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
Buy Now
Buy on

Review this game

  1. Your Score
    0 out of 10
    Rate this:
    • 10
    • 9
    • 8
    • 7
    • 6
    • 5
    • 4
    • 3
    • 2
    • 1
    • 0
    • 0
  1. Submit
  2. Check Spelling
view
per page
  1. AnonymousMC
    Dec 28, 2008
    1
    this version of the game is one of the biggest ripoffs in gaming history. many pc gta gamers waited for the day this game is released for so long and in return for their hard earned 50 dollars they get something that doesn't even start out of the box. even after figuring out how to make this game work most people will be faced with severe performance issues, stuttering, missingthis version of the game is one of the biggest ripoffs in gaming history. many pc gta gamers waited for the day this game is released for so long and in return for their hard earned 50 dollars they get something that doesn't even start out of the box. even after figuring out how to make this game work most people will be faced with severe performance issues, stuttering, missing textures, crashes in the middle of the mission or worse.… Expand
  2. FilipK.
    Dec 28, 2008
    0
    It is impossible to play this game! You must have 30 different registrations, but, more important, you must have an insane computer! Critics give it good mark looking only at gameplay. I'd probably give it a good mark too, when it just worked! You have a problem even with changing your own settings. I believe it's stupid thinking from America, because if you set your settings It is impossible to play this game! You must have 30 different registrations, but, more important, you must have an insane computer! Critics give it good mark looking only at gameplay. I'd probably give it a good mark too, when it just worked! You have a problem even with changing your own settings. I believe it's stupid thinking from America, because if you set your settings too high, your computer can burn and you can sue them!!! It NEVER played on my computer. They shouldn't realease it yet.… Expand
  3. jimjim
    Dec 28, 2008
    4
    What a disappointment. This game is a lazy effort to bring gta 4 on to pc. It fails miserably.( WARNING. If yothink you will be able to run GTA 4 well because you can run crysis you are wrong. Apparently that rule no longer counts!) Unless you have a very new rig i would not advise buying this. The frame rate is ridiculous and it is the most recourse hungry game ever. It is a shameWhat a disappointment. This game is a lazy effort to bring gta 4 on to pc. It fails miserably.( WARNING. If yothink you will be able to run GTA 4 well because you can run crysis you are wrong. Apparently that rule no longer counts!) Unless you have a very new rig i would not advise buying this. The frame rate is ridiculous and it is the most recourse hungry game ever. It is a shame because i know from ps3 and xbox 360 that this game deserves 9 or 10.… Expand
  4. 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.
  5. jp
    Dec 26, 2008
    5
    This game could be a 10 if Rockstar wasn't so lazy. They made the most graphically demanding game out for the pc right now, and they didn't include the option of utilizing dual video cards. Also the control options are extremely weak, especially for the helicopter. The fact that you can only map one key per control is just pathetic, and the fact that the game won't This game could be a 10 if Rockstar wasn't so lazy. They made the most graphically demanding game out for the pc right now, and they didn't include the option of utilizing dual video cards. Also the control options are extremely weak, especially for the helicopter. The fact that you can only map one key per control is just pathetic, and the fact that the game won't recognize a joystick is incredibly weak also. But, it's still fun to kill time and the story line is great, just too much to detract from the score until they patch the current problems. *Also, I'm running Vista 64 and with the new patch just released to make the online play work, I have to run the game in compatibility mode for Windows 2000..... that's just really lazy on rockstars part, considering they don't seem to be rushing towards any solutions judging by what I've read lately.… Expand
  6. Marmoo
    Dec 26, 2008
    5
    i agree with what has been said here on both sides of the arguement
    i will give it a 5 for now as i installed it and game ran and it looks superb but what has been declared on the box for spec is a load of bollocks...you need a quick proccessor(s), VERY LARGE ram and big hard drive and graphics gard...i got it all except ram (i got 1.5 RAM) so off out to buy at least another 2 gig of ram for me
