GTA IV pt. 6

This, alas, will probably be my last post regarding GTA IV gameplay. I finished the game last night in 23 hours and change. I have a burning desire to complete all the side missions now, and make all of the alternate moral choices, which I think is the hallmark of a good game.

• The radio is sub-par. Compared to other games, this music evokes zero nostalgia. The talk radio is still amusing, but the music is disappointing.
• Gay rights progressiveness alert! When Niko finds out that the "family values" deputy mayor is having an illicit gay affair with his friend, Florian/Bernie, he is outraged. Note that he makes ZERO homophobic comments, and instead bashes the deputy mayor for hypocrisy, not for homosexuality.
• Niko also displays empathy for others, whether law enforcement or rival gangsters. He has a blase, "we're all just guys making a living" attitude that's a welcome relief from CJ's seemingly inexhaustible supply of anger.
• Niko's military experience makes his combat exploits more believable. How does an Italian goomba learn to use rocket launchers? Or a gang banger how to use a sniper rifle?
  
• One concern I have is regarding occasionally ambiguous mission directions. When I have to chase a car and the only instruction is to "get back McGuffin X" my instinct is to blow up the car and recover the McGuffin. On three occasions, it turns out I was supposed to follow the car for some pre-determined length of time, when the drivers would miraculously get out of the car for me to shoot on foot.
• The cell phonebook is awfully cluttered sometimes. By now, after beating the story, it seems to have been cleaned up. But at other times, there were name after name of deceased characters. And while calling them after their death might throw off police's suspicions, it made it hard to find exactly who I meant to call.
• I only discovered after beating the story (since I avoided all information that might ruin the plot), that there is a point to making friends. I now want to befriend Little Jacob and Dwayne and Brucie so they can hook me up. I feel a bit bad for having turned down all their invitations, and even now I would not really NEED their assistance.
• A street mission involving a runaway teenager, and her subsequent email, put a touching face on runaway exploitation.
• References to San Fierro and Vice City are a nice touch.
• Taxis are great, since you don't have to drive, and can skip the riding scenes. The Indian driver that Roman sends for you is HI-larious. Alas, I didn't discover until recently that LB hails a cab. I just had them run into me and give me a ride out of pity and guilt.
• Italian afia stories, which comprise the final 1/3 of the story suck. One family hates another. Really? Who cares. Stories of the Triads, Russian Mob, Rastafarian dealers and whatnot are far more compelling and far less overdone for me.
• Motorcycles are much worse in this game. Earlier GTAs had made me want to learn to ride a motorcycle, they were so fun. But three factors make them less desirable in GTA IV: 1) more realistic damage means you can die from a single bad accident, especially if you don't wait long enough for Niko to put on a helmet; 2) overly touchy handling and handbraking make them far less maneuverable than before; 3) now that you can free-shoot in all vehicles, motorcycles' forward-shooting is less impressive.
• There are occasional exposition recaps as Niko and another character reminisce. The voice acting is good enough that I didn't skip them, and they serve as good plot reminders to refresh the context of the action.
• The Bellic family has a number of strong women, including Niko's mother and his aunt. They're never featured, and are only passingly mentioned, but it's good to see some anti-testosterone. If only there were a GTA with a female protagonist.
• As the game wears on, Niko's drive for revenge becomes more clear. He seeks revenge not only for the friends in his unit, but for himself. Something died the day his unit was ambushed, maybe his innocence, maybe his naivite. But his desire to kill Darko Brevic is not only for his unit, but for him as well.
• Speaking of which, I chose not to kill Brevic. I don't think it made a difference in the plot, but I felt good that this fictional, digital character was perhaps able to move past his violent past.
• Niko is also torn between his desire for peace and stability (as Roman advises) versus his violent past. What trade does Niko have the skills for besides killing? This tension is a compelling one.
• Buying a weapon is expensive, and ammo is cheap. It's a wise strategy to save at least one bullet/rocket/etc. so you can purchase more more cheaply. Not that money was ever a concern, for me, but still.
• I do like the realisticness of prices. $5 for a hot dog is about right. And I like having the cash to buy a $1000 suit and have it really be a $1000 suit.
• Kate died. I didn't see it coming, although in retrospect I should have. She and Niko bonded, and I hate that mob bastard (whose name I never remembered because they're the freakin' Italian mob and therefore interchangeable), and I hate myself for choosing to kill Dmitri. According to wikipedia, even if I had worked with Dmitri, Kate would leave me (but she'd be alive, damnit), and Roman would be shot. On my second playthrough, I'll discover whether Roman survives, or if Mallorie becomes a bride and a widow on the same day.