Grand Theft Auto IV

 PC
User Score
7.1

Mixed or average reviews- based on 3664 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2,227 out of 3664
  2. Mixed: 760 out of 3664
  3. Negative: 677 out of 3664
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  1. Satisfaction
    Aug 22, 2013
    9
    This game is awesome (like almost every Grand Theft Auto title), but it has two things which can scare PC gamers away Games for Windows Live and SecuROM, not to mention the quality of porting this game can stutter on high-end PCs, but if you don't mind things I mentioned above, you will have a really good time.
  2. TommyGun00
    Aug 24, 2013
    7
    The story is great, but the most of the missions involve shoot outs which get's annoying and very repetitive. The PC port is horrible, the controls are fine but the performance is the real issue. My recently bought computer could not keep a steady frame rate at even lowered graphic settings...
    The game doesn't have as much features as San Andreas does, but this one introduces car damage    The story is great, but the most of the missions involve shoot outs which get's annoying and very repetitive. The PC port is horrible, the controls are fine but the performance is the real issue. My recently bought computer could not keep a steady frame rate at even lowered graphic settings...
    The game doesn't have as much features as San Andreas does, but this one introduces car damage physics, realistic ragdolls ect.
    But other then that, you can't do as much as in San Andreas, in which case the selection of clothing is very limited, you cannot tune your cars, work out to gain strength ect. Later you will be finding yourself not knowing how to spend all of the money you've earned from the missions, there is more ways to earn the cash then to spend it... After all I'll still give this game a very weak 7.
    I'm really looking forward to GTA V and let's hope it wont port as badly as this one did.    … Expand
  3. HONDOMAN
    Sep 9, 2013
    6
    This game is a blast to play. The freedom it gives and the options you have are loads of fun, but... BUT... The story is very hard to get into. One of the worst expositions in a game. It didn't make me interested to play it. You just do very mundane chores for about three hours. A very fun game with a bland story.
  4. cidgrad01
    Aug 28, 2013
    1
    Rockstar has been making the exact same game ever since GTA3 came out on PS2. Why are people acting like GTA4 is something different? It’s not, except for two things: it’s on a new generation of consoles and is actually worse than GTA3.

    First off: anyone praising the graphics is blind or has never played a video game before this one. Textures are muddled, colors are drab, environments    Rockstar has been making the exact same game ever since GTA3 came out on PS2. Why are people acting like GTA4 is something different? It’s not, except for two things: it’s on a new generation of consoles and is actually worse than GTA3.

    First off: anyone praising the graphics is blind or has never played a video game before this one. Textures are muddled, colors are drab, environments are bland, all of which combines to make it difficult to see where you are and where you’re going.

    Second: they jacked up the driving physics of the game so now it feels like everything is moving underwater. Turns that used to be simple now send you sliding into walls, which gets frustrating given the large number of slow, crappy cars you seem to be forced to drive in this game.

    Third: the stale mission-structured gameplay is exactly the same as it was over 10 years ago. It’s so tedious now. You get a mission giver, you have to drive across town to start the mission, then you have to drive to your mission destination, then back to your house if you want to keep your car. Fail the mission and you have to start the commute again. They have even added in “features” like toll booths now, which create traffic on bridges that honestly make you feel like you are commuting to work because if you charge through them you get an automatic wanted rating.

    Oh, and did I mention something about keeping a car you want available? Well, in this game they decided to do away with garages for some reason. You know: the places you used to be able to store vehicles. Now your various pads with have one or two parallel parking spaces out in the middle of the AI-trafficked street and if you park a car there *perfectly* it will be saved. However, if it’s a big car or if the AI traffic knocks it slightly out of place, it will be gone when you reload.

    Possibly the most annoying new “feature” of this series is the dating mini-games. You can hang out with certain people to increase their affection toward you, which reaps you certain benefits, but then ALL of them CONSTANTLY call you to hang out, even if you’re in the middle of a mission getting chased by the cops, or in the middle of commuting to do your next mission, or commuting home from your last mission. Whatever. And if you tell them no, even if it’s your own cousin asking you to go bowling again, though you just went bowling with him two days ago, he will get upset and you’ll lose affection. You can’t tell them no.

    Also, Liberty City is big but incredibly empty. You will not be rewarded for exploring b/c there is simply not much out there. Instead of secret packages to collect, this time around you have to kill special pigeons, which are very frustrating to find even with the help of a guide. I got to about 20 or so before I asked myself why the hell I was doing it, because I wasn’t having any fun.

