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. SoundoftheSun
    Nov 22, 2020
    9
    Recently revisited this with and it finally runs flawlessly, this game holds up extremely well!

    Graphics - 9 / 10
    Story - 8.9 / 10
    Gameplay - 8.5 / 10
    Music / sound design - 8 / 10
    Map design - 9 / 10
    Conclusion: 9 / 10
  2. Modern_Reviews
    Feb 28, 2022
    10
    Tagline: "Phenomenal open-world, modern-city masterpiece that is still more detailed than any open world game as of February 2022"

    What specs you need to run it 60fps - 1080p or 4K, without stutter or lag? - Let's make one thing clear, you should never max out "View Distance", "Detail Distance" and "Vehicle Density". But good news is that you don't need to max out either of these,    Tagline: "Phenomenal open-world, modern-city masterpiece that is still more detailed than any open world game as of February 2022"

    What specs you need to run it 60fps - 1080p or 4K, without stutter or lag?
    - Let's make one thing clear, you should never max out "View Distance", "Detail Distance" and "Vehicle Density". But good news is that you don't need to max out either of these, because game looks already perfect when you set all these settings to 50%. Everything after 50% is very minor and not necessary, but takes away huge amount of fps, so it's not worth it and with 50% it will already look miles better than Console versions. So for conclusion, yes, this is the best looking version of that game.

    Now, to run it in 4K, High Settings, you need minimum "RTX 2060" or "RX 6600 XT" for graphics card, For CPU Ryzen 3600 or I7 7700.

    Now let's make one thing clear, this game was extremely ahead of time. More than any game ever. "Resident Evil 4" (2005) was revolutionary in it's own ways and is still amazing game, no doubt, but what GTA 4 did, changed open world games forever.

    Let's start with physics. You wont find this good physics from any open world game. None. Keep in mind this was 2008.

    New York truly feels alive, more alive than modern open world games like Just Cause 3/4 or Cyberpunk 2077. Whole city is extremely detailed, especially by 2008 standards and all of that looks absolutely phenomenal, if you play this game in 4K.

    You can go inside hospitals (fully detailed), inside apartment buildings, inside police station, abanoned places, etc. There's so much to explore and find in this incredibly crafter open world. Every inch of that map shows how much passion and talent was put into making this incredible game.

    Story is fun, long and rich, full of loads of memorable characters, missions and locations.

    GTA IV is timeless masterpiece, that truly showed what is possible in gaming, most detailed open world game to date and one of the best games of all time.    … Expand
  3. w00t
    Jan 6, 2010
    8
    This is game really good if you have an AWSOME COMPUTER and that may cost a bit but i can run it great but my comp is really good Intel i5 2.7ghz GTX 260 4gb ddr3. Everything is good except that when you have an sportscar the car you have comes up everywhere but when you change car you just cant find more when you change car idk if thats an bug or something but its bad... And i have a This is game really good if you have an AWSOME COMPUTER and that may cost a bit but i can run it great but my comp is really good Intel i5 2.7ghz GTX 260 4gb ddr3. Everything is good except that when you have an sportscar the car you have comes up everywhere but when you change car you just cant find more when you change car idk if thats an bug or something but its bad... And i have a really weird bug cant higher my shadows in graphics or view distance anyone know why?… Expand
  4. 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
  5. 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
  6. EyjoK.
    May 18, 2010
    10
    Best game ever! Clueless punks giving this game a 0 when they should jsut play it on console then. For real PC gamers that understand the hardware and know how to configure their systems this game is a 10 all the way. I have been playing it since it came out and i will probably still be playing it after 3 years or so when GTA 5 comes out. The DLC pack even finally came out for PC so i Best game ever! Clueless punks giving this game a 0 when they should jsut play it on console then. For real PC gamers that understand the hardware and know how to configure their systems this game is a 10 all the way. I have been playing it since it came out and i will probably still be playing it after 3 years or so when GTA 5 comes out. The DLC pack even finally came out for PC so i hopefully will be experianceing Liberty City again. This game is a technological marvel on all accounts so OFCOURSE you will need a PC capable of running it. This is not the same game as on the consoles! The PC version looks MUCH better even on low settings( i play all high with everything MAXED OUT at HD resolutions) and the CPU power needed is immense. At least a quad is required as this game is higly multithreaded and a decent GPU (video memory is important). My only complain is the lack of Multi-GPU scaling but maybe with a better cpu the scaling would be better. Maybe a x64 bit version of the game could help boost things but perhaps it would just double the memory requirement. Anyways thank you ROCKSTAR for bringing GTA4 to the PC and doing it so that its much much better then the console version.… Expand
  7. CCC78
    Nov 20, 2020
    10
    PS: This rating is by 2008 standards.

