Grand Theft Auto IV Facts
Grand Theft Auto IV is widely considered to be one of the best video games of its time, garnering countless awards and making game publisher Take-Two Interactive nearly a billion dollars since its release. The game has a massive fan base and still sees support with new game content as late as October, 2009--a year and a half after its initial release.
Other People Are Reading
-
Place in the Franchise
-
Contrary to the name, Grand Theft Auto IV is not the fourth game in the series. In fact, at the time of the game's release, there had been nine games in the series prior to GTA IV. A few of these games, in addition to the direct prequels (Grand Theft Auto, Grand Theft Auto 2 and Grand Theft Auto III) included commercial and critical hits Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (a parody of 1980s Miami) and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (a parody of early-1990s Los Angeles).
Release Date
-
Grand Theft Auto IV was released on April 29th, 2008. On the night it was released, several retail outlets, ranging from video game-specific outlet GameStop to retail electronics chains like Best Buy and Circuit City, held midnight launch events where thousands lined up and waited for hours to be among the first to get their hands on Grand Theft Auto IV. In fact, the turnout was so massive that the game sold nearly four million units on its first day alone.
-
Gameplay
-
Grand Theft Auto IV did not drastically deviate from the others in the series in terms of gameplay. Featuring one of the largest game worlds ever seen, GTA IV allowed players endless ways to complete a mission and while the core game did not change too much, Rockstar did a complete overhaul of the combat to give it an over-the-shoulder feel, which incorporated a revamped cover system that was well received by critics. Vehicle mechanics also received an overhaul, as they are much more susceptible to physics than in previous games.
Expansions/Spin-Offs
-
There are two expansion packs to Grand Theft Auto IV. The first, entitled "The Lost and Damned," follows the story of Johnny Klebitz, a member of The Lost, a biker gang which you run across in Grand Theft Auto IV. In addition to a new story set in Liberty City, the expansion also included several new multiplayer modes. The second expansion is entitled "The Ballad of Gay Tony" and has the player in the shoes of Luis Fernando Lopez, the personal bodyguard of Anthony "Gay Tony" Prince.
Reception & Controversy
-
Grand Theft Auto IV was a massive achievement in every respect. Several gaming publications gave the game perfect scores and in the first week of release the game made over $500 million. The game also earned countless Game of the Year accolades from gaming publications like SpikeTV, Game Informer and GameTrailers, as well as many others.
The game has also seen controversy, specifically the ability to drive while drunk in the game. MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) went so far as to say that the game should have its ESRB rating changed from M (Mature) to AO (Adults Only) because of this.
-