    Finally, the “story” I keep seeing so many positive reviews refer to is stupid & nonsensical. You’re an illegal alien who begins a career as a professional criminal as soon as you step off the boat. Not much different from any other GTA protagonist aside from not already being a US citizen, right? Except now you’re Borat. AMAZING! There IS NO story! You’re a criminal who makes friends with other criminals throughout the game and then commits criminal acts. *spoiler*

    Furthermore, while there may well be 20 hours’ worth of cutscenes (which tend to go on forever) & dialogue (which also never ends during your mission commutes with NPCs), it seems like it was all written by a 10-year old boy. Penis & fart jokes, characters needlessly dropping f-bombs twice a sentence to be “edgy” (I guess), and all-around lame humor in general that makes you roll your eyes and want to skip through every cutscene you come across. Unless you are a 10-year old boy, in which case I guess you’d be in heaven. Maybe that’s the targeted demographic now?

    But Rockstar will keep making the same game as long as sheep keep buying it. Anyone who wants to see what an improvement in this genre looks like, I’d direct you toward Saints Row the Third. Not the best game ever, but one that is actually, you know, “fun” to play. Something Rockstar left out of GTA4.    … Expand
  5. delaiah
    Nov 30, 2013
    1
    I think earlier versions had nicer control and more fluid gameplay on PC. Besides, the ton of copy protection took me hours to figure out (it's really a huge pile of and bugs are abundant, I'll go with Saints Row from now on.
  6. Kerber
    Apr 1, 2023
    9
    Just finished it on Steam Deck and still fun to play. Fun quirky story, working on deck flawlessly, a lot of modes available... It is rare games holding so well as gta titles.
  7. Mahdiar
    Jun 16, 2017
    8
    Gameplay : 7
    Graphics : 9
    Story : 9
    Sound : 8
    **********************************************************************************
    Overall : 8
  8. ATTin
    Jun 1, 2019
    8
    Story: 9, Gameplay: 9, Graphics: 9. Too bad it's got too much problems on PC and not as awsome as San Andreas, but ultimately a great game.
  9. vpm
    Nov 1, 2013
    8
    I'm just going to keep this simple, since the game is quite old already and way too many people have reviewed this.
    Nowadays, this game is great fun. Sure it's still quite the technical drama with the memory leaks and all, but on a decent system it's more than playable. I've been playing it on my system for almost 3 years now. What makes this game really fun is its great modability. There    I'm just going to keep this simple, since the game is quite old already and way too many people have reviewed this.
    Nowadays, this game is great fun. Sure it's still quite the technical drama with the memory leaks and all, but on a decent system it's more than playable. I've been playing it on my system for almost 3 years now. What makes this game really fun is its great modability. There are some gems out there, transforming this game into something I think even Rockstar wouldn't have come up with.
    I use just one mod in this game (since something like ICE only make it extra buggy): Realistic handling damage. This makes for a decent driving experience and jacks up the difficulty (police chases) a lot. Cars simply don't handle like tanks anymore. Once you crash, you're done!

    Some things Rockstar did a very good (not great) job at:
    - Integrating Euphoria
    - Traffic simulator
    - Interesting enough & lengthy campaign (not minding our protagonist is just an overgrown delivery boy)

