Review: 'Grand Theft Auto IV' will blow you away

The whole Grand Theft Auto video game series is awful. Everything about these video games is destructive to children of all ages and to adults. These games teach our kids today that violence is OK, that it's alright to kill people for whatever reason. This is desensitizing our kids to violence, making violence out to be a sport or something. They are being taught that human life means nothging. No wonder there are so many "Columbines" happening in schools today--some of it comes from these type of video games in addition to school bullying. We are losing a generation of youth to violence, promiscuous, gratuitous sex, drugs and drug dealing, rap music with foul disrespectful lyrics, rebellion against authority, lawlessness, greed and self-gratification. And a good portion of this comes from these violent, mindless video games. There is no question as to should a parent allow their child(ren) to have this game. The answer is "ABSOLUTELY NOT," especially if the parent wants to keep receiving respect from their child(ren). Games like these constantly keep adding to the battle for the minds and hearts of our kids in this nation. They keep adding to the erosion of morality that is destroying the very fiber of America. The kids today are the kids tomorrow and what a world they have to live in right now! May God have mercy on America.

PJ... 1. You are right, parents are responsible for teaching morals and policing what their children experience. 2. This game teaches nothing. The sex and violence are absurdely exagerated and any individual that responds to the game by running out and re-inacting the action has pre-existing issues. Most likely a result of parental failure. I am an adult, I am a professioal and I would never EVER harm another person. Even if I was playing this game when I was age 10, 15, 20, 30, it would not change this fact. This is because my parents WERE parents. I was not sheltered, I was allowed to experience things good and bad, then taught WHY they were good or bad. It's time to stop finding blame from outside causes and ensure we limit such input at an early age, then teach our children how to morally process what they experience as they become mature adults. Tofer

I am a parent. I would never allow my child (until they were an adult - and made the decision on their own) to play games rated "M" for Mature. For the adult gamers? We can talk about the distructiveness of porn, TV & movie violence, drugs, alcohol and video games. It's all the same people. If you are not a PRODUCTIVE, and RESPONSIBLE adult - with a career - drive, and vision for a better tomorrow - via raising our youth and children to be better humans - then don't support these games. You might not be right in the head - and these games may affect you. I am a fan of Star Wars, JR Tolken, Time-travel flix, and other fantasy stuff. I'm also a romance movie fan - a good movie comedy fan - and YES - A GRAND THEFT AUTO fan. To me,..."a PRODUCTIVE, and RESPONSIBLE adult - with a career - drive, and vision for a better tomorrow - via raising our youth and children to be better humans" - playing GTA4 is a fantasy world. It has ZERO affect on my mind and my desire to make the world a better place through encouraging our children to be good to each other. Fantasy - make-believe - does not play into this. These games have no relavence to my successful & proserous $250K per year income - lifestyle. And - yes,...I go to church on Sundays and worship the One true Lord. A video game has NO impact on me...maybe other,...but not I. (The Living- Real People.) Not the scum - I'm about to SHOOT in the fantasy world of GTA4. Keep it "real" people and in perspective. Parent your kids - and we'll all be fine!! Peace be with you.

blah blah blah everyone will use anything to get on a soap box and spread their political views and their opinions on how they feel others should act and behave. Play the game, how is it? Post an opinion on the gameplay and the how good it is. Want to turn into Rev. Wright get on a political blog and argue with readers who care. How is the GAME of topic?

Some guy is going for the guinness world record - longest time playing a video game at one sitting at buahleague.tv and the game play is on live.yahoo (you'll have to find it - should be featured) It's pretty fun to check out some of the game play if you don't already have the game, plus they are probably 6- 8 hours in and he is going to play for 24 hours + non-stop.

hehe , I meant bushleague.tv

This game is incredible!!!....The physics that have gone into the gameplay action are inventive and groundbreaking.. The story line, so far, is like watching a movie from one of the great film directors. The only catch is....you actually get to choose the outcomes and situations. Absolutely one of the best games ever made.

