screwed over. The late release, the mountains and mountains of bugs and glitches along with the terrible frame rates and useless patches really give a bad edge to the PC version of GTAIV.
  7. B00tsyC
    Apr 28, 2010
    0
    First of all how come this game is rated with a solid "9"? No doubt, rockstar gave them a pile of money to do so. This game is utterly crap on the PC. I mean, i rarely rate a game with a 0, but this game sux so much that I stoped playing it after 30 minutes. everytime you start the game you get all that highly annoying windows Live crap + you it is mandatory to create an Live account First of all how come this game is rated with a solid "9"? No doubt, rockstar gave them a pile of money to do so. This game is utterly crap on the PC. I mean, i rarely rate a game with a 0, but this game sux so much that I stoped playing it after 30 minutes. everytime you start the game you get all that highly annoying windows Live crap + you it is mandatory to create an Live account where you have to give your email and personal info. I mean seriously... I bought the freaking game and just want to play it without all that stuff. Also you have to first start the story mode before you can go in MP mode, don't get that really... why not just give that option on the main page. It plays like crap on my decent dual core, controls are retarded, driving is a load of bull with these controls + you constantly adjust your camera with the mouse with every corner...so no auto camera lock, sux too. I tried MP, but the game freezes half the time + I have to wait like 10 minutes or more for other people in the lobby. Securom is also freaking annoying and unwanted... I mean you can't stop pirating so don't try, securom only makes it annoying for the people that actually bought the game............. I really liked san andreas on the PC, well it had issues as well, but it still was an enjoyable game, with GTA4 they made it 10 times worse.... So 1, I will never buy a game anymore with that windows live crap and securom and 2, I will think 3 times before I buy an other Rockstar game. Like many big game (infinity ward for example) companies they went in the wrong direction and made games that could gave cool sequels that are even better... they made it 10 times worse. I'm getting sick of buying games where I feel ripped of and let down.… Expand
  8. SanderB
    Oct 15, 2009
    1
    Using the steam version, I have an Nvidia GEForce 9500 card with 512 MB (Min is listed as 256) I have 2 gigs system memory, an ASUS motherboard and a 3.2 Ghz Pentium D chip. I was under the impression that qualifies as a dual core. THIS game runs like crap. The graphics are flat, and frankly a step back from San Andreas which I loved, and still load on occasion. The entire half life Using the steam version, I have an Nvidia GEForce 9500 card with 512 MB (Min is listed as 256) I have 2 gigs system memory, an ASUS motherboard and a 3.2 Ghz Pentium D chip. I was under the impression that qualifies as a dual core. THIS game runs like crap. The graphics are flat, and frankly a step back from San Andreas which I loved, and still load on occasion. The entire half life franchise runs brilliantly, any number of online games and other high graphics application run fine. None of this, however, compares to the aggravation of both the Rock Star Social Club and being forced to sign on to a Windows Live account. I could swear up a blue streak about being forced to pay $50 for the game AND be forced to take their version of "community" with it regardless of what I want, but..... suffice it to say I neither need nor want anything else trying to force it's way into my start up menu, and if I wanted to engage in social interaction with my gaming I would get world of warcraft. GTA 3, Vice City, and San Andreas all had me anticipating GTA 4 when it was announced. I don't think I'll be very interested in GTA 5.… Expand
  9. NickG
    Aug 18, 2009
    2
    I feel sorry for the poeple who have paid for this game (like my friend Steve). They are the only ones penalised by the DRM. Visuals are a bit better than San Andreas, but its a con. All of the great features of San Andreas were removed (no training, no silent kill). Too dumbed down.
  10. notforpublic
    Jan 11, 2010
    0
    really badly coded... horrible graphic glitches game runs bad even when PC and game are configured correctly. Multiplayer is extremely poor, the modding community on gta:sa managed to make a perfectly good multiplayer mod, that outshines Gta4 by far. Singleplayer is boring and repetitive, doing exactly the same thing over and over again, while spending 3/4 of the total time just driving really badly coded... horrible graphic glitches game runs bad even when PC and game are configured correctly. Multiplayer is extremely poor, the modding community on gta:sa managed to make a perfectly good multiplayer mod, that outshines Gta4 by far. Singleplayer is boring and repetitive, doing exactly the same thing over and over again, while spending 3/4 of the total time just driving to the locations.… Expand
  11. BiffB
    Jan 5, 2010
    1
    Great game, story and all that stuff is good, but it's just unplayable. They really, really screwed up the optimization. I'm running a quad core with an 8800GT graphics card. I can run UT3 at 1280x960 max settings and get 40 frames minimum on the most resource-heavy maps. Call of Duty 4 max settings, I never go under 50 frames. This game? Lowest settings, same resolution, I get Great game, story and all that stuff is good, but it's just unplayable. They really, really screwed up the optimization. I'm running a quad core with an 8800GT graphics card. I can run UT3 at 1280x960 max settings and get 40 frames minimum on the most resource-heavy maps. Call of Duty 4 max settings, I never go under 50 frames. This game? Lowest settings, same resolution, I get 24 frames in the safehouse. I get no more than 18 frames in the city.… Expand
  12. JacobG.
    May 2, 2010
    0
    I would right a nice review, I am sure, if the game actually worked. Have heard it is a great game when working, but I have failed to get it to do so. Have tried numerous different things to get it work and nothing has helped. I have finally given up.
  13. YerkK
    Oct 26, 2009
    3
    I've had no problems running the game - and I thought the graphics looked pretty good. That's the only good thing about the game though - well, that and Nicko intimidating his enemies all the time.. playing through it felt more like performing a chore than actually playing. Sure, cars react more realistically. Not a good feature if you ask me - I want to have fun, not play a I've had no problems running the game - and I thought the graphics looked pretty good. That's the only good thing about the game though - well, that and Nicko intimidating his enemies all the time.. playing through it felt more like performing a chore than actually playing. Sure, cars react more realistically. Not a good feature if you ask me - I want to have fun, not play a crappy real-life simulator where you drive around crappy cars that spin out of control if you're making a 90 degree turn while driving 40 kmh... As I said, the gfx looks good, but the environment is gritty and colorless. You have to maintain social relationships all the time, which is a complete downer - yet the game expects you to go bowling, darting, dating and all manner of lame, dumb things, just to keep your friends (of which you soon get way too much) interested in you. The motivation of the main protagonist is vague at best; he keeps trying to get money, but you can't do much with it... there goes too much time in learning how to play, how to operate vehicles, guns, phones, etc... it's not intuitive. I didn't have much fun playing this game, but I still played it just to see the storyline unfold and because I have some weird completion phobia - the reward, seeing the story unfold, certainly didn't justify the playthrough. I advice the shoddy buggy pc version of Saints Row 2 over this game a millions times over this sorry excuse for a game. At least Saints Row 2 was fun. And isn't that what a game's supposed to be, fun?… Expand
  14. StephenP
    Mar 15, 2009
    1
    This was an amazing game, but rockstar and microsoft made this PC port a nightmare. You have to sign up to their ridiculous "clubs" and the performance is absolutely shameful. If you want to play this game, play it on the Xbox 360.
  15. KennieKennie
    May 23, 2009
    2
    The game presents inferior quality compared to the ones prior to him. There is a feel of emptyness from the start to the end. You dont have half the choices you had in San Andreas, the world is smaller, more boring, the story is far worse, there are so many characters that you end up forgeting who is who and missing half of it. It feels like San Andreas story is more non-linear than The game presents inferior quality compared to the ones prior to him. There is a feel of emptyness from the start to the end. You dont have half the choices you had in San Andreas, the world is smaller, more boring, the story is far worse, there are so many characters that you end up forgeting who is who and missing half of it. It feels like San Andreas story is more non-linear than IV's, even though IV's is supposed to be made non-linear in some way. It is incredibly repetitive. The whole game end up being "going from point A to point B", there is no other reason to do anything else. Graphics are good, but at what cost? hell, they are not only incredibly heavy but also incredibly buggy! The radios are awful, they cannot be compared to any of those of any GTA that came before this one. Another thing that is just outrageous is the quantity of stereotipes there are in the game. From the main character, a russian immigrant, to radio programs talking about terrorism and stuff and the "american dream". Also, DRM protection ends up screwing up all the rest of the things the game had. Let alone all the things you have to do in order to play it (*cough social club and windows live cough*). The only thing done right in this game are the little details. Cars not turning on, deformable cars, etc. Although as i said, some of them are absolutly useless. (like taking a cab, the stupid shows you can go watching, etc). However this is not nearly enough to make IV a good game. All of what this game is made of is hype. A major step back from San Andreas.… Expand
  16. TimJ
    Sep 6, 2009
    4
    Ok. This is a major step in the GTA series. The graphics are amazing and the storyline is actually quite good. The missions are fun, and randomly blowing up stuff around liberty city is amazing.

    But there's a HUGE downside. Optimization, very demanding on your system, not that enjoyable unless you have a new and expensive computer. You have to have a top-of-the-range computer to    Ok. This is a major step in the GTA series. The graphics are amazing and the storyline is actually quite good. The missions are fun, and randomly blowing up stuff around liberty city is amazing.

    But there's a HUGE downside. Optimization, very demanding on your system, not that enjoyable unless you have a new and expensive computer.

