The Lost And The Too Damned Late

Is anyone as pumped as me about the big GTAIV Lost and the Damned DLC coming out tonight? And by that I mean not pumped at all? Honestly, I’m not sure if I even own the game anymore. I really feel that this should have been released a long time ago when more people were still highly interested in the game. Look at Fallout 3 for example, it just came out a couple months ago, and there is already one pack out, and two more quickly approaching.

Rockstar missed a big opportunity with waiting so long to send this out, but I’m usually wrong about how good/bad things are going to sell. Anyone getting it?

Don’t Make Me Chip In 20 Bucks To Make Your Year-Old Game Relevant Again

Anyone planning on picking up the GTA4 DLC, “The Lost and the Damned” when it comes out in February? I don’t think many people are going to be that interested in it, mainly because after we all recovered from the haymaker that was GTA4, we pretty much forgot about it. Also, the $20 price tag is a little too pricey for me, especially since there will eventually be a second episode that will probably cost another 20 bones, and by the time that comes out, GTA4 will be a distant memory.

Maybe I’m wrong, though, and come early next year, people will start looking forward to a little trip back to Liberty City. I wouldn’t mind catching up with Roman one more time.

You Put Zombies In GTA4 And I’ll Do Anything You Want… Anything

I hate to see the concept of Zombie-ism whored out on so many levels in video games. They seem to be everywhere nowadays: Left 4 Dead, Dead Space, Resident Evil 5, World of Warcraft… not to mention the “oldies” like Half-Life, Dead Rising and Stubbs. If done with the cleverness and panache that the living dead truly deserve, they can be great games. Still, if Rockstar wants to put Zombies in to GTA4 as DLC, I’ll most likely buy that shit on principal, SON! The sign above (found at the Rockstar Social Club Site) doesn’t actually say anything close to the Zed-word, and Rockstar has yet to announce the actual DLC.

But could you think of a better way to get people back in to GTA than by turning the game into a survival/sandbox zombie apocalypse free for all?!??

I guess posts like mine aren’t helping the Zombie-Originality Cause.

Cleaning House: Threevue Review: Grand Theft Auto IV

Cleaning House is where we post some of the game reviews/articles that for one reason or another, we never posted. Instead of just letting the hundreds of words we wrote gather cobwebs, we’re putting them out in their current format. Better late than never!

Mark

It’s interesting to think about how much was content was put on to a single disc for this game. All the missions, side missions, side-side missions, voice acting, character animations, and so on, are all amazing. And to think, there are games out there like Avatar: The Last Airbender, that are about as deep as a sheet of paper.

The only real complaint that I can come up with GTA4 is how repetitive it is. Drive here, shoot these guys, do it again, then do it again. That’s not really a complaint with this individual game, though, but with the series as a whole. We knew what we were getting into when we started it.

94/100

Russ
Like the other GTA games before it, I can almost guarantee that I won’t finish this title. Matter of fact, I gave this game a few hours, just enough time to get a feel for and appreciate everything it had to offer, and nonchalantly decided to play a different game. And there’s the rub. This game got so many things right – the intricacies of human interaction (now with dating!), a mostly true-to-life feel, and bowling – but these are all things I can experience while playing this other game I like to call real life. In other words, I play games to shoot monsters, rock out in front of a million fans, or explore fantasy worlds. The thought of delivering drugs and shooting random people that may or may not deserve it doesn’t quite float my boat.

I respect the game, and I think that it’s 100% my fault for not playing it. That and I’m not good at video games in general, so when I have to restart a mission because I messed it up, only to find that I have to drive across town just to get things rolling again, I’m turned off. It’s not you, Rockstar, it’s me, but either way you made an awesome game that I’ll probably never play.

82/100

Tyler

Last month I, like most of you out there I’m sure, popped GTA4 in to my chosen current-gen gaming console for the first time, cracked open a frosty Ecto Cooler and sank in to my luxurious fox and mink skin lined davenport sofa with a grin, prepared for some serious time on the streets of LC. As excited as I was to see how fun this game was going to be, my shadenfreudenistic side was waiting to seize on the first of many colossal fuck ups that I was sure were waiting just past the title screen. I chalk this up to my recent disappointments in gaming, but that’s for another time. I’m kind of a completest but I never played a GTA for the story or to get to the end, only for the ‘splosions. So I was worried about committing to a game that is known for being much played but often unfinished. I’m happy to say that GTA4 delivered on almost all fronts.

