@@philiptaylor8223 Creatively it's a treasure chest because all of the content was thought out with love as per art director Aaron Garbut's intructions.
This game genuinely feels like a period piece. It is simply overflowing with that certain mid to late 2000s feeling, it is indescribable and can only be felt, but this will always make it one of my favorite pieces of art ever. It gives me feels that nothing else does. Crazy to think that it’s almost 16 years old. Vice City was set 16 years earlier than its release date, let that sink in. I love this game with all my heart and I am not trying to be melodramatic when I say that part of my soul will always be in Liberty City.
I believe that the jump from GTA San Andreas to GTA IV will be the biggest one we may ever see. Graphics, storylines and all these details make it such a uniquely genuine work.
@@iRemainNameless I don’t expect anything truly new from gta 6, I just hope they will at least add everything gta:sa, gta 4 and gta 5 has, you know, those smaller details, little extras, activities etc. GTA 5 was kind of disappointing after gta 4, it has this massive world, but you barely can do anything, everything was actually downgraded from gta4, only graphics and the size of gta5 was impressive, but then again, why have such a massive world with barely any activities?
GTA SA, GTA 4 and RDR2 are THE open world masterpieces. They are the most fleshed out, legendary open worlds and not many games come close even 15 - 20 years later. Liberty City still hasn't been topped in the GTA series and not many other open worlds have even come close to them. 2008 was the golden era of AAAs
GTA 4 an open world masterpiece?? The only thing you can do in Liberty City is eat in restaurants and hang out with friends, besides there is almost no reward for exploration. GTA V clears IV in terms of open world
@@MertzwillerIn GTA4 you can do racers, helicopter tours, play games such as golf, parachuting, darts etc, have more enterable buildings outside missions, and each island serves their own activities and purposes. Whereas over 70% map of GTA5 outside the city is basically just a flat open empty countryside with no any place of interest and activities whatsoever.
@@Mertzwiller Nah the GTA 5 open world is bland especially on PS3. It has a smaller city with way less depth to it with plastic npcs, everything was crushed into a really small area. and the countryside was a joke, tiny desert, too many mountains everywhere, endless roads that are way too long, tiny Paleto Bay, almost no grass The open world is one of the worst things about GTA 5
There'll never be another GTA like this again. It feels like they made the game they wanted to make, the direction they wanted to take and almost to perfection. I still like GTA V but always get the feeling they were going more for mass appeal, to appeal to as big an audience as possible. I just can't imagine them making the same decisions that made this game great nowadays.
That's why GTA4, RDR1, RDR2, Maxpayne 3 and Bully were the games Dan Houser wanted to make. Which seems like its a big reason for not wanting to do GTA6 as he did not know what they would do with it.
Ive said it again and again. R* managed to capture 06-10 so perfectly with this title. with remmants of the early 2000s again. Great video Glack. So much quality with this title. We didnt know we had it good during that time.
What GTA IV lacked in customization and RPG elements, it made us with its atmosphere, story and amazing time with friends. IV will always be my favorite. Once a year I play thru it and try to do some Multiplayer. I’ve been playing GTA since early 2002, but that year in 2008 and 2009 will always be special to me.
Born in Brooklyn and lived in the Tri-State my whole life. Currently 30 min outside Manhattan. Everything in this thing is nutz. The Projects. The 90s. The people. The cabs. The cops. The Bronx, Queens, Central Park. Cony Island, Even Hoboken and the view of the city across the water. The different Bridges. Love how they captured the Brooklyn Bridge. Funk Flex on the radio. The drab environment and lack of color. The comedy store downtown. Time Square. Rockstar are working some wild magic with what they can capture in a any given sandbox!
Honestly, that’s like a perfect description of GTA 4. I couldn’t even say it better myself. GTA 4 honestly was such a fantastic game, & 4 what’s it worth now. It was an experience for of all us when we were just 15 almost 16 years younger… Can’t stop time from moving on.
As for the interiors, it's just one aspect of how this game has variability in where you can go on foot. It's not all just somewhere at the nearest road's level. Even outside there are many pathways through alleyways and up/on-side buildings, latters, elevators, stairwells, pedestrian bridges and tunnels, subway station access (of both kinds for the respective boroughs). Maps of a single massive city like this really have the highest potential,
I drive slow in both V and IV. I often slink around and sight see. I explore cool landmarks and skyline pictures I can take with the camera. It is such a great feeling to just drive around and exist in these worlds they've made. I deliberately remove the map and as many HUD elements and take in the surroundings and memorize the map so I can better immerse myself playing. It's such a good vibe.
Still the best GTA game 15 years later. The story and characters alone make the gameplay worthwhile, but the atmosphere truly makes the experience even more special. I still remember getting this game the first day it came out and playing it every day until I beat it and I made sure to save the game twice before making the final decision for the ending so I could see both of them. It was an experience like no other for me playing video games. Thank you for the video man, take care!
I am british and born in 82 so now i am 42 and i love this game i only just started playing this game a few years ago along with yakuza 0 and kiwami and GTA san andreas aswell as sleeping dogs definitive edition... i gaven't played games in 20 something years and i LOVE ALL OF THESE NOW
I love this game so much. I get a feeling of nostalgia when I turn it on and see what NYC used to look like when I was 18. I live near Meadows Park in Dukes (Queens) and seeing some old buildings that are no longer here, bring me back to simpler times. Great video!
