Please don't post spoilers in this thread or talk indepth about the story or what you feel about some of the later characters.

I have just beat GTA4, it took me 44h15m, and i managed to get 71.25% complete. I never bought the strategy guide so i need to seach online for the spots of the birds and the stunt jumps, and whatever else i need to complete to get 100%.

The story was pretty good, the missions were alot better then the last GTA games. The shooting system made the fire fights simply amazing, and the way the cars handled made the car chases very hard at some points.

I think there were 4+ parts during the story when R* gave you the option of what to do, i'm not sure i made the right choices all the time, i'm also not a fan of these options as i always wondered what the other option would bring to the story. I also heard there were two different endings, which kinda pissed me off if its true.

What have you guys thought of the story so far without giving anything away?

I watched the cutscenes at first but started skipping them about 10 missions in. I can see it's better than the past GTA games, but not good enough to feel like I'm missing something by skipping them.

"I think there were 4+ parts during the story when R* gave you the option of what to do"

Just 4?

I thought there would be a lot more than that. Yes, you might prefer a more straight playthrough, but I was honestly hoping this gen would lead to less railroading in games.

And just two endings? I hope they are at least better handled than Bioshock's (not based on me actually playing it, but that Bioshock's director actually admitted the endings sucked).

I'm sure I'll like the game once I get it, since I've enjoyed the PS2 games of the series, just that I was hoping for a storyline I could truly start to have choices with. 

I have enjoyed the story so far (just in Algonquin after 8 hours) and the game is just sensational. I have the guide too cause I got it for GTA SA, and got all but two of those horseshoes, I spent days looking for the final 2 (made easier with my jetpack!) but never found them. I really hope I can get 100%, and I might play it through again for that second ending if it gets even better, though I think that the first 5 hours are basically tutorials for the proper game once you get to Algonquin. The guide is actually really useful in that it reminds me to call people so that I can get jobs from them

Also, can I meet any of the random characters at any point, because I have not bothered with any of them yet (or any of the precedural missions)

That's the main plot line. You can take different people out to clubs and befriend them, and the opportunities grow. You can date women, and the life of the main character is different.

Sounds like what you want is GTA to be an RPG. It's not, it's a sandbox game, but it offers more in the way of experiencing a life (like an RPG) then any other sandbox game before it.

And as you once told me, please don't pass judgment on something before you have experienced it. In my case it was reading a post. In yours, it's playing this game. 

great game...in all the games i played probably the best voice acting ever....great storyline...btw is there a cheetah in this game...never found one i found an infernus but never a cheetah...

although the missions are just go kill sum1 they introduce them in a new way that makes them still fun...definitely worthy of best game of all time (i mite get flamed for that but that's my opinion)...

 I agree that while the goals may be simplistic, the variety is amazing, from the locations to the methods of doing it, it is just brilliant

Somehow I think you just wanted to throw my words back at me. Why else would you assume  that commenting on the lack of choices in a game is actually passing judgement on it. That would have to be claiming that the lack of choices makes it suck, which I clearly did not state.

I have seen you post dozens of times in forums associated with GTA4, and not a single one of them that I read could be construed as being positive towards the game.

You don't have the game. You are no going to be getting the game in the near future (as you don't have a console to play it on). Why do you have such an interest in this topic?

P.S. If the game has 4 places you can make a choice, that means there are 16 posable paths through the story line. How many different outcomes are required before he is not lying?