    You have to have a top-of-the-range computer to be able to run this game properly. When running it on medium to low settings, it looks like you're running GTA san andreas with slightly improved graphics. This game just has to have high settings to be played properly (IMO.) Rockstar rushed this, and just forgot about making it playable for people who don't have an Intel Core i7 and a 4870 X2    … Expand
  17. Andemnon
    Mar 12, 2011
    0
    After buying this game on Steam, i was really looking forward to playing it.. .. only.. no matter how many times i tried, it just wouldnt login so i could play it.. after trawling the forums, i eventually found out why, it needs an xbox live account to play it, and a games for windows live account, getting these setup took a considerable amount of time, and more than a few hours later, theAfter buying this game on Steam, i was really looking forward to playing it.. .. only.. no matter how many times i tried, it just wouldnt login so i could play it.. after trawling the forums, i eventually found out why, it needs an xbox live account to play it, and a games for windows live account, getting these setup took a considerable amount of time, and more than a few hours later, the game finally finished patching.. and i tried to login.. only. it wouldnt.. some kind of problem with the xbox live servers perhaps, but when it eventually did manage to login.. it played fine.. until i wanted to save the game, because of some kind of server problem at xbox live.. again.. i couldnt save the game. fortunately i had managed to save the game earlier.. but it meant a whole hour or so of progress.. had been lost. in the end, i uninstalled the game.. i just wish i hadnt bought the tales from liberty city module too.. i doubt i've ever regretted buying a game so much before.. when it worked it was fine.. but the xbox live thing just totally spoiled the game, all i can say is im not going to make that mistake ever again, i don't care how good the game is.. if it has xbox live as a requirement.. then i am definitely not buying it.… Expand
  18. foxstranger
    May 23, 2009
    2
    Yes graphics and physics good, but ability, scenario much worse than SA, never buy this game, do not made the same mistake! Try pirated version at least, there is nice working crack with some bugs if you want!(AND majka not mother in russian LOL(you dumb polska) there are no NO problems(in word translate)"without problems in russian" either!).
  19. MrBear
    Dec 9, 2008
    2
    Buggiest release of a major game I have seen on PC in as far back as I can remember. I can't play it more than 3-4 minutes without it crashing and I can't get acceptable frame rates on a machine that exceeds the requirements. The only reason to rate this game a 2 and not a 1 is that it might eventually be fixed. Rockstar has been extremely unhelpful in the meantime and their Buggiest release of a major game I have seen on PC in as far back as I can remember. I can't play it more than 3-4 minutes without it crashing and I can't get acceptable frame rates on a machine that exceeds the requirements. The only reason to rate this game a 2 and not a 1 is that it might eventually be fixed. Rockstar has been extremely unhelpful in the meantime and their press releases have been full of doublespeak.… Expand
  20. Slayer_27
    Apr 16, 2009
    2
    I heard nothing but bad things about this game. I have a pretty high end computer and it runs like crap at medium high settings. You have to have a card with 6846541867MB of texture memory to max out the draw distance. The install took years, even compared to GoW(one of the longest game install I have had). Your graphics card almost has no effect on the gameplay, no SLI/X-Fire support, I heard nothing but bad things about this game. I have a pretty high end computer and it runs like crap at medium high settings. You have to have a card with 6846541867MB of texture memory to max out the draw distance. The install took years, even compared to GoW(one of the longest game install I have had). Your graphics card almost has no effect on the gameplay, no SLI/X-Fire support, more bugs than an insect exhibit at a zoo and needs a 12GHz quad core to handle the terrible excuse for a port of sloppy coding that was likely done overnight. I could only get ~20 fps on mediums settings with a 3.2GHz quad core at 1024*768. This game is terrible. I was so disappointed by the game performance, install time, size and 1300 things I had to sign up for I uninstalled the game the same day. I might consider purchasing it later if they can fix the bugs, add multi GPU support, fit it on one disk and clean up the sloppy code. Just because people are using quads and 4+GB of RAM is no excuse to make sloppy pitiful ports. Rockstar has lost a lot of support from this port. I think they should have not have hired chimps to code the game. The graphics are nice and that is all I can say positive bout the game.… Expand
  21. OlaL
    Jan 11, 2010
    3
    I dont know if the professional critics actually played the game or just copied their reviews from the consoles. Or if they got some magical copy that wasn´t the worst optimized game in history of mankind. When I bought this game I had the second fastest single GPU on the planet and I got a fps between 18-28. The only game I cant max is Crysis but this is not even close to Crysis on I dont know if the professional critics actually played the game or just copied their reviews from the consoles. Or if they got some magical copy that wasn´t the worst optimized game in history of mankind. When I bought this game I had the second fastest single GPU on the planet and I got a fps between 18-28. The only game I cant max is Crysis but this is not even close to Crysis on the Graphic department or Physic. And Crysis I can paly on much higher settings, then this broken game. And all the people who think they play this on high settings have probably no checked their fps or screen resolution. + it´s still GTA + it looks okej for a GTA game + the cabs are great - Worst optimized game ever released - I hate the friend/ girlfriend thing - All the bloatware - The cars are handeling like crap A game that is broken cant get higher then 5. I give it a 3 because it´s not even close to the other GTA games and because of the bloatware.… Expand
  22. AlexandruG.
    Dec 5, 2008
    2
    This is one of the worst ports ever. I know they have a deadline but you can't treat your customers like this. We have waited for so long for this game to come on the PC and a few more months wouldn't kill us. Now that i have the game and i can't play it the frustration is even bigger. I really hope that for the next GTA title R* will wake up and realize that in the end the This is one of the worst ports ever. I know they have a deadline but you can't treat your customers like this. We have waited for so long for this game to come on the PC and a few more months wouldn't kill us. Now that i have the game and i can't play it the frustration is even bigger. I really hope that for the next GTA title R* will wake up and realize that in the end the satisfaction of the customer matters and we deserve some respects especially because we bought this game and didn't run to pirate bay to download it. I hope a patch comes that will fix this problems before new year...… Expand
  23. JeffS
    Jul 23, 2009
    0
    Basically? It's a slap in the face. Even with an outstanding rig the graphics look like something I'd expect from a game more than a half a decade old, Rockstar continually tries to shove its Social Club down your throat, and basic game functionality such as saving your game requires you to have a Microsoft Live for PC account. Trust me folks, the user ratings don't lie on Basically? It's a slap in the face. Even with an outstanding rig the graphics look like something I'd expect from a game more than a half a decade old, Rockstar continually tries to shove its Social Club down your throat, and basic game functionality such as saving your game requires you to have a Microsoft Live for PC account. Trust me folks, the user ratings don't lie on this one. Pass it by.… Expand
  24. wolfdogelite
    Aug 6, 2009
    0
    I really enjoyed the other grand theft auto games, i had high hopes for this one, but as it turns out, I ended up purchasing a poorly optimized slap in the face from Rockstar games. I have a computer more than capable of playing Crysis and Crysis Warhead, maxed out with at least 40 fps! I have a Q9550 @ 4 Ghz, and Two GTX 260's in sli, and it tells me that i can't max it out, soI really enjoyed the other grand theft auto games, i had high hopes for this one, but as it turns out, I ended up purchasing a poorly optimized slap in the face from Rockstar games. I have a computer more than capable of playing Crysis and Crysis Warhead, maxed out with at least 40 fps! I have a Q9550 @ 4 Ghz, and Two GTX 260's in sli, and it tells me that i can't max it out, so i turned down the settings, tried to start the game, wont let me, apparently my computer isn't good enough for the dickheads at rockstar, you think they would test this sort of thing, but obviously they don't, it's frustrating. and with the number of other quality games out there, i wouldn't waste my time with this one, move on, it's just not worth it.… Expand
  25. mePCGAMER
    Jan 15, 2010
    0
    Quote "All real PC games have save states but not this one, you need to go in a crap house and sleep for 6 hours.... =/ I don't care if save states makes game easier, that's how PC gamers play, we can't be bothered to replay something we've already done, that kind of crap is OK for crap consoles, but not in my PC!! NEVER!!." Focus on this bit we can't be bothered Quote "All real PC games have save states but not this one, you need to go in a crap house and sleep for 6 hours.... =/ I don't care if save states makes game easier, that's how PC gamers play, we can't be bothered to replay something we've already done, that kind of crap is OK for crap consoles, but not in my PC!! NEVER!!." Focus on this bit we can't be bothered to replay something we've already done, that kind of crap is OK for crap consoles, A PC gamer with common sense who was not born yesterday has voted ZERO.… Expand
  26. 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 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
  27. NathanS
    Dec 24, 2009
    0
    First things first, I *have* a high end computer - 9GB DDR3, i7 processor, and GTX 260. And this game simply FAILS to run on my machine. Everything is up to date, and even their benchmark tool cannot run as (as far as I can tell) the loading screens were corrupted upon installation. Options menus tell me that I cannot use more than 850 MB of my RAM and are simply the most atrocious thing First things first, I *have* a high end computer - 9GB DDR3, i7 processor, and GTX 260. And this game simply FAILS to run on my machine. Everything is up to date, and even their benchmark tool cannot run as (as far as I can tell) the loading screens were corrupted upon installation. Options menus tell me that I cannot use more than 850 MB of my RAM and are simply the most atrocious thing I've ever seen for a major release. Lucky me that I got it on a Steam sale and have only lost about $8 from this absolute, throw away piece of trash. So now, here I sit, redownloading the entire 16GB game because Rockstar has failed to put everything together correctly, and now wtih my Rockstar Socail Club, Windows Live, and apparently Securom all built-in to a game that I purcheased through Steam, why should I bother to look into buying ANY other Rockstar releases? BTW - The only reason the PC version got such a high score is that Metacritic is pulling reviews from the console version of the game, since most reviewers didn't bother to install the PC release, since they were 7 months apart.… Expand
  28. A.Correa
    Oct 31, 2009
    0
    I should have read some opinions before buy. NEVER BELIEVE CRITICS REVIEWS. BELIEVE THE USERS. look at the difference: 9 and 4.5 ! I just installed in my core 2 duo Geforce 8600GT, 4GB RAM. Game runs slow as hell. Full of desapearing textures, unplayable. Just like other million players. DON'T BUY IT until Rockstar release some real fixing patch.
  29. WH
    Mar 14, 2009
    0
    I've played every GTA game since GTA London and this is the only one I've disliked. The biggest problem i encountered with this game was that the buildings started to disappear within about 15 minutes of gameplay(and the poor frame rate), and its not as though i have an old computer(2.8Ghz quad, 2GB ram, Radeon 4850). The only way to get around that problem is to have a memory I've played every GTA game since GTA London and this is the only one I've disliked. The biggest problem i encountered with this game was that the buildings started to disappear within about 15 minutes of gameplay(and the poor frame rate), and its not as though i have an old computer(2.8Ghz quad, 2GB ram, Radeon 4850). The only way to get around that problem is to have a memory optimizer running at the same time. That said, if i were to consider the gameplay alone, i would give it a 2 or 3, its not like i didnt have at least a few minutes of fun smashing the cars up in a variety of ways, but due to the "clown car" handling and the astounding lack of variety in the missions,aircraft(not one plane it would seem!) and environment i got bored within a couple of days. Maybe its just that R* spoiled us with the excellence of San Andreas and its epic range of activities, so, to finish i would say - DONT BUY IT! try mercs 2 instead.… Expand
  30. Dalekc
    Jun 11, 2009
    0
    THIS GAME IS TERRIBLE! Now listen, ignore the critics giving it 100 because they got a magical GTA 4 pc to play it on. Now my pc is pretty good but I didn't even have a chance to do the first mission, why? Well because I got a stupid runtime error and GTA IV has stopped working and this is with the steam version guys. It took almost 20 hrs to download on steam and you have to sign up THIS GAME IS TERRIBLE! Now listen, ignore the critics giving it 100 because they got a magical GTA 4 pc to play it on. Now my pc is pretty good but I didn't even have a chance to do the first mission, why? Well because I got a stupid runtime error and GTA IV has stopped working and this is with the steam version guys. It took almost 20 hrs to download on steam and you have to sign up for some stupid Rockstar social club to save your game! wtf?! also windows live is added to it which makes multiplayer 49x worse. It is good for the console as I have heard from others but not the pc. This has been the worst GTA of all time for the pc.… Expand
  31. SS
    Aug 31, 2009
    0
    This game simply sucks. I could ignore the bad port but the gameplay and graphics simply sucks! All you have to do is drive from point A to point B with slow cars! The graphics look like god itself has shitted on the game, everything is so freakin' brown, all the colors + bloom are just killing my eyes. I simply can't play this game. And I doubt that anyone would like to pay 50$This game simply sucks. I could ignore the bad port but the gameplay and graphics simply sucks! All you have to do is drive from point A to point B with slow cars! The graphics look like god itself has shitted on the game, everything is so freakin' brown, all the colors + bloom are just killing my eyes. I simply can't play this game. And I doubt that anyone would like to pay 50$ for a horrible techdemo engine (gameplay doesn't count). People, there are better games in the world, why do you have to hype crap like this?… Expand
  32. Dalek
    Jan 3, 2011
    0
    This game is so bad... Its just a port from Xbox to PC thats why it ran so badly, my PC was way above the requirements and the worst part is, I completed the game with insanely bad framerate. The missions are repetative, your meant to do this or kill someone but its an ambush. Just a flatout horrible game.
  33. Basiden
    Oct 28, 2010
    0
    When I first bought the game, it ran like a dog on lowest setting using a fairly high-end pc set up. If you're not buying the latest gear, don't even bother.
    A new graphics card later it ran, but the terrible, console style controls force you to use a game controller. Don't have an x-box game controller? Don't bother trying to drive anywhere. Or turn corners while walking.
    Since I always    When I first bought the game, it ran like a dog on lowest setting using a fairly high-end pc set up. If you're not buying the latest gear, don't even bother.
    A new graphics card later it ran, but the terrible, console style controls force you to use a game controller. Don't have an x-box game controller? Don't bother trying to drive anywhere. Or turn corners while walking.
    Since I always like their stories, I tried coming back to it after months (and probably win7 service pack 3) to find it won't load past the logo screens. I've tried everything I've found online to try to solve the issue with no success.
    R* can jump off a cliff. I am done with their bs, and despite owning pretty much everything they've made to date (bugs and all), I will never buy from them again. I feel like the entire package was a bait and switch for pc owners - Thanks for your $50, did you actually want to play that? Oh sorry, we haven't implemented that feature yet.
    Don't even bother buying it on special. Chances are it won't load at all. Go to a movie instead and save yourself days of screwing around.    … Expand
  34. RectalTerror
    Mar 30, 2011
    1
    A game that you can't play, is worth nothing. And GTAIV PC is a game that you can't play. It requires a credit card to register GFWL, requires registering Social Club & has other annoyances like Securom, and yes that's when you got it from Steam - buying a game on Steam and having to register GFWL, find the error. I'm glad I didn't pay too much for it. It's possibly a good game, onA game that you can't play, is worth nothing. And GTAIV PC is a game that you can't play. It requires a credit card to register GFWL, requires registering Social Club & has other annoyances like Securom, and yes that's when you got it from Steam - buying a game on Steam and having to register GFWL, find the error. I'm glad I didn't pay too much for it. It's possibly a good game, on consoles that is. From what I read it's also full of bugs, that I will never know. GTA3 was already a very bad PC port so I wouldn't be surprised. Another game that looks like a huge amount of work, ruined by abuse of marketing.… Expand
  35. mthrl
    Oct 25, 2011
    4
    A decent game, but marred by bugs, graphics glitches and a STUPID anti-piracy system that punishes the customers rather than the pirates. I don't want to have to register and log in to several services just to play a game - it was cracked a few days after release anyway and, of course, those who pirate the game don't have to jump through all of the hoops that the honest customers do...A decent game, but marred by bugs, graphics glitches and a STUPID anti-piracy system that punishes the customers rather than the pirates. I don't want to have to register and log in to several services just to play a game - it was cracked a few days after release anyway and, of course, those who pirate the game don't have to jump through all of the hoops that the honest customers do...