It truly is truly a masterpiece and fits the setting amazingly gta 6 is getting me very hype I believe it will have some gta 4 in it physics and environment wise
@venom01016they claimed the physics had to be that way because of the limits of ps3 but were at ps5 now I hope they reverse the physics back to an improved version of 4
@venom01016 idk but they claimed that and it’s not completely off, ps3 was a nightmare to code on if you didn’t already had a great codebase with proper implementations, maybe they meant the xbox360 instead of ps3 because it didn’t have as much potential as the PS3 SPEs offered in contrast. Also that was a bit a design choice too yes but I hope we’ll get a great balance of euphoria physics and easy controls in VI
Yeah because instead of being called out on social media, you had some complete stranger in another country shouting down their Headset calling you a F*gott or N***er for sniping them from three blocks away 😅
I'm glad someone else feels the same. A true moment captured in time. I was the same age as Niko in 2008,so I felt a strong connection to him. I truly hope we see Niko again, but not in a Johnny way. Thanks for such a passion filled video.
Good video man, I’ve been playing this game off and on since 2007 and finally beat it last year on Xbox series x. Going to beat it again soon on steam deck, the game just makes me feel like I’m at home or that I’m not alone in the city in a good way.
Did a replay of IV once where I tried to walk around and use public transport as much as possible (we love a game with a metro). There was this moment, late at night where I was walking down to the subway and there was a busker playing sax and idk the vibes were just insane, like V WISHES it could ooze such an atmosphere. Also the story is just devastating, so so so human. It's the perfect elegy for the post Y2K pre iPhone world and I love it with all my heart. Excellent vid dude!!!!!
Yeah I actually have to go back to Liberty City every so often, the physics and dense city made for a living breathing world but Santos just felt like an advert for the online game in comparison, I truly hope we can wander around Vice City with a lush southern Florida vibe! Vice City was a childhood favorite as was 3 so seeing jump from 3 to 4 was amazing, imagine seeing VC to 6!? 😊
The best GTA for me. Its dark, gritty and the city was its own character. Its a time capsule, i feel like im in 2008 when i go back and play it. It has so many great messages in its writing and overall themes. Im always so nostalgic for it, maybe not quite as nostalgic as SA, but when IV had released i was older and more mature, it was more coming of age for me i guess. The soundtrack is also so damn good!
I can definitely relate to this video hard man. I still love gta v but even as someone that started with V I’ve always been so taken with Liberty city. Great video dude
Man I got waves of nostalgia watching this ❤️ I bought the PS3 collectors edition online and it got shipped to me randomly 1 day early before the games official release date. Teen me was ecstatic. To get this and MGS4 in the same year was epic.
Love GTA IV. Loved playing this game back in the day as a fresh faced 14 year old high school kid living at my mums house. Currently doing another play through as a 28 year old husband/father. I’ll always have love for GTA IV, timeless classic. Looking forward to GTA VI!
I love this game so much as well. That vibe and small details, seeing a people cleaning streets, drinking coffee , checking car trunk in parking lot. All these tiny streets in downtown, I always love to walk through them to see If I can find something hidden there or not. It all gave me that great vibe. Man Im gonna play it again tonight🤣🤣
2:43 Worth mentioning that GTA 4 takes place in Autumn/Fall 2007, since the game was meant to release during that time until it got delayed to Spring 2008 for technical reasons.
While the delay is true, if you were to look up Niko’s file in the police database you’ll find he arrived in 2008. There are also a few other crimes other people had committed in 2008 too!
@@CaptainGlack I believe those were added after the decision was made to delayed the game to 2008, the decision was made in right around early 2007 after all, but the game originally was meant to be set in Fall/Autumn 2007 and you can tell by the in-game weather.
Replaying GTAIV, the heavy-feeling cars are really missing from V, especially GTA Online where they ping around like Hot Wheels. Fishtailing in IV and having to get up speed again to escape the cops is always a tense moment. It's a game that really shines in those smaller action moments. Not so much the wild jumps and explosions, but like, getting staggered and trying to get Niko up and get to cover, or turning a car around in a tight alleyway. I love the whole game but I think the first third or so is the best part. I'm not as interested in Niko and Jacob having helicopter bazooka duels for a shady government agency as I am in seeing them carry out low-stakes pot deals in back alleys.
There's something about GTA 4 that's missing in 5. It's hard to describe exactly, but I think it makes 4 a more likeable place to spend time. I remember playing the PC version online back around 2011/12, and the lobbies would be packed. Race lobbies on a Saturday morning would be laggy as hell, but were much more fun compared to V online racing.
GTA4 is not niko's story, he is as blank as we are, a fish out of water in a new setting, as naive as we were, and he only reacts how we would. There is no big game changing stake involved regarding him. He is just like a fly on the wall. That feeling of being an NPC in a large uncaring world having a few close frienda thats all. I played this game in 2010 as a 21 year old, 14 years later as a 35 year old, niko's position hits hard. No old friends left, life not progressing as you dreamt. But a hope that things will be better with each passing day, that's what drives everyone.
This game really need a remaster, but rockstar seems to not care about it. This game would sell a lot with a new graphic refresh, the game is an experience and it should be known to the new generations. It was sooo head of its time, and still it is, if compared with the other open world games, even gta 5.
This is really great! I didn’t know about all the hidden stuff and the sound was magical! I can still remember the feel when I’d go to an online lobby and how the jet sounds from the airport sounded on my surround sound system. It really brought you there!
The thing that shocked me the most when I first played GTA 5 Online, was that nobody was at the airport, and to this day, it's still not an hotspot like it used to be. I blame the 3 wanted stars!!!!
when it rains, pedestrians react accordingly. using newspaper as a quick umbrella and running to the nearest cover or just pulling one out and keep on with their day.
To me the very thing that stands out on GTA IV is the attention to detail, animations, reflections, smoke coming out of the car, the wind on the trees, like everything has a weight like real life, theres nothing much to do apart from that, like real life...
I played through Grand Theft Auto IV for the first time at the start of last year, and I think it blows away Grand Theft Auto V in many regards. You covered everything that makes the game great excellently. This game and its story also really hit me on an emotional level, and the only other game to do that to me was Silent Hill 2.