    Story: 8.4/10
    Gameplay: 8.7/10
    Graphics: 10/10
    Open World: 9.8/10
    Enjoyability: 10/10
    Conclusion: 10710
  8. temps
    Nov 17, 2011
    10
    Terrific game. GTAIV offers vast improvements in the graphics department over its predecessors. The game's controls were sometimes annoying - like when it demanded you tap "A" repeatedly in order to sprint, rather than just holding down a certain button to keep sprinting as long as you hold it down. It was also annoying to have to log into the social club and GFWL every time you boot upTerrific game. GTAIV offers vast improvements in the graphics department over its predecessors. The game's controls were sometimes annoying - like when it demanded you tap "A" repeatedly in order to sprint, rather than just holding down a certain button to keep sprinting as long as you hold it down. It was also annoying to have to log into the social club and GFWL every time you boot up the game. That being said, this is still GTA, it's still every bit as fun (if not moreso) than its predecessors. The graphics are superb - a vast improvement over the last generation of GTA titles. The story is also better, and the world is generally more believable and realistic. Whats more, the control system for aircraft in this game makes them much easier to control than the PC editions of Vice City or San Andreas. There are more strip clubs, and the strippers and prostitutes are now rendered in high definition glory, LOL! Ah, the joys of GTA. That stuff aside, there is realy a terrific game here that should not be overlooked. You'll get the familiar GTA-style storyline, with a more serious flavor to it. It has nearly all of the elements that made older GTA games fun, except perhaps airplanes, airports, and businesses you can buy like in Vice City. As for the negative reviews... we all know it's just people whining about the DRM... whether it's GFWL or the social club. Yes, the game requires a modern computer to run nicely. What do you expect? The game came out in like 2008 or 2009. I always laugh at these people who are surprised their 5-year-old "gaming-laptop" can't run it nicely, so then they go to complain about the game and whine. The bottom line: make sure you have a quad-core processor, a reasonably-new video card with at least 1gb memory, and 4gb of RAM. Then get ready for a terrific new installment to the GTA series =).… Expand
  9. gracjanski
    Jan 19, 2020
    10
    GTA 4 doesnt offer you a lot in comparison to the predecessors. But they were perfect already, so it is difficult to put new things in it.
    The gameplay should be known and means a lot of fun and a lot of possibilities, but it is not very complex.
    The difficulty is much lower than in the predecessors, especially the AI is stupid and you can kill them all very easily. But on the other    GTA 4 doesnt offer you a lot in comparison to the predecessors. But they were perfect already, so it is difficult to put new things in it.
    The gameplay should be known and means a lot of fun and a lot of possibilities, but it is not very complex.
    The difficulty is much lower than in the predecessors, especially the AI is stupid and you can kill them all very easily. But on the other side, there is no free savings, so sometimes I was glad to play through the game instead of repeating hard missions all the time.
    The characters are funny, especially Bruce, but also Little Jacob and Bernie. The story and the dialogues are comprehensible and I was curious, how the story evolves.
    The graphics and the city are perfect.
    As a result it is a great successor, but not on the same level as an art like Deus Ex.