    They flunked at the port, but everybody knows that by now. As I said, it's very well playable when you know your hardware (see EyjoK.'s review) and install the proper mod(s).    … Expand
  10. kleuser
    Nov 11, 2013
    10
    best game best gamebest game best gamebest game best gamebest game best gamebest game best gamebest game best gamebest game best gamebest game best gamebest game best gamebest game best gamebest game best gamebest game best gamebest game best game
  11. atom608
    Nov 3, 2013
    2
    First off. terrible port even with my core i5 4570 and amd 7870 the game lags like The textures are just so bad same with meshes in doors. And the story line is just the same over and over do this go do that bla bla all you do is drive there do that then do it again its boring as hell. I hope they actually optimize GTA V for pc this time instead of spending 2 mins porting it to pc
  12. Dulkan
    Feb 14, 2014
    5
    I like GTA games but this one is a bit boring. The graphics are really good but the missions failed to keep me entertained. The Windows Live was also something very annnoying.
  13. DominikCZE
    Nov 9, 2013
    5
    What a mess, where can I start... This is hard to write, because this game is what ruined one of my favorite game series for me. First of all, the installation process. It took me hours to get running! I had to install Rockstar Games Social Club, then the atrocious Games for Windows Live, verify the game online and click on buttons of message boxes that had screwed up fonts, so I had noWhat a mess, where can I start... This is hard to write, because this game is what ruined one of my favorite game series for me. First of all, the installation process. It took me hours to get running! I had to install Rockstar Games Social Club, then the atrocious Games for Windows Live, verify the game online and click on buttons of message boxes that had screwed up fonts, so I had no idea what I was actually pressing and had to get through all this with trial and error. After I've finally gotten everything running another disappointment followed. The game couldn't run even at 10 fps on full graphics on my gaming PC that could handle anything for years to come after that, worst optimization I have ever come across. The game itself was okay, but OK doesn't cut it for a GTA title. Niko was a very plain and boring character (What was his motivation to do everything he did? He needs money? Wow... great story right there.) and Liberty City felt too grey and boring. The missions were also a pain to get through instead of actually being fun, the same boring thing over and over again. It's too bad, this game could really have been something, in reality it was just an over-hyped piece of … Expand
  14. ConquerorDude21
    Nov 13, 2013
    10
    Grand Theft Auto IV was an amazing culmination of graphics and story and of course our favorite reason to play GTA, the ability to walk up to anyone and....... kill them. But what stood out to me the most was GTA IV Story. GTA IV's protagonist, Niko Bellic, is a man that a lot of people can relate to; he is just tired and always drawn into things he doesn't want to do but he does themGrand Theft Auto IV was an amazing culmination of graphics and story and of course our favorite reason to play GTA, the ability to walk up to anyone and....... kill them. But what stood out to me the most was GTA IV Story. GTA IV's protagonist, Niko Bellic, is a man that a lot of people can relate to; he is just tired and always drawn into things he doesn't want to do but he does them because he needs to; a very admirable quality. He also has a hint of P.T.S.D syndrome from going through war and doing a lot of things he didn't want to do and seeing a lot of things he didn't want to see. Yet he toils on to help his cousin with his financtial problems and then protect him from various very bad characters. He is a big step up from GTA III's protagonist who's name isn't even mentioned in game and he doesn't even talk. So the compelling story and the amazing, borderline lag your computer graphics is why I think this game is so great.… Expand
  15. braindamage
    Jan 17, 2015
    6
    a game I played back a long time ago when I was running a phenom II x4 ,4gb ddr3 and a hd4850, maybe it was poorly optimized , but I had some good times with it the graphics were OK, it has some interesting npc's that stood on street corners ranting, one of them was a crazy guy, the other was a minister, mindlessly driving in a semi plowing thru traffic Is something I spent some timea game I played back a long time ago when I was running a phenom II x4 ,4gb ddr3 and a hd4850, maybe it was poorly optimized , but I had some good times with it the graphics were OK, it has some interesting npc's that stood on street corners ranting, one of them was a crazy guy, the other was a minister, mindlessly driving in a semi plowing thru traffic Is something I spent some time doing, there's some interesting side missions, with companions', (in one which you can shoot your date or drive like a maniac and the date is over), story is just average, music at the time was accepatable,… Expand
  16. ChrisLight
    Dec 3, 2013
    8
    Pro of GTA IV.

    -It got very nice ragdoll system -Good police AI but not very good -Cover system -HUD take up less screen -GPS system,it helped me much when I am new to this game -Funny characters,I really like Roman and Niko much -Rockstar being creative by making thing looks grey and blurry to fit atmosphere of the game -Swing set glitch! Cons of GTA IV -Peds not using    Pro of GTA IV.

    -It got very nice ragdoll system
    -Good police AI but not very good
    -Cover system
    -HUD take up less screen
    -GPS system,it helped me much when I am new to this game
    -Funny characters,I really like Roman and Niko much
    -Rockstar being creative by making thing looks grey and blurry to fit atmosphere of the game
    -Swing set glitch!