    Rockstar, if you're going to treat paying PC customers like criminals and then give them **** ports then don't bother.    … Expand
  36. JonathanM
    Aug 23, 2013
    0
    Is Grand Theft Auto IV a good game? Yes, absolutely, I have not one bad thing to say about it. Is it a good PC port? Absolutely not, in fact I would call it number one for worst PC port of all time. Rockstar clearly spent most of their time jerking off instead of creating a perfect port of one of the best games of its time. Everything is buggy, and I am running a VERY high-end system, andIs Grand Theft Auto IV a good game? Yes, absolutely, I have not one bad thing to say about it. Is it a good PC port? Absolutely not, in fact I would call it number one for worst PC port of all time. Rockstar clearly spent most of their time jerking off instead of creating a perfect port of one of the best games of its time. Everything is buggy, and I am running a VERY high-end system, and can just barely max the game on highest resolution. There should be NO reason that a guy running a GTX 760 with 2GB of GDDR5 shouldn't be able to handle this game no sweat. I cannot believe Rockstar would screw its fans and players over like this, and the fact that the game has such high praise from critics, they should all be ashamed for letting this slip through the cracks. As a second complaint, being a guy who has Windows 8, the DRM best known as Suckurom crashes when I even attempt to start the game, a bigger kick in the head when I can completely circumvent it after pirating the game so I could actually play it (thanks a ton, you pricks.) If GTA V ever gets ported to PC I hope Rockstar at least learns from a few of their mistakes.… Expand
  37. hdeezie80
    Jun 10, 2012
    1
    decent console game but what the **** its kind of insulting that they would release a game that performs this poorly, i have a very capable system i7, AMD HD 7770 graphics card, 12 gb's of ram, i can get it to run somewhat smoothly but using only 700 Mb of Vram, i feel completely cheated.
  38. Everyone
    Mar 26, 2012
    4
    The graphics are amazing. The music is amazing. The game itself? It's awful. Terrible. Horrible. Here's a summary of the missions. Spoilers ahead:

    Mission 1: drive to forgettable dirty city area, kill some people. Mission 2: drive to forgettable dirty city area, kill a person Mission 7: drive to forgettable dirty city area, kill some people Mission 29: drive to forgettable dirty city    The graphics are amazing. The music is amazing. The game itself? It's awful. Terrible. Horrible. Here's a summary of the missions. Spoilers ahead:

    Mission 1: drive to forgettable dirty city area, kill some people.
    Mission 2: drive to forgettable dirty city area, kill a person
    Mission 7: drive to forgettable dirty city area, kill some people
    Mission 29: drive to forgettable dirty city area, kill some people
    Mission 72: drive to forgettable dirty city area, kill person

