Grand Theft Auto IV

 Xbox 360
User Score
8.0

Generally favorable reviews- based on 3784 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2,755 out of 3784
  2. Mixed: 569 out of 3784
  3. Negative: 460 out of 3784
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  1. drcoomer
    Jan 25, 2021
    8
    A masterpiece for its time, no doubt. But playing it almost 15 years later, it doesn't shine the way it used to. It's probably one of the least memorable experiences amidst the GTA universe, but still a very good game that holds its own against any other series

    8.4/10
  2. JohnMcdermott
    Jun 24, 2020
    8
    For it's day the graphics were superb, being Rockstars first GTA game to switch to 3D you kind of expect it. The gameplay is not perfect, the driving mechanics can be a bit difficult at times and the hand to hand combat is poor but the overall experience is worth it. Set-pieces are amazing at times. Plenty of side missions to keep you invested for hours and the variety of friends missionsFor it's day the graphics were superb, being Rockstars first GTA game to switch to 3D you kind of expect it. The gameplay is not perfect, the driving mechanics can be a bit difficult at times and the hand to hand combat is poor but the overall experience is worth it. Set-pieces are amazing at times. Plenty of side missions to keep you invested for hours and the variety of friends missions were a breath of fresh air at the time. I admired Rockstars attempt at making a more mature darker narrative for Niko Bellic but it can often be overlooked in the hours of carnage that the user can get up too. I think they perfected this narrative in their later games particularly the Red Dead Redemption series. I enjoyed the choices the game gave you for certain story moments and liked how they improved on it in GTA V. Overall an enjoyable game for its time… Expand
  3. ehtaco
    Aug 12, 2022
    8
    Genuinely a near-perfect game imo. Outside of graphics, this is the best GTA ever to me. It's such a great time and a must-play game. It is a bit more serious than some may like, but it works for me.
  4. Coolguymike
    Sep 26, 2020
    8
    Definitely a must have game for the Xbox 360! Great story, fun gameplay and a fun online mode.
  5. Dom007
    Mar 22, 2021
    8
    Whilst technically amazing. Gta 4 is one of the weaker Gta entries in my opinion. There just isn't as much to do in the world as say Gta San Andreas and the world just lacks variety compared to other titles.
  6. Jattaman
    Oct 3, 2022
    8
    Altro ottimo capitolo della saga. Non rivoluziona ma mantiene quanto di buono visto precedentemente, con il salto generazionale di console che aiuta nella resa grafica e tecnica del progetto.
  7. FilthyTim
    Nov 11, 2021
    8
    Best Grand Theft Auto IV is the best GTA game. Sometime it's plain. Hate Roman calls and Brucie.
  8. JJ2FAS4U
    Dec 28, 2021
    8
    Atmosphere: 8
    Enjoyment: 9
    Gameplay: 7
    Graphics: 6
    Music: 9
    Story: 8
    Total: 7.83
  9. donkaapo
    Sep 15, 2022
    8
    blank..........................................................................................................................................................................................
  10. spellsthelord
    Feb 16, 2023
    8
    this game is like my home land, or, im not niko tho :P like– wow, this game came out in 2009?! and its fantastic?! this game really deserved a GOTY award.. seriously..
  11. Oni-baku
    Apr 13, 2023
    8
    When I first played GTA 4 I was amazed by the graphics and the new physics engine, the game felt so realistic and Liberty City looked awesome.
    The story of Niko Bellic is one of the best in the franchise, they did a really good job.
    Niko is one of my favourite GTA characters after CJ from San Andreas.
  12. IamNader
    May 13, 2023
    8
    This game is a masterpiece because of Its Beautiful graphics, Extremely well designed map, The atmosphere is on point, Very dark story with well made characters and of course perfect body physics and car physics - 8/10
  13. BenC.
    Oct 8, 2008
    7
    Good game, but bad combat controls, slow framerates, frustrating missions. If you have a good gaming PC, I'd wait for the PC version.
  14. ShainE.
    Apr 30, 2008
    7
    This is a good game. However, it has some technical problems which are surprisingly severe. I really expected a better finished product. Far worse technical issues than other recent games have been crucified over. Euphoria engine is great in some places, but really awkward in others. Still, it adds a bit more life to the streets. I do like how the aiming system has improved, multiplayer This is a good game. However, it has some technical problems which are surprisingly severe. I really expected a better finished product. Far worse technical issues than other recent games have been crucified over. Euphoria engine is great in some places, but really awkward in others. Still, it adds a bit more life to the streets. I do like how the aiming system has improved, multiplayer is fun although buggy, and the story is above par for GTA.… Expand
  15. AndyHuber
    Apr 30, 2008
    7
    it's really amazing how overhyped this game is. i guess rockstar couldn't possibly have bribed all those reviewers. but still i'm wondering where it comes from, because:

    the "great voice acting and facial animation" - give me a break. there's a >lot< better in e.g. mass effect or lost odyssey. the lip synchronization often doesn't fit, characters move there    it's really amazing how overhyped this game is. i guess rockstar couldn't possibly have bribed all those reviewers. but still i'm wondering where it comes from, because:

    the "great voice acting and facial animation" - give me a break. there's a >lot< better in e.g. mass effect or lost odyssey. the lip synchronization often doesn't fit, characters move there brows seemingly random - it's almost like back to the games where they first started using facial animation.

    the "fantastic graphics" - admittedly, the city is huge but they still could've used more detailed character models and textures for closeup scenes. the "lot of detail" we're seeing in the game according to reviews look like something out of half life. objects with hardly any polygons and sometimes i'm wondering if there are even textures on them or they just colored them brown or something. once again i'd like to mention mass effect here. of course mass effect doesn't have those huge areas you can drive around in but it's simply wrong to just say that gta 4 has great graphics, period. if people would say that the graphics themselves aren't really nexgen-worthy but the huge world makes up for that - ok.

    the radio stations... according to reviews there's so much great music. well, i might have different taste in music than most people but the point is - when i'm listening to a rock station, i want to hear rock and not hip-hop or something else!

    now for the driving behaviour of the cars... since gta is mostly about stealing cars, you'd think that car handling would've been a major focus while developing the game. and it probably was but in my opinion they still didn't get it right. braking is way too slow.

    various other actions can be performed at just the tap of a button... sometimes different depending on the context. which might not always be clear to the user, so you sometimes end up doing things you didn't actually want to do. e.g. sometimes "X" means climbing up somewhere. but don't ever to that trying to get on the ledge of a roof of a skyscraper. or you'll have to restart the mission and once more drive all the way there.
    that's one more point to criticize... that you always have to drive where the mission actually starts if you restart it. very annoying.

    combat handling is also somehow related to this. for example you can switch your lock-on between enemies when using the right thumb stick while being locked on. sounds great theory, in practice it often doesn't work. you're locked on to someone who's behind some wall and just can't switch to the guy standing directly in front of you putting bullets in your head. and even if you try to switch off lock-on, look in the direction of the guy shooting at you manually and then turn on lock-on again, it often snaps back to the guy behind the wall. and you're dead. and you'll have to spend several minutes skipping cutscenes and either driving back there or waiting for taxis.

    then there are those "characters you care for" and the "great story". most of the characters are cliche thugs i couldn't care less about. there are some that are interesting but still the interaction is so... minimal and pointless that i'm almost tempted to skip even new cutscenes.
    also, i think that the dramatic story doesn't help the fun you have while you're playing because you can enjoy killing people and such more if the game doesn't take itself seriously. of course gta 4 isn't completely serious but still too serious for my taste. especially the main character.

    speaking about the main character. that guy talks to a "bro" whose slang is beyond everything i've ever seen in a movie. my mother tongue isn't english but by now i've seen around 1000 movies and quite some tv shows in english - and i still could hardly understand anything that guy was saying! even when i tried to read the subtitles! but the guy fresh from poland who doesn't manage to speak accent-free can understand him? yeah right.

