GameRankings: GTA IV takes away the top
Monday, May 12th, 2008 at 7:36pm by Jake
In case you haven’t checked, Grand Theft Auto IV has taken the top two ranks away from Ocarina of Time, and Super Mario Galaxy on Gameranking’s master list. GTA IV has nabbed near perfect reviews for its open-ended sandbox gameplay, and violently mature storytelling. GTA…blah!
May 12th, 2008 at 7:57 pm
Well, it clearly deserves it, b/c as Hillary Goldstein from IGN pointed out, the acting was clearly “Oscar Worthy”.
Note - The above comment is dripping w/ sarcasm. The acting, while good for a video game, is “B Movie” material at best.
May 12th, 2008 at 8:24 pm
Thats ridiculous, I’m sorry but I don’t think they should have done this…Now we rate the quality of a game because of simply good acting?! Look at both Ocarina of Time and Super Mario Galaxy, both games that barely have ten minutes on overall cut-scenes in the game and is mostly game play!
Now GTA has good acting, and it’s so much better? I must admit that I find gta, sandbox game play enjoyable at times. However, I’ve never really took the time to finish a gta title, nor did I really feel like I need to..I took my fill of running over pedestrians and causing a havoc, but then *yawn* I turn the game off and I move on.
I can’t even recall yawning while playing Zelda or Mario titles! o_O
May 12th, 2008 at 8:40 pm
I played it through once and I just don’t see it. Sure, it had great voice acting, but this not a new thing. The story was cliche (how many stories do we have that involve the Italian mafia and street drug hoodlums?) and it shared the same problems as previous GTAs. Guy wants revenge for some generic bullshit blah blah blah. It offered nothing new.
May 12th, 2008 at 8:56 pm
I weep for humanity… Seriously, it’s a sad, sad commentary on our society that ultraviolent games like this get more hype, recognition and sales than truly creative efforts like Mario Galaxy, or the under-rated Zack & Wiki. I understand the appeal of ’sandbox’ games, and even of blowing stuff up; I LOVE Mercenaries and games like it! But it’s a slap in the face of true artistry that there are dozens of better games than GTA IV getting little to no recognition out there… IMO
May 12th, 2008 at 9:00 pm
I wouldn’t worry yet. As the reviews keep coming in, GTA will slip a little.
As Mario Galaxy can tell you, as it was #1 at it’s launch…
May 12th, 2008 at 9:06 pm
For games like this with 10 tons of hype behind them, I think there should be some mandate where they need to re-review these titles 3 months after release and see how they hold up. I think that’s the missing component in most reviews is how games hold up over time. Of course that’s difficult to do with deadlines and everyone wanting to know if a title is good enough to buy, but first impression reviews can usually give consumers a decent idea of if a game is worthy of purchase. Then in 3 months or so, reviewers should go back and add the final word to their review and only then assign some arbitrary score, grade, number, or whatever. I know this is only my humble opinion and will probably never happen, but I think it would be better for the industry and would help the games that don’t get all the hype, yet can withstand the test of time better than the GTAs and Halos.
May 12th, 2008 at 9:18 pm
http://jollyjack.deviantart.com/art/How-To-Play-GTA-4-85460387
This comic strip perfectly sums up my feelings about GTA4… I wouldn’t call it bad in any way, but i’d never EVER call it a masterpiece.
May 12th, 2008 at 9:40 pm
That is depressing. I see solid family fun dethroned by overhyped kiddie crap. I don’t see how anyone past adolescence can be so into GTA still.
May 12th, 2008 at 10:04 pm
I really wanted to write something clever about pigs flying and Hell being frozen over, but I just don’t have it in me anymore.
This game is getting way over praised, just as it was getting way over hyped before it came out. It may be a good game (eh, not a fan myself) but it’s not nearly as good as Galaxy, or Bioshock, or Portal.
May 12th, 2008 at 10:07 pm
There should be an A Clockwork Orange ultraviolence sandbox game.
May 12th, 2008 at 10:14 pm
So much lazy reviewing here. So many are inclined to give this game a perfect score since its been done so many times before. OOT and Galaxy were ORIGINAL titles not “next-gen” versions of the same retread that we have seen time and time again. If this stands it would truly be a sad day for gaming and entertainment in general.