    That is the entire game. I am trying to play through it for the second time, and I just can not make myself finish. I'm at the last sequence of missions, and it's miserably boring due to the repetition. They made a beautiful game. A masterpiece of videogame art. But they forgot to make it fun.    … Expand
  39. MagnusJ
    Jan 14, 2009
    1
    horrible horrible horrible (x20) port. My computer meets the recommended requirements, yet when i finally got to play the game (used 2 days to get around different crashbugs) the fps were so low even though i had set the graphics to the lowest (it was first at my 5th try to change them that the game didn't crash here). Seriously i feel cheated like whore who never get paid, for payinghorrible horrible horrible (x20) port. My computer meets the recommended requirements, yet when i finally got to play the game (used 2 days to get around different crashbugs) the fps were so low even though i had set the graphics to the lowest (it was first at my 5th try to change them that the game didn't crash here). Seriously i feel cheated like whore who never get paid, for paying for this garbage game. tottally useless… Expand
  40. Mantriur
    Jun 23, 2011
    3
    It beats me how this game received a metascore of 90. It seems to have potential, I'll give it that, but the abysmal controls, bad dialog, and boring starter missions made me drop it after 2 hours. I might have been a bit annoyed with it to start with, because their lame attempt to market that windows gaming platform with the saving mechanism and random crashes.
    Sad thing is, they emulate    It beats me how this game received a metascore of 90. It seems to have potential, I'll give it that, but the abysmal controls, bad dialog, and boring starter missions made me drop it after 2 hours. I might have been a bit annoyed with it to start with, because their lame attempt to market that windows gaming platform with the saving mechanism and random crashes.
    Sad thing is, they emulate the cars physics pretty well, which unfortunately is completely pointless with digital 0/1 controls. Again, there seems to be potential, but for me it had way too many flaws to get that far.
    P.S.: Hardware requirements are a bit ridiculous considering the release date and the eye candy you get for it, but for a modern (2011) gaming rig it's very playable.    … Expand
  41. Mykwon
    Dec 8, 2012
    2
    Nicely done but becomes a little repetitive after a while. There should be more around the story, or more interesting missions than just go and shoot a bunch of people to steal something. Yet, it's addictive and characters are quite developed with clear cut personalities (Little Jacob is AWESOME!).
    However, after playing for 60 hours, I'm struggling real bad with some missions, after    Nicely done but becomes a little repetitive after a while. There should be more around the story, or more interesting missions than just go and shoot a bunch of people to steal something. Yet, it's addictive and characters are quite developed with clear cut personalities (Little Jacob is AWESOME!).
    However, after playing for 60 hours, I'm struggling real bad with some missions, after retrying them for like 20 times. No way to skip them, no help, it SUCKS! I'm so fed up to redo the same things again and again and have Nicko not respond to what I ask him to do, ending up dying in the most retarded ways ever. I give up. It ruined my game experience so bad that I now hate the game. Well done Rockstar for not putting any save-points for the long missions and force the player to do the same things during 30 minutes every time, again and again, for nothing.    … Expand
  42. alskib
    Jan 10, 2010
    2
    What a shame! I have a i7 oc to 4.4ghz and a gtx295 oc by 24% and the game graphics glitchy, the only game I have that does this. Even if I reduce the oc's or remove them altogether its still the same but worse. Nice idea, controls are poor and very clunky. Its as if you were a puppet master controlling strings that actually control the controls....if that makes sense, as if you are What a shame! I have a i7 oc to 4.4ghz and a gtx295 oc by 24% and the game graphics glitchy, the only game I have that does this. Even if I reduce the oc's or remove them altogether its still the same but worse. Nice idea, controls are poor and very clunky. Its as if you were a puppet master controlling strings that actually control the controls....if that makes sense, as if you are far removed. Not so bad when you're walking but fighting is a joke and driving is unrealistic. Completed 4 missions then deleted it, waste of £5.… Expand
  43. montu89cmontu89c
    Jul 19, 2009
    4
    I have been waiting to install this.Believe me! Its a crap.I dont care what others say.Car Control is awful.I dont know why they dint give an option to turn off steering with mouse.Bloody thing. I wonder why this game uses much resources.I admit the physics is unimaginable and excellent.I experienced this myself.Why do they add much small details?so that it resembles the living?But this I have been waiting to install this.Believe me! Its a crap.I dont care what others say.Car Control is awful.I dont know why they dint give an option to turn off steering with mouse.Bloody thing. I wonder why this game uses much resources.I admit the physics is unimaginable and excellent.I experienced this myself.Why do they add much small details?so that it resembles the living?But this is pain in the butt.It has an excellent graphics.But at what cost?Completely buying a new PC?… Expand
  44. lildanny
    Nov 13, 2011
    4
    Gameplay, storyline, and multiplay is incredible. Graphics...well I suppose they COULD be good, but this game was coded SO poorly, it's impossible to tell. With a computer that surpasses the minimum requirements 10-fold, I was still forced to put all of the graphics settings on LOW in order to play with minimal lag. Keep in mind, there was STILL lag, and the low settings made graphics lookGameplay, storyline, and multiplay is incredible. Graphics...well I suppose they COULD be good, but this game was coded SO poorly, it's impossible to tell. With a computer that surpasses the minimum requirements 10-fold, I was still forced to put all of the graphics settings on LOW in order to play with minimal lag. Keep in mind, there was STILL lag, and the low settings made graphics look like utter sh*t. Had Rockstar put more effort in perfecting the coding, this game would have been amazing. Looks to me like another rushed out pile of ...… Expand
  45. frankbilders
    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 aMy 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
  46. LEW15
    Jul 13, 2013
    0
    I got this for £5 on Steam which was brilliant but when I went to play the game it all went wrong because of the stupid Microsoft Live sign in to save game progress, I signed up for it all yet it still doesn't work so every time I log in it still tells me to create an account, F**k you Microsoft for ruining a great game. Just buy it on console.
  47. iwhbyd42
    Jul 16, 2013
    1
    This game is great. Unfortunately the combination of Games for Windows Live and Rockstar Social Club leads to a DRM f@%kfest that renders what might have been a great port into a useless pile of unplayable garbage. Glitches, fps drop, and crashing are what I come to expect from a port but when I can't even start the game due to login issues I have to say its bad
  48. ThomasJ
    Mar 10, 2009
    4
    Why a 4? I tell you they said in most reveiw That you need a good computer to run well. I dont agree. Since a pc 2.40mhz 4GB ram and 1GB grafic does not help the issues the game has. Small graphic glicthes. They said. Major Graphic problem I say. I say I have seldom got so annoyed when I playd a game. In apartment after save I always have to tab out and in the game again since the screen Why a 4? I tell you they said in most reveiw That you need a good computer to run well. I dont agree. Since a pc 2.40mhz 4GB ram and 1GB grafic does not help the issues the game has. Small graphic glicthes. They said. Major Graphic problem I say. I say I have seldom got so annoyed when I playd a game. In apartment after save I always have to tab out and in the game again since the screen goes all blur. Same in Internet cafe, some times under the bridges and I think it is the wheater motor in the game, its when its raining and sunset time. And the game lag if I have more then 1600-1200 and max out on the rest. And the fact no patch for dual graphic cards its s big time. And the game play. Sorry I'm not in to have to play some one that cant even speak proper English I'm a Swede but playing a Bos-Serb does not make me goo Who! And have to look like potato nose guy. Give me a plastic surgen in the game, and not have the good stuff to look forward in the old games like buying property. What is this? Its not GTA. … Expand
  49. DavyRocket
    Feb 15, 2011
    1
    I held off for a long time before buying this game. I must say that after 2 years of waiting. I wish I would not have bothered buying GTA 4. First off It took 2 days just to get Microshaft live to work properly just so I could save. I cant even use my Philips gamepad, because MS basically paid R* to monopolize on full support for xbox controller for pc ONLY. I am almost done with the gameI held off for a long time before buying this game. I must say that after 2 years of waiting. I wish I would not have bothered buying GTA 4. First off It took 2 days just to get Microshaft live to work properly just so I could save. I cant even use my Philips gamepad, because MS basically paid R* to monopolize on full support for xbox controller for pc ONLY. I am almost done with the game (mission 85), and I am flat out bored of the same thing over and over again. All missions are the same. If this is the direction R* is taking GTA then count me out for future releases. On a score of 1 - 10 I give it a 1.5, and that is being fair. It seems R* now has a trademark. Every GTA game I have played I would find this http://www.drxdesigns.com/screenshots/rstrademark.jpg I am a freelance 3d graphic artist, so it is easy for me to find these faults. VC, SA both had texture stretching. Of course all this is just my opinion, just the same as everyone else, and I am entitled to that! R* use to be my favorite game company, now very bottom of the list. 2 Thumbs down to GTA 4, and Rockstar.… Expand
  50. Em_JW
    Jan 20, 2009
    2