  7. FotisJ.
    Dec 25, 2008
    4
    This is supposed to be a satire on capitalist greed, and it is but not only in the way the creators intended it to be: Rockstar is bent to create its own community channel and everybody who wants to play has to join them. The same goes for Microsoft's Games for Windows live. You cannot even save your game without being logged in both 'clubs'. Not to mention the technical This is supposed to be a satire on capitalist greed, and it is but not only in the way the creators intended it to be: Rockstar is bent to create its own community channel and everybody who wants to play has to join them. The same goes for Microsoft's Games for Windows live. You cannot even save your game without being logged in both 'clubs'. Not to mention the technical problems etc. In the end they will blame the pc as a difficult platform for games instead their own incompetence.… Expand
  8. JonasNielsen
    Dec 25, 2008
    8
    It's a sad thing, really. The platform, that has made R* what they are today are left to a sad port of bad performance and loads of bugs. The game is absolutely great, even with the 8-10fps I'm left with, I have lots of fun just roaming Liberty City, which is, truely, alive. Something as simple as a car crash is highly entertaining due to the amazing physics. I would have given It's a sad thing, really. The platform, that has made R* what they are today are left to a sad port of bad performance and loads of bugs. The game is absolutely great, even with the 8-10fps I'm left with, I have lots of fun just roaming Liberty City, which is, truely, alive. Something as simple as a car crash is highly entertaining due to the amazing physics. I would have given this game a 10 for it's gameplay and 0 for it's quality in programming, leaving it with a 5, but judging a game on its initial port job seems unfair to me. It's worthy of an 8, and if R* had done a proper job with the port, and I had an idea people with good PC's are able to run it, I would have given it a 10. But the fact, that someone with a state-of-the-art PC with an i7 920 CPU, GTX280 GPU and >8GB of RAM isn't even able to start the game (as I read on the Steam forums) is enough for me to pull 2 points from the score. I hope, truely hope, that they fix the port issues, and the show a greater respect for the PC in the future.… Expand
  9. WimHermans
    Dec 25, 2008
    10
    Notwithstanding the ridiculous high requirements from PC side, game is just the best made until today. Great job, everyting is possible! If you can play it you ll enjoy. but not many people will be able to play it thats the biggest prob
  10. KurtS
    Dec 24, 2008
    3
    The actual game is pretty fun and entertaining, and at this point I expect to continue playing it. I have not had any severe technical problems. However, the overall product is awful and frustrating enough I had to vent by writing this review. The graphics and performance is terrible. Rockstar has claimed this is a "next generation" game and current generation hardware is only capable of The actual game is pretty fun and entertaining, and at this point I expect to continue playing it. I have not had any severe technical problems. However, the overall product is awful and frustrating enough I had to vent by writing this review. The graphics and performance is terrible. Rockstar has claimed this is a "next generation" game and current generation hardware is only capable of playing the game on "medium" settings. If that is true, the game should at least look and perform like a current generation game on current generation hardware, but that isn't the case at all. It uses DirectX 9. There is no anti-aliasing. Shadows flicker and look horrible. Textures and character models lack detail. Frame rates are sub-25 on recommend settings. Options to customize graphic detail is limited. Aside from graphical issues, this game requires you to join two online networks (Games for Windows, Rockstar Social Club) for full functionality. There is no option to turn off "mouse-look" when driving a car, which makes driving extremely difficult. You must manually turn the camera using the mouse at the same time you are steering the car. Loading times are rather slow compared to other games. Purchased through Steam, the game does not include a manual and there is no easy reference for all the instructions, moves, and tips that only come up only one time in-game. To sum it up, it looks, feels and plays like a bad port of an older console game. I'd give the game itself at least a 7, but this as an overall product deserves no more than a 3.… Expand
  11. DanB
    Dec 24, 2008
    1
    Good game, BAD optimized, CRAP Rockstar support. I give 1 for this. PC games needs attention, not a poor port.
  12. 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!