There are moments in the game when you forget just how grand Grand Theft Auto is. Then you call up Brucie and hit the skies in a chopper and you are met with a view of what can only be described as the best simulation of a living breathing city anyone has seen to date. The graphics were top notch, the story was compelling, the acting was true, the city was teeming with people and I had a genuinely great time with the game. It’s kind of difficult to encompass all of the good things about GTA4 in a review, If you’ve played it then you know what I mean. For some strange reason it’s easier to point out it’s flaws. With a game as epic in scope as this, it’s really easy to understand how the loss of fine controls can happen. Jacking a taxi instead of getting in as a passenger can utterly ruin a long mission when you’re almost at the end of it, resulting in a long, boring and angry replay. Getting in the wrong car, shooting at enemies who are already dead (or non-combatant civilians) and the wide, slushy plodding of Niko errantly trying to wind his way up a spiral staircase is enough to make me bite my controller in half. Also, everyone has melty-wax faces a la Bioshock. But, I’m not mad at Rockstar. They did too much awesomeness to be bashed for a few nagging trivialities.

90/100

Almost There…

I’m so close to the end I can smell it. I want to finish this game so badly, but every time I do what I feel is the absolute, for reelz, final mission, there’s another one, and then there’s one more.

These last few missions, though, have been bugging me. I’ve come so far and spent too much time in this game, that the last thing I want to do is get killed by some lackey with a shotgun hiding behind a corner, causing me to have to start the entire mish over again. I hate that. More enemies does not equal more challenging and therefore more fun. It equals annoying and repetitive.

The Numbers Game

I had a nice, long GTA4 sesh today, and I’m definitely making good headway through the game. One of my favorite things about the Grand Theft series, especially this one, is the stats that it keeps on your progress. I thought I’d share a few select statistics with you now.

Game Progress: 40.17%

Playing time: 22:54:01

Current Money: $279,986

Times Died: 39

People Killed: 535

Check out a few more after the break.

This is the Reason Saturdays Were Invented

It was really nice to get back in the saddle (a.k.a. the ass groove in my couch) and play some games last night. With all the larger-than-life advertising I witnessed in L.A., I was really craving some GTA4, and last night after work was my first chance to revisit Liberty City. It was just as fun as I remembered it.

I have a lot of options on tap today. What should I do? Law-break in Liberty City? Assassinate in Acre? Kill chumps in Killhouse? I can’t go wrong with any of those. How about a little Wii Fit? Sounds good to me. So long, sun!

5 minutes with Grand Theft Auto IV

So, today I received a brand-spanking new Xbox 360 Elite in the mail, compliments of the Red Ring of Death.

I only had a few minutes between work and class, but I fired up GTAIV for the first time just to have a look. I had just enough time to jump into a car, drive it two blocks until I saw a pedestrian, jump out of my car and beat him to a pulp, and then get stabbed to death by the next guy I tried to wrassle. That’s about it.

But I’m back from class now and I’m about to dive into Liberty City. I’ll probably be nicer to strangers this time around, though.

Monday, May 12th = Christmas!!

So, tomorrow marks the day that I will be getting my Xbox 360 back from the grave/Microsoft, only 40 days after it started wigging out on me. I could make some sort of Jesus and his 40 days in the desert reference here, but I get enough comparisons already.

Now what am I going to do first? Probably play a bit of GTA4, since I haven’t even seen it in action yet. Maybe some COD4. I’ve also had a hankering for The Orange Box, too. Man, so much to choose from!

Why hellllooo there, lovely and trashy lady, I’ll be seeing you tomorrow…

Cheevers: PSFanboys Have No Idea

I feel really bad for PS3 owners. They’ll never know the feeling of the extreme gratification that arises when an achievement is unlocked. I started thinking about this last night while I was trying to get the “King of QUB3D” cheever in GTA4 (didn’t get it), and realized that these secondary activities in the game (bowling, darts, pool, etc.) are going to be so easily overlooked by the PlayStationPublic simply because there is no reward for playing them.

