Grand Theft Auto IV review

Bigger, deeper and crazier than ever, the new Liberty City lives up to the hype

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In all of the game types, you've essentially got the run of Liberty City, although you can scale a match down so that you'll only respawn within a certain area. You'll also have full access to vehicles, and if you choose to turn them on, you'll even have to deal with police. Once you've customized a male or female avatar (and maybe practiced a little with a quick tutorial), you're ready to go; here's what you can expect:

Party Mode


Do you hate sitting around in text-only lobbies, waiting anxiously to play while the host and his two friends argue about what map to play in next? Now you can spend that time gunning down the other players instead. Party Mode is essentially an open, playable lobby, "open" in that you're free to run around Liberty with other players while the host sets up the next game. No score is kept, so it can get a little dull, but overall it's a whole hell of a lot better than just listening to strangers argue while staring at a list of gamertags.

Deathmatch/Team Deathmatch


If you've ever played any kind of multiplayer shooter, we're going to guess you already know what this is; just run around in a pre-designated area, killing the other team or just everyone you see. It's not complicated, but GTA IV brings a wealth of options to the table - like, say, police presence. Or our personal favorite, the ability to restrict every player to just one weapon type. Like rocket launchers. It might not be revolutionary, but the chaos caused by 16 people letting off RPGs on a crowded street is pretty damn unique. See it for yourself below:

More info

GenreAction
UK censor rating"18+","18+","18+"
Franchise nameGrand Theft Auto
US censor rating"Mature","Mature","Mature"
Platform"PS3","PC","Xbox 360"
Alternative names"GTA IV","GTA 4","Grand Theft Auto 4"
UK franchise nameGrand Theft Auto
DescriptionThe highly-anticipated sequel to the carjack-fest of the century is sure to satisfy all your mob and hooker related fantasy. Okay, maybe not ALL your hooker fantasies.
Release date1 January 1970 (US), 1 January 1970 (UK)
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Mikel Reparaz
After graduating from college in 2000 with a BA in journalism, I worked for five years as a copy editor, page designer and videogame-review columnist at a couple of mid-sized newspapers you've never heard of. My column eventually got me a freelancing gig with GMR magazine, which folded a few months later. I was hired on full-time by GamesRadar in late 2005, and have since been paid actual money to write silly articles about lovable blobs.