    Many players complain about the implementation of the game and the enforcement to install many unnecessary software like Rockstar club and Microsoft live club. First: dont buy any game short after release, wait many months when it is cheaper and have some patches. And second dont do everything the industry wants you to do, there are always ways...    … Expand
  10. XgamertronX
    Nov 18, 2014
    10
    This game have some optimization problems and you may need a decent system. All performance issues at the side the game is actually very well written. Filled with character and a dark vibe the story is very well made. Gameplay can be a bit clunky but overall it's immersive and you never feel alone in this lively city.
  11. MacMorris
    Sep 3, 2013
    8
    I have to admit this game received mixed reviews. This games still deserves credit though. Its something new. First, I would start with its negative review. So many glitches. It sucked. It lacks a lot from its previous successors.Now, the positive reviews. The game's great. Great graphics, storyline, mechanics and creativity and new features.
  12. BreakingAwesome
    May 14, 2016
    9
    Спустя пару месяцев, GTA 4 появляется и на персональных компьютерах. Её портировали очень быстро по сравнению с другими играми серии GTA. И это как раз-таки повлияло на системные требования. В то время, чтобы играть на максимальных требованиях, нужен был приличный компьютер за приличные деньги. В основном, проблемы с частотой кадров и нагрузкой на системы были связаны с качествомСпустя пару месяцев, GTA 4 появляется и на персональных компьютерах. Её портировали очень быстро по сравнению с другими играми серии GTA. И это как раз-таки повлияло на системные требования. В то время, чтобы играть на максимальных требованиях, нужен был приличный компьютер за приличные деньги. В основном, проблемы с частотой кадров и нагрузкой на системы были связаны с качеством динамических теней. Очень большая разница между низким и высоким качеством. 9/10 из-за оптимизации, а так очередной шедевр от Rockstar!… Expand
  13. Alexander_1996
    Oct 17, 2020
    9
    At first I was surprized to see User Score 6.8 on metacritic for the game considered by many the best GTA and one of the best videogames in history but then I realized it is a PC version and checked out the User Score for XBOX 360 version - the rating there was 7.9 . Later I found out it is all because of bad optimization and many rigs of that time couldn't handle Liberty City at least inAt first I was surprized to see User Score 6.8 on metacritic for the game considered by many the best GTA and one of the best videogames in history but then I realized it is a PC version and checked out the User Score for XBOX 360 version - the rating there was 7.9 . Later I found out it is all because of bad optimization and many rigs of that time couldn't handle Liberty City at least in 30 fps with decent visuals and crashed consistently. Because I was playing this game in 2020 I didn't experience any problems with the optimization of the game (of course). So if you are thinking about trying it out for the first time or the last time you played it your potato computer couldn't run it properly give it a second chance. The game made an enormous leap from its predecessor (GTA:SA) and even 12 years later still looks decent. The world feels like one of the most elaborated and detailed open worlds in history of video games (I bet in 2008 it was THE MOST elaborated open world). The character of Niko Bellic feels real and relatable, though the other characters in the game (besides Roman) have some space for improvement (many of them really felt like they all are made of the same **** material). Many of the main story missions would be better off as side quests because often they didn't add anything to the main plot and existed only for the sake of extending the playing time. Though I can't say they were repetitive - each mission tried to be unique in its own way (the emphasis is on the word "tried"). What I am not a fan of is the radio. The playlist there is quite uninspired. There were only few songs I really enjoyed while driving through Liberty City but it is nitpicking and hey, you can create a playlist of your own (what I eventually ended up NOT doing).… Expand
  14. GolovA
    May 13, 2015