For those who oppose the game or just feel like complaining because of some need to pick on something u dont understand.....Try to remember that the first generation "gamers" of the 80' and 90's are now adults. We dont want to play games with furry pink animals and bouncing stars anymore. We need games that are aimed at our demographic. "Children" should not be playing this game, that is why it is rated 17+.

Rockstar gets it!

Evolve's comments are some of the most ignorant I've ever seen. It's too bad that some feel enabled to bash concerned ignorance with mean-spirited ignorance.

I am a Southern Baptist pastor. I've also owned GTA4 since the minute it went on sale. In most ways, it is a fantastic game. (The graphics are a little on the rough side, but that is made up for by the sheer complexity of the environment.) The story is actually about seeing the emptiness and meaninglessness of criminal activity. It hardly endorses such things, but rather takes a realistic view of the pain associated with evil.

That being said, the game is also full of all sorts of abominable things. In that sense it is very much like a modern city. There are hookers. There is a lot of swearing. You can drive drunk. You can stab a person for no reason. There are strip clubs. These things are foul, but they also exist just down the street from where most people live. Heck, I live in a VERY rural area, and yet when I took my children to the circus last week, I heard stuff coming out of the mouths of a couple of drunk fellows behind me that would cause Niko Bellic to blush.

My point? Is the game really good from a gameplay standpoint? Oh yeah. From a moral standpoint? It tries to capture a real American city's culture. You hear almost no swearing in rich neighborhoods. You hear almost nothing else in poor ones. The game tries to imitate life. It does a pretty good job. There are immoral things here. This game depicts sinful acts. But then again, so does the Bible. I remember one scene in Genesis where a guy's two daughters get him drunk and take turns 'laying' with their father.

Sinful and immoral content are not always the defacto indicator of the overall usefulness of the media. GTA tells a good story and is a blast to play. If the language offends you, don't play it. If you have children, wait until they go to bed and get some headphones. If you're offended by any of the various activities of the game, avoid those. If the mere presence of some of these factors makes something 'absolutely evil' then there are a lot of movies, songs, games, and books that we have to repent of enjoying. But if it's possible to take some level of enjoyment from worldly entertainment without being utterly corrupted by it, then there is something to see here.

Everyone out there who says that the GTA series is destructive to kids is just lookn to put the blame on anything but themselves, being parents. I have played all the GTA games since i was a little booger and now i'm setting in a college dorm room at PHARMACY school. Doesn't sound like these games ruined my life and caused me to be a destructive individual that has no moral responsibilities in this world. I dont know though this game could of added a few more words in my vocab, but hell so could turning on the TV or walking into walmart for that matter. I just don't see why so many people are makn a ruckus about this game and what its all about. Like everyone on here has said it is just a way for people to place the blame on someone else other than the parents themselves.

Of all the hype surrounding this game there is an entirely different aspect being overshadowed.
The fact that Rockstar has released this game full of technical issues which are being experienced by thousands of players. Both Rockstar and Sony are pointing their fingers at each other and people have owned this game for 12 days now yet have not been able to play it once.
You can check the forums at www.playstation.com and some people have been documenting these issues and placing the videos on youtube.

The funniest thing I have heard of is that parents and politicians complained about the hidden sex scene in San Andreas... Ummmm parents, the game is M rated, maybe you shouldn't be BUYING M rated games for your child and I'm guessing you'd rather your kid shooting people than having anything to do with sex... And politicians, don't we have bigger problems than video games you can worry about? :)

Anyway, these games have always been fun to me, but if i had kids, they certainly wouldn't be playing them... :)

PJ of CA,

I agree with you 100%. It's a great game, one of the best I've ever played, but a terrible influence on young people (maybe even the old)--not just the violence, but also the sex. In addition to criminal behavior, I believe it encourages sexual addiction and leads one to believe that there are no consequences in life. And the sad thing is that it's all so unnecessary. I also find it offensive to women who are referred to throughout the game as "P". I've completed 20% of the gameplay and so far I've not seen a woman portrayed in a positive or intelligent way in this game.

My sons are all grown, but I wouldn't have let this game in the house if they weren't. I'm very relieved that they feel the same way that I do about the lack of morality portrayed in this game and find many facets of it offensive.

