Artificial Boundaries and Lost Sales.
I like the storyline of GTA 4. It's a well written story. It's nice to be playing a character who has some actual depth.
That said, I'm glad I'm playing my roommates copy and that I didn't pay money for this, because I will never knowingly play a game designed by the design team of this game again. They do NOT design fun games to play.
I've wasted three days trying to beat the last level of one of the two alternate endings. I haven't even gotten to the other ending. To date, I have been forced to replay the last stupid hour of stupid pointless fights and cut scenes and car chases 6 times because the game is designed to punish the players relentlessly for failure. 9 times out of 10 those failures are stupid and not the player's fault. 9 times out of 10, the failures stem from the fact the player was too busy doing something intelligent, or what they "told" you to do, instead of correctly anticipating the cinematic needs of the story.
I've spent two and a half weeks on this game, getting progressively more and more unhappy with the game. At this point, when I'm stuck playing the same mission that isn't even that interesting over and over again, I've had all the fun sucked out of it. I think the best way to explain what bothers me is to explain one of my specific failures. You are on a motorcylce on the beach (a dicey problem in and of itself). There is a ramp you have to hit at a minimum speed on the first try, or you have to replay the entire last half hour (again). The last 45 min, if you aren't fast enough on the "retry" button, which will send you back to the half way point with low health, no armor and low ammo. (this is the only level where they even extend THAT curtousy to you, normally you have to start from the very beginning.) There are a variety of issues, but assuming you navigate the curvy beach, the guys shooting at you, the terrified pedestrians and properly line up your jump, you still have one more problem. You have to swerve to avoid the barrel lying on the beach directly in front of the ramp. Assuming you don't, you will go flying (but your bike won't) and you will get to repeat the level.
That said, I'm glad I'm playing my roommates copy and that I didn't pay money for this, because I will never knowingly play a game designed by the design team of this game again. They do NOT design fun games to play.
I've wasted three days trying to beat the last level of one of the two alternate endings. I haven't even gotten to the other ending. To date, I have been forced to replay the last stupid hour of stupid pointless fights and cut scenes and car chases 6 times because the game is designed to punish the players relentlessly for failure. 9 times out of 10 those failures are stupid and not the player's fault. 9 times out of 10, the failures stem from the fact the player was too busy doing something intelligent, or what they "told" you to do, instead of correctly anticipating the cinematic needs of the story.
I've spent two and a half weeks on this game, getting progressively more and more unhappy with the game. At this point, when I'm stuck playing the same mission that isn't even that interesting over and over again, I've had all the fun sucked out of it. I think the best way to explain what bothers me is to explain one of my specific failures. You are on a motorcylce on the beach (a dicey problem in and of itself). There is a ramp you have to hit at a minimum speed on the first try, or you have to replay the entire last half hour (again). The last 45 min, if you aren't fast enough on the "retry" button, which will send you back to the half way point with low health, no armor and low ammo. (this is the only level where they even extend THAT curtousy to you, normally you have to start from the very beginning.) There are a variety of issues, but assuming you navigate the curvy beach, the guys shooting at you, the terrified pedestrians and properly line up your jump, you still have one more problem. You have to swerve to avoid the barrel lying on the beach directly in front of the ramp. Assuming you don't, you will go flying (but your bike won't) and you will get to repeat the level.