I think you did a great job presenting this game. This my first bought GTA game as well, though not the first I've played and I spent a lot of hours on it, though not as much as I could, or compared to how much I spent in GTA S.A. which was my favorite of the series until maybe GTA V (I've played GTA 2, V.C., S.A., IV & V)
Amazing, when I first went through a binge on your channel I was saving this original video for last, was so bummed when I was hit with the age restriction! (I didn’t feel like giving YT even more of my personal info lol). Thanks for the reupload!
@@AJayZy RUclips requires you give actual ID nowadays, which I honestly don’t feel like giving. And plus, it’s rare that anything I watch is age restricted anyway lol
I remember the good old days of GTA 4 it was my first GTA game I have ever played before and so far today is one of my favorite GTA game for its story, physics , car damage and other amazing things. GTA 5 was good game for its time but I do like how GTA 4 was able to do better.
Tbh GTA IV just reminds me of driving though a big city, seeing the different cultures and values places bring. I always go through Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, and Metro Detroit for work and it's wild that I feel like a kid driving around the different areas of that map. Something about it just clicks.
Great video 🙏 Please make ones on TBOGT and TLAD. I’m playing GTA IV on PS3 for the first time now and I see there are things it has that GTA V doesn’t.
I love this game as a person who once lived in the Philly area. It makes me feel so nostalgic because this game captures the feeling of a North Eastern US City so fucking well; especially in its color schemes. San Andreas and V both take place out west in Cali and Vegas and those areas of the country 一 places that Ive never been to - so I can't really immerse myself in their environments as much as I can with IV. One of my favorite things to do is get a taxi, choose the most out-of-the-way and furthest waypoint I can, and enjoy the ride in first person view mode while looking out the window at the buildings, cars, and people speeding past like I did as a kid whenever my family had stuff to do downtown. Add some custom music in the background and it's such a chill activity in a game all about high speed car chases and crime drama.
As somebody who was a child during the Balkan wars, and who moved to the United States when this game came out it hits so hard for me every other person from my country that I knew and to this day is one of my absolutely favorite games of all time.
One thing which makes driving so fun and unique in GTA IV compared to most open world ganes is that you have to master it's handling with a bit of skill. Driving isn't just another chore in this game. If you're not careful, your vehicle will crash and you'll suffer the consequences thanks to the game's physics engine. It make the driving also feel very rewarding when you get the hold of that handling. That's why races in GTA IV always felt intense knowing one wrong turn could totally wreck my vehicle and it's performance. Fun Fact: In Marvel Spiderman, there is a GTA IV easter of Niko and Roman in a side mission encounter. Very cool to see GTA IV is still remembered and beloved to this day.
I was born in 91 and my dad brought home 3 one day. After talking to my brother about it he gave me a copy of 2 so Ive pretty much experienced all of them. Im just afraid 6 will come out after I expire
Bohan was PERFECT for games of Turf War, we spent countless hours playing that - I really want a remaster for this game for a multiplayer resurgence. V's online got beyond boring within 2 years, but IV's MP never got old.
13:45 don't know if you know this but good news about your favourite ringtone, it's a full song from the radio of Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City stories. a track from Head Radio, specifically with the same name. it's even on spotify! the actual track sounds alot like an R&B/Soul one inspired by the likes of Ne-Yo, who funnily enough is featured in GTA IV with the track "Because of You" in The Vibe FM.
I really wish crossplatform was the norm a lot earlier in gaming. If so, IV could still achieve full lobbies more often between people playing 360 & PS3.
Just beat the game for the first time last night. Played it with my brother as a kid, but he liked going to certain clubs rather than doing actual missions, as teen boys do lol. Absolutely loved the story and gonna start up the ballad of gay tony tonight. Can't wait
Very good write up 👍 *TL:DR Great video very nice job, me likey GTA IV and me likey the things you said about IV. Keep up the good work and Let's be careful out there.* 😉 🧡 I'd also say that IV is my favourit GTA game too (tho it maybe due it being partly like you, it was my first GTA game i had bought myself and not played around a friends house or borrowed a copy.) I only ever briefly remember watching a friend play GTA 1, got too play II a handful of times, only ever saw the case and instruction book for III, loved and played though Vice city dozens of times and then got too the first few missions in San Fierro before i had too return my friends copy of San Andreas back too him. I got IV the day it came out, i had turned 18 a few months before, went down to my local Gamestation (R.I.P.) and got my copy... then a few hours later i had to go get another copy for a friend of mine because his birthday was in May and when making the purchase his copy i ended up locking eyes with the same guy who had sold me my copy earlier ( he was sitting on the floor behind the counter having a brake) I bought IV again last year to play on stream, got 30 something hours for the story but i've gone and put something like 300 hours off stream. Going back and getting up too my old tricks of: knocking NPC's down stairs, the swing set glitch, using the Patriot the rool other cars on too the roofs, smashing up cars with a baseball bat, knocking over destructible objects, getting high star watned levels and watching the chaos of the IA try and keep up and crash into everything and everyone behind me and of corse just driving around the city.(Even after all that last October i managed to find the 3rd swing set 😅) I remember day 1 for GTA V and feeling disapointed due too the physics of either how the cars drove or your characters ragdolling and a few other details i felt hadn't improved from IV. (especially the fighting mechanics. 🤬You know, when one of the 3 characters stands there and just starts kicking the guy instead of like Niko's using his many mooves.( & The fact a speedrunner i watch is sometimes isn't able to work around them even with ten thousand hours under his belt kinda speaks volumes, or at least i think so 😅)) *But i still feel GTA V is a great game*, but after 10 years of it i went back too IV though either nostalgia or being addicted and unable to stop. But proberly has as you said, something to do with the tone, atmosphere and the general snap shot of the time.