    8
    For using DRM's the game gets (-1) from me right away. I've read some negative reviews, and it seems people agree that the game is repetitive in terms of missions. Well, the gameplay of Doom is repetitive too - you just shoot stuff. What is different about GTA is the story. And the story (overall plot and the sub-plot of the separate missions) is very involving. I enjoyed the game forFor using DRM's the game gets (-1) from me right away. I've read some negative reviews, and it seems people agree that the game is repetitive in terms of missions. Well, the gameplay of Doom is repetitive too - you just shoot stuff. What is different about GTA is the story. And the story (overall plot and the sub-plot of the separate missions) is very involving. I enjoyed the game for its gameplay, but more so for its story. Very well done. Windows Live and Rockstar Social Club -both thumbs down!… Expand
  15. xekcedom
    Mar 11, 2015
    9
    A history of the rawest of the series, made me doubt in the final game of the dilemma that I believe it. .
  16. Marick
    Mar 8, 2015
    9
    Grand Theft Auto is one of the best game i ever played. Good physics , good story, good open world, yeah, i love this game. This is a must play game, so , take a chance.
  17. moonlight_shado
    Jul 6, 2016
    10
    Simply my all time favourite and Best GTA ever. The story is great and involving, characters so deep, probably the best Rockstar created so far. Atmosphere so grim and depressive sometimes. The driving mechanics are so good, to realistic maybe, almost like first Mafia game. This game literally do everything better than GTA V. Don't be fooled by the low score here, its mostly due to someSimply my all time favourite and Best GTA ever. The story is great and involving, characters so deep, probably the best Rockstar created so far. Atmosphere so grim and depressive sometimes. The driving mechanics are so good, to realistic maybe, almost like first Mafia game. This game literally do everything better than GTA V. Don't be fooled by the low score here, its mostly due to some technical problems back then, now with modern PC game works neat. And it's like everyone says, GTA V is for kiddies while GTA4 is mostly appreciated by mature players.… Expand
  18. xenforogamer
    Jun 4, 2015
    8
    Poorly optimized game i would give 2/10 for that. Otherwise this game is really good. I like playing as Niko Bellic, the Serbian protagonist. The FPS are same as 800x600 low vs 1980x1080 full hd
  19. sashaCZ1
    Oct 16, 2015
    8
    I like the way Rockstar went with this GTA. I enjoyed the single player missions, the story and characters. In my opinion, the soundtrack is the best one of all GTAs. If you ignore the day one optimization for PC, this game was incredible. My score is 8 out of 10.
  20. Lira
    Oct 17, 2015
    9
    시작부터 말하자면 일단 그래픽은 꽤나 훌륭합니다. 2008년게임이라는것을 감안하면 충분히 훌륭하죠.
    하지만 락스타 게임즈는 콘솔에서 보여준 최적화를 PC에서 제대로 말아먹고 말았습니다.
    2015년 현재 제 컴퓨터가 GTA5를 풀옵션 30프레임을 무리없이 구동하고 있는데 GTA4 풀옵션 60프레임이 렉이 걸린다는것부터가 완전히 개막장이죠. 하지만 전 그래도 GTA4에 높은 점수를 주고 싶습니다. 일단 스토리가 깊이가 달라졌습니다. 산안드레아스와는 비교할수없을정도로 스토리가 엄청납니다. 제 인생게임 2위인 이유가 바로 이 스토리에 있습니다. 아메리칸 드림을 꿈꾸는 수많은 사람들의 자화상을 게임에 그대로 담았다고 보면 됩니다. 그밖에도 미국에 대한 풍자와 수많은 블랙 코미디를 보니 왜 GTA    시작부터 말하자면 일단 그래픽은 꽤나 훌륭합니다. 2008년게임이라는것을 감안하면 충분히 훌륭하죠.
    하지만 락스타 게임즈는 콘솔에서 보여준 최적화를 PC에서 제대로 말아먹고 말았습니다.
    2015년 현재 제 컴퓨터가 GTA5를 풀옵션 30프레임을 무리없이 구동하고 있는데 GTA4 풀옵션 60프레임이 렉이 걸린다는것부터가 완전히 개막장이죠. 하지만 전 그래도 GTA4에 높은 점수를 주고 싶습니다.
    일단 스토리가 깊이가 달라졌습니다. 산안드레아스와는 비교할수없을정도로 스토리가 엄청납니다.
    제 인생게임 2위인 이유가 바로 이 스토리에 있습니다. 아메리칸 드림을 꿈꾸는 수많은 사람들의 자화상을 게임에 그대로 담았다고 보면 됩니다. 그밖에도 미국에 대한 풍자와 수많은 블랙 코미디를 보니 왜 GTA 시리즈가 세상에서 가장 유명한 게임 시리즈가 되었는지 알법합니다. 다만 주인공의 일생에 집중을 하다보니 이발 시스템도 사라졌고 의상도 상당히 개성이 없어졌습니다. GTA 시리즈중 가장 자유도가 떨어지는 게임이 나온것이죠. 그래서 이 게임은 의외로 호불호가 갈릴수도 있습니다. 산안드레스에서 엄청난 자유도를 만끽한 유저들은 이 게임을 싫어할수도 있죠. 하지만 게임을 싫어할지라도 한번쯤은 GTA4를 플레이 해보시는걸 추천합니다. 절대 시간낭비는 아닐테니까요.    … Expand
  21. MaxiThresher
    Dec 17, 2017
    10
