Gaming Am I playing GTA 4 wrong?

[endoverend]

I heard all these great things about GTA 4, so I bought it + episodes from liberty city in a steam sale a while back. And I don't know what's so fun about it according to everyone. I mean, you can like... drive around... and go bowling...? The story missions are cool sometimes, I guess, but what are you supposed to do when there's not a story mission? I mean you can go do stuff with Roman, but that's not really fun either. I don't want to say it's a bad game, but am I just doing it wrong?

 

[Nathan Drake]

GTA 4 is a bore fest. It's dark, dank, blah, unexciting.

 

[geishroy]

GTA 4 is a bore fest. It's dark, dank, blah, unexciting.

it is common knowledge that gta 4 is overrated.

 

[Hells Malice]

GTA in general is pretty shit. 4 in particular was just awful.

Unless you have a boner for dating your cousin.

 

[Lord Coolman]

Because is a realist game, and I hope that everyone knows already that reality SUCKS BIG TIME. There's a reason for using drugs, ya know?

 

[Mario92]

The moment game started with all GFWL nonsense and unoptimized happiness I left it just lying there in my steam library. Maybe it's the fact that games has big modding support and name GTA is so big which makes the game so hyped.

If you want open world fun which also works decently with computer then go get Saints Row IV (I seem to now own two extra copies of it) https://www.humblebundle.com/
Another one is FC3 Blood Dragon which is already cheap but costs equivalent to burger when on sale.

 

[Satangel]

What are you supposed to do when there are no Story missions? Most of the fun in GTA comes, or other open world games, comes from just dicking around. Doing whatever you want, whenever you want.
Drive around, kill whoever you want, any way you want. Want to create a traffic jam, plaster it with C4 and enjoy a nice fireworks? Do it.
Want to steal a boat and squash-land a few people with it? Do it.
Want to fly a heli and bump other heli's out of the air (one of my favourite pasttimes in GTA IV personally)? Do it.

etc....

 

[DinohScene]

Yes you're playing it wrong.
Speedrun and RNG manip yo.

 

[endoverend]

What are you supposed to do when there are no Story missions? Most of the fun in GTA comes, or other open world games, comes from just dicking around. Doing whatever you want, whenever you want.
Drive around, kill whoever you want, any way you want. Want to create a traffic jam, plaster it with C4 and enjoy a nice fireworks? Do it.
Want to steal a boat and squash-land a few people with it? Do it.
Want to fly a heli and bump other heli's out of the air (one of my favourite pasttimes in GTA IV personally)? Do it.

etc....

Ok, so the only tools to do as you said are a pistol and my fists. And if i shoot anyone, ever, 20 cops are on me within 5 seconds. I mean, even if i could do all those things, wouldn't that get pretty old pretty quickly?

 

[Hells Malice]

What are you supposed to do when there are no Story missions? Most of the fun in GTA comes, or other open world games, comes from just dicking around. Doing whatever you want, whenever you want.
Drive around, kill whoever you want, any way you want. Want to create a traffic jam, plaster it with C4 and enjoy a nice fireworks? Do it.
Want to steal a boat and squash-land a few people with it? Do it.
Want to fly a heli and bump other heli's out of the air (one of my favourite pasttimes in GTA IV personally)? Do it.

etc....

The problem with that is there's really no point playing GTA games to dick around. Saints Row offers the same thing except 100x more fun.

 

[Satangel]

Ok, so the only tools to do as you said are a pistol and my fists. And if i shoot anyone, ever, 20 cops are on me within 5 seconds. I mean, even if i could do all those things, wouldn't that get pretty old pretty quickly?

True, although cop chases are very fun too IMHO. But if you get tired of cops, you can just use cheats to get rid of them. Cheats are essential for having some fun dicking around in GTA.

The problem with that is there's really no point playing GTA games to dick around. Saints Row offers the same thing except 100x more fun.

I don't share that sentiment, I've had way more fun with GTA series than with SR. SR just feels so shallow, so rushed, so fake, I don't enjoy it all that much.

 

[WiiCube_2013]

The heist mission is one of the best parts of the game and then deciding who you get to save can make you take a while to decide (the two brothers & cousin/gf, I remember that I didn't want to kill or end up dying but there was always going to be a casualty.. the only way of not letting there be deaths is by not playing it.

This also reminds me of TWD Season 1 when there was a girl surrounded by walkers and I couldn't do anything -- I'm no white knight I just like saving everyone from dying (except on freeroam when I kill as much as possible).

 

[Hells Malice]

True, although cop chases are very fun too IMHO. But if you get tired of cops, you can just use cheats to get rid of them. Cheats are essential for having some fun dicking around in GTA.

I don't share that sentiment, I've had way more fun with GTA series than with SR. SR just feels so shallow, so rushed, so fake, I don't enjoy it all that much.

I think you swapped your GTA and SR boxes, because you just described GTA perfectly. GTA always employs some over-serious uninteresting story featuring mediocre and shallow characters no one could ever possibly give a shit about, doing extremely boring and repetitive missions until the ultimate conclusion of the story. The only side activities in GTA4 include shooting pigeons and collecting cars for an incredibly annoying drugged up muscle head.
I'd say at least Saints Row knows what it is. It knows it's a silly game and it often never takes itself seriously, and that's precisely why it will always be funner to play. It caters to that silliness and gives you a bunch of things around the world to encourage that wacky crazy fun. GTA always limits itself by being too serious and thinking too much of itself, when at the end of the day all if its players are finding the silliest things they can to do.
Granted GTA5 did loosen up a bit, but it still has some catching to do.