I never understood everyone's obsession with the airport. Yes it's cool but what I found annoying was how people would set up free mode games that ONLY let you spawn at the airport. In GTA 4 free mode was a lot different for those who don't remember. You actually had pre game lobbies were the host would set up the rules for the map. You could modify traffic , gun spawns, you could even turn off police and friendly fire. People often would make the map based entirely at the airport so if you wanted to go somewhere else and you got killed while out there , the game would spawn you all the way back at the airport... So annoying. Definitely don't miss that part of it lol
Funnily enough, I went to New York, landed at JFK airport and one of the first things that struck me was the architecture of the airport - because I had driven up the sloping sides of the building so many times in GTA4
Being from nj i wish they put more effort into that side considering that they used Hoboken as a influence. But to this day there's just something about gta4 that makes me happy and Nostalgic. Like I love the music, the radio shows, the funny as hell tv shows the internet. It just seemed to have so much more detail and creativity. Funny thing is you can travel around the times square area really well. I remember most of the area from the game before I started going to ny alot. The Broadway theaters are right there. Especially the upper west side where all the stores are at and the projects in Manhattan near 5 star hotels. Even listening to funk flex on hot97. Which the rap station in the game captured the sometimes insane things that happen on the station and the radom songs that are surprisingly good that you hear at like 2 am. But you are wrong about thing. Nobody wants to retire to nj or across the river lol
I played The Ballad of Gay Tony then 4 then I finally played The Lost and Damned and I was amazed how they weaved the stories. Best GTA by thousands of miles. Then 5 and San Andreas tie for weird reasons and in weird ways
Respect brother, born in 1994 and my dad let me play GTA3 on his pc when I was staying with him over the weekend. My mom was furious but my first PS2 game was Vice City lol
I was 9 when GTA IV came out, man I finished it several times in these years and I feel like after a few years that sensation to play it again. GTA V is a great game but IV is just another level, is completely a game of 15 years old still not second to none of most of the games dropped till now Physics, sound, story it’s just amazing
I’m 30 an started on gta 3 but I swear this game I have so many good memories just roaming around the map with this dark cold weather it was a vibe of its own fr u just had to be there
One game that was so charming yet its own biggest enemy was scarface the world is yours. I still play it every now and then thanks to the remastered project guys but man that game couldve been such a goldmine with a really likeable MC and memorable gameplay. Tho its repeptetitive missions and not so much variety showcasing the Miami Vice is what caused its demise imo. I'd love a high budget remake of the game tho.
They still love me.
“Nico! Wah a gwan bredren?” - sincerely little Jacob
hey Nico, let's go bowling.
Hot take. Vice city stories
we do you crazy Serb
Spelled the name wrong, friend
GTA 4's depressive tone fit so well with the times, while still managing to be escapism.
@@philiptaylor8223 Creatively it's a treasure chest because all of the content was thought out with love as per art director Aaron Garbut's intructions.
GTA 4 Liberty City always feels bigger to GTA 5 map to me, so much enjoyable to explore
Actually bigger than Los Santos if you take out the airport and useless areas
🗽
more alive but dead at the same time, very special feeling to it!!
@@ross3695_basedhaxwell that’s not a fair comparison what defines a useless area?
@@RapEssentials The area with a bunch of containers
This game genuinely feels like a period piece. It is simply overflowing with that certain mid to late 2000s feeling, it is indescribable and can only be felt, but this will always make it one of my favorite pieces of art ever. It gives me feels that nothing else does.
Crazy to think that it’s almost 16 years old. Vice City was set 16 years earlier than its release date, let that sink in.
I love this game with all my heart and I am not trying to be melodramatic when I say that part of my soul will always be in Liberty City.
Totally agree with you
It's been longer since 2008 than it was between San Andreas' 2004 and its 1992 setting.
@@runarvollan Trippy
Mid 2000 feeling = piss filter
@@erikheijden9828the one game where the piss filter is an inseparable part of the atmosphere rather than a pointless ugly stain
I believe that the jump from GTA San Andreas to GTA IV will be the biggest one we may ever see. Graphics, storylines and all these details make it such a uniquely genuine work.
Agree 💯
I would agree but really thinking VI is going to be something incredible
@@dunder5563coming soon lol 😂
@@iRemainNameless I don’t expect anything truly new from gta 6, I just hope they will at least add everything gta:sa, gta 4 and gta 5 has, you know, those smaller details, little extras, activities etc. GTA 5 was kind of disappointing after gta 4, it has this massive world, but you barely can do anything, everything was actually downgraded from gta4, only graphics and the size of gta5 was impressive, but then again, why have such a massive world with barely any activities?
You realize there were like 2 other gta games after San Andreas right?
GTA SA, GTA 4 and RDR2 are THE open world masterpieces.
They are the most fleshed out, legendary open worlds and not many games come close even 15 - 20 years later. Liberty City still hasn't been topped in the GTA series and not many other open worlds have even come close to them. 2008 was the golden era of AAAs
GTA 4 an open world masterpiece?? The only thing you can do in Liberty City is eat in restaurants and hang out with friends, besides there is almost no reward for exploration. GTA V clears IV in terms of open world
@@MertzwillerIn GTA4 you can do racers, helicopter tours, play games such as golf, parachuting, darts etc, have more enterable buildings outside missions, and each island serves their own activities and purposes. Whereas over 70% map of GTA5 outside the city is basically just a flat open empty countryside with no any place of interest and activities whatsoever.
@@channe30492 of those things are only on tbogt and in GTA 5 your can do all of that(if your on ps4/ps5 xboxone/seriesx)
@@Mertzwiller Nah the GTA 5 open world is bland especially on PS3. It has a smaller city with way less depth to it with plastic npcs, everything was crushed into a really small area. and the countryside was a joke, tiny desert, too many mountains everywhere, endless roads that are way too long, tiny Paleto Bay, almost no grass
The open world is one of the worst things about GTA 5
Bully is also a fantastic open world the NPC interaction is great.
