Grand Theft Auto IV: A Play Journal: Guns and Knuckles
The overwhelmingly worst aspect of the Grand Theft Auto series is its combat mechanics, or lack thereof. Clunky, unwieldy design, coupled with difficult missions, often became very frustrating. Grand Theft Auto IV promised more refined combat, and this is certainly true. However, after spending considerable time with the game, it’s clear that the combat, aside from some rather thrilling sequences, is still GTA’s weakest aspect.
A lock-on system is hardly something new, but this is GTA IV’s compensatory mechanic to deal with combat. By pulling in all the way on the left trigger, a reticule sticks to whichever character you happen to be facing. The reticule is also rather large and provides a circular health indicator, indicating the health of your target. In this way, you can stay affixed to any target and position around them as you’d like.
The issue this creates is that it takes you out of the experience. For a game that is at pains to present a seamless and lifelike world, that even goes so far as to use very minimal HUD elements in an effort to suck you in, this targeting system sticks out like a sore thumb. Not to mention that it’s also rather antiquated; we’ve seen better ways of dealing with this is recent games.
Moreover, the targeting frequently doesn’t operate as it should. In a scenario with multiple enemies on screen, the lock-on will often lock onto a target that you didn’t intend to, and getting it to work properly is a chore. When you’re under fire in a hectic and stressful situation, this only makes things worse.
The hand to hand combat also feels rather clunky and unresponsive. Niko is apparently able to juke out of the way of oncoming attacks with a press of a button, but this doesn’t appear to work very well at all. Niko’s fisticuffs include punches, kicks, and an alternative attack. None seem very responsive either, and you’ll find yourself getting your ass handed to you on a number of occasions as a result.
The weapons, on the other hand, feel great. They pop off in fine fashion and the environment is tailored to explode in debris and special effects. Luckily, Niko has the ability to aim freely aside from the targeting system by pulling the left trigger only half way. The camera zooms to an over the shoulder perspective a la Gears of War, and looks great. Unfortunately, in fierce fire fights you’ll spastically struggle with staying in free aim mode because a mere ounce more of pressure fixates you onto a target.
Thankfully, Niko can also take cover behind most objects making combat a manageable, tactical affair. Coincidentally, it also makes combat more enjoyable. Mind you, even this feels like it should have had a bunch of kinks worked out before release. The game seems to confuse at times which surface or cover point Niko should stick to, and activating cover will result in Niko sometimes randomly bouncing from surface to surface.
With this much griping it almost comes as a surprise that there are still quite a few action set-pieces that manage to knock your socks off. As mentioned, the game looks great during combat, especially when it comes to pyrotechnics. One sequence in an abandoned warehouse is particularly awesome, as is an escape from a bank heist. Watching pillars of concrete explode into dust and cop cars erupt in fireballs is really fantastic. But these sequences work in spite of the combat mechanics, not because of them.
There’s a bit of a yin and yang to combat, it would seem. Whilst there are great action sequences, the mechanics supporting them are noticeably undercooked. Credit must be given where credit is due, however: this is still an improvement over the previous games. Still, the combat tempers my enthusiasm for the game.
Up next: A Story Unfolds.
peachey @ May 5, 2008