The GTA IV Midnight Blog: ........

HOLY SHIT. Who cares that it's not midnight on Monday anymore. I've gotten some play time with GTA IV (somewhere around 5 hours) I am speechless, and I seriously have to restrain from saying "best game ever." Why am I restraining myself? It's only been 5 hours, and things could always change, not to mention the enormous amount of responsibility that comes along with a game of that title. Onto the good part; why do I have to restrain myself in the first place, well my friend, I hope you're ready for this.

Reason #1: Improved graphics. Everything isn't cutting edge, and everything isn't the best graphics I have ever seen, but it looks like a game from this generation. Not to mention the fact that the past games have looked about 3 years behind, grainy, boxy and just sheerly ugly.
Reason #2: Likable character. Niko is an awesome dude, who can totally kick your ass if you talk too much, or get on his wrong side. He has a short temper, and will attack at the drop of a hat. He's also a P-I-M-P and gets the chicks.
Reason #3: Improved game play. Everything from little to large has been changed about the game play, and the overall feel in general. Little things include movement improvement (nice rhyme) like when Niko goes down steps, he actually goes down them, not running over them like in every other video game. Pedestrians and civilians also act more....complex. They move more, and react based on what you do. If you shoot one in the stomach, (s)he will hunch over, and hold their stomach and stumble away. Big things include the aiming system (excellent) and the cover system (excellent-er). They are by no means pioneering in terms of video games, but adds a sweet touch to the series.
Reason #4 : Physics. Blowing things up, and people actually go flying with realistic physics? When you crash into something, you go flying through the windshield? SIGN ME UP!
Reason #5: Multiplayer. With a boatload of useful modes, 'nuff said.

I'm done talking for now. I need to go play more. There shall be a review of this game upcoming in a few days.

P.S. If you want to get a party-sized turf war together, or any other form of online game going, lemme know. Add me if you'd like GamerTag = Clarky412

The GTA IV Midnight Blog: Nifty Invention!

So the dudes over at http://www.sa-mp.com have come up with a rather nifty multiplayer scheme. After some technical difficulty, I got it going (I needed to downgrade from v. 2.0 to 1.0 in support of the multiplayer) and I found there are a lot of servers, with A LOT of game modes.

The best one by far though, has to be Cops and Robbers basically, you play as a character you want to be (i.e. taxi driver, car thief, food delivery boy) and you carry out those tasks. If you choose an illegal profession (honestly, why wouldn't you?) you get warrants out for your arrest, and ticket able offenses charged against you as you commit crimes. (Like stealing a helicopter...I seriously got a ticket). You can then choose to either pay the fine, or a warrant will get put out for your arrest, alerting the police. From here, it's survival of the fittest. Humans, acting as the police will hunt you down, leading to a more intense chase than crappy A.I. After this if you are caught, you have to serve out a jail sentence, of some time.

But let's be honest. The far best way of playing is to screw around and do what you're not supposed to. I was a car thief, and instead of stealing people's cars, I ran people over with them. This pissed people off, especially when I parked on them. (They can't move unless they leave the server)

This is a sweet mod.
Next up on the dockett...the game arrives!!!

The GTA IV Midnight Blog: And So It Begins

Well, I don't feel like typing much, but here I am, still giving you updates as to what I'm doing with my time, up to GTA IV. I realized that running around is maybe (debatable) the best part of GTA. Granted, the story is usually at least solid, the humor is superb, and driving is always neat, running around killing people for no reason at all (as sadistic as that sounds) can easily be the most fun. Seriously, what's better than staking out and seeing how long you can last against the army and police? I Love This Franchise

I am now going to call it, before I get on the CIA and FBI's blacklist.

(Next stop: San Andreas Multiplayer Mod)

Stray Thoughts

While procrastinating and trying my hardest not to start my english paper, a few thoughts have come to me. These thoughts are by no means related, and I will no doubt experience them again, so I've decided to make a segment called 'Stray Thoughts'.

We're down to 6 days left on the countdown til' this baby up there ^^
enters my Xbox 360's disc drive. Its all history from there.
I also have heard word of a GTA San Andreas mod, which intrigues me. Multiplayer role playing is the name of the game, and people dedicate hours to a particular aspect of San Andreas. (i.e. Taxi Driver, Ambulance driver, etc.) With the admins acting as police. Sounds like Second Life, except, minus the creepy sex-offenders looking for a "good time". (Don't ever ask me about my experiences with that game)

Something wonderful and something....so-so arrived in the mail today. I'll start with the lameishness first. Ultimate Spider-Man has come (issue #121) today, and I'm not at all excited. It has been SO boring as of late, and has no promise of getting better. Now, onto the good stuff.
No Country For Old Men has been touted as the best movie of '07, and an overall masterpiece. It came to me today, in a little red envelope with some word like....MetLix or something on it. (Maybe it was NetFlix). Anyway, I fully expect to report tomorrow with how in love with the movie I have become.