There'll never be another GTA like this again. It feels like they made the game they wanted to make, the direction they wanted to take and almost to perfection. I still like GTA V but always get the feeling they were going more for mass appeal, to appeal to as big an audience as possible. I just can't imagine them making the same decisions that made this game great nowadays.
That's why GTA4, RDR1, RDR2, Maxpayne 3 and Bully were the games Dan Houser wanted to make. Which seems like its a big reason for not wanting to do GTA6 as he did not know what they would do with it.
@@Ronuk1996makes me really worried for how 6 will turn out without him or the other big players. A GTA with no Lazlo…
@@Gmanawesomeness but what does Lazlo add to gta games? Just his voice on radio stations and a few cutscenes in gta5?
Ive said it again and again. R* managed to capture 06-10 so perfectly with this title. with remmants of the early 2000s again. Great video Glack. So much quality with this title. We didnt know we had it good during that time.
What GTA IV lacked in customization and RPG elements, it made us with its atmosphere, story and amazing time with friends. IV will always be my favorite. Once a year I play thru it and try to do some Multiplayer. I’ve been playing GTA since early 2002, but that year in 2008 and 2009 will always be special to me.
Roman in the Taxi casually calling Niko a Sociopathic killer in front of the cab driver is pretty hilarious.
Born in Brooklyn and lived in the Tri-State my whole life. Currently 30 min outside Manhattan. Everything in this thing is nutz. The Projects. The 90s. The people. The cabs. The cops. The Bronx, Queens, Central Park. Cony Island, Even Hoboken and the view of the city across the water. The different Bridges. Love how they captured the Brooklyn Bridge. Funk Flex on the radio. The drab environment and lack of color. The comedy store downtown. Time Square. Rockstar are working some wild magic with what they can capture in a any given sandbox!
Growing up in south bohan (lol) Driving around in this game always feel like I'm in my city
Same I live across from Liberty City in Northern New Jersey
@@Voucher765you mean alderny
@I7VCEPTION Yup in North Jersey the suburbs of New York
Honestly, that’s like a perfect description of GTA 4. I couldn’t even say it better myself.
GTA 4 honestly was such a fantastic game, & 4 what’s it worth now. It was an experience for of all us when we were just 15 almost 16 years younger…
Can’t stop time from moving on.
GTAIV feels like a place I visited, rather than a game I played
As for the interiors, it's just one aspect of how this game has variability in where you can go on foot. It's not all just somewhere at the nearest road's level. Even outside there are many pathways through alleyways and up/on-side buildings, latters, elevators, stairwells, pedestrian bridges and tunnels, subway station access (of both kinds for the respective boroughs). Maps of a single massive city like this really have the highest potential,
GTA 4 was the easily the best GTA. It has such an indescribable aesthetic and edge to it. It perfectly encapsulates the era it was released in
I drive slow in both V and IV. I often slink around and sight see. I explore cool landmarks and skyline pictures I can take with the camera. It is such a great feeling to just drive around and exist in these worlds they've made.
I deliberately remove the map and as many HUD elements and take in the surroundings and memorize the map so I can better immerse myself playing. It's such a good vibe.
Same, did it with IV. Feels more immersive and makes me pay attention to my surroundings more vs half way looking at map and center screen lol
@@iRemainNameless GTA IV even feels good just walking in while looking up at architecture
Still the best GTA game 15 years later. The story and characters alone make the gameplay worthwhile, but the atmosphere truly makes the experience even more special. I still remember getting this game the first day it came out and playing it every day until I beat it and I made sure to save the game twice before making the final decision for the ending so I could see both of them. It was an experience like no other for me playing video games. Thank you for the video man, take care!
I am british and born in 82 so now i am 42 and i love this game i only just started playing this game a few years ago along with yakuza 0 and kiwami and GTA san andreas aswell as sleeping dogs definitive edition... i gaven't played games in 20 something years and i LOVE ALL OF THESE NOW
I love this game so much. I get a feeling of nostalgia when I turn it on and see what NYC used to look like when I was 18. I live near Meadows Park in Dukes (Queens) and seeing some old buildings that are no longer here, bring me back to simpler times.
Great video!
GTA 4 Is the best GTA
It truly is truly a masterpiece and fits the setting amazingly gta 6 is getting me very hype I believe it will have some gta 4 in it physics and environment wise
@venom01016 really hmm gotta see official gameplay till then I don't follow leaks but that would suck if truee
@venom01016they claimed the physics had to be that way because of the limits of ps3 but were at ps5 now I hope they reverse the physics back to an improved version of 4
@venom01016god I hope not. Driving in gta 4 was so much more fun than 5
@venom01016 idk but they claimed that and it’s not completely off, ps3 was a nightmare to code on if you didn’t already had a great codebase with proper implementations, maybe they meant the xbox360 instead of ps3 because it didn’t have as much potential as the PS3 SPEs offered in contrast. Also that was a bit a design choice too yes but I hope we’ll get a great balance of euphoria physics and easy controls in VI
This GTA was right before the cancer social media phenom started growing
People didn't even have smartphones when this came out. It's crazy
You nailed it, I couldn’t agree more
Yeah because instead of being called out on social media, you had some complete stranger in another country shouting down their Headset calling you a F*gott or N***er for sniping them from three blocks away 😅
It's been longer since 2008 than it was between San Andreas' 2004 and its 1992 setting.
I'm glad someone else feels the same. A true moment captured in time. I was the same age as Niko in 2008,so I felt a strong connection to him. I truly hope we see Niko again, but not in a Johnny way. Thanks for such a passion filled video.
