It was a foggy night as I crossed the bridge between Dukes and Bohan, my vision was limited, and I could barely make out the cars approaching in the other lanes, their headlights glowing in the haze. The details of the bridge were hard to make out on this night, only backlit by the skyline of sleeping Liberty City. I cautiously drove through traffic, careful to obey even the most mundane of traffic laws, pay the toll, stay in your lane, keep a one car length distance. Not because I was a law abiding citizen, but because I was driving an 18-wheeler packed to the brim with volatile explosives ready to blow an enemies’ hideout to kingdom come. I am Niko Bellic, and I am a bad ass.
While the story line of Grand Theft Auto is engaging and up there with some decent movie scripts, it is far surpassed by the greatest character in video game history. Not Niko Bellic, the character you play, but the city itself. In 200 hours I doubt you could take in all of the subtlety of the city. The changing demographics, the crime patterns, the people on the street, the weather, the radio, the television, the internet, etc. If it starts raining pedestrians pull out their umbrellas and cops change into wet weather gear. If you reach your destination with the truck bomb, be prepared to hear about it on the radio. I could go on and on about little things that you notice that are all part of this world. With so much to see and do, this could honestly be the last game you ever play.
There is a lot to do in single player, but there is even more to do once the game is over. If you get bored walking through Liberty City, whip out your cell phone and log on to a multiplayer game. Then get ready for about 20 different game types. I am still studying for exams, so I’ve only really gotten to play around with Cops N’ Robbers for about 5 minutes. The city is huge, and it can sometimes feel too big when not enough players are in there, but the games seem to stay in one area. If you wander off that is your own fault.
If I were going to search long and hard for issues with the game I guess I could come up with a few. The game is more GTA. Don’t expect some huge break from the formula of missions and side missions. While you have all the freedom in the world on how you want to accomplish a task (need to steal a police car, jack a cop, call 911 wait for them to respond and get out of their car, or swing by the police station and pick one up), the game is still linear. If you would like to stay on a gangster’s good side but your task is to kill him, you don’t have a choice. This game would obviously have to be huge to support branching story lines, but don’t expect any moral quandary. There are some other quirks. Shooting is much improved, but sometimes the lock on mechanic is a little annoying and I just wish it was always a free move reticule instead of a half pull of the button for free move. Also, I wish that Niko automatically ran, and you held “A” to make him walk. It would make it easier in confrontations. Though that is really it, technically the game is sound.
As for now it represents the high water mark of video games. There may be better story lines (BioShock), there may be better graphics (Gears of War), but you won’t find another game that has so much thought put into the details. While you might never want to watch TV in a virtual world, knowing you could only immerses you further into the world of Liberty City.
Rating: A
Well, I’m deep in the throws of writing a Philosophy of Law paper, which means I’m doing anything but. I just finished The Watchmen as a continuation of my exploration into the graphicalization of the novel. Pretty unanimously regarded as not only one of the greatest comics of all time, but The Watchmen is also rated fairly high up as a work of fiction. Simply put, the book breaks away from the 40 year history of super powered crime fighters (aside from Batman) and puts the very human characters in world that only slightly differs from reality. The characters often have very real psychological problems that ultimately lead them to wearing Under Roos on the outside of their pants.
This is the greatest list of things that I just don’t understand WHY they put in video games. This should be put in a little pamphlet for all video game developers and their games should be broken in front of them if they violate any of these rules. Here they are in brief.
In my continuing quest to be the nerdiest person you know, I’m trying to read all of the most important comics and graphic novels. It is proving to be a much easier task than trying to read the most important literature. I have to admit, Faulkner would be more entertaining with art by Tim Sale.
So I spent last night driving in giant virtual circles and getting a taste of GT Prologue. The game is a $40 “demo” for Gran Turismo 5 which is still a long way away. The game is of course beautiful. Its graphics put Forza 2 to shame in every possible way. They are infinitely more crisp and clean. Also, the driving is as usual pretty perfect. It was especially fun to drive Suzuka, the track that is in both Forza and GT. As a comparison, GT is just an all around better driving game.
Today, I picked up a Batman comic/graphic novel that I’ve always wanted to own, especially now that it has been re-released and the next Batman movie will take some cues from this famous Joker book. It essentially tells the story of how the Joker came to be, but it does it so eloquently and beautifully, it was made for the big screen. 
While it feels like a well done TV documentary, for someone who is months away from the Bar exam, this movie was incredibly relevant to me. The independent film follows the life of 6 law students who are prepping for the California bar (with its dismal 36-38% passage rate). A couple first timers from UCLA and Loyola Marymount, a girl from an unaccredited, volunteer taught law school (sketchy doesn’t begin to describe it), a guy who is taking it for the 3rd time, and then a man who has taken the California bar a depressing 41 times.
Weak Illinois, weak. This morning we woke up to news that an 5.2 magnitude earthquake had hit central Illinois and that people in Chicago awoke to tremors at 4:40am. Well, we didn’t wake to tremors. I didn’t even get a low rumble. I slept right through it. This was my one chance to feel an earthquake unless the dormant volcano in Jackson one day becomes active.
After what seems like forever, South Park is still hilarious. While it may not have the witty references of Family Guy or the fame of the Simpsons, but it continues to be current and hilarious. This weeks episode chronicled the hysteria of the “internet” going down. The internet depression forces people west to silicon valley to settle for “just a little internet.” 
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