Aged like fine wine.
GTA 4 is getting closer and closer to being a 20-year-old game. There’s a pretty high chance that a lot of people reading this review weren't even born when this game came out. I first played GTA 4 back in 2009 when my older brother got an Xbox 360 alongside a copy of this game. I remember spending hours messing around with the physics, exploring Liberty City, and doing the occasional mission. I obviously wasn't at an age to be able to appreciate the story, but even at 7 years old, I knew this was a massive technological leap over San Andreas, and I understood that this is a very different GTA from all the others. Over the years, I've replayed GTA 4 a few times, with my last replay being around 2016, so it's been a decade since I've done a full replay of this game.
My opinion on GTA 4 has always changed around. For the longest time, I've felt that the game has one of the weaker open-world sandboxes in the franchise, with way fewer things to see and do in comparison to San Andreas and GTA 5. But GTA 4 does narrative very differently, and in a way I never fully appreciated until this replay. So much of how I feel about GTA 4 has shifted now that I've replayed it as an actual adult, with the life experience and maturity to understand and appreciate exactly what Rockstar achieved with GTA 4.
STORY
Grand Theft Auto IV stars Niko Bellic, a Serbian immigrant who illegally arrives in America, in search of revenge and for a better life. GTA 4's narrative is always touted as the darkest one of the franchise, and it absolutely is. There is far less humor in this story in comparison to any other GTA. Niko will often drop some of the most introspective, emotional dialogue that you'll hear in a game. It always hits. With this replay, I've realized Niko Bellic is far more of a Red Dead protagonist than he is the standard GTA protagonist.
Niko is very much a man of principles. He is the kind of protagonist that would help out a young woman who's struggling with drugs and convinces her to go to rehab. He is often seen empathizing with those in society who are forgotten. He stands up for his friends constantly when they are faced with danger. And is capable of forgiving those who wronged him (if you choose that, which I always did).The dialogue in GTA 4 feels very relevant in our day and age. Topics like immigration, isolation, war, death, and friendship are often spoken about in dialogue that is, frankly, masterfully written. GTA 4 has an extremely diverse cast, yet the dialogue never once feels out of place or pandering. Niko helping out Bernie, a gay man, and saving him from being attacked for his identity, feels like the kind of thing that would get criticized heavily these days. But IV's writing always succeeds in making these moments entirely make sense within its world, context, and especially Niko's own motivations. Rockstar knows how to write a diverse cast of characters that makes me actively more curious to learn about these people and their cultures, like Little Jacob and his Rastafarian culture.
The side cast of characters in GTA 4 is downright iconic and for good reason. Each person represents a slice of life of real-world New York in some way. Characters like Packie, Little Jacob, Brucie, Bernie, and Dwayne are all incredible. There's that just level of earnestness to all of them where they satisfy that over-the-top character writing of GTA while still managing to feel like people you'd see living in New York. The main highlight of the cast for me is Roman Bellic, who initially comes across as the comic relief character with his constant jokes and outright lying to Niko about his life in LC, but overtime, you realize how important Roman's optimism and outlook on life is in contrast to Niko's general pessimistic mindset. Especially once you learn what Niko knows about how Roman's mother dies. There's so much depth to every character in GTA 4, and spending time with them in hangouts constantly feels rewarding due to the dialogue you unlock.
One of my favorite details in this replay is actually how often you can call Roman after missions and get his opinions on Niko's current situation. The dialogue ranges from hilarious to often introspective, adding far more context to Niko's own thoughts and their situation together. By the end of this playthrough, I felt more than ever that Niko could never truly be at peace without Roman's presence, which makes the "deal" ending even more tragic and heartbreaking. That ending feels like a Red Dead ending.
GTA 4 also introduces Strangers side missions to the franchise, and they are all quite fun. I literally only wish there were more as they are always a pleasure to come across, especially the one where Niko helps a struggling addict. They all help develop Niko's character further as he interacts with the denizens of the city.
Overall, GTA 4 has a fantastic narrative. It is absolutely this game's best quality, and honestly, after taking time to process it, it is the best narrative in the GTA franchise.
GAMEPLAY
GTA 4's gameplay loop is an interesting case. Growing up, I've always felt like the gameplay of this game was a mixed bag, but after this replay, I have far more of an understanding of GTA 4's loop and what Rockstar intended with it.
Speaking more fundamental mechanics, I think the shooting in this game, while it sounds fantastic with far better audio for guns than GTA 5, I found the cover system to be extremely stiff, and I generally avoided using it and played the game more like its the 3D GTAs at a point. I don't like at all how Niko doesn't pop out of cover until you actually fire. It’s an odd one because games that do that did exist back in 2008, but then again, looking at 2008 reviews, people were shocked you could even take cover everywhere rather than just specific points. So to some extent, it’s more of a product of its time here. Melee is also another aspect that GTA 5 did end up oversimplifying over this. The mechanics here are fun if a bit janky with too much input delay.