    I was tempted to go on an angry rant, but I want to be objective and fair here. Overall, there will be one thing I will *never* forget and always associate with this game. It has one supercritical flaw: -It runs like sh*t- I'm not exaggerating one bit. Ive been building and repairing pc hardware for over 10 years now, and have always been an avid gamer. I play many brand new titles I was tempted to go on an angry rant, but I want to be objective and fair here. Overall, there will be one thing I will *never* forget and always associate with this game. It has one supercritical flaw: -It runs like sh*t- I'm not exaggerating one bit. Ive been building and repairing pc hardware for over 10 years now, and have always been an avid gamer. I play many brand new titles and have few problems, often able to play 1900x1200 with every option enabled including antialiasing and plenty of texture post-processing on other new titles such as All source games (including L4D, TF2 etc.), Fallout3, Mirror's Edge and the list goes on... Obviously this is not because my hardware is not up to task. This is one of the worst pieces of software I've ever encountered. The game is very, very, VERY poorly programed. To boot, GTA IV doesn't even look good. The graphics look very dated in comparison with titles released recently. It crashes... alot. This program has managed to generate more faults and errors than any other application I have ever installed. I'd even go so far as to say known malware runs more stably. I wish I was exaggerating, but this is the sad, sad truth that is GTA IV for PC. I attempted for days to improve the performance and stability of this program using every workaround and trick I know of including: 1) trying over a dozen different combinations of drivers 2) both versions of the game 3) manually editing nearly every configuration in the program directory 4) multiple OS's (vista and XP pro) 5) multiple bios and firmware combinations 6) alteration of my OS (killing services, disabling/enabling access, security, automatic memory remapping apps, cache utilities) 7) I even cleared out enough room on my scsi 15k rpm HDD... No effect on performance. (Oh let me add that the install directory is rediculous. 15 gigs!? of *what* may I ask?) 8)multiple brand new graphics cards including an ATI 4850 overclock addition (asus) and XFX nvidia geforce 9800. Did any of this work, at all? Actually, somewhat. But the performance is unbelievably bad even when I take the best results from all of the above. Given the Xbox 360's hardware, (http://hardware.teamxbox.com/articles/xbox/1144/The-Xbox-360-System-Specifications/p1 if you're curious) most modern PC gaming rigs shouldn't break a sweat running this software. However, my problems with this awfully coded mess are not isolated, but rather the typical experience. Ludicrous. How did rockstar miss these problems? Greater than 50% of users are having awful issues, how many different pcs did they playtest this on? One? None? Grand Theft is an apt title. I feel no better than grifted, swindled and conned for purchasing this garbage. The programmers should be truly ashamed. Rockstar has also made no attempt to repair their broken software nor have they even *acknowledged* that these severe issues exist to this degree. The finale of this ridiculum is that once I was able to stabilize the software to the point that I could play through an appreciable portion of the game, it was really pretty average. The gameplay is alright... Pretty similar to san-andreas, with the notable exception that the animations are vastly superior. You are able to traverse objects a little better, and the cover system does add some substance to combat. I'd give the gameplay a 7/10, its decent, but still sort of the same old thing. Vehicle mechanics are really very good, with notable attention to realistic traction, but the general physics still have a very toy like, very poor quality. They really didn't think outside the box too much, alot of the mission content is completely rehashed from the original GTA III engine titles. The plot is actually pretty good, and the voice actors seem to be above average. Its pretty entertaining plot wise. Nearly all of the new content additions are terrible though. The cellphone is an abomination. People bother you on your cellphone too much. I hate this in reality, let alone in a leisure activity. I don't want people calling me all the time and being obligated to do what they ask me. I can only play the stupid ingame pool once or twice before it becomes extremely tiresome. To make it worse, you're punished for not doing this by losing reputation. Dating a computer character? Give me a break, this doen't even resemble fun. A virtual internet complete with virtual spam? What the hell did they bother spending time on this for? Does anyone actually appreciate this? Its really *not* clever, I wish they would have spent this time play testing this garbled up mess of code. -Bottom Line- This software is almost completely broken, and riddled with issues. It barely works. To quote the great philosopher James Rolf (AVGN), "What a sh*tload of f*ck" It comes packaged with all this bloatware that makes irritated as well. I don't use 'windows live' for anything, and its nothing but a marketing ploy with no substance. 'Rockstar Social Club' is equally useless or worse, as I suspect these applications present very serious security flaws. They run scripts and leave open ports, and I feel there is a high likelyhood that these applications will be exploited as entry points. Its really just the insult added to injury.… Expand
  51. OneVoice
    Nov 20, 2012
    4
    This game was a disappointment to me. I really enjoyed GTA III and GTA:San Andreas, but just couldn't get into this one. The characters weren't as interesting to me, and the missions where just not as fun as some of the earlier GTA games. Hopefully the next installment of GTA improves upon this.
  52. Zeph
    Sep 25, 2010
    3
    Absolutely not worth it. The download took a very long time, and unless your PC is running well above the minimum specs (which are already pretty high, and easily knocks out any non-gaming built PCs), then this game will lag terribly with severe glitching and control issues (and yes, I am talking about rock-bottom bare-minimum visual and audio effects). Sadly, I was unable to get pastAbsolutely not worth it. The download took a very long time, and unless your PC is running well above the minimum specs (which are already pretty high, and easily knocks out any non-gaming built PCs), then this game will lag terribly with severe glitching and control issues (and yes, I am talking about rock-bottom bare-minimum visual and audio effects). Sadly, I was unable to get past the 4th cutscene before my computer gave in on me.… Expand
  53. JoseF
    Jan 3, 2009
    0
    I usually find it unfair for a game to receive "0" because it rarely deserves such a rating but for this game, I'll gladly make an exception. Why? Because of the way Rockstar have been treating us PC gamers from day 1. First of all, they kept us hanging, hoping we'd buy the console version first which I did. When they thought most people had already bought it, they announced the I usually find it unfair for a game to receive "0" because it rarely deserves such a rating but for this game, I'll gladly make an exception. Why? Because of the way Rockstar have been treating us PC gamers from day 1. First of all, they kept us hanging, hoping we'd buy the console version first which I did. When they thought most people had already bought it, they announced the PC version, knowing that die hard PC gamers would want the PC version next to the console version. A dirty move if ever I saw one. But now that it's finally here, it's even WORSE than the horrible launch of GTA3 which was bugged and failed to run on many PCs as well. Have they learned NOTHING? No, they have learned something: they have learned that crappy, buggy, crash-prone ports sell regardless of their problems. And GTAIV is the pinacle of crappy ports. Horrible performance on top end systems, instability, many people being unable to load the game, graphical errors, tons and tons of bugs, etc. etc. This is UNACCEPTABLE. I don't give a damn about the game behind this when the attitude of Rockstar is so smug, so arrogant, as to admit spending $200k on copy protection instead of getting the thing beta tested! Not that you'll give a damn after having paid off all those reviewers to give you high scores.… Expand
  54. MarkG
    Jan 1, 2010
    2
    Worst PC port ever made. The game runs horrible on my high end desktop. Its unbelievable that a huge company like rockstar could produce something like this.
  55. Mr.Toad
    Jan 13, 2010
    3
    I'm not a very technical person, but my computer IS above average and yet it still ran into many issues. Liberty City is undeniably beautiful, you can't find a more realistic city in any video game. The story is also a good strong point, for while in a lot of the other games I found a few plot holes and other events that don't make sense, I couldn't find any of that in I'm not a very technical person, but my computer IS above average and yet it still ran into many issues. Liberty City is undeniably beautiful, you can't find a more realistic city in any video game. The story is also a good strong point, for while in a lot of the other games I found a few plot holes and other events that don't make sense, I couldn't find any of that in GTA 4. However, Rockstar failed at the very core, the gameplay. This *isn't* a fun game, but more worringly still is that you are denied most of the freedom a sandbox game is supposed to give. For instance, you are denied about 3/4 of the whole map until you completed a certain amount of missions, and that certain amount is a LOT(and even then, you still have a third denied until you do some more). It also seems that no matter how long you wait the weapon stores never sell any new guns. But the greatest flaw is that GTA is *too* realistic. The average gamer doesn't want something completely realistic, he plays games because he wants to escape reality for a while. On one mission for instance, you need to approach a target by a job interview. To do so, you need to send a job application by email, get an answer by phone, receive a time for the interview, and be there on time. It's completely unnecessary and many other aspects of the game (such as the social interactions) are a chore. In the end, after my game crashed oh-so-many times while I was trying to finish a very exciting mission, I said to myself "do I really care about what happens next?" As soon as I thought "No", I disinstalled it immediately and now its new job consists of being a dust accumulator.… Expand
  56. IanJ.
    Dec 4, 2008
    3
    What Cool-Aid are all of these reviewers drinking? Did they have to fuddle with the install like everyone else? People who meet the recommended system requirements subjected to watching Niko do the herky-jerk all over Liberty City. The game in this state eats my CPU for breakfast and all it can display is a stuttering slideshow. Do you want to play online? Well then you have to install What Cool-Aid are all of these reviewers drinking? Did they have to fuddle with the install like everyone else? People who meet the recommended system requirements subjected to watching Niko do the herky-jerk all over Liberty City. The game in this state eats my CPU for breakfast and all it can display is a stuttering slideshow. Do you want to play online? Well then you have to install the R* social app and Games for Windows Live if you intend on doing so. More process going on in the background are always a plus! I would rather wait longer to have a playable game over just shipping in out the door and fixing it later because of the holiday season frenzy. The game will be fine, come six months and a couple of patches later.… Expand
  57. Previous
    Sep 30, 2010
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. A very poor example of a game coming onto the PC port instead of trying to stabilize the games the game company tries to improve the graphics only to make much worse for people with low-end gaming rig, see I'm a person who owns a high-end rig but it still lags to about 15-20 fps I had to turn off all the textures setting only to find out that the game gets about 23-25 fps