May 12th, 2008 at 10:54 pm
Just wait a few weeks. it’ll drop down where it belongs…
May 12th, 2008 at 10:55 pm
Though I’m sensitive to its obscene content, I like GTA IV — it plays better than Ocarina and is on par with Galaxy.
May 12th, 2008 at 10:59 pm
not bothered by its reviews. in general, still feel like reviews are working: whether you agree with the score or not, you can get a pretty good idea of whether you’ll like a game.
also, don’t think it would bother me to see this as the top rated game of all time. why should it? citizen cain isn’t my choice for top movie ever, but i’m not pissed at the AFI.
May 12th, 2008 at 11:44 pm
What ev. I won’t lose sleep over it. I enjoyed Galaxy. I enjoyed GTAIV. What’s wrong with having two great games at the top?
May 12th, 2008 at 11:45 pm
I really feel that it’s also a slap on the face, or just pouring salt on the wound to the same game twice….because it’s on two different consoles…..-_-….
May 13th, 2008 at 12:17 am
Goes to show what people are interested in these days…
May 13th, 2008 at 12:33 am
It’s not the fact that it’s GTA that saddens me about this, it’s the fact that it’s a brand new game.
So often on facebook or myspace or whatever, someone’s “favorite movie” is one that came out in the last week or month. Favorite movie of all time, only been out a month. Yeah - you really put a lot of thought in that answer.
Right now, people are having a lot of fun playing GTA - that’s fine - it’s new, it’s fresh, it’s fun - but does it really deserve the number one spot? Is it really some end-all be-all best game of all time, or are people man enough to admit that they aren’t taking a step back and actually looking at the came critically, and comparing it fairly with the quality of games for last-gen systems?
May 13th, 2008 at 1:00 am
There is no way that GTA IV is better than Zelda Oot or SMG.
Sure it is a great game, but NOT as near perfect as Zelda Oot, nor as addictive and fun as SMG.
That is what you call over hype, right here. GTA IV is very cool. But its not number one.
Mario and Link OWN GTA .
Nuff said…
May 13th, 2008 at 1:19 am
Keep in mind, people, that Ocarina of Time has been there for more than a decade now. Let’s see where GTA IV is ten years from now…. Even Super Mario Galaxy “took the top spot” for all of two weeks…
May 13th, 2008 at 1:33 am
Payola!
May 13th, 2008 at 3:55 am
they spent good money for gta to get this hype.
GTA isnt even a “good” game let alone a masterpiece.
this is the industry doing what it does best and thats hating on nintendo.
so they take the perfect game to express there hate for all the casuals out there and make it the “greatest game ever” lol yeah right.
also its been like that on gamerankings for over a month and mind you it has waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay less reviews than galaxy…….you smell that smells like a bull fighter sitting on a toilet.
dont let that bother you just play the games that you love….you know the one made by the best developer….damn whats there name…..it rimes with infendo.
May 13th, 2008 at 6:57 am
I don’t see why both PS3/360 version are on the list (as well as the Orange Box). They’re the same game! Where the hell is BioShock on this list? It was the game that first threatened OoT’s #1 slot when it came out and it’s nowhere to be seen here. Making a realistic sandbox world based on a real city is not a hard thing to do. Having the imagination to think of the worlds in Super Mario Galaxy - that’s genius.
May 13th, 2008 at 7:36 am
I’d care more about reviews if the entire press corps for games didn’t cast their lots against the Wii before this generation started. Since they’ve made their biases clear, GameRankings and other such aggregators lose their punch.
This website meant something on the relatively level playing field of the last generation. Now that they have segregating the Wii into a ghetto, nobody cares about the self-congratulation given to GTA while the rest of the populace embraces Wii Fit.
May 13th, 2008 at 8:17 am
I just don’t see why they have to put both versions on the list.
May 13th, 2008 at 9:32 am
@bOB and @killerheroes- they put both versions on the list because they’re different (content and graphics), and this helps fuel the “which one is better” argument.