    Cons of GTA IV

    -Peds not using ragdoll on far away
    -Worst performence on PC,my game's FPS stuck between 5-15 on my high end PC
    -Too many cheaters on multiplayer
    -Some vehicles is spawned on wrong place which cause epic traffic jam
    -Friend feature will getting annoying if you played GTA IV from a long time.
    -Unable to customize your vehicle
    -If your car park has more than 2 vehicles,one of your vehicle will gone due to a bug.    … Expand
  17. crimsondoor
    Jan 31, 2017
    5
    I still remember how badly optimised this game is on Windows. I was having the top hardware at the time of release but I couldn't get over 30fps. Game is also loaded with bugs. Story is far too dark and there is a lot less content than GTASA. IMO, trying to be realistic is a huge mistake of the GTA franchise - it killed the charm and humour present in the GTA3 era releases.
  18. adyneghina
    Jan 3, 2014
    8
    Nice story nice graphics nice gameplay
    Umm.. tell me a thing what is NOT nice PC optimization...
    The game has an bad optimization on PC version that you'll need an high-end graphic card to play it on low-medium settings
    Despite that it's a nice game
  19. wownd10405
    Feb 17, 2014
    8
    Freedom is really the best time was the best graphics, but the mission fails, restart the system without a save point .... Was the worst. But still, no matter how it's traditional ahswiwotda gta series
  20. peterf28
    Oct 31, 2014
    10
    best game ever . all gta games are the best series . i played those games 2 or 3 times over with all DLC, and I still can play them again and again, because the story in those games is so great . waiting for GTA V PC !!!
  21. Andante
    Jan 5, 2023
    7
    This is a very good GTA. You play as a balkan immigrant who travels to America to live the american dream but the circumstances force you to get involved with crime. It starts with very small jobs, like bullying people in order to pay their debt and slowly as you gain fame you do bigger jobs and get to know more important people. The pacing of the game is very good at least at the firstThis is a very good GTA. You play as a balkan immigrant who travels to America to live the american dream but the circumstances force you to get involved with crime. It starts with very small jobs, like bullying people in order to pay their debt and slowly as you gain fame you do bigger jobs and get to know more important people. The pacing of the game is very good at least at the first half, there are countless mini games and side activities you can do, and the whole thing is very believable, because the characters have strong personalities and keep the interest. Unfortunately and once you reach a certain point and have lots of money you realize that you cant do many things with it. You still have to steal cars from some poor bastards although you have a 6 digit account. There are no garages, you cant buy houses, you can't run businesses. The character also doesn't seem to grow throughout the game, and has the same primitive mentality in contrast to San Andreas where you could feel and see the growth and evolution of your character.… Expand
  22. tankianserj94
    Apr 1, 2014
    6
    Pro: very good gameplay (shooting, driving, shooting and driving), good storyline and characters, graphic are not so bad, major improvement comparing to gta sa, love the details of small things (tv, pc, taxi service etc)

    cons: bugs, first timer would have lots of problem (system specs, settings, game protection), no checkpoint savegames during missions (imean if you're like 90% to    Pro: very good gameplay (shooting, driving, shooting and driving), good storyline and characters, graphic are not so bad, major improvement comparing to gta sa, love the details of small things (tv, pc, taxi service etc)

    cons: bugs, first timer would have lots of problem (system specs, settings, game protection), no checkpoint savegames during missions (imean if you're like 90% to complete the mission and you **** up you gotta start from the beginning of the mission), less spacious than gta sa map, no planes, crappy heli controls.