Good video man, I’ve been playing this game off and on since 2007 and finally beat it last year on Xbox series x. Going to beat it again soon on steam deck, the game just makes me feel like I’m at home or that I’m not alone in the city in a good way.
Did a replay of IV once where I tried to walk around and use public transport as much as possible (we love a game with a metro). There was this moment, late at night where I was walking down to the subway and there was a busker playing sax and idk the vibes were just insane, like V WISHES it could ooze such an atmosphere. Also the story is just devastating, so so so human. It's the perfect elegy for the post Y2K pre iPhone world and I love it with all my heart. Excellent vid dude!!!!!
Yeah I actually have to go back to Liberty City every so often, the physics and dense city made for a living breathing world but Santos just felt like an advert for the online game in comparison, I truly hope we can wander around Vice City with a lush southern Florida vibe! Vice City was a childhood favorite as was 3 so seeing jump from 3 to 4 was amazing, imagine seeing VC to 6!? 😊
The best GTA for me. Its dark, gritty and the city was its own character. Its a time capsule, i feel like im in 2008 when i go back and play it. It has so many great messages in its writing and overall themes. Im always so nostalgic for it, maybe not quite as nostalgic as SA, but when IV had released i was older and more mature, it was more coming of age for me i guess. The soundtrack is also so damn good!
I can definitely relate to this video hard man. I still love gta v but even as someone that started with V I’ve always been so taken with Liberty city. Great video dude
These vids have convinced me to finish GTA IV after I forgot about it 2 years ago. I'm halfway through now.
How is it?
bro hasn't been on RUclips since lmao@@MatthewArchive
I play gta iv once a year, it's like a ritual for me, big love and nostalgia
2:28 as someone who lived in NYC at the time game is set it does a great job of capturing the vibe. Rockstar nailed the city as a caricature
Man I got waves of nostalgia watching this ❤️ I bought the PS3 collectors edition online and it got shipped to me randomly 1 day early before the games official release date. Teen me was ecstatic. To get this and MGS4 in the same year was epic.
Love GTA IV. Loved playing this game back in the day as a fresh faced 14 year old high school kid living at my mums house. Currently doing another play through as a 28 year old husband/father. I’ll always have love for GTA IV, timeless classic. Looking forward to GTA VI!
Same as a 13 year old kid back in the day playing TOBGT
GTA IV it's a Masterpiece. Great video 👏🏻
I love this game so much as well.
That vibe and small details, seeing a people cleaning streets, drinking coffee , checking car trunk in parking lot.
All these tiny streets in downtown, I always love to walk through them to see If I can find something hidden there or not.
It all gave me that great vibe. Man Im gonna play it again tonight🤣🤣
2:43 Worth mentioning that GTA 4 takes place in Autumn/Fall 2007, since the game was meant to release during that time until it got delayed to Spring 2008 for technical reasons.
While the delay is true, if you were to look up Niko’s file in the police database you’ll find he arrived in 2008. There are also a few other crimes other people had committed in 2008 too!
@@CaptainGlack I believe those were added after the decision was made to delayed the game to 2008, the decision was made in right around early 2007 after all, but the game originally was meant to be set in Fall/Autumn 2007 and you can tell by the in-game weather.
Replaying GTAIV, the heavy-feeling cars are really missing from V, especially GTA Online where they ping around like Hot Wheels.
Fishtailing in IV and having to get up speed again to escape the cops is always a tense moment. It's a game that really shines in those smaller action moments. Not so much the wild jumps and explosions, but like, getting staggered and trying to get Niko up and get to cover, or turning a car around in a tight alleyway.
I love the whole game but I think the first third or so is the best part. I'm not as interested in Niko and Jacob having helicopter bazooka duels for a shady government agency as I am in seeing them carry out low-stakes pot deals in back alleys.
Best intro music ever in gta 4
There's something about GTA 4 that's missing in 5. It's hard to describe exactly, but I think it makes 4 a more likeable place to spend time.
I remember playing the PC version online back around 2011/12, and the lobbies would be packed. Race lobbies on a Saturday morning would be laggy as hell, but were much more fun compared to V online racing.
GTA4 is not niko's story, he is as blank as we are, a fish out of water in a new setting, as naive as we were, and he only reacts how we would. There is no big game changing stake involved regarding him. He is just like a fly on the wall. That feeling of being an NPC in a large uncaring world having a few close frienda thats all.
I played this game in 2010 as a 21 year old, 14 years later as a 35 year old, niko's position hits hard. No old friends left, life not progressing as you dreamt. But a hope that things will be better with each passing day, that's what drives everyone.
This game really need a remaster, but rockstar seems to not care about it. This game would sell a lot with a new graphic refresh, the game is an experience and it should be known to the new generations. It was sooo head of its time, and still it is, if compared with the other open world games, even gta 5.
Need remake, not remaster. It's stupid to remaster games that are over 10 years old.
This is really great! I didn’t know about all the hidden stuff and the sound was magical! I can still remember the feel when I’d go to an online lobby and how the jet sounds from the airport sounded on my surround sound system. It really brought you there!
They need to make gta 4 available on the new consoles but without remastering it. It’s just perfect the way it is. Loved the video dude keep it up !
It is available on Xbox series X/S via backwards compatibility
You talked so well that I want to play it again ! It's also one of my favorite games. I finished it many times too
The thing that shocked me the most when I first played GTA 5 Online, was that nobody was at the airport, and to this day, it's still not an hotspot like it used to be. I blame the 3 wanted stars!!!!
Loved jumping in taxis just taking in the sights
the way you can pick up random objects on the ground, even cigarettes, and how you can tip street musicians are one of my favorite things about it
when it rains, pedestrians react accordingly. using newspaper as a quick umbrella and running to the nearest cover or just pulling one out and keep on with their day.