@Blake - if you’re sensitive to the obscene content, why buy it? (Maybe you didn’t). I’m planning to play it, but I won’t give Take Two my money for a game that is ultimately going to hurt the industry due to the political backlash we will witness throughout this election year and beyond. Having this game at the #1 and #2 spots puts a bullseye on the industry for political nutjobs to use for a quick public opinion boost. Releasing it in the middle of an election year is downright irresponsible and the ESA should boot them out of their membership and sanction EA if they buy them.
Take Two has done a brilliant job of creating media hysteria for this title. I think they bought them all hookers and coke. It’s obviously a brilliantly crafted game, but I know of no one outside the critics who would rate it a 10.
I have to suggest, however, that games and movies and music should be judged by category and era. You can’t compare Paul Simon, Beethoven, Miles Davis, and Radiohead. You can’t compare “Valley of the Dolls”, “Modern Times”, “Umbrellas of Cherbourg”, and “Iron Man”. And you can’t compare “OOT”, “GTA IV”, “Pac Man”, and “Super Mario Bros.” - They’re all “best of” in some category but they’re from different times, with different mass appeal for the time, different technology available, etc.
May 13th, 2008 at 10:14 am
Not gonna stand the test of time like LOZ:OOT has.
May 13th, 2008 at 11:42 am
if the Orange Box counts as one title, surely OoT should be desposed by the LoZ collectors edition? all the goodness of OoT along with two other classics (and Zelda II)
May 13th, 2008 at 12:41 pm
“I weep for humanity”? Because of violent video games? Eons ago, we fed Christians to the lions. Centuries ago we burned heretics at the stake. Decades ago we lynched US citizens because of their skin color. Now some digital information is formulated to simulate a carjacking…and you weep for humanity? Humans are no more violent now than they were in the past. Rent a Wes Craven movie from 20 years ago and tell me we’re worse off today. Jackass.
May 13th, 2008 at 2:42 pm
@ scott
hahaha
awwww- why dig at zelda II?? i love that game! it introduced me to gaming!
@ deen
lol. nice.
May 13th, 2008 at 4:38 pm
I can understand GTA IV surpassing Zelda because of inflated reviews, but twice? Why are the two versions counted separately? They should be averaged in together. Most reviews speak of both versions, and I bet they were used for the averages, why can’t the two systems come together under one name?
May 13th, 2008 at 5:27 pm
@gametaku- ’cause the other gaming forums are having a different fanboy debate: is the ps3 or 360 the version to have??
May 14th, 2008 at 8:33 pm
^Then that sucks. It’s obviously the 360 version. It has the fewest sacrifices, a superior controller, a greater immediate future and in theory a better online set-up. Eh, I don’t care about achievements too much, but it seems like people love those.
I don’t know why people would argue over that though, it’s not like any version has any less of the real game in it.
May 18th, 2008 at 7:40 am
Didn’t Infendo proclaim that GameRankings was a useless measurement of a game’s success? Or was that Sean Malstrom?
I am not losing sleep over this one. While gamers may not want to play with sales; investors do. GTA IV might be hyped to death by the press and reviews; but it will be lucky if it manages to sell 15 million units combined again and in my view if it doesn’t sell at least over 20 million units; the game is a failure in my eyes. And that’s because the media is hyping it as a flagship title that will outsell EVERYTHING in the history of videogames. I got news for you; you want this game to be mainstream: How about outselling the pack-in title Super Mario Brothers (at 40+ million) first? Then we will talk. Otherwise; color me unimpressed.
@deen: It’s irrelevent. Most of the public doesn’t care about this game because it simply doesn’t appeal to them. And most of them hate anti-game critics too; mainly because most of them are against most other forms of mass media anyway. If video games died; the critics would move on to the next mass media. As much as I hate people with an anti-game bias (and there are people out there; I don’t question that, the mayor of Boston is one very good example of this); I’m sick of the martyr pose been struck by gamers in a country that has more freedom than any other country in existence (and I’m talking about America since Canada has less freedom than the USA does).
And as for morals: Of course the motivation of anti-game critics is really about morality. They use safety as a shield because the Constiution of America demands that test…and it must be a clear and present danger. Almost every game (and I say almost because I haven’t see every game yet) would easily pass the test and the games would be legal. And be thankful for that test because if it was morality; can you imagine how vile and barbaric this nation would become? Many morals are based on vile and barbaric values. I’m not going to get into gory details here because it is quite depressing to write.