Graphics: Liberty City is probably the most decrepit thing to ever be placed in a videogame, and it’s absolutely stunning. It’s not just decrepit for the obvious reasons of having grimy and seedy ghettos, but because those grimy and seedy ghettos are only a bridge length away from the most affluent areas of the game. You can be wide-eyed in the middle of Star Junction one minute and wallowing around the slummy apartments of Hove Beach the next. Add the “cup of joe” in the Statue of Liberty’s hand, and it’s a fine commentary on American life. The detail is fantastic, from the trashy couches discarded in alleyways to the satisfying blood that splatters on the windshield when you pop an unsuspecting driver. You can even turn on your brights in this game, provided you haven’t used the fender of your car to crush the legs of a dissenting mafia boss. The visceral action, the gut wrenching crashes and the hilarious character physics are all wonderfully captured against a gorgeous backdrop. I vividly remember being on a bridge in the center of Middle Park at night and just looking up at the skyscrapers like I was your ordinary Liberty City tourist.

Interface: The interface in this game is essentially your phone. Of course, there’s the start menu, where you can scope out an inordinate amount of statistics, mess with game settings and set up helpful waypoints on the map, but since the multiplayer is accessible through the phone, it’s obvious Rockstar wanted the gadget to be more than just a gimmick. As the game progresses, your phone will have all of the basic functions of one you’d use in real life. You can call your buds, receive calls and text messages, take pictures and buy wallpapers and ringtones. It’s a great feature because it feels so natural, and it’s hard to imagine a person in Niko’s line of work operating without one. The phone serves as another portal for Rockstar to tell their intricate story, and it works wonderfully. I did, however, stumble upon a few minor gripes. Niko occasionally fumbles his phone when traveling, and I either couldn’t access the car while talking or I’d randomly hang up while driving (which is a shame, because you won’t want to miss any of the great dialogue). Also, if you want to leave a multiplayer game, you automatically exit to the main game, which feels like a few too many steps to quit.

Gameplay: Rockstar finally did it right. No, the cover system isn’t perfect, and no, it’s not as good as the one in Gears of War, but it’s more serviceable than what was provided in earlier games. There were only a couple of moments where a control gaffe cost me some health or my life, and that’s not too bad considering how many hours I’ve played this game. Plus, blind firing a rocket is a pure win. More importantly, the driving has been improved and given a more realistic feel. It’s a driving system that rewards players for being smart and cautious, and not power sliding through every corner. Of course, when moments call for power sliding, it’s a trick that will certainly leave amateur drivers in your dust.

When it comes to the missions, I found the more enjoyable ones were the ones that had multiple simple layers. In Grand Theft Auto IV, you’re going to storm through a lot of bodyguards on your way to killing targets, and it certainly gets repetitive. Fortunately, those missions are broken up between missions like the kidnapping I mentioned earlier and the funeral mission. They’re simple missions, but they make you feel like you’re living the life of a gangster. My favorite mission in the game occurred toward the end and involved me driving with Roman to the airport, making a life or death decision, and returning home. It was an intense moment in the game’s story and it really blended the line toward playing a game and being Niko Bellic. Rockstar has incorporated a lot of creative thinking.

Multiplayer: I’m incredibly picky when it comes to online, as I grew up playing the old school shooters on the PC. I expected some throw away modes for GTA IV, but what I found was nothing short of amazing. Playing online is just as addicting as playing the single-player mode. The standard stuff and the free roam are great for just sitting back, relaxing and enjoying, but it’s the team based modes that really caught my attention, Cops ‘n’ Crooks in particular. Ripping up the road as you’ve got patrol cars in hot pursuit and your boss in the back seat is too intense for words. The races and cooperative modes are also nice distractions, and I didn’t feel that any of them were tacked on or cookie cutter.

Sound Effects: I’ll never tire of hearing Roman’s exaggerated greetings, Packie’s jokes or Brucie’s excited demeanor. The voice acting in this game is top notch, with only a few minor characters delivering average performances. It’s also not enough that all of the explosions and car squeals and gunshots sound brilliant. I have a mediocre sound system in my place in Chicago, and even with that, I could never differentiate between the real police sirens outside my window and the sirens within the game. Liberty City’s ambience is on par with that of a real city, which is a big reason why the game is so immersive. Whether it’s the Liberty City cab driver who tosses his coffee cup out the window and makes a smartass remark about littering or the folks who shriek and stop in their tracks as you bust open a car window, this city sounds real.

Music: I didn’t think Rockstar could possibly top the awesome sounds of Vice City, but this is far and away their best soundtrack yet. There’s something worth catching on each radio station, and I’m not even a fan of most of the genres. Everything fits into the game nicely, and it’s a blast when a favorite song comes on and has hilarious context within the game. My favorite was the faggio chase through Middle Park while Swiss Beatz’s “Top Down” blared on Beat 102.7. I can recall dozens of moments like that, and I’m sure you’ll be able to as well as you progress through the game.

Intelligence: If there was one major complaint with previous GTA games, aside from controls, it would be the wonky AI. If cops were as dumb in real life as they are in GTA games, we’d certainly be living in a world as crazy and dangerous as the GTA universe. Sadly, this is one area the developers haven’t improved. Cops still insist on crashing into each other and driving off cliffs into water. Bad guys also insist on not using any sort of tactics to take you down, and just sit behind their cover and occasionally try to pop you. They do blind fire sometimes, which is a bit refreshing, but they appear to be glued to their positions far too often. Aside from the driving mistakes, I didn’t notice too many other outlandishly stupid blunders on behalf of the enemies, they’re just predictable. On the other side, the pedestrians elicit some interesting reactions. As I mentioned earlier, pedestrians react to you breaking into cars, but they’ll also cover their heads with umbrellas or papers when it’s raining and they’ll even insist on fisticuffs if you bump into them hard enough. That lady who smacked me was totally asking for a shotgun blast to the skull — I swear!

Difficulty: Previous GTA games had some notoriously difficult missions. The remote control plane mission from San Andreas and the final mission of GTA3 spring to mind — moments where you really wanted to whip whatever you could get your hands on into the wall (normally the cat — R.I.P. Snickers…). I think the difficulty of the old games in the series was a result of the poor control more than anything else, and I think that theory is evident with IV. With the revamped cover system, better driving and improved wanted system (where you can out-drive cops instead of hoping to make it to a pay ‘n’ spray), none of the missions felt all that difficult. If I had to try anything a third time, it was probably because I made a stupid mistake. I was also playing with no auto aim, which I found really easy, so if you’re having trouble, you might want to experiment.

Overall: Is Grand Theft Auto IV perfect? No, there are certainly issues with the AI and some minor issues with repetitiveness and cover. It is, however, an amazingly well crafted game, technically and artistically. The single-player is a memorable romp through the boots of an unfortunate soul, and the multiplayer is one of the most robust console experiences to date. I can also safely say that GTA IV is a generation defining game for myself. Just like I remember playing Streets of Rage 2 on my friend’s Genesis and booting up 3D gaming for the first time with Super Mario 64, I’ll remember experiencing Grand Theft Auto IV for its monumental storytelling and sickening attention to detail. If you didn’t like the previous games in the series, this one won’t change your mind. It’s prettier, has a more captivating story and controls better, but at its core, it’s still Grand Theft Auto.