    *never played its multiplayer, so aint saying any comment for that    … Expand
  23. ChickenPincher7
    Apr 12, 2014
    5
    This game is a disgrace to the Grand Theft Auto franchise. Let me explain myself. Positives: Most realistic GTA game (ex. Cars shift weight when they turn, new ragdoll physics, car physics, so much physics) Cab rides, officially implemented multiplayer, and finally some freaking beds. Negatives: Story is overrated as COD, can't keep a steady frame rate. EVER. THE MISSIONS. THE MISSIONS AREThis game is a disgrace to the Grand Theft Auto franchise. Let me explain myself. Positives: Most realistic GTA game (ex. Cars shift weight when they turn, new ragdoll physics, car physics, so much physics) Cab rides, officially implemented multiplayer, and finally some freaking beds. Negatives: Story is overrated as COD, can't keep a steady frame rate. EVER. THE MISSIONS. THE MISSIONS ARE SO BAD THAT THERE IS NO WORD THAT CAN DESCRIBE THEM. All the other GTA games had good characters at least. GTA IV? Nope. At least GTA IV: TBoGT made some of them interesting. The world is so drab and devoid of ineteresting environments. Rockstar turned GTA III's Liberty City from a thrilling, backstabbing, gang and drug filled world into 40,000 identical city streets with only the drugs kept into it. Other characters you meet throughout your "adventure" can become you "friends". What does this mean? It means that Roman will call you every 5 minutes to go bowling. Packie will call you every 5 minutes to throw darts, and your terrible plot twist of a girlfriend will want to go out with you on a date every 5 minutes. There's like to clothes stores which sell all the same drab, greyish colors of the city. The only reason I'm giving this game a five is that, being the young boy I am, This was my first GTA game, and even though the missions were repetitive, I thought open world games were so cool. The idea of roaming around a huge area was foreign to me, and I loved every second of it. Anyway, if you want to know what GTA IV was striving to be, (a fun game with realistic, but colorful, graphics and story) download Just Cause 2. It is my favorite open world game (San Andreas being 2nd place, of course). Get it on PC, but use a gamepad of some sort.… Expand
  24. WanHuz
    Apr 21, 2014
    1
    Repetitive missions. Forgettable character. Boring storyline. The only good things are the graphic. IMO, I didn't like the music. How professional company rated this as good is beyond me.
  25. JS96
    Jun 4, 2014
    8
    Nice game, but not good enough to be considered the best chapter of GTA saga.
    In comparison to GTA San Andreas does not have that atmosphere that I remember very well so far.
    The city is small and gray. Of course, it's New York, but I remember better the Liberty City of GTA III.
    Another defect is the bad optimization on PC.
  26. Tomle1202
    Dec 31, 2022
    7
    Grand Theft Auto IV on PC is an endurance test filled with bugs and performance issues.
  27. InfoGuy
    Sep 9, 2014
    7
    Just your usual hack and slash GTA game, where you do missions, and wreak havoc on Liberty City. Not the most amazing plot I've ever come across, and I can't say I'm too impressed with the game overall, considering the constant tweaking I had to do with the settings in order to make this poorly optimized PC port run smoothly. Not horrible, but definitely nothing to get excited for.
  28. Leon354
    Sep 8, 2014
    9
    Одна из лучших частей: график ,геймплей, музыка все очень очень круто 10 из 10 !!!!!!!!!!!! Developer Молодцы супер !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Один - плохая оптимизация для персонального компьютера .
  29. Mr_Bismark
    Oct 1, 2014
    8
    Well this game contains the "best" storyline I have seen so far. The constant twists in the plot make it very enjoyable. Unfortunately other than the good storyline it can feel occasionally annoying to be constantly doing missions over and over. Once finish with this game there isn't much you can do except hang out with the protagonists friends, kill civilians, and engage in shoot-outsWell this game contains the "best" storyline I have seen so far. The constant twists in the plot make it very enjoyable. Unfortunately other than the good storyline it can feel occasionally annoying to be constantly doing missions over and over. Once finish with this game there isn't much you can do except hang out with the protagonists friends, kill civilians, and engage in shoot-outs with police and/or gangsters and using cheats. It is near absolute must that you do not buy this game on Steam as this game may fail to start up and a very big bug on the last mission. The major bug prevents the completion of the game on the PC which can be fixed by FRAPS. The graphics aren't the best but are "good" for a game made in 2008. Overall it is a good game with an occasional bug or two a repetitive mission system which can be good or bad depending on if you like missions and the lack of good cheats or anything fun to do after finishing. Although there is a modding community if you wish to change some aspects of the game.… Expand
  30. GameComplete
    Sep 30, 2014
    2
    It's bad. It's boring. It's broken.
    Now, autumn of 2014, i7-2700 (3,4GHz Quad), 16 GB RAM, Geforce 970 (Maxwell 2), Win8.1-64, SSD: The game does not stutter anymore. Maybe unless you use the X-Box-controller, that is.
    Now, you can see GTA4 in its full glory. And it is bad. Graphics? Dated. Well, they were already dated when the game was released in 2008, but hardly anybody noticed that,    It's bad. It's boring. It's broken.
    Now, autumn of 2014, i7-2700 (3,4GHz Quad), 16 GB RAM, Geforce 970 (Maxwell 2), Win8.1-64, SSD: The game does not stutter anymore. Maybe unless you use the X-Box-controller, that is.
    Now, you can see GTA4 in its full glory. And it is bad. Graphics? Dated. Well, they were already dated when the game was released in 2008, but hardly anybody noticed that, as nearly everybody was just overwhelmed by the sheer size of the city. Music? No, just awful noise. Dialogues? Do you consider F-words and S-words a bearable dialogue? In that case you do not have a problem with the game. You do have a problem with your life. Missions? Try to navigate a horrible car through a horrible mess of horrible AI and kill someone. Repeat.
    The good news is: The triggers in the game can be broken, so you cannot start the next mission. What about other savegames? It is GfWL - no escape here. The game essentially gives you a "Game over" for free. Thus the game has a useful message after all: Go and play something else.    … 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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