I don't know how a game featuring the best music of any game released last year (A soundtrack featuring Fleetwood Mac, The Allman Brothers, great Euro tunes, Ace Frehley and when Ace kicks in singing "Back in the New York Groove, " you feel like GTA is back from Vice City and San Andreas and back to where to where it really belongs in Liberty City; Smashing Pumpkins in their glory days, The Stooges' best song, and the Sisters of Mercy among others as evidence), the best new character, and at worst the second best story of the year can be the most disappointing game of the year. But to each his own I guess.
See, rather than getting into it, I can honestly say there's a pretty good chance that I've lived a rather different life than I would imagine most of the posters here at VGChartz have and from my perspective much as I can see how The Devil's Rejects is one of the finest movies of the past decade I can also see how GTA IV is the best of the GTA games or at least since GTA III (and much better than Vice City with its Miami Vice designed thematics and San Andreas and its more pop oriented designed characters that would have more appeal to the general public (ie. rappers and hip hop community type characters) but actually not be as interesting from a deeper human perspective than the Eastern European immigrants like Nico Bellic featured in GTA IV).
Also, GTA IV was penalized for a lot of the things you could do in San Andreas that you can't do in GTA IV. However, I think those were largely humourous type or unlikely type things that were removed from San Andreas and not included in GTA IV and you should expect such deletions for the game and story being in a more serious world. And yes, they were there in the more cartoonish Saint's Row 2 as they should have been included in a more satirical game.
There should have been a category for Sandbox Game of the Year.
I think GTA IV it was a great outing for the series a return to where it should be storywise from Vice City and San Andreas, and I hope the GTA series' stories continue down more serious paths for years to come.
So, yes, I think it is a great game.
Heavens to Murgatoids.