  13. hankhank
    Dec 23, 2008
    10
    best game
  14. KurtH
    Dec 22, 2008
    0
    Core2Duo e6600 OC'd to 3.5ghz, 4 gig g.skill RAM, Win XP SP3, 8800 Ultra 768mb. Game runs terribly. Just like everybody else says, this is one of the worst console ports to PC I've ever seen. Ever. I'm not sure what's worse....lazy Rockstar developers or incompetent Rockstar developers...but it's one or the other. Even with low settings, the framerates are Core2Duo e6600 OC'd to 3.5ghz, 4 gig g.skill RAM, Win XP SP3, 8800 Ultra 768mb. Game runs terribly. Just like everybody else says, this is one of the worst console ports to PC I've ever seen. Ever. I'm not sure what's worse....lazy Rockstar developers or incompetent Rockstar developers...but it's one or the other. Even with low settings, the framerates are horrible. I have the latest nVidia beta driver recommended for the game and keep my PC in top condition (no spyware, defragged, etc.) I can play Far Cry 2 with max settings at 1680x1050 widescreen and get consistent 40-60 frames per second. I play this game on minimum settings and get below 20 frames per second? That tells you something right there. Not to mention the fact that the interface by itself looks and feels so clunky, that it's obvious there was absolutely no work done on this game to make it PC friendly. Previous GTA ports to the PC seemed very lazy as well, so I figured they would have learned their lesson and made this one spectacular. I was very very wrong. Rockstar should be completely ashamed of themselves. If a second patch (and probably fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh patch) doesn't completel eliminate the framerate and other issues, it will be completely obvious that Rockstar has given up on PC gaming altogether.… Expand
  15. 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!
  16. MichaelK.
    Dec 21, 2008
    5
    Having played the game on the PS3, I know it's a quality game...but the port for the PC is simply atrocious. On above-the-recommended system requirements the game was simply unplayable even on on 800x600 resolution. It's a horrible, horrible port, and it's rather unfortunate that the BEST platform the game, turns out to be the worst treated. Just makes me sick...
  17. JamesL
    Dec 20, 2008
    5
    It's a nice game, if only it utilized the PC better! Low draw distances, the inability to tweak graphical settings to get a balance between frame rate and eye candy lowers the score. In terms of gameplay it is good old GTA with a huge open world concept but with a minimum requirements PC everything goes downhill. Quite unfortunate because they should have made it a little more It's a nice game, if only it utilized the PC better! Low draw distances, the inability to tweak graphical settings to get a balance between frame rate and eye candy lowers the score. In terms of gameplay it is good old GTA with a huge open world concept but with a minimum requirements PC everything goes downhill. Quite unfortunate because they should have made it a little more customizable (in terms of graphical options etc) so that most gamers could enjoy the game better.… Expand
  18. JJJ.
    Dec 19, 2008
    2
    Game looks bad on a Phenom w/ATI 4850. Same on Rockstar for releasing this game in the state it is. Look around the web and you'll see I'm not alone in having severe issues. I can run Fallout 3 in all its glory on my Samsung 226BW without a hitch but GTA looks worse than a PS2 game.
  19. 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.
  20. JT
    Dec 18, 2008
    7
    Graphics = 10 Audio = 9 Control = 5 (controls were laggy, and quality of remap was terrible) it would have added alot to the feeling of GTA4 if the controls were smoother and easier to maintain. Story = 6 (weakest story and missions of any of the GTA3's yet) Install and config = 3 (making us install windows live and social club just sucks. Game takes forever to load. Overriding my Graphics = 10 Audio = 9 Control = 5 (controls were laggy, and quality of remap was terrible) it would have added alot to the feeling of GTA4 if the controls were smoother and easier to maintain. Story = 6 (weakest story and missions of any of the GTA3's yet) Install and config = 3 (making us install windows live and social club just sucks. Game takes forever to load. Overriding my graphic settings and not giving me an easy way to have my own settings bad. DRM/CD checks slow down loading considerably. Unfortunately I think this will be the last PC version of GTA. You can easily tell by the quality of the port that Rockstar isn't interested at all in the PC build quality.… Expand
  21. TuureO
    Dec 18, 2008
    2
    This game doesn't deserve anybody's money. I had to download 5 different applications, register to many clubs before even being able to play it, and after that i still got a error message. Then when i started the game, and changed the resolution and refresh rate (1600x1200, 85 Hz) The screen went black saying "Sync out of range", so clearly, my screen can't handle that much This game doesn't deserve anybody's money. I had to download 5 different applications, register to many clubs before even being able to play it, and after that i still got a error message. Then when i started the game, and changed the resolution and refresh rate (1600x1200, 85 Hz) The screen went black saying "Sync out of range", so clearly, my screen can't handle that much of refresh rate, but the thing is, i couldn't not change them back since all I could see was black. Absolutely ridiculous. After few weeks when not getting any useful help from rockstar, i had to think of something. Then, i thought maybe i should take few screenshots of the menu, and it worked. The screen was black, but i could take screenshots of it. This way i was able to navigate through the menu with sounds and pictures. The game itself is great, buggy and heavier than crysis, but after that much of trouble, it doesn't matter how good the game is. 2/10.… Expand
  22. OveS.
    Dec 18, 2008
    1
    Never got this game to work. No help from support. Bought it through Steam and their forum is full of people with the same problems. The PC port was not ready to be released.