One of the best in-depth explanations of the environments of GTA IV I've ever seen! I'd like to see more videos like this, CaptainGlack! Love it!
To me the very thing that stands out on GTA IV is the attention to detail, animations, reflections, smoke coming out of the car, the wind on the trees, like everything has a weight like real life, theres nothing much to do apart from that, like real life...
Favorite game of all time. Love to see someone else just adore this game. Good video
I played through Grand Theft Auto IV for the first time at the start of last year, and I think it blows away Grand Theft Auto V in many regards. You covered everything that makes the game great excellently.
This game and its story also really hit me on an emotional level, and the only other game to do that to me was Silent Hill 2.
When I close my eyes I still see Liberty city still clear in my memories, like a second home. as well as some Modern Warfare maps.
I think you did a great job presenting this game. This my first bought GTA game as well, though not the first I've played and I spent a lot of hours on it, though not as much as I could, or compared to how much I spent in GTA S.A. which was my favorite of the series until maybe GTA V (I've played GTA 2, V.C., S.A., IV & V)
Amazing, when I first went through a binge on your channel I was saving this original video for last, was so bummed when I was hit with the age restriction! (I didn’t feel like giving YT even more of my personal info lol). Thanks for the reupload!
You watch age restricted RUclips instead of just lying about your age?
@@AJayZy RUclips requires you give actual ID nowadays, which I honestly don’t feel like giving. And plus, it’s rare that anything I watch is age restricted anyway lol
@@Dragono_ Fair enough, maybe I should reflect on my age restricted content. Although I didn’t give them personal info on mine
@@AJayZy it’s a fairly new feature I believe, and up until now I never really came across age restricted stuff
I remember the good old days of GTA 4 it was my first GTA game I have ever played before and so far today is one of my favorite GTA game for its story, physics , car damage and other amazing things.
GTA 5 was good game for its time but I do like how GTA 4 was able to do better.
I played TOGT back when I was 13 and it was fun especially when the cheats turned on
man i love videos like this. great channel and writing.
great video bro, I hope gta 6 manages to capture the same immersion that gta 4 has while also learning from rdr 2
Tbh GTA IV just reminds me of driving though a big city, seeing the different cultures and values places bring.
I always go through Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, and Metro Detroit for work and it's wild that I feel like a kid driving around the different areas of that map.
Something about it just clicks.
Great video 🙏 Please make ones on TBOGT and TLAD.
I’m playing GTA IV on PS3 for the first time now and I see there are things it has that GTA V doesn’t.
The Joys of stealing something fast at night and blasting across the bridges with all the incredible bridge living and Algonquin's neon lit sky line.
I love this game as a person who once lived in the Philly area. It makes me feel so nostalgic because this game captures the feeling of a North Eastern US City so fucking well; especially in its color schemes. San Andreas and V both take place out west in Cali and Vegas and those areas of the country 一 places that Ive never been to - so I can't really immerse myself in their environments as much as I can with IV.
One of my favorite things to do is get a taxi, choose the most out-of-the-way and furthest waypoint I can, and enjoy the ride in first person view mode while looking out the window at the buildings, cars, and people speeding past like I did as a kid whenever my family had stuff to do downtown. Add some custom music in the background and it's such a chill activity in a game all about high speed car chases and crime drama.
dark frutiger aero really would be the best way to describe the vibe of GTA IV
spot on
Awsome video dude, pls more of this gta4 contant i loved it. Really well done
13:45 its actually a song from LCS, and Pager is GTA III of course, my favorite
Ive literally spent lazy days at home on my couch just bowling in gta4 and listening to youtube videos.
21:20 Actually they did pretty good physics in Max Payne 3. The Euphoria engine is amazing in that game.
As somebody who was a child during the Balkan wars, and who moved to the United States when this game came out it hits so hard for me every other person from my country that I knew and to this day is one of my absolutely favorite games of all time.
One thing which makes driving so fun and unique in GTA IV compared to most open world ganes is that you have to master it's handling with a bit of skill. Driving isn't just another chore in this game. If you're not careful, your vehicle will crash and you'll suffer the consequences thanks to the game's physics engine. It make the driving also feel very rewarding when you get the hold of that handling. That's why races in GTA IV always felt intense knowing one wrong turn could totally wreck my vehicle and it's performance.
Fun Fact: In Marvel Spiderman, there is a GTA IV easter of Niko and Roman in a side mission encounter. Very cool to see GTA IV is still remembered and beloved to this day.
I was born in 91 and my dad brought home 3 one day. After talking to my brother about it he gave me a copy of 2 so Ive pretty much experienced all of them. Im just afraid 6 will come out after I expire
This is one of my fav videos on the internet
Bohan was PERFECT for games of Turf War, we spent countless hours playing that - I really want a remaster for this game for a multiplayer resurgence.
V's online got beyond boring within 2 years, but IV's MP never got old.
13:45 don't know if you know this but good news about your favourite ringtone, it's a full song from the radio of Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City stories. a track from Head Radio, specifically with the same name. it's even on spotify! the actual track sounds alot like an R&B/Soul one inspired by the likes of Ne-Yo, who funnily enough is featured in GTA IV with the track "Because of You" in The Vibe FM.
I'm going to reply GTA IV with a few basic mods added, the city has such better life to it and the story is better than V in my opinion
I really wish crossplatform was the norm a lot earlier in gaming. If so, IV could still achieve full lobbies more often between people playing 360 & PS3.
