the distance in gTA4 : the fact to be able to see VERY far in the city
the lack of loading time

GTA4 technically = CoD4 technically = Gear of War technically

it is just easier to make lot of very beautifull things in a CLOSED environnement !

You don't have to like it, but that's your loss IMO. I assume you haven't gotten 5-10 people all in one area, working together to jack up your wanted levels and then helping each other escape the AI cops? Or even played Cops N' Crooks?

Any major release these days seems obligated to add multi-player online play, even if the game is clearly designed as a single player from the start as a story centric game. People who play games like GTA, have always done so for the single player campaign, which is clearly where the focus of GTAIV remains. This is NOT a bad thing here.

Halo is the only series I can think of offhand that started out as a story centric game and then developed into a primarily online multi-player game. Most people who played this primarily for the campaign were probably a bit disappointed since the only serious mileage from the game comes from the online play system.

It's tough for developers to split even on multi and single player modes in terms of dedicated development time. It's now a part of a game's balance. Halo 3, CoD 4; both criticized for their relatively short campaign modes, but still popular due to the depth of the online play.

GTAIV is a story and mission centric game; there's only so much that can be done with multi-player online without spending a huge amount of resources turning it into a Second Life or Home in the world of Liberty City, as interesting as that could be if done right. If Rock Star doesn't stick with the tried and true formula of GTAIII for GTAV, I wouldn't put it in the realm of the improbable to see multi-player campaigns in the next iteration.

 XBL account BlackKnightCeci heh...

I played the multiplayer with a few friends and i say it is awesome. Bomb da base in particular but just crusing around liberty city with mates is just so much fun. The death match was ok imo but i only played a few matches, give the other modes ago.

I'm surprised you guys have time to play online, the story is so great i can't stop playing it. The graphics in this game are amazing, the lighting and textures are really good for a next gen game. Go fly a heli as high as you can go at night and just look around at the whole city, it is simply epic.

 First of all the graphics in the game are great. Play through it and you will notice how many details there are. Yes details is graphics. It's all the way down to the pavement being different no matter where you are. It's epic.

Second of all. Why do you whine if you haven't played the singleplayer ? think of multiplayer as a bonus. 

I agree that God of War 3 shouldn't have multiplayer though.. the game is about being THE epic guy... not one of them lol :P (this is where it differs from gta since your just a guy trying to make it.) 

 I think the BIGGEST mistake the person made is to compare GTAIV graphically to CoD4.  Yes, we all know that a sandbox game where you can go anywhere at anytime SHOULD have the same graphics as a linear game with set passes.

 Also, complaining locking-on target system on GTAIV?? Yeah, because it's NOT a FPS???

Clearly the user has no concept of PS360 and even lesser of a concept on what GTA franchise is about.

I bet R* could have made GTA4 looked as pretty as COD4, but I'm assuming R* doesn't want people to view a slideshow for a game.

 The game is a huge open world, unlike CoD4, which is a closed, fixed environment.  

 (both games are amazing btw!)