Well, at least they have PlayStation Home. Oh wait, no they don’t.

What I’ve Been Playing

I haven’t had the time for any sort of extended gaming sessions lately, but the limited amount of nerding-out I have had has been filled with quality games. A few weeks ago, when I had more disposable time, it wasn’t a big deal to spend a few hours playing a bad game like Manhunt 2, or the Iron Man demo, because I knew something like COD4 or Mass Effect was only a finger away. Now though, free time is at a premium, and just like Tyler tells his boyfriends, it’s all about quality over quantity.

So, here’s a quick rundown. I usually play five to ten minutes of Patapon in the morning before school everyday (that’s the most childish sentence I’ve ever written). Some days, like today, I have a break, and get the chance to play Peggle between classes on my iPod. Before, if I didn’t have to work, I’d come home and spend some time destroying my little brother in COD4, but I haven’t done that in so long that I forgot what a kill-cam even looks like. My console game-time had been devoted to GTA4 lately, but other than driving a few guys here and there, I’ve barely scratched the crime-filled surface. I did just play through You Have to Burn the Rope, but that takes about as long as it does for me to ruin my chances with a girl (sub-30 seconds). But, like I’ve been saying, summer’s right around the corner.

Editor’s Note: Sorry for the jab, Tyler, but that’s what you get for not posting in six days.

Time is Not on My Side

I’m extremely impressed with Gamefly right now, as they got GTA4 to me on the day it was released, assuring that I was among the first to be able to close my blinds, lock my door, turn off my phone, and retreat into the Thunderdrome (a.k.a. my living room) to spend the next few days hunting hookers and bowling.

Unfortunately, as is often the case, real life got in the way, and a girl (I’m not kidding, a real-life girl!) has been spending her time keeping me separate from my true love. I’ve only had about an hour with game so far, but right off the bat I’m impressed with how good the game looks with so much on the disc, and no load times. Not to worry though, summer is right around the corner, and I’ll be able to shed this newly acquired tan for my much more desirable pasty white skin. 

Taking A Nap

There’s been a significant lull in video game site activity all over the internet over the past 24 hours, including the number of visitors to our site.

You think there’s a reason? Like maybe they have something more interesting to do?

Cheapskate: Xbox 360 Pro Trade-In

Sorry to hijack your category Russ. I just had to post this tale of a personal victory.

So, I had a launch 360, and it red ringed about a year and a half ago. Thankfully, Microsoft sent me out a refurbished 360 after only a month and seven days and now that one is nearing the end of its life cycle. Damn Microsoft for making such a flimsy, yet fun-packed system. Anyhoo, I was grinding away on Lost Odyssey (review on temporary hiatus due to OTHER games coming out) for about an hour and a half, preparing for the first major boss fight against this griffin-thing when BAM!, out like a light. “Unable to read disk” Well, that was it.

Long story short, I took the console, two wireless controllers and GH3 in to Gamestop and asked for trade in value to put towards an elite. I figured it to be about $150. What I was told was that I could get $60 because of the non-responsive disk tray (a known problem) and a frayed power cord. So I refused the trade in and did what anyone in my position with half a brain would do. I went down the road to the other Gamestop where they gave me $170 for it. Fools. Now I have an Elite ready to go with $30 already down toward GTA4. Week=set.

Late Nights in Liberty City

The internet has been abuzz the last 24 hours with tales of last night’s GTA4 launch. I’ve read so much about it in just the last hour that I’ve been awake that I feel like I’ve actually played it, even though I spent last night sleeping.

So how about it, threevue-reading/writing community? Have you played it yet? I know Russ has it, but has no working 360 to run it on. Tyler, did you get it? Raul, how about you? Did you even sleep last night? Joshua Pohl, any grand thieving for you? Nerfgun, I know that you got the PS3 special edition, what do you think so far? Anybody else lose any sleep over it last night?

So let us know everyboby, does it deserve all the high praise that it’s getting?