    GTA IV is one of the best games of all time ! This gta game made the series go from a simple funny drive'n shoot game, to a realistic game, satire of the society of consumption and very violent but funny game. This gta, was released in 2008 and the graphics are gorgeous, the physics engine is pretty realistic and the gameplay is very easy. The missions are not all memorable, a lot of themGTA IV is one of the best games of all time ! This gta game made the series go from a simple funny drive'n shoot game, to a realistic game, satire of the society of consumption and very violent but funny game. This gta, was released in 2008 and the graphics are gorgeous, the physics engine is pretty realistic and the gameplay is very easy. The missions are not all memorable, a lot of them are lame, drive from point A to point B, pick up someone, go kill this dude, but some of the missions are just so great, that you will always remember them ! like the heist: Three Leaf Clover, Truck Hustle, Museum Piece, Tunnel of Death and Wrong is Right.
    I would definitely tell you to buy this game for 40€ or less. This game is a blast and everything is free, there is nothing to buy. Greatest game of the early 2000's.
    9.8/10 for me.    … Expand
  22. IGN-MiddleEast
    Mar 30, 2020
    10
    This game has better physics than GTA 5 and the atmosphere is more realistic and dark enough to make the game feel cinematic.
  23. stolenhearts
    Nov 4, 2020
    10
    Absolute masterpiece by any means possible. Yeah it didn't run well in 2008, but it runs well in 2020 and it holds up wonderfully in terms of graphics, story, gameplay. It was at least 3 years ahead of it's time.
  24. Reduxx
    Nov 18, 2020
    10
    Absolute masterpiece! It's not fair that it has so low score, because it had bad performance back in 2008. Runs perfectly well on every up-to-date system in 2020. Can't believe this map design, everything still holds up so well, even from graphical standpoint.
  25. Aryandrn
    May 6, 2021
    10
    Veryyyy good game. I played all the versions of gta and i say best gta is gra vice city and second gta i like is gta4
  26. AC_ValhallaisAC
    Jan 9, 2022
    10
    This is best video game Rockstar has ever made. Level of detail, atmosphere and mission design is absolutely insane by 2008 standards and even in 2022 it has more depth than most open world games.
  27. GregH.
    Dec 10, 2008
    6
    Numerous graphical, gameplay and stability problems mean this game only gets a 6. It's hard to shake the feeling that it was rushed out in time for Christmas. But if you can get playing and look past all the uneccessary garbage included in this game you will find the best GrandTheftAuto game yet. Alas quality control has let the team down which means it can never reach the perch it deserves.
  28. chrise
    Dec 2, 2008
    5
    Had already played and beat this on my brothers xbox.Should of just bought a 360 and took his game.Without a high end gaming machine,you'll most likely not be impressed.Wish i could return it for a refund. Cant play online without getting the MMA10 error which i have already found to be common among the community.
  29. MadeMan
    Dec 4, 2008
    5
    Simply brilliant game, let down by absolutely woeful performance issues. On a system that either meets or exceeds the recommended requirements, the game suffers random crashing roughly every 15 minutes requiring a full restart, terrible pop up, and a draw distance that very often doesn't update fast enough. The graphics are also largely unpolished, with heavy amounts of jagged edges. Simply brilliant game, let down by absolutely woeful performance issues. On a system that either meets or exceeds the recommended requirements, the game suffers random crashing roughly every 15 minutes requiring a full restart, terrible pop up, and a draw distance that very often doesn't update fast enough. The graphics are also largely unpolished, with heavy amounts of jagged edges. The controls also feel disconnected and unresponsive, either on foot or in car. Beyond all that, it is an outstanding game in terms of design, and most importantly, it's the game that GTA3 should have been. But at least GTA3 worked (eventually).… Expand
  30. MatthewB.
    Dec 8, 2008
    5
    I feel cheated by a massively buggy game. ok, the underlying game is great. But if the graphics keep crashing what's the point, because it becomes unplayable. There are other bugs too, but these pale into insignificance next to the terrible graphics problems.
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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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