    Even then analyzing the story and the gameplay itself is nothing special and that 95% of the mission have nothing to do with the story which is about Niko Bellic trying grab the man who's betrayed his squad in the previous war, the mission feel like a set chores unlike in GTA San Andreas which most of the mission relating to story and trying to get back to the CJ once had in the hood.
    The only other thing about this game that seems like something to praise is the cover-based system and that the only fun thing to do most of the time is to camp at the Bohan safehouse and kill some police officers having six stars but even then you can't do that because this game LAGS to much.
    Lack of variety I see too can't get stronger, ridiculous clothing or getting fat which was the fun part about GTA SA.
    Overall if you have the most powerful gaming rig in the world that us poor can't buy than GTA IV is up your alley but even then so is Crysis.    … Expand
  58. JasonL.
    Dec 3, 2009
    4
    GTA IV on the PC could have had the potential to be an amazing game, but there are a slew of problems that prevent it from reaching classic status. I'll only bother to list my biggest gripe about this game: the controls, whether you're playing with a keyboard or gamepad, are easily the most poorly implemented I've ever seen in a computer game. Unresponsive and needlessly GTA IV on the PC could have had the potential to be an amazing game, but there are a slew of problems that prevent it from reaching classic status. I'll only bother to list my biggest gripe about this game: the controls, whether you're playing with a keyboard or gamepad, are easily the most poorly implemented I've ever seen in a computer game. Unresponsive and needlessly complex, they are an invitation to a migraine headache every time I try to play. Want to explore Liberty City? Good luck with that if you're using a gamepad. The camera scheme (auto-follow) prohibits you from viewing the surroundings by instantly snapping back to the default position unless your character or vehicle is standing still. And you can't change any of the camera options or buttons if you're playing on an XBox controller. WTF were RockStar thinking? Follow my advice and purchase Saint's Row 2 instead. Even with its faults, at least that game is playable.… Expand
  59. Qwertie
    Jan 26, 2012
    0
    I bought this game on Steam and it won't run--it crashes on startup on our 64-bit Windows 7 machine with a GeForce GTX 470. Steam doesn't give refunds, so all I can do is offer this negative review.
  60. post_hardcores
    Sep 30, 2012
    4
    this game is great in some aspects, such as the story (the most mature history in any gta) the characters, the graphics and A.I. but the port of this game for PC is such a bad port, its like rockstar made it in one day... the poor controls, the awful bugs (specially the one on the **** last mission) you have to do wonders to repair a broken port like this and in top of that the musicthis game is great in some aspects, such as the story (the most mature history in any gta) the characters, the graphics and A.I. but the port of this game for PC is such a bad port, its like rockstar made it in one day... the poor controls, the awful bugs (specially the one on the **** last mission) you have to do wonders to repair a broken port like this and in top of that the music isn't as good (good thing for the personal radio) and the game isn't that challenging, so if you are a fan of gta try this, if you are not, go and play San Andreas and avoid this one… Expand
  61. AndrewR.
    Dec 3, 2008
    2
    Terrible graphics because of lack of AA. Jagged edges everywhere. Your vid card, no matter how high end, is useless. This game has NO option to enable AA, which it so desperately need.
  62. TimA.
    Dec 3, 2008
    1
    Huge disapppointment - this is a prime example for a sloppy PC port. This is the kind of product that is the reason for a dying PC market. Graphics look rather aged, even on high settings. No antialiasing (thus very jagged edges), paintspray-like shadows, no reflections on cars etc., no blur effects, blurry textures (even on high settings) - and to top this, poor performance even on high Huge disapppointment - this is a prime example for a sloppy PC port. This is the kind of product that is the reason for a dying PC market. Graphics look rather aged, even on high settings. No antialiasing (thus very jagged edges), paintspray-like shadows, no reflections on cars etc., no blur effects, blurry textures (even on high settings) - and to top this, poor performance even on high end systems. Game review sites were supplied with "black boxed" PCs running GTA IV, allegedly running pro-level GFX's - this might explain the huge discrepancies between all the user generated screenshots that do not look even close to the ones on game review sites in terms of visual qualities. Loads of crashes and problems, plus you have to sign into BOTH Games for Windows Live AND Rockstar Social Club to play online and/or even save a game in singleplayer mode. 8 points from me for the gameplay, but -7 points for the inexcusably bad port - what were Rockstar thinking ?… Expand
  63. Lucas
    Dec 3, 2008
    0
    This game could be awesome, but sadly it is not. Another game SecuROM enabled game, with numerous bugs and flaws: * First of all, you have to create two accounts in order to play the game (Windows Live & Rockstar Social...) * SecureROM keeps me from playing the game by just not letting it start (emulation software? I've got none...) * After I reinstalled windows (!) and the game This game could be awesome, but sadly it is not. Another game SecuROM enabled game, with numerous bugs and flaws: * First of all, you have to create two accounts in order to play the game (Windows Live & Rockstar Social...) * SecureROM keeps me from playing the game by just not letting it start (emulation software? I've got none...) * After I reinstalled windows (!) and the game (which takes more then 30 minutes) I got to start it after 5 tries (reproducible). * And, last but not least, the framerate is really crappy. Changing the resolution doesn't help, and my systems not that bad (Q6600, 8800GTX, 4GB Ram) So please, do NOT buy this game, hoping that the folks at Rockstar realize what a piece of crap the released.… Expand
  64. ColinL
    Dec 3, 2008
    2
    It sort of works in single player, multiplayer doesn't work at all so far. Was finally looking forward to being able to mouse/keyboard this sweet game, but they botched it pretty bad. And since i bought it on steam, I need my steam ID, windows live ID AND rockstar social club ID for multi (which crashes when logged into social club).
  65. JS
    Dec 4, 2008
    1
    Are none of the reviewers going to mention that this game IS BLOODY BROKEN. Who cares if it COULD be a good game IF the engine was optimised and IF you didn't have to install FOUR bloody applications that you never asked for. And that excludes the notorious SecuROM DRM. As a customer experience, it is at best broken, at worst the most frustrating, anger-inducing insult of a game I Are none of the reviewers going to mention that this game IS BLOODY BROKEN. Who cares if it COULD be a good game IF the engine was optimised and IF you didn't have to install FOUR bloody applications that you never asked for. And that excludes the notorious SecuROM DRM. As a customer experience, it is at best broken, at worst the most frustrating, anger-inducing insult of a game I have EVER had the misfortune to pay money for.… Expand
  66. GrenadeMagnet
    Dec 4, 2008
    2
    bugs bugs bugs. thats treyarch for you. connection problems(internet gets disconnected when u start game, if youre using vista you cant join xp games in coop and there arent much vista users compared to xp users, you get disconnected by the server randomly in multiplayer games, unhandled exception caught disconnection problems), sound driver conflict problems, disapearing favorite server bugs bugs bugs. thats treyarch for you. connection problems(internet gets disconnected when u start game, if youre using vista you cant join xp games in coop and there arent much vista users compared to xp users, you get disconnected by the server randomly in multiplayer games, unhandled exception caught disconnection problems), sound driver conflict problems, disapearing favorite server problems, startup problems, internet disconnection problems(COD WAW tweaks the network settingsand you have to wait 5 minutes to reset the modem) installation problems, hardcore mode overpowered dogs, and did i mention bugs? congratulations on your bugfarm treyarch. i wasted $50.00.… Expand
  67. RedAvatar
    Dec 4, 2008
    0
    I usually find it unfair for a game to receive "0" because it rarely deserves such a rating but for this game, I'll gladly make an exception. Why? Because of the way Rockstar have been treating us PC gamers from day 1. First of all, they kept us hanging, hoping we'd buy the console version first which I did. When they thought most people had already bought it, they announced the I usually find it unfair for a game to receive "0" because it rarely deserves such a rating but for this game, I'll gladly make an exception. Why? Because of the way Rockstar have been treating us PC gamers from day 1. First of all, they kept us hanging, hoping we'd buy the console version first which I did. When they thought most people had already bought it, they announced the PC version, knowing that die hard PC gamers would want the PC version next to the console version. A dirty move if ever I saw one. But now that it's finally here, it's even WORSE than the horrible launch of GTA3 which was bugged and failed to run on many PCs as well. Have they learned NOTHING? No, they have learned something: they have learned that crappy, buggy, crash-prone ports sell regardless of their problems. And GTAIV is the pinacle of crappy ports. Horrible performance on top end systems, instability, many people being unable to load the game, graphical errors, tons and tons of bugs, etc. etc. This is UNACCEPTABLE. I don't give a damn about the game behind this when the attitude of Rockstar is so smug, so arrogant, as to admit spending $200k on copy protection instead of getting the thing beta tested! Here's your 0/10 Rockstart. Not that you'll give a damn after having paid off all those reviewers to give you high scores.… Expand
  68. HradK.
    Dec 4, 2008
    1
    On top of incredibly buggy game, insanely hardware demanding game, securom drm, it rams another 2 "social" networks down your throat (3 if you use steam) - games for windows live and some rockstar branded social crap. And you do need them if you want to do as basic things as save a game progress in a singleplayer game. This is beyond absurd.
  69. PhangW.
    Dec 5, 2008
    3
    Horrendous port. Rockstar did not even bother to take us PC gamers seriously, by giving us such a HIGH DETAIL of technical and graphical glitches. I have been a long supporter of the GTA franchise and i must say, Rockstar has certainly pissed us PC gamers off.
  70. GeorgeG.
    Dec 5, 2008
    1
    This should have been one of the greatest games of all times but it's actually a test of how much you can screw the PC user before driving him to the console. It installs SecuROM even though I've bought it through Steam. It requires umpteen logins to play online... if you can get it to launch at all. The game was rushed to launch so it can make the most of the holiday season and This should have been one of the greatest games of all times but it's actually a test of how much you can screw the PC user before driving him to the console. It installs SecuROM even though I've bought it through Steam. It requires umpteen logins to play online... if you can get it to launch at all. The game was rushed to launch so it can make the most of the holiday season and rake in the cash, the only problem is that you would have to be stupid to pay money for it right now. Wait for SecuROM to be removed (at least from the Steam version) and for the showstopper bugs to be ironed out.… Expand
  71. cesarm.
    Dec 5, 2008
    4
    This game is the first I've purchased in many time, and I cant even evaluate it because It dosent start once downloaded by Steam. I pass the recomended config by large and it dosent run. It is very very desapointing. I urge rockstar to prepare a patch to solve this problem.
  72. PiotrN.
    Dec 5, 2008
    1
    I bought this game on Steam. I am unable to run it in a playable fashion on a Pentium D/GF7800GT with 4 GB RAM (a somewhat aging setup, I know, but it runs Fallout 3 comfortably and without any hiccups). The graphics are horrible, and not just due to the abysmal optimization - I'm experiencing plenty of clipping issues and objects suddenly appearing right in front of me, not to I bought this game on Steam. I am unable to run it in a playable fashion on a Pentium D/GF7800GT with 4 GB RAM (a somewhat aging setup, I know, but it runs Fallout 3 comfortably and without any hiccups). The graphics are horrible, and not just due to the abysmal optimization - I'm experiencing plenty of clipping issues and objects suddenly appearing right in front of me, not to mention that with all sliders set to minimum it looks far uglier than GTA:SA while still offering worse framerates (naturally, I've tried a number of GFX drivers, including the very latest ones). The HUD flickers on and off. Frequent crashes to desktop. Unable to redefine controls (the game assumes that I have an XBOX controller, which is beyond ridiculous - this is a PC game, remember?) Moreover, Rockstar blackmail you into installing some sort of community software - otherwise you cannot save the game (their insistence makes me believe that they're desperate to acquire your personal info for commercial purposes). My recommendation avoid like the plague (get a console version instead, if you like GTA).… Expand
  73. Annoymous
    Dec 6, 2008
    0
    Do not buy the PC version! GTA IV on PS3 and Xbox 360 is a must have but the PC version is garbage. If you thought Crysis was demanding, think again. You will need a Quad core Xtreme and an ATi 4870 X2 and 4GB ram just to play medium settings at 25fps (Not very playable). I just hope a patch will fix this game. Do not waste your money on this like I did! Buy Left 4 Dead or Fallout 3 instead!
  74. Schyz
    Dec 7, 2008
    0
    It's like a bad port from a bad PS2 game. But it's 2008 and they had a good DirectX version. What they did? They destroyed a good game: DRM, RSC, GFWL, bad graphics (worse than San Andreas in my computer), etc. They spent several months to achieve only one thing: Fail.
  75. bulsajok.
    Dec 8, 2008
    4
    It does not pay to buy pc games before the first patch is released; I had hoped Rockstar's port would be different, more fool me. After a tricky install (why must I be forced to turn off a standard Vista service [not mentioned in the GTA documentation] and sign up to 2 online services- Rockstar Social Club and Windows Live- in order to get through the damned install without it It does not pay to buy pc games before the first patch is released; I had hoped Rockstar's port would be different, more fool me. After a tricky install (why must I be forced to turn off a standard Vista service [not mentioned in the GTA documentation] and sign up to 2 online services- Rockstar Social Club and Windows Live- in order to get through the damned install without it crashing?). I find I can run the game now, but it won't recognize my gamepad (the same one which worked great in GTA-SA) and the control scheme/camera viewmake near impossible to drive properly using just the keyboard & mouse. I'm hopefully these problems will be resolved in the future, but if you are planning on buying this for PC, DON'T, at least not untill a patch is issued. Constantly paying to be a beta tester is going to finally drive me to consoles, I stare at my new laptop with Nvidea 9800GS M video card, and it mocks me- I could have bought a PS3, an XBox 360, a WII, and a heap of console games for what it cost me.… Expand
  76. AnonymousMC
    Jan 11, 2009
    0
    The game performs like absolute crap and it's not even a next gen game!