  23. 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.
  24. JosephV.
    Dec 16, 2008
    0
    Broken, Does not even work. The game crashes after 3min of playing it, NO fixes. Also the graphics and shadows are terrible and there is no AA, instead you get a blurring effect which like it says just blurs everything instead, making things even worse.
  25. ChristopherS.
    Dec 16, 2008
    0
    Unplayable due to bugs on two seperate PCs. My personal review scale is based upon quality of product on release. Of course, even after the first patch, the game still insists I have a XBox 360 controller on my PC, and has a camera that is stuck in a constant rotate mode. That, and 50% of the time, it fails to load textures. This is after a patch. A verify of game integrity on Steam then Unplayable due to bugs on two seperate PCs. My personal review scale is based upon quality of product on release. Of course, even after the first patch, the game still insists I have a XBox 360 controller on my PC, and has a camera that is stuck in a constant rotate mode. That, and 50% of the time, it fails to load textures. This is after a patch. A verify of game integrity on Steam then caused the game to stop starting entirely with a "Failed to contact key server" error, likely some combination of errors from both Activision and Steam servers. Do not buy this game on PC before doing your research. If you have an X-Box 360, purchase it there and save yourself the hassle. This game is fantastic on XBox 360, but PC users just can't get to the content for the ridiculous number of bugs. Buyer beware.… Expand
  26. JaredJ.
    Dec 16, 2008
    0
    Here is the perfect example of what is wrong with the world today. Titles like this screams; "PLAY ME AND YOU THINK YOU CAN REALLY DO IT!!" And sadly 82% of the time people think they really can. This needs to stop and should have been stopped a long time ago, I will fight Rockstar to the death on "G.T.A. V" but so far it's a rumor that I'm afraid might become all to real. This Here is the perfect example of what is wrong with the world today. Titles like this screams; "PLAY ME AND YOU THINK YOU CAN REALLY DO IT!!" And sadly 82% of the time people think they really can. This needs to stop and should have been stopped a long time ago, I will fight Rockstar to the death on "G.T.A. V" but so far it's a rumor that I'm afraid might become all to real. This offers nothing but meaningless, mindless chaos based off of the world that this garbage started.… Expand
  27. PaulC.
    Dec 15, 2008
    1
    Where is all the stuff we were promised. Another "on rails" shooter. Sanbox ??? Where ?? These is so little to do other than follow the plot. And it seems like hard work to play. Vice City had you having your own pad. St Andreas had you pumping iron etc. This just has you doing samey missions over and over. After 4 hours play I tried to take it back. "Game" wouldn't have it. I'm Where is all the stuff we were promised. Another "on rails" shooter. Sanbox ??? Where ?? These is so little to do other than follow the plot. And it seems like hard work to play. Vice City had you having your own pad. St Andreas had you pumping iron etc. This just has you doing samey missions over and over. After 4 hours play I tried to take it back. "Game" wouldn't have it. I'm REALLY dissapointed. Hell "Bully" was better than this rehashed "on rails" garbage.… Expand
  28. 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.
  29. Joel
    Dec 13, 2008
    9
    this game is awesome, the story is great and your always interested of what is going on and cut scene are not a paint to watch. The computer as a video editor which is awesome 10x better than the halo video play back. the only bad thing i can say is that, some times the AI isn't that good but other then that it is a must buy.
  30. JK
    Dec 13, 2008
    2
    This game is undoubtedly fantastic on XBox 360 or PS3, but don't buy it for PC! It has inane copy protection, no customizable keyboard controls, and ridiculous system requirements to run at a decent frame rate. It is thoroughly disappointing! Don't buy it!!!
Page:

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.
    Read full review
See all critic reviews »