    so why do i still give the game 7/10 if i don't like all those things? well, the game world IS huge and impressive, the way people around the city behave and react to various influences is great and if the combat controls work like they should, it's really fun as well. also while the story, missions and such might not be the best, they are still moderately interesting.    … Expand
  16. Matt
    Apr 30, 2008
    7
    It's GTA with a new story and new graphics. Not a 10 out of 10. Graphics are average, not as much freedom as Crackdown and the music is nowhere near as good as Vice City's. Good points are attention to detail, cinematography, and sound effects. The driving is also very good, loose and fluid control and great damage modelling.
  17. ChristopherK.
    May 13, 2008
    7
    An extraordinarily impressive virtual world, very interesting, but not as fun as it could be. The character and vehicle don't seem much improved on San Andreas and the gritty realism causes the sandbox feel that made the GTA series legendary to go away.
  18. crg
    Jan 2, 2010
    7
    Great set piece & immersive world & incredible attention to detail. Excellent story telling & voice acting... but compared to SA its was not as much fun. The mission design was so repetitive, that I wasn't able to play more then a few missions within one session. Beside of that, the game was too easy. And the final mission(s) didn't feel final at all.. I thought Rockstar is Great set piece & immersive world & incredible attention to detail. Excellent story telling & voice acting... but compared to SA its was not as much fun. The mission design was so repetitive, that I wasn't able to play more then a few missions within one session. Beside of that, the game was too easy. And the final mission(s) didn't feel final at all.. I thought Rockstar is trying to fuck with me, when I saw the credits roll ... IMO overrated.… Expand
  19. EricR.
    Feb 1, 2010
    7
    At the end of the day the game did a good job of keeping me entertained until its closure, but nothing about it made me go "wow" or "that should be in other games." I guess most notably the soundtrack was my favorite aspect, otherwise I'd just rent it.
  20. MichaelR.
    May 2, 2008
    7
    The graphics are average.Lots of boring missions driving around from place to place.The detail in the game is excellent and its the most realistic game ever made although it could have been even more realistic.
  21. Impindahizzy
    May 22, 2008
    7
    Wildly overrated in my opinion. The one player game stuns at first, but the repetitive nature of most missions soon begin to annoy. To be honest I prefer my games more 'arcadey' (if that's a proper word?) and actually prefered Crackdown to this!! So it's really not to my taste. However, the reason I gave it 7 out of 10 is for the online multi-player modes which are Wildly overrated in my opinion. The one player game stuns at first, but the repetitive nature of most missions soon begin to annoy. To be honest I prefer my games more 'arcadey' (if that's a proper word?) and actually prefered Crackdown to this!! So it's really not to my taste. However, the reason I gave it 7 out of 10 is for the online multi-player modes which are excellent and great fun to play (doesn't come close to the likes of CoD4 and Halo 3 online though), otherwise I would have given it 5 out of 10. To sum up, it's not to my taste but I can understand why the game is well liked. Overrated.… Expand
  22. ILikeGamesSmooth
    May 3, 2008
    7
    A great game, a stunning work of art for Rockstar but frankly neither of the consoles are powerful enough for the game to be done justice to. I played PS3 version for quite some time then sold it because as much as I loved the content I could not contend with the blurred graphics (from scaling) the bad aliasing and especially the low low frame rate (may times sub 20fps esp at times when A great game, a stunning work of art for Rockstar but frankly neither of the consoles are powerful enough for the game to be done justice to. I played PS3 version for quite some time then sold it because as much as I loved the content I could not contend with the blurred graphics (from scaling) the bad aliasing and especially the low low frame rate (may times sub 20fps esp at times when you need it to be high/smooth ie during car chases/shoot outs). If only it ran as smooth as I'm sure Rockstar would have liked then it would be gaming nirvana (or at least sandbox gaming nirvana as it's not without it's gameplay faults either). I loved Vice City and I ran it on PC fast and with antialiasing and of course it looks very bad next to GTAIV but it FELT good to interact with as it was fast (at least on a fast PC). I hope for a PC version of IV by the end of the year and will rebuy it and run it as it deserves to be run without constant visual reminders that you are playing a game and a poor performing one at that. And it's understandable that the consoles are hampered by this work of art, it's just too much for them to handle right now and maybe R* should have scaled their design back a bit and got the frame rates and resolutions rock solid first as interaction will always be more important than 'cool features' in games. I'm hoping to give 10/10 on PC if it scales well and allows better clarity in the graphics. As it stands on PS3 i'd give it a 7 due to it's technical burden and tiresome interaction, but probably a 9 for the game itself if those restraints were absent.… Expand
  23. BOBJ
    May 3, 2008
    7
    Just GTA They've done it before. 10/10? Overrated. Still it's GTA if you played one you played all. They just added a really good multiplayer.
  24. SteveK.
    May 4, 2008
    7
    this whole review debacle is a classic case of game magazines and reviewers getting doped up on the hype and extreme expectations that surrounds some games in the run-up to the release. gta4 certainly is a good game, but very far from perfection, even far from being excellent. it's very enjoyable sometimes and sometimes outright dull. why countless reviewers have overlooked the this whole review debacle is a classic case of game magazines and reviewers getting doped up on the hype and extreme expectations that surrounds some games in the run-up to the release. gta4 certainly is a good game, but very far from perfection, even far from being excellent. it's very enjoyable sometimes and sometimes outright dull. why countless reviewers have overlooked the glaring flaws is beyond me. a review score shouldn't rate effort and ambition. gameplay is king and in regard to that gta4 is certainly above average, but falls short of greatness. a healthy 7 points, I say.… Expand