    Graphics are terrible. Shadows are grainy and looks like crap. These critics who gives it a high score must have been payed off since i can't believe someone could actually ignore such a major flaw in this game. Before you even can start the game you need windows live and Gta social club which in my    The game performs like absolute crap and it's not even a next gen game!

    Graphics are terrible.
    Shadows are grainy and looks like crap.
    These critics who gives it a high score must have been payed off since i can't believe someone could actually ignore such a major flaw in this game.

    Before you even can start the game you need windows live and Gta social club which in my eyes is just a resource hog. The latest patch didn't solve any performance issues. Physics in this game needs some tweaking. Missions feels repetitive. The social relationship you have with other characters in this game is annoying. If you don't go bowling with them then they will hate you. If you get hit by a car then it will take forever for you to get up on your legs and when there's cops after you then they will shoot you before you get up. So if cops are after you and you fall down then "GAME OVER BUDDY!"    … Expand
  77. MistahMagoo
    Jan 1, 2009
    0
    I can't even offer a gameplay review for this pos game because I can't get past the crashing, stuttering, and missing textures that deplete any potential enjoyment. With a 2.5Ghz cor 2 duo and 9800m GS I would hope to at least be able to execute the game. Not the case :(
  78. nosajman
    Jan 2, 2009
    3
    This game runs like crap on core 2 duo, 4 gb's of ram and a 9800 gts. Having to log into windows live to save is cumbersome and if you want to save and you don't have internet you have to create a new account that's offline. Good luck trying to figure that out I guarantee it will frustrate you. The driving isn't nearly as smooth as the x-box. I wish I could get my This game runs like crap on core 2 duo, 4 gb's of ram and a 9800 gts. Having to log into windows live to save is cumbersome and if you want to save and you don't have internet you have to create a new account that's offline. Good luck trying to figure that out I guarantee it will frustrate you. The driving isn't nearly as smooth as the x-box. I wish I could get my money back. I was a longtime Rockstar supporter but this is ridiculous.… Expand
  79. DougS
    Jan 24, 2009
    2
    As a software engineer at a company that makes software quality assurance products, I feel I can speak with some authority when I say the PC release of GTA4 is a colossal failure by either Rockstar's QA department or management. The game itself is quite good, but the workmanship is by far the worst I have ever seen on a game I have beta tested, much less a final product.
  80. Dave
    Jan 27, 2009
    0
    Even just installing the game i ran into all sorts of problems i kept on getting a corrupt media error message after buying a legitimate version, it happened so often that i just decided to hit ignore and then thought that running the setup again and select repair would fix any issues..wrong!...after about 30 minutes the game crashed and popped up with a fatal error message Zlib20 which Even just installing the game i ran into all sorts of problems i kept on getting a corrupt media error message after buying a legitimate version, it happened so often that i just decided to hit ignore and then thought that running the setup again and select repair would fix any issues..wrong!...after about 30 minutes the game crashed and popped up with a fatal error message Zlib20 which apparently according to rockstar means that i need to reinstall the game!! i did, got install error messages again so figured....i have a mate whos got the same game "i'll just borrow theirs and then just use my key" installed fine no error messages so i figured the game would be good to play....wrong!!....the game crashed before i even got to the second mission with roman!!, I've been patient and reinstalled the game few times (maybe 6 in total). But now i have had enough They have released a 2nd patch already to fix the issues that they (rockstar) added too the game in the first patch! I installed the patch (second one) and now the game just freezes after 5 minutes of being in a car! I really would have liked the game had it have worked im sure of that but the issues, bugs, and problems with it are far to numerous and widespread for me to recommend this game to anyone!... the thing that is frustrating is that the mate i borrowed the game discs from is having no issues with the game and their PC specs aren't as good as mine so no i not only have a game that doesn… Expand
  81. turreo.
    Jan 31, 2009
    0
    Come on Metacritic. This game doesn't deserve any near of 89! You should listen what the players have to say, and just calculate the score from players and critic reviews together. Reading these critics' reviews makes me ask did they even play the game, or spend 50 dollars of it!? The game is horrible, including all the problems and the fact that you need a supercomputer to be Come on Metacritic. This game doesn't deserve any near of 89! You should listen what the players have to say, and just calculate the score from players and critic reviews together. Reading these critics' reviews makes me ask did they even play the game, or spend 50 dollars of it!? The game is horrible, including all the problems and the fact that you need a supercomputer to be even able to play it. Finally a game that deserves 0.… Expand
  82. MaikM
    Jan 6, 2009
    2
    Its just a shame what Rockstar did to his good old pc-community. i bought it, but it defenetly was my last gta i paid for. Why are they making that deal with Windows? Why realasing an unfinished port? The game feels old and isnt working smoothly, on a high end system. the steering isnt adjusted to a pc-steering with mouse and keys, u cant really handle the car, because its impossible to Its just a shame what Rockstar did to his good old pc-community. i bought it, but it defenetly was my last gta i paid for. Why are they making that deal with Windows? Why realasing an unfinished port? The game feels old and isnt working smoothly, on a high end system. the steering isnt adjusted to a pc-steering with mouse and keys, u cant really handle the car, because its impossible to control the speed proberly. what makes it even worse is that it just support the x-box controller (Microsoft!!), those bold capitalist doesnt deserve the money!… Expand
  83. GooneyBird
    Dec 10, 2008
    4
    If not for bugs this rating would be a 9. Poor performance on PCs, even when the machine outclasses any of the console systems the game was released on by orders of magnitude. Graphics glitches abound, you can drive mere minutes before the whole city disappears and you are floating a meter or two over the bottom landscape. Textures totally disappear frequently, happens both on foot or in If not for bugs this rating would be a 9. Poor performance on PCs, even when the machine outclasses any of the console systems the game was released on by orders of magnitude. Graphics glitches abound, you can drive mere minutes before the whole city disappears and you are floating a meter or two over the bottom landscape. Textures totally disappear frequently, happens both on foot or in a vehicle. This game was NOT READY for PC release. Stupid me for pre-ordering. Other than that I love what I've been able to play of the game so far, but quite frankly the graphics glitches make the game unplayable. -Gooney… Expand
  84. NormT.
    Dec 14, 2008
    0
    Unplayable, a complete waste of my entire day downloading. Forced to install tons of crap and register for yet ANOTHER spamming social network. Forced to go through hell to get Service Pack 3 installed, all for nothing.
  85. MikeH
    Dec 18, 2008
    1
    Buggy, unoptimised rubbish. Graphics a step backwards in quality due to the poor blending and over-emphasis on realism. The fun in the game that used to exist in previous GTA games just isn't really there this time around. Such a shame, such a missed opportunity.
  86. RobertC.
    Dec 19, 2008
    2
    Unplayable. Apparently the "critics" are more than willing to give high marks to a game that barely functions due to bugs. The fix is in between the "professional critics" on this site and Rockstar games...sad.
  87. EZ
    Dec 2, 2008
    1
    Ok first off, the game is a horrible PC port done by Rockstar Toronto (the ones responsible for the "Bully" PC). The graphics are nothing special, yet players with 4870X2 and 260GTX are having trouble getting any decent frame rates REGARDLESS of resolution and quality setting. Obviously, there was minimal testing done by Rock*. Yet the reviews are raving , slapping it with a 9/10 or Ok first off, the game is a horrible PC port done by Rockstar Toronto (the ones responsible for the "Bully" PC). The graphics are nothing special, yet players with 4870X2 and 260GTX are having trouble getting any decent frame rates REGARDLESS of resolution and quality setting. Obviously, there was minimal testing done by Rock*. Yet the reviews are raving , slapping it with a 9/10 or 10/10... did they even play the game? Maybe Rock* just paid them off again like they did back in the X360 and PS3 release when just about every1 gave the game 10/10 that it doesnt deserve. I am really dissapointed since i was waiting to play this on pc for months now. I'm returning my copy tomorrow.… Expand
  88. RickJames
    Dec 22, 2008
    1
    Couldn't get more than 20fps... every other new game I can run on the highest settings, and the other games look WAY better also... Rockstar used PC gamers as a footstep to the gaming world, and now they just opened the door and spit right on us... I'm boycotting Rockstar unless they release some serious fixes!
  89. serkanuslu
    Dec 24, 2008
    1
    It is not a PC game. It is the console game emulated to the PC. Do you remember the PS2 emulators and how bad they ran? That is what I am talking about!
  90. SM
    Dec 27, 2008
    1
    Horrendously bad port. The number of hoops to jump through just to install and play the game is ridiculous, and then the bugs within are numerous and crippling. As yet Rockstar haven't done anything to geniunely help and until they do I strongly recommend passing on this.
  91. AlexK.
    Dec 2, 2008
    0
    This is a huge step back for rockstar's games, they made a huge step forward to a world which you can truly control in San Andreas but when I lost my choices and wasn't even unable to stop my character being a sleazy russian stereotype it destroyed all their attempts at making a solid story by forcing your hand every step of the way, and for everyones sake make the whole world This is a huge step back for rockstar's games, they made a huge step forward to a world which you can truly control in San Andreas but when I lost my choices and wasn't even unable to stop my character being a sleazy russian stereotype it destroyed all their attempts at making a solid story by forcing your hand every step of the way, and for everyones sake make the whole world accessible much faster so you dont need to suffer the same monotonous missions we have been doing since GTA 3.… Expand
  92. DorquemadaJ
    Dec 30, 2008
    1
    Look at the comparison of all the scores up here. It's obvious what reviewers obviously BOTHERED to test this port out. Sorry, but when I can run Crysis fine on high settings I expect this game to be somewhat playable on my rig. Somewhat. The lag is so atrocious and the game is so buggy even at low settings that I ended up dropping 50 bucks for an unplayable box. Sad.
  93. JetBoom
    Dec 4, 2008
    0
    Extremely buggy and bad port. I'm surprised at Rockstar's terrible choice with using Games for Windows and SecuRom. They screwed it up so bad that even retail buyers have near-unusable installations and performance issues.
  94. GuessAgain
    Dec 4, 2008
    3
    I don't mind that this game came out almost a year later on PC's than it did on consoles. I don't mind that they may have had to make some sacrifices to "port" this back to PC. I don't mind that it may be a lot more fun to play it on a couch with your friends on a big TV, while I sit in front of my measly 22". What I do mind, however is that Rockstar are actually I don't mind that this game came out almost a year later on PC's than it did on consoles. I don't mind that they may have had to make some sacrifices to "port" this back to PC. I don't mind that it may be a lot more fun to play it on a couch with your friends on a big TV, while I sit in front of my measly 22". What I do mind, however is that Rockstar are actually expecting to get any money for this game. They might have as well released this game to the torrents and told us to take it for free, because honestly, the gameplay makes you feel like you should get paid for every minute you waste in this game. I understand the publishers/developers want YOU, the paying consumer to have the complete experience uploading your gameplay movies for other people to watch and share. What better way to do this than install 2 extremely obtrusive pieces of software like games for windows and rockstar social club on your computer and telling you the game will not run without them. At all. It is somewhere at the level of Internet Explorer (the piece of garbage it is) costing 39.99 and then making you install 5 toolbars or it won't connect you to the internet. Under their EULA you never really "own" the game, so I guess they can make you do whatever it is they want. What I didn't understand before was why are they trying to delay you from playing the actual game with their ridiculous activations and obtrusive mandatory soft/spyware. And here's why: the game itself is garbage. It is on many levels a rehash of GTA 3 vice city and san andreas, with some parts taken out and new ones added in. The mechanics are all the same, although vehicle physics are now horrendous albeit slightly more realistic (thanks, I guess you wanted us to have realistic driving in a VERY REALISTIC GAME where the PROTAGONIST can run around shooting civilians and then trying to get away from the cops, but FAILING because of the new driving model). Sure there may be a storyline in there somewhere, like other reviewers say, but I'm not here for the storyline, it is merely a means to unlock parts of the goddamn city for me. Do you honestly care about "criminal A arrives in a big city B and tries to carve out his destiny by killing off gangs X, Y and Z?" they did in the whole GTA 3 series? The graphics. They really deserve rants of epic proportions but I'll try to keep it short. They are horrendous. Around the level of 2004, maybe worse, definitely worse than some games from that period, maybe better than some. But the really astounding thing is that the game manages to run like shit on all but the most ridiculous setups that cost thousands of dollars. CRYSIS, MOVE OVER PLEASE, someone over here wants your title as the most unoptimized game of the DECADE. The game will run like a paraplegic up a mountain even if you have a decent dx10 capable card like 8800gt, although it should really be running fast enough to give you a heart attack just watching. The game won't even allow you to increase your graphical settings in the most retarded attempt to "be helpful in selection of fitting graphical options". Thanks Rockstar. Not only do you fail to make the game run properly, you restrict us from looking at the highest quality visuals possible, even at 5 fps. But I have a feeling why. Because even the higher quality settings look like shite. Rockstar must be the last game producer in the industry that did not realize that PC gamers are quite a bit more discerning than the rest, so you have to release something that's at the very least tolerable. I'm truly happy for Rockstar's sales on PS3 etc. But please, for the love of god, keep this garbage off PC's out of your sense of self-respect. Or at least have the decency to put it into playable shape.… Expand
  95. JohnM
    Dec 4, 2008
    0
    Let me just start by saying how much I was looking forward to this game being released and how disappointed I am at what seems to be a total failure of a release that I sadly cannot justify purchasing. So, we patiently waited several months for the PC version of this game to come, expecting it would be an improvement across the board. Silly us. Instead of spending the last months Let me just start by saying how much I was looking forward to this game being released and how disappointed I am at what seems to be a total failure of a release that I sadly cannot justify purchasing. So, we patiently waited several months for the PC version of this game to come, expecting it would be an improvement across the board. Silly us. Instead of spending the last months optimizing the game for PCs, scaling it and testing across various hardware configurations they have actually spent the time coming up with and adding lots of unwanted and unneeded crap. First there is 'games for windows' (which you have to have if you want to save the game...????), then 'Rocktstar social club' (another pointless sign-up and invasive start-up program) and to top it all off they included the super invasive and restrictive DRM in the forum of Securom (ironically...this is one of the least complained about aspects of this release, when it is usually the most...This tells you things are BAD). The amount of problems being reported here from almost everyone, across a wide variety of hardware (from the 'minimum' to well beyond the 'recommended') makes this release seem more like a really poorly implemented beta without consent. I am actually wondering if this game was tested at all...And if it was, who gave the go ahead to release the game in light of all of these problems...? I feel bad for the people that bought this game in its current state.… Expand
  96. JohnDoe
    Dec 4, 2008
    0
    worst ever seen installation (3h to first "run"), two useless online accounts required, agressive SecuRom protection, anoying online activation (DVD is still required to play), doesn't work with ATI cards, performance with NVIDIA cards also unacceptable, multiplayer doesn't work, etc. ... On Gamestar poll 80% voted that game doesn't work! May be fun to play if it worked, worst ever seen installation (3h to first "run"), two useless online accounts required, agressive SecuRom protection, anoying online activation (DVD is still required to play), doesn't work with ATI cards, performance with NVIDIA cards also unacceptable, multiplayer doesn't work, etc. ... On Gamestar poll 80% voted that game doesn't work! May be fun to play if it worked, but a game that doesn't can only get "0" !!!… Expand
  97. SergeyRubin
    Dec 6, 2008
    4
    Game is quite ok...

