If you're a reader of this site then it must be safe to assume that you're already aware of the GTA series (No? Then go back to messing about on Wii Fit, this game is not for you). You may also be aware of the fact that its latest instalment has received universal acclaim from critics and broken sales records yet again. As with anything that receives such a positive buzz, it already has its many detractors, who think that the hype isn't justified - "It's not perfect so it doesn't deserve a 10" they blather as they go on to list the many ways in which it isn't perfect. And there are indeed many ways in which Grand Theft Auto IV falls short of perfection. This is a game that will surely have you cursing at the screen on more than one occasion. You'll hate how it can be so unfair at times - how the character you've got to ferry from A to B is acting like an idiot and standing about looking gormless in the line of fire, how an obstacle suddenly popped up out of nowhere to send you flying through the windscreen, how you can't kill the guy you're chasing no matter how many times you shoot him in the head because he needs to reach a scripted destination before the mission can progress. These are just a few things that can, and probably will, really irritate you when playing GTA IV - but the chances are that you'll tolerate them, because the enjoyment to be had in between these annoyances is immense, to say the least.

You play as Niko Bellic, a tough (of course, could it really be any other way) immigrant from Eastern Europe with a military background. Niko comes to Liberty City in search of "that special someone" (don't worry, he's mostly referring to someone he wants to enact vengeance on, rather than fall in love with) and on the strength of promises made by his cousin Roman - that all the women and money he could want are there, just waiting for him. Naturally this American dream isn't quite what it seems and it becomes a struggle just to get by, let alone prosper. Unlike every GTA before it, this one isn't all about rising up through the ranks of the criminal underworld; it's merely about survival instead, so there's no buying of real estate or conquering territories. Its depiction of crime is more mature and realistic this time around (it'd certainly be a hell of a stretch to call it "glamorised") and the tone could even be perceived as depressing when compared to the sunny excesses of Vice City and San Andreas. The people you are forced to associate with are mostly horrendous and detestable, which isn't to say there aren't a few likeable ones in amongst them, like the indecipherable perma-stoned yardie, Little Jacob.

Back to Niko though - he's arguably the series' deepest and most sympathetic character to date, despite his penchant for the odd mass-murdering spree - he's also got an endearingly sharp wit, it must be said. Going by the story missions alone, he only kills very bad people, so the argument could be made that Niko is only as evil as the player controlling him. Driving on the pavement wiping out fifty people with a maniacal laugh is fun and all, but hugely at odds with the character you get to know through the game's many cut scenes and conversations (not to say that it'll stop you doing it, but it might make you do it a bit less and feel bad when you do it). Similar to BioShock before it, GTA IV now gives you moral decisions to make. There are a few points in the game where you must decide whether to kill certain people or spare them, with your choice affecting the outcome of the story. It certainly makes you carefully consider what the "right" thing to do is. It also provides an excellent incentive to play through the game a second time, making every decision differently than you did before and seeing how it affects the narrative. It's testament to the strength of the game's storyline that such a thing would even cross my mind. Now I'm not suggesting the writing and performances are Oscar-worthy, like some already have in their moments of over-zealousness, but I will go as far as to say that the storyline did engage me further than that of any game before it. There are some great, cynical, satirical writers working at Rockstar and this is not only apparent in the story, but also on the TV channels (yes, you can watch TV from your apartment), civilian dialogue and of course on the radio.

As usual you've got plenty to listen to as you explore your new virtual playground, and rather than trying to top San Andreas' gigantic playing area, Rockstar wisely decided to scale things back and create a smaller but far more detailed environment, lacking the large, pointless spaces that you frequently found yourself trying to escape on foot after the only vehicle for miles around had blown up. The decision to go back to Liberty City and set it in the present day made perfect sense and has worked accordingly; the way the era's and the city's characteristics - the architecture, accents, humour, music and weather - combine with the story gives the game a very strong atmosphere and distinctive character. It feels alive and everywhere is packed with little details and things to do. It's largely an accumulation of all the little things that makes this game so great; like when you fail a mission involving a journey with a character, the second time through the conversation en-route is different; like the way civilians react to you and each other, in a realistic, context-sensitive manner; like how you never seem to see the same civilian twice; like the fact there's an in-game Internet that you can literally spend hours reading. I could sit here all day listing the small things that add up to make a huge difference, but to do so would deny you the joy of finding them out for yourself. Never has a game so frequently made me smile at all its neat little touches as I played through it, continuing even after fifty hours. It makes you wish that all game developers took such attention to detail so seriously.

Graphically, the game looks astounding. It may still be plagued by the pop-up from previous titles, but concessions must be made with a title as ambitious as this. And it'd take a very stubborn naysayer to not be won over as the sunset casts real-time shadows through the grids on a railway bridge, or when taking to the skies in a chopper at night and seeing the whole city lit up before you. The aforementioned attention to detail gives the city a much more realistic appearance than the relative uniformity of past GTA cities. The roads are nuanced with minor cracks and bumps, debris blows down streets and civilians act as though going about their daily business. A similar level of care has gone into the game's audio; there's so much dialogue recorded that you probably won't ever hear it all. The radio stations span a wide section of musical genres, from electro to jazz to hip hop, although as a rock fan, I was particularly disappointed that the rock station didn't really rock (Phil Collins does not rock - give me some Free Bird or Welcome to the Jungle please!). The talk stations are just as funny as you expect from the series, too.

