Oh, Silent Man - we miss you.

[Chardok]

So, I broke down this weekend and bought a 360 and GTA IV (Came with a 50 dollar gift card if you bought the bundle - Total 443.00 including GTA IV and Halo III - but that's not what I'm on about.)

And I have to say - So far I'm unimpressed. Here's my biggest gripe - The main character, Niko Bellic, is almost believable. Let's have a flashback for a moment here to GTA III, shall we?

There's this guy - what's his name? Don't know, doesn't matter. he's robbing a bank, and he gets shot in the effing face by his two-bit whore of a crime partner/girlfriend. he goes to prison and on the way for a transfer or something, he gets the opportunity to make his escape - so he does. He then wanders the streets of Liberty City, indiscriminately carjacking and killing hookers, robbing armored cars, etc. no job is too big or small, either. He walks into a place like he owns it, where some random crime boss sees him and Mr. Crime Boss says "Hey, I hear you're a badass, go take down the rules of this here third-world nation so we can get cocaine for free."

Silently, our hero nods without a word, and calmly strides out of the room, leaving behind a bunch of chuckling goombas in his wake. Later that night, while watching the news, Mr. Crime boss sees a report from Whateverstan that someone has killed every single guard outside the presidential palace, brutally beaten the dictator and his family and his entourage and his dog to death, and blown up every single vehicle in the compound, and even stole an old lady's purse as he walked out, all before the police could respond. a few seconds later, a knock at the door, and there stands our unlikely hero, not a speck of dirt on him, looking as if he'd walked over to Burger Shot, had a shake, and come back. He says nothing, but the Crime Boss knows what he is here for. He's here for his 500 bucks cash the job pays. Dumbfounded, Mr. Crime Boss hands over the cash, knowing that he had just become a very rich man.

There are no questions, no inner monologues, no hesitation. The Silent Man is a killing machine, like a terminator, only human, deviously clever, deadly accurate, and cold as ice - he has no family, no strings, no background. He just - is. He is, my friends, the baddest motherfucker in Liberty City and he knows it. But why advertise? Why wrest power when power will come to you?

Enter Niko Bellic. Seemingly suffering from PTSD, he leaves blahblahblahistan to come to America to make a new life for himself with his cousin Roman. He seems to be a good guy, just in the wrong place at the wrong time and, since he has a proclivity to break limbs, he does so - but only to protect/save his idiot cousin. He makes friends with a gigantic pothead a fat, idiot mid-level crime boss whom he talks (yes, TALKS) to as if he known him for years, and everyone hates him because he's a ZOMG IMMIGRANT except, of course, the chick (whose obviously a cop) that he was set up with by his cousin's girlfriend. He countinually laments the "bad things" he did during "The War" and is vocally ashamed of himself.

What the fuck? Seriously? I mean, where's my silent badass? The cold, calculating killer? Why do I need to know his Background? Who gives a shit? This is Liberty city! I'm here to kill hookers, steal cars and rob banks! I'm here to sell drugs and bring down the Mafia and get in to air-to-air engagements with a harrier I stole from a fucking MILITARY INSTALLATION. I'm here to blow shit up and calmly walk away and light my cigarette on the still-smoldering corpse of an unfortunate bystander. I don't give a fuck if this dude from blahblahblahistan napalmed a russian barracks in "The War" I don't give a crap about his family history or that he's internally conflicted but not really. I don't give a shit if he like puppies!

It seems to me that Rockstar has departed from a winning formula and GTA IV suffers for it - big time. Of course, that's just my opinion and I am very early into the game, but -


*silently nods*

[SylasGaunt]

If they did they departed from it a long ass time ago. Every GTA protagonist has had more personality than the guy in 3. Personally I think it's a change for the better considering that I never did finish the story in GTA3 while the one in Vice City - IV kept me wanting to see what happened next.

[chitoryu12]

If they did they departed from it a long ass time ago. Every GTA protagonist has had more personality than the guy in 3. Personally I think it's a change for the better considering that I never did finish the story in GTA3 while the one in Vice City - IV kept me wanting to see what happened next.

More accurately, every protagonist has had more personality than the guy from the prequel. Tommy Vercetti adds a voice and flaming rage at anything that doesn't work for him, CJ adds a history of family troubles and a willingness to work for a better life. Niko adds morals and intelligence, unlike the lap-dog and bundle of anger of the previous games.

And yes, I skipped the "Stories" games on purpose. I don't count those as true sequels.