Full Disclosure: I am not done with the game. I am roughly 35% of the way through and have yet to touch the online component. However, in the vein that I am going on my honeymoon in a few days for a week and will be without the videogame, I figure it is in my interest to supply you, our faithful readers, with my review of the game thus far. I will re-post and edit (if necessary) the review once I completely finish the game. My impressions of the game are after the jump

With Grand Theft Auto III, publisher Rockstar set out to change the perception of gaming as we know it. Many will credit the milestone release as, for better a worse, the mark in which we say “gaming changed forever.”

GTA proved that sandbox worlds could work, that non-linear gameplay is, for most circumstances, superior to its opposite and that, more importantly, if your presentation is top-notch, people will forgive your minor errors.

It also proved that violence, drugs, sex, and a push for a more mature thematic structure (I’ll use that term lightly, as looking back, GTA is nowhere near realistic), have a place in games, and, in the same fold, in the media.

And to say the least, while there is no shortage of the aforementioned in this installment, there’s much more gravity to each time you push some blow, hit up a girlfriend or knock over a pedestrian. One can easily finger this ‘pull’ solely to the details of GTA IV. Pedestrians now crumple, or pop off cars if hit correctly; no longer folding as they had in the series’ past — this is readily seen when Niko is just nudged by a car, he fells towards the hood, using his arms to keep him steady as he rolls somewhat against the collision. Reckless driving even feels…reckless, as pedestrians no longer thump on the ground, yelp and then explode into blood puddles on the ground, counting down until they become tongue-in-cheek sidewalk-chalked outlines; depending on where you strike them, they bounce off the car or roll to side, tumbling as the speed of the car sends them. If you strike a pedestrian fast enough and manage to kill them, you’ll see blood streaks on your car where you hit them.

It’s details like these that drive this game to the heights it’s reached so far — the fact you can drive down streets, see districts where poverty has taken its toll, rambling idiots trolling the sidewalks and even the occasional sidewalk preacher preaching a gospel of impending doom. You feel as though, if you weren’t here today, this would be happening. Take a taxi cab throughout the city and watch as you’re driven through, as the taxi driver gets into small accidents occasionally, or bigger ones if you’re in a hurry.

There’s also the fact that, for the first time in the series, your contacts no longer remain people who give you missions, disappear for a quarter of the game, then come back and visit you again. No, these contacts call and text message you asking you to hang out with them. And you can do the same — want to go get drunk with your cousin Roman and stumble around yelling “HEY YELLOOOOOOOOW CAAAAAAAAAR” as you’re trying to hail a taxi — go for it! Wanna go bowling with a date you’ve picked up off of love-meet.net? Do it! There’s a living, breathing social ecosystem that lets you interact with the characters as much, or as little, as you so desire.

The story itself is fantastic — without revealing details, it is one of the more intriguing and immersing storylines I’ve had the chance to experience in some time.

But the game is not perfect. The driving, in my eyes, is worse off than it has been before. As much as I detested the more arcadey controls of the series’ past, I believe that this new driving-physics overhaul Rockstar done was not in the best interest of the game. I usually remedy the driving, however, by using a taxi. I’ve also come across sections, mainly on the bridges, where textures refuse to load for a section of the road. I make a turn or do a small jump along the sidewall of a bridge, and what used to be pavement is now a tannish-gray missing texture. It shortly rectifies itself, but it is an annoyance.

For all it’s worth, the first incarnation of Grand Theft Auto, on the then-”next-gen” system (PlayStation 2, for those playing at home), was a game on a console where “none had gone before.” It is only fitting to say that, the latest incarnation of Grand Theft Auto goes further into the brave new world and comes out a more improved, desirable and creative franchise than before.

I’ll be constantly updating this post as I play through/until I publish my review, so feel free to check back in. Note: I’ve also decided that, since this post will get fairly lengthy shortly, I will post in reverse order, that is, the most recent update first, as I’m going to make a <More> jump at the next update. Also, if any of you have something you want me to cover, let me know! Comments are welcome!

(Update 4): I hit something going really fast and flew out the windshield of my car. I laid on the ground for a few minutes before getting up, somewhat hazed. Also went to the bar, came out, and stumbled my ass around, falling on the ground twice. The screen had a nice blur over it — details! I also hit a lady carrying groceries and they flew into the air. I think I hit her so hard, her shoes went flying. Oh, when doing missions for the Rasta’s, turn on the subtitles. Seriously.

(Update 3 [Will no longer do hours, as I'm about to stop keeping track of them.]): Neat thing I just saw — was completing a mission which had me killing a couple of running Rasta’s, so I chased them in my car to run them over quickly and kill them. A few of them got off a couple of good shots at me in my car and knocked some of my life down. As I was checking out the damage done to my ride, I saw a bullet-hole in the windshield and some blood surrounding. Talk about attention to detail! Anyone else notice the cars feel like they’re on ice when its raining/wet in-game? Not a huge fan of that…Anyone have questions/comments/things they want me to talk about? Leave me a comment and I’ll do my best to address it in the next update!

(Hour 2): Just got done going on a date to the Cabaret club. Show was pretty entertaining. Took my first Taxi cab ride, which was really neat — you sit in the back of the cab and can look around and play with different camera angles. It’s nice to see little touches like this, where you can witness the Liberty City chaos from the back of a car being driven by AI. You can tell the taxi driver to hurry up, where he’ll be a bit more reckless, or you can skip the ‘from A to B’ drive altogether, at the cost of some extra scratch. I ran a few more missions, one of which had me picking up a brick from the ground of a nearby junkyard and had to throw it through the window. Neat.

(Hour 1): Just an hour in and I’m blown away by this game. The driving seems a bit looser than normal and I’ve already seen some clunky framerates, but so far, the game is turning out to be everything it’s been called to be.