Grand Theft Auto 4 Appraisal

Student Name: Evan Elden Eller


Today's Date: 10/01/2010


Game Title Examined: Grand Theft Auto IV


Year of Publication: 2008

Game Publisher: Rockstar Games, Take-Two Interactive

Game Developer: Rockstar North

Game Genre: Third-person adventure/shooter, "sandbox"

Type of game "world" or environment: 3D world

Perspective taken by player: third person, but it can be changed to first person when operating a vehicle

Gameplay: Walking, running, stealing cars, driving, moving from location to location to talk to people and receive different missions, mostly involving chasing, escaping, finding and killing an enemy, or moving things from location to location.

Is the gameplay intuitive?  Not at all.  You just kind of walk around and do whatever you want, and there are too many buttons.  The buttons also do different things if you're in a car or on foot, so you have to pause the game and read the controls a few times.

Is the gameplay patterned?  The missions will be the same missions in the same places in the same order.  However, the city is constantly changing, with random traffic and random pedestrians getting in your way.  The police will also be in random areas, and they can try to stop you if they witness you doing something illegal.