There's a big emphasis on maintaining your relationships with friends, girlfriends and other associates in GTA IV, which is all done via your cell-phone, an inclusion that places the game firmly in the present day and one that will surely become a GTA mainstay judging by how well it's been implemented here (assuming they don't revisit the distant past again). To keep on your contacts' good side you need to take them out and show them a good time. Initially this is fun, giving you a reason to check out the various entertainment facilities on offer in Liberty City, from bowling, darts and pool, to drinking, strip clubs, cabaret clubs and comedy clubs (featuring motion-captured stand-up from a very well-known "rotund" comedian who used to work in an office). The initial appeal does wear off though and being constantly badgered by people to hang out begins to grate, seeing as your rating with them goes down should you decline. Although it does become a chore, the advantage is that if you take certain people out enough times, and to the right places in accordance with their personality, they'll provide you with favours that assist your progress through the game, like weapons or free taxi journeys, for example. Regardless, it would've been preferable to have it so that after the first call from each person they left you alone and you had to ring them to instigate further excursions.

One of the main criticisms directed at every GTA before this one was the poor quality of the weapon combat, and although it still isn't ideal, it has been dramatically improved (hand-to-hand combat remains largely unchanged since San Andreas though). You now have a cover system at your disposal, which feels very similar to the one used in Uncharted and you will be forced to use it if you want to stay alive during some of the harder missions. It was a shame to discover that stealth is gone completely though; to have the ability to go in quietly on some missions would've been very welcome. It seems odd that it's been removed, seeing as one of the series' greatest strengths has always been in offering the player a multitude of choices regarding how to best approach a mission. The efficiency of stealth would very much fit with Niko's character and background of being a super-trained military type too.

As with the weapons, the driving model has gone through a significant overhaul too. Cars now have a greater sensation of weight and as such have a much longer stopping distance and don't take corners as easily as they did before. This takes a little getting used to, but it somehow looks harder too, meaning that it can look really cool and is more satisfying when you do drive well. Bikes make a welcome return and although they make cornering easier, you lose so much health every time you come off that the chances are you'll seldom use them until you're trying to complete the fifty Unique Stunt jumps. Most vehicles now contain a GPS device, which highlights the shortest route to your designated point (shortest in accordance with one-way systems at least, which aren't something you take much heed of in a GTA game). Getting lost would've been a stupidly frequent occurrence without it, as the layout of the city is far more complex than anything we're used to from previous games in the series, or any game series for that matter. Staying on the transport theme, gone are jetpacks and planes; now that I know the new Liberty City well, it's apparent that the exclusion of planes is more for the fact they would be unnecessary and impossible to land anywhere other than the airport, rather than the rumoured reasons concerning sensitivity over September 11th. Jetpacks are wisely omitted, as they don't fit at all within this new, more feasible GTA universe. You can still pilot helicopters though, but you already know that as I referred to it a couple of paragraphs up.

GTA IV still contains a few of those nasty, hair-pulling difficulty spikes that I recall with hatred from San Andreas, but it does seem considerably more forgiving overall. I found my progress was more consistent, helped in part by an auto-save system that comes into effect immediately after completing any mission or side quest. It's also become a lot easier to lose your wanted level; attracting the attention of the law now gives you a circle on the map that you must escape and remain clear of for a few seconds. The higher your wanted level, the bigger the circle. Remember in old GTAs how you annoyingly had to find police bribe icons to get your wanted level down from anything more than one star? Well this is thankfully a thing of the past. Also consigned to the past are those really annoying taxi/ paramedic/ firefighter missions. Vigilante (cop car missions) remains under a different name though (split in two, with Recent Crimes and a Most Wanted list) and can be accessed from the police database on computer from inside a police car. It's more varied, with some sections being on foot, and you no longer have to do it all in one go if you want that elusive percentage jump (this will only really matter to obsessive-compulsive types like myself who insists on reaching 100% completion).

As though what they've done with the single player wasn't enough to justify its price tag, Rockstar has included an extensive range of online multiplayer modes (fifteen in total) that can be played with up to sixteen people, making GTA IV surely the biggest gaming bargain since The Orange Box. There's deathmatch, team deathmatch and, as you'd expect from GTA, many rule variations on races too, but the most fun is to be had in Team Mafiya Works, in which two to eight teams compete to complete contracts for the Mob, and Cops n' Crooks, where a team of cops goes up against a team of crooks in either All for One mode (which requires the cops to kill the crooks' boss before he reaches the extraction point) or One for All mode (where the cops must kill every criminal before they reach the extraction point). It's a brilliant icing on a cake that was tasty enough to begin with (I actually hate icing as it's akin to chewing cling film with what it does to my teeth, but let's not let that ruin the metaphor).

If you're old enough to play Grand Theft Auto IV then there's simply no question that you should. It stands alone. There is no alternative that comes anywhere close to capturing the joy of virtual existence in Liberty City - and that's exactly why it deserves full marks, because it pushes the envelope for immersive, modern, virtual worlds further than any other game - that and the fact that it simply has to be played by anyone with an interest in videogames. If you haven't done so yet then you're lucky, because you've got the whole thing ahead of you. Seriously though, what are you waiting for? Just go out and buy it. Or alternatively, you could wait and see how Saints Row 2 turns out - ha ha ha!

Reviewed by Luke Shaw for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).