  25. TruNorth
    May 4, 2008
    7
    Not the best, but good. The radar map is too small, so is the cell phone.(on a 47" 1080p)The graphics are anything but stunning, I was expecting a sharpness that wasn't there. now of course you can go anywhere and do alot, but If I want to wine and dine a girl, it'll be a real one. As for the story, now this is the best part of the game. I have only rented this game and will Not the best, but good. The radar map is too small, so is the cell phone.(on a 47" 1080p)The graphics are anything but stunning, I was expecting a sharpness that wasn't there. now of course you can go anywhere and do alot, but If I want to wine and dine a girl, it'll be a real one. As for the story, now this is the best part of the game. I have only rented this game and will only buy it at a discounted price. The one thing I hope is that other developers don't see this a what they can get away with and make clones that look even worst then GTA IV.… Expand
  26. michaels
    Jul 11, 2009
    7
    I have read a few comments, from gamers who love this game and it sound like they are the ones who designed it, trying to justify it's brilliants! I have not got HD so maybe i have missed out on that side of it, but i loved the last couple on playstation2 and i loved it for the game play, the graphics have alweays been cool! I wanted to enjoy what vice city and san andreas gave me, I have read a few comments, from gamers who love this game and it sound like they are the ones who designed it, trying to justify it's brilliants! I have not got HD so maybe i have missed out on that side of it, but i loved the last couple on playstation2 and i loved it for the game play, the graphics have alweays been cool! I wanted to enjoy what vice city and san andreas gave me, FUN, but trying to open taxi doors getting a lift was painful, why have the same button too steal as to get to a destination, plenty of other buttons to choice from! Also no animals or kids, is it unethical to have them in the game, does killing only adults push the boundaries far enough, is it not fun escaping reality for a few hours here and there to kill what you can, please explain!!!! No casino's or betting places really ruined it for me, is was a good way to get easy money, but i guess why need money when you can't buy houses only limited clothing and food and hookers, need more! Why can't you rob a bank or steal armoured cars to get money, it would be fun! As much as i love blowing things up, i love building things, can't you have more buying of properties and buying things for the houses, and having more clothes to choose from! Not just safe houses, but places you can design mostly yourself and want to spend time there not just for changing clothes or saving, but to bring friends you meet or chicks who you score with back there to party or to swim, or to play pool, anything! I really do hope gta5 if there is going to be one, brings all the best things from all the gta games into it, not just pushing out a really unfinshed game with good graphics, because i would rather gameplay over graphics anyday! Gta 4 should have made san andreas look bad, but it was just unfinished, i think due to deadlines! I beg the designers to read what people want not just do there own creations because they didn't seem to work there magic this time as they did in Gta san andreas which was orgasmic gameplay! I really think gta 4 was rushed so the designer can get to gta 5, i hope so! If the designer read this and they need some fresh ideas, i have plenty, i will give my email and will work for free, i just want goood gameplay!… Expand
  27. TimBremner
    Nov 11, 2008
    7
    This is by no means a bad game, its not a great one though either. Aside from what has already been pointed out about the uselessness of money, poor multiplayer and repetitive everything! This game was really killed (my vocabulary is very limited, I know) by the lack of enjoyment after finishing the campaign and also the developers choice to go down a more realistic path..... Bad move Rockstar.
  28. Roger
    Apr 30, 2008
    7
    Its got a great dynamic world with great weather effects. Its a maasive game with a great story. BUT i think the missions are a bit dull and the basic gameplay is old. Very dissapointed to be honest after all the hype. I see nothing to justify a 10/10. Im not saying its bad its just nothing special.
  29. DocK.
    May 1, 2008
    7
    Nothing special as far as I can tell, just a typical GTA game with a few graphical improvements. Story is ok so far, but overall I think the game is vastly overrated.
  30. WoodrowD.
    May 21, 2008
    7
    Pretty Great, but it's getting old on me fast. Definitely enjoyed GTA: San Andreas longer and better. The new improvements are all met by equal losses. The map is too small, and I don't know what else I can do with a helicopter.
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Awards & Rankings

1
#1 Best Xbox 360 Game of 2008
1
#1 Most Discussed Xbox 360 Game of 2008
1
#1 Most Shared Xbox 360 Game of 2008

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
98

Universal acclaim - based on 86 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 86 out of 86
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 86
  3. Negative: 0 out of 86
  1. Official Xbox Magazine UK
    100
    It's got a world you believe in, a cast you care about and a script stuffed with brilliant moments... Utterly stunning in every resepct. [May 2008, p.79]
    Read full review
  2. Xbox World 360 Magazine UK
    98
    Rockstar have surpassed themselves, delivering unquestionably the definitive GTA and perhaps the greatest videogame of all time. [June 2008]
  3. IGN
    100
    I could go on and on about why Grand Theft Auto IV is one of the best games we've ever seen and why even folks who are easily offended should play it, but that would be pointless. The only thing you need to know is that you have to play this game. Period.
    Read full review
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