Now for my most controversial take, I don't like the driving in GTA 4. I find it too heavy in many cars, where a simple turn flips the car over. I understand the idea behind why the cars are so heavy, making you think far more about your routes, which car you are using, and you do have to learn how to brake effectively. But I think this is way too heavy. I prefer GTA 5's driving for being overall more enjoyable and less frustrating, but for GTA 6, I think a mid-point between these two systems would be ideal, which it’s sounding like that Rockstar is doing.
GTA 4's mission design surprised me on this replay; it's not restrictive at all as in subsequent Rockstar games. You generally do have full freedom in how to tackle a mission, but problems arise in how similar a lot of the missions are to each other. There are far too many missions where a cluster of enemies are gathered at a location, you take them out, and the mission ends. There's a distinct lack of major setpieces in most of the game, something that GTA 5 massively improves upon, and San Andreas does far better as well. That's not to say this game lacks amazing missions; it has quite a few incredible ones like the bank heist, which ended up inspiring GTA 5 as a whole. But overall, I think the missions in this game, while giving you far more freedom, are often too same-y.
OPEN WORLD
Liberty City is obviously an amazing open world. Rockstar has never missed with their open worlds, and they definitely did not here. Something that LC does far better than any other GTA is the sheer density. There is just so much detail on sidewalks, on each building, and so many interiors. This is where GTA 4 does something far better than GTA 5. Being able to walk into so many buildings in GTA 4 makes the world feel far less like window dressing and more like a living world that’s meant to be explored. Things as simple as buying food from restaurants make LC feel like a place you can live in, rather than a backdrop for chaos. And the high level of density due to the fact that the world is way smaller than San Andreas and GTA 5 really allows every corner of GTA 4 to feel important in some way and not have any empty space. This is still the best rendition of New York in gaming history.
Where GTA 4 falls short is its sandbox. There are just way fewer things to mess around with, especially in contrast to GTA 5 and especially San Andreas. There are far fewer activities, less mini-games, and no tanks or airplanes. This was something that used to really bug me when I was younger, but now that I'm older, I've also begun to understand what the gameplay loop of this game is supposed to be.
GTA 4 introduces hangouts, allowing you to go out with Niko's friends outside of missions and also returning from San Andreas is the ability to go on dates with various characters. I think this mechanic is the main focus that Rockstar put into GTA 4's open world, and it brings the whole game together once you start interacting with this. It's always fun to interact with these systems and it feels very integral to the game, to the point characters will be upset at you if you don't hang out with them for far too long. It really does feel like Niko has a proper social circle that he cares about and they care about him. It makes the city somehow feel even more alive as well, as these characters feel like real people with a ton of unique dialogue in each hangout. Engaging with these mechanics heavily this playthrough, opened my eyes to GTA 4's intended gameplay loop and revelations. And made Liberty City far more fun to explore and do activities in.
There's also just so much detail in the NPCs. They are far more alive than they are in GTA 5 in a lot of ways. You can even see them throwing out litter from their cars sometimes! There is a ton of little details like police making routine traffic stops, chasing criminals down, people running from the rain, the metro system, it is such a dense open world and with so much detail.
The sandbox is something that I do stand by is lacking in GTA 4, and it is something done way better in GTA 5. But, hangouts in this game are a huge part of the experience and something that I hope GTA 6 leans into more. GTA 4 leans far more into immersion and slow-paced gameplay than it does the pure chaos of GTA 5, but my hope is that a balance is struck where GTA 6 manages to do both.
Overall, GTA 4's world has aged incredibly well, especially with its sheer density. You can port this exact open world into a new game, update the textures to 4K quality and it would instantly be considered one of the best open worlds of the decade.
GRAPHICS
GTA 4 has aged very well, as I keep saying. While things like texture quality and the faces are obviously showing their age, when the light hits just right, Liberty City still is a sight to behold. Especially at night. While the game is gorgeous, you do need mods to get it working properly on PC due to the general awful quality of this port, so be sure to use FusionFix if you plan to replay it.
FINAL VERDICT
GTA 4 is a legendary game, and for good reason. Some things like the cover system haven't aged too well, and the overall sandbox was a step down from San Andreas. GTA 4's focus on immersing the player into the life of Niko in its open world, combined with an incredible narrative that has aged like gold and to this day, the greatest rendition of New York City, makes this game an absolute no-brainer to play in 2026.
Rockstar should port this game to modern consoles and fix up the PC port with a new version, so I truly do hope that happens soon. This is a GTA that has unfortunately felt like it got lost to time due to the fact it never got ported properly to new systems, and that is a huge shame, as it is easily one of the best games in the franchise. Is it my favorite? No, that's still San Andreas. But GTA 4 is a close second place.
Grand Theft Auto IV - 10/10 - Masterpiece