Monday, April 28, 2008

Say 'goodbye' to Lord Bling for a while


Tonight at midnight, Grand Theft Auto IV will be available. Finally, a game that might just get me away from Call of Duty 4.

I've been a fan of the previous GTA games, but not so much for the stories, but for the freedom that they represented. You can go anywhere, and do almost anything. But now that the game is on more-powerful systems, you can do even more. It's not just about shooting people. You wanna go to a pub and have a beer, and shoot pool or throw darts? You can. Wanna surf the internet at a cafe? Sure, it's there. Comedy clubs? It has full stand-up sets from Ricky Gervais and Katt Williams. Strip clubs? Yeah, they have them too. But the best part of all of it is, you can do it online with 15 others. Here's a look at one of the bars you can hang out in:



There are multiplayer game modes galore, but that's not the half. It has Free Mode, where one person starts a room, and up to 15 others can join in. But the room isn't just a text screen, it's basically Manhattan (and three other boroughs). You have the freedom to all hang out and explore the city, or you can all go bowling, or cruise around in hoopties shooting at pedestrians. You can do pretty much whatever you want. If you just want to sit on a front porch and drink beer like you were back in college (or like the Midget still does every day), you can. For all the times I've played previous GTA games with a friend, taking turns destroying the city, now we can cause the carnage together, even if we're oceans apart.

And for once, I'm actually looking forward to the story in the single-player mode. Here's a small peek at the lead character:



It's going to be the ultimate time-waster, and we're less than 24 hours away. If you have an Xbox 360, look for 'Lord Bling' online and we'll have a virtual pint together.

6 comments:

Unknown said...

Well unfortunately I don't have a 360 or PS3 yet but it's still exciting to be in NYC and see huge posters of all the characters posted on the wooden "walls" at various contruction sites! Knowing that the game accurately depicts Manhattan, it's just a bit surreal to look at those and it kind of makes you think you could be in the game. Of course being a ped in the city always has a certain amount of risk anyway but do me a favor and whenever you're driving around virtual Chelsea maybe only shoot or run over tourist types! I know that whenever I finally play it one of the 1st things I want to do is get a cheat for a tank and then head up to midtown and run over lots of tourists...only because I can't do it in real life!

CampBlood said...

I'll probably be MIA for a while too when I'm not at work. Anyone on PS3, look for me as CampBlood13.

1 day to go!!!!!!!

Lord Bling said...

I'm doing the X360 version, but the PS3 isn't a bad choice either. If it weren't for the achievements, and upcoming exclusive downloadable content, I'd probably get the PS3 version. It apparently has a little less pop-up with the landscape, because it utilizes the hard drive with the loading.

CampBlood said...

I picked up GTA4 during lunch today.... Now I'm just ready to go home....

Lord Bling said...

warmmachine picked it today too, but I think on the 360.

warm_machine said...

Yeah, I went with the 360 version.

It was partly due to the achievements and also because more peeps that I know will be buying that version too.

Damn dual formats!