1UP's Grand Theft Auto IV Review, Score: 10/10

Crispin Boyer at 1up writes:
Niko Bellic, Grand Theft Auto IV's bruiser from the former Eastern Bloc, is a stone-cold couch potato, a desperate online dater with dead-on aim, and a chronic websurfer who could kill you in a hand-to-hand Krav Maga brawl. Fresh off the boat, he's an illegal immigrant pursuing the dual American dreams of quick money and mass multimedia consumption in the most vibrant, dynamic, and entertainment-packed playground in console videogame history: Liberty City. The civil engineers at Rockstar Games have upgraded this burg's infrastructure since we visited seven years ago in GTA3, adding basic cable (hours of programming Niko can watch on safe-house TVs), an in-game Internet rich with blogs, parody websites -- even e-mail spams -- and such star attractions as [spoiler deleted] performing stand-up comedy as well as a gentleman's club filled with G-stringed strippers who buzz your controller's vibration motors as they grind Niko's lap. (If you must wear sweatpants when you play, please don't share your joypad.)

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GameTrailer's Grand Theft Auto IV Review, Score: 9.8/10

Has the new dawn of open world games arrived?

IGN's Grand Theft Auto IV Review, Score: 10/10

Hilary Goldstein at IGN writes:
"Criminals are an ugly, cowardly lot more worthy of pity and disdain than admiration. This is what you'll learn playing through the single-player campaign in Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto IV. The series cheered (and criticized) for glorifying violence has taken an unexpected turn: it's gone legit. Oh sure, you'll still blow up cop cars, run down innocent civilians, bang hookers, assist drug dealers and lowlifes and do many, many other bad deeds, but at a cost to main character Niko Bellic's very soul. GTA IV gives us characters and a world with a level of depth previously unseen in gaming and elevates its story from a mere shoot-em-up to an Oscar-caliber drama. Every facet of Rockstar's new masterpiece is worthy of applause. Without question, Grand Theft Auto IV is the best game since Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time".

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