    If you don't count amount of useless, not needed stuff you have to install (Microsoft Live, Rockstar Social Club <--WTF?, DRM Securom), awefull performance on top end PC, bugs and other signs of awesome console port. Great job Rockstar. Good to see that your earned millions helped to make such a wondefull game. Too bad I can't get my money back and    Game is quite ok...

    If you don't count amount of useless, not needed stuff you have to install (Microsoft Live, Rockstar Social Club <--WTF?, DRM Securom), awefull performance on top end PC, bugs and other signs of awesome console port. Great job Rockstar.

    Good to see that your earned millions helped to make such a wondefull game.

    Too bad I can't get my money back and wait for proper release.

    And too bad times, when picking folder where to install game was only thing required from user during installation, are gone.    … Expand
  98. WarrenJ
    Dec 6, 2008
    4
    Stop giving this godawful port such lofty praise. Regardless of the quality of gameplay, the optimization and overall porting job is pathetic, and shouldn't be tolerated.
  99. MalcolmF.
    Dec 6, 2008
    1
    GTA IV has some serious performance issues to the extent it is not playable unless you have a high end machine, and a nvidia graphics card. ATI graphics cards have extremely bad issues with performance e.g. the 1 FPS bug where the FPS will lock at 1 FPS. The game is not optimised, and is one of the worst ports I've seen. There is no way this took the time it did to get ported. GTA IV has some serious performance issues to the extent it is not playable unless you have a high end machine, and a nvidia graphics card. ATI graphics cards have extremely bad issues with performance e.g. the 1 FPS bug where the FPS will lock at 1 FPS. The game is not optimised, and is one of the worst ports I've seen. There is no way this took the time it did to get ported. I'd say it took about a week to port, and they spent more time adding ingame protection. It is a shame. This game has the potential in MP to be absolutely brilliant.… Expand
  100. andersl.
    Dec 6, 2008
    1
    Grand theft DRM 4.,Bloated pos that forces you to use worthless gfwl and idiotic rockstar social club and the dvd in drive. Performance is a joke, one of the worst experiences I have ever had with a pc game and I am sitting on a quad core @3,2ghz 4gb ram 4850 1gb ram Every other game I own runs without trouble (farcry 2 fallout 3 crysis l4d, aoc, warhammer online, wow etc with double fps Grand theft DRM 4.,Bloated pos that forces you to use worthless gfwl and idiotic rockstar social club and the dvd in drive. Performance is a joke, one of the worst experiences I have ever had with a pc game and I am sitting on a quad core @3,2ghz 4gb ram 4850 1gb ram Every other game I own runs without trouble (farcry 2 fallout 3 crysis l4d, aoc, warhammer online, wow etc with double fps and looks 10x better). I WANT MY MONEY BACK.… Expand
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Awards & Rankings

5
#5 Best PC Game of 2008
3
#3 Most Discussed PC Game of 2008
2
#2 Most Shared PC Game of 2008

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
90

Universal acclaim - based on 40 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 38 out of 40
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 40
  3. Negative: 0 out of 40
  1. PC Gamer UK
    92
    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. PC Format
    89
    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. Eurogamer
    90
    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.
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