Just beat the game for the first time last night. Played it with my brother as a kid, but he liked going to certain clubs rather than doing actual missions, as teen boys do lol. Absolutely loved the story and gonna start up the ballad of gay tony tonight. Can't wait
That was an awesome video, GTA 4 is timeless. A time before micro transactions, so developers put way more time into the world
12:15 such "Shazam before Shazam" actually existed in real life. It worked exactly the same as in the game
Very good write up 👍
*TL:DR Great video very nice job, me likey GTA IV and me likey the things you said about IV. Keep up the good work and Let's be careful out there.* 😉 🧡
I'd also say that IV is my favourit GTA game too (tho it maybe due it being partly like you, it was my first GTA game i had bought myself and not played around a friends house or borrowed a copy.) I only ever briefly remember watching a friend play GTA 1, got too play II a handful of times, only ever saw the case and instruction book for III, loved and played though Vice city dozens of times and then got too the first few missions in San Fierro before i had too return my friends copy of San Andreas back too him.
I got IV the day it came out, i had turned 18 a few months before, went down to my local Gamestation (R.I.P.) and got my copy... then a few hours later i had to go get another copy for a friend of mine because his birthday was in May and when making the purchase his copy i ended up locking eyes with the same guy who had sold me my copy earlier ( he was sitting on the floor behind the counter having a brake)
I bought IV again last year to play on stream, got 30 something hours for the story but i've gone and put something like 300 hours off stream. Going back and getting up too my old tricks of: knocking NPC's down stairs, the swing set glitch, using the Patriot the rool other cars on too the roofs, smashing up cars with a baseball bat, knocking over destructible objects, getting high star watned levels and watching the chaos of the IA try and keep up and crash into everything and everyone behind me and of corse just driving around the city.(Even after all that last October i managed to find the 3rd swing set 😅)
I remember day 1 for GTA V and feeling disapointed due too the physics of either how the cars drove or your characters ragdolling and a few other details i felt hadn't improved from IV. (especially the fighting mechanics. 🤬You know, when one of the 3 characters stands there and just starts kicking the guy instead of like Niko's using his many mooves.( & The fact a speedrunner i watch is sometimes isn't able to work around them even with ten thousand hours under his belt kinda speaks volumes, or at least i think so 😅))
*But i still feel GTA V is a great game*, but after 10 years of it i went back too IV though either nostalgia or being addicted and unable to stop. But proberly has as you said, something to do with the tone, atmosphere and the general snap shot of the time.
I never understood everyone's obsession with the airport. Yes it's cool but what I found annoying was how people would set up free mode games that ONLY let you spawn at the airport. In GTA 4 free mode was a lot different for those who don't remember. You actually had pre game lobbies were the host would set up the rules for the map. You could modify traffic , gun spawns, you could even turn off police and friendly fire. People often would make the map based entirely at the airport so if you wanted to go somewhere else and you got killed while out there , the game would spawn you all the way back at the airport... So annoying. Definitely don't miss that part of it lol
best gta hands down. great video!
Funnily enough, I went to New York, landed at JFK airport and one of the first things that struck me was the architecture of the airport - because I had driven up the sloping sides of the building so many times in GTA4
Great video mate!
Agreed that this game is amazing
Being from nj i wish they put more effort into that side considering that they used Hoboken as a influence. But to this day there's just something about gta4 that makes me happy and Nostalgic. Like I love the music, the radio shows, the funny as hell tv shows the internet. It just seemed to have so much more detail and creativity. Funny thing is you can travel around the times square area really well. I remember most of the area from the game before I started going to ny alot. The Broadway theaters are right there. Especially the upper west side where all the stores are at and the projects in Manhattan near 5 star hotels. Even listening to funk flex on hot97. Which the rap station in the game captured the sometimes insane things that happen on the station and the radom songs that are surprisingly good that you hear at like 2 am. But you are wrong about thing.
Nobody wants to retire to nj or across the river lol
Subscribed. Thank you for the nostalgia trip
I played The Ballad of Gay Tony then 4 then I finally played The Lost and Damned and I was amazed how they weaved the stories. Best GTA by thousands of miles. Then 5 and San Andreas tie for weird reasons and in weird ways
21:27 that camera angle with the zoom in felt like its from a burnout game
Rockstar never topped GTAIV. TLAD and TBOGT were also amazing. I was legitimately disappointed in GTAV, the characters and the online element.
GTA 4 actually felt like a Grand Theft Auto. Dingy and dirty....
Like the old top view gta's
Respect brother, born in 1994 and my dad let me play GTA3 on his pc when I was staying with him over the weekend. My mom was furious but my first PS2 game was Vice City lol
GTA 4 is phenomenal one of the best games ever
If you haven’t had a standoff in the hospital , you ain’t playin GTA IV
Such a good video thank you g!
GTA 4 came out nearly 16 years ago. Man that makes me feel old 🤧
13:45 is actually a reference to a song with the same name you can hear on Head Radio in LCS.
I was 9 when GTA IV came out, man I finished it several times in these years and I feel like after a few years that sensation to play it again.
GTA V is a great game but IV is just another level, is completely a game of 15 years old still not second to none of most of the games dropped till now
Physics, sound, story it’s just amazing
I don’t know why but with this games physics I can’t get enough of driving around in Roman’s taxi. Hands down my favourite vehicle in the game.
I’m 30 an started on gta 3 but I swear this game I have so many good memories just roaming around the map with this dark cold weather it was a vibe of its own fr u just had to be there
"I may be bad at life, but I bowl like an angel!" best GTA ever.
One game that was so charming yet its own biggest enemy was scarface the world is yours. I still play it every now and then thanks to the remastered project guys but man that game couldve been such a goldmine with a really likeable MC and memorable gameplay. Tho its repeptetitive missions and not so much variety showcasing the Miami Vice is what caused its demise imo. I'd love a high budget remake of the game tho.
Steam Deck GTA IV gang rise up! Crazy to see how well it runs on linux
14:00 the pager ringtone is the GTA 1 Theme Song Joyride