Punk boy came up this past weekend, and I was reintroduced (maybe just introduced since I had barely played it previously.) to Grand Theft Auto 4. Now I have played about half of the GTA games. I own and have played at length GTA3, GTA: San Andreas, and GTA: Vice City. But none of them are nearly as amusing as this one to me. The more I play this game the more amused I get.
GTA4 is like the buddy film of the series. Don't get me wrong, there are still hookers, drugs, murder, dirty cops, gangs, and all the other stuff GTA is known for, maybe even more so (except the hookers have been played down a little). GTA4 on the other hand, brings the social to the game. You play an [insert string of adjectives here] killer, that has come to America to live with your fuck up cousin (who you think is loaded, successful, and popular), and find the guy who betrayed you and your army group for money (you do this last part by killing and betraying a bunch of people for money). Fresh off the boat, your cousin hands you a cell phone, and BAM! you life if changed forever.
As you progress through the game you get more and more contacts. Just like in life, some of these are business contacts; they call to schedule jobs, give you information, and threaten to kill you; but others are just friends, or social people, and they call you all the time because they are lonely and for some reason want to hang out with a killer instead of normal people. And you don't just get phone calls, you get texts too.
Now what do you do with all these lonely people? Play mini-games, eat, and see shows of course! For the playable mini-games you have pool, darts, and bowling. Eating and drinking are kinda boring, just show up then immediately leave (though you do drink until you are plastered as opposed to mere social drinking). The shows are unenjoyable approximations of comedy and vaudeville shows you might see in real life. There are also strip clubs that you can goto with your friends/dates...yes, strip clubs in video games are as lame they sound.
There is a percentage of fondness you can get with these people, higher is of course better. And each of your friends/girlfriends have likes and dislikes as to what they want to do. For example, Michelle, your first girlfriend (and the only one you are required to have), likes diners while Little Jacob, your drug dealing stoner friend, likes Cluckin' Bell (think KFC). Taking them to places they like increases your fondness with that person more, and some can actually have negative impacts. You can ignore these people, but your fondness will go down.
Now you are only ever forced to go on two or three 'dates'. One with Michelle (first [maybe only] girlfriend) where you bowl, and at least one with Roman (your cousin). Aside from that you can totally ignore all the social stuff if you want. You will still get calls and texts, but you don't have to do anything with them. But there are benefits with some if you do. Roman runs a taxi business and will have a taxi sent to pick you up if your fondness with him is high enough, Little Jacob will drive a truck to you and sell you weapons, and there is a girlfriend who will give you medical advice that recover your health a little.
Again, none of this is necessary, but it just amuses me that amidst all the violence, you throw back a couple of beers with your friends, watch some strippers, and shoot some pool like like you do in real life...except I don't drink, the idea of strip clubs makes me feel uncomfortable, and I suck at pool. I did, however, spend my past weekend hanging out with friend playing this game.