Interesting that someone thought you were a Republican. For the record, I'm a Democrat. I'm not religious either.

Oh Dear. I can't believe people think this has anything to do with political views.
I CAN understand why it would, as one's political views would usually reflect ones environment/age/religious views/general policy on anything, but really folks, it's a video game.
So yes,
-Its a controversial game, due to it's graphic nature
-There have been accounts of violent crimes that imitate or pay homage to the gameplay, or the convicted was a fan of the game
-It portrays many immoral/illegal acts, which the player can 'get away with'

But does one seriously believe that this, not only creates a destructive personality, but also mass-produces young criminals? Perchance is one NOT THINKING THIS THROUGH? Possibly, plausibly, most likely.
Whilst this IS a controversial game, it is targeted because of its fame.
There are, (not an exaggeration) hundreds of other games, from different game manufacturers that are of a simialar, if not an equal or even greater, graphic nature.
The fact that 'so many youths who have murdered/stolen a car and own this game' is considered a factor is proposturous. In terms of youths who own/play GTA, it is a virtaully INFINATLY greater number of them who play the game and do not reenact such crimes in reality. Thusly, this connection between the game and the crimes can be rendered obselete, and pretty much irrelevent.
Whereas other factors, such as an abusive/violent environment/upbringing, availability of weapons, and finally PREEXISTING MENTAL-INSTABILITY OR LACK OF COMMON MORALITY are much better means of providing 'uncanny conincidences'. Whislt these can be 'enhanced' by such a game as GTA, Alchohol and Firearms also contribute to this, and are also restricted buy age to be aquired.
When a crime is committed by a youth under the influence, or with a firearm, it is rightly considered 'the parents fault'. So what about when such a crime committed when "Under the influnce" of such a "harmful" game?
Biologically Speaking, Humans (particularly males- and I am male, and not sexist) are naturally built with a violent nature. This is why children fight, and teenagers are aggressive, why adrenaline exists, and why it feels good the 'be in charge' of something, or be the best etc. Of course, modern day society teaches us, and builds us into, a peaceful nature, that allows us all to live our lives, contribute to the economy, buy food from the supermarket, live into our eighties and nineties etc, and other things that would not occur in our basic natural state. And so we are left with this subconcious urge to engage in something rough, dangerous or violent, and sometimes illegal. This could be anything, and could depend upon the person. It could be playing rugby or Gridiron, or it could be picking a fight. It could be attending a fighting match, or it could be starting a riot. It could be It could be watching a action/kung-fu movie, or it could be shoplifting. It could be Bungie-Jumping, or it could be breaking the speed limit. It could be Clay Pigeoning, or it could be taking a gun to school.
It could be playing GTA, or it could be shooting 11 people, joyriding a sports car, and evading the police untill you crash. In REAL life.
All of these things are different means humans would use to get an adrenaline rush, to do someting exciting, etc. Since it is natural, and most of the negative things listed above are illegal, things like Extreme or rough sports, adrenaline events, roller coasters and games like GTA, all exist.
And thusly it keeps safe, out of the medieval age, within our laws. When we are unable to release this natural tension through these facets, ie it becomes illegal, we are physicaly unable, it is unavailable, THAT is when we break our taught morals and Commit crimes, and do all the NEGATIVE THINGS described above.
Thusly, GTA keeps us safer. It is in fact an Ideal way for someone to be free of 'unnatural' morals and rules for just a short while. It will keep you sane, keep the violent person in you at bay.
The game doesnt hurt anyone who is being taught basic morality by his parents/guadians, and is not subject to extreme abuse, and is otherwise mentally stable.

THAT is why I am going to buy GTA 4 as soon as it comes out.
Note:
This Gigantic huge essay thing is only a portrayal of my opinion. I will not go out of my way to disprove anyone in particular, nor do judge anyones opinion regardless as to how extreme/rediculous/biased/irrelevent it is, provided they make some sort of hard proof, and DONT assume that everyone is the same religion/race or something stupid.
Furthermore I have very mild political views, and if anything, consider myself completley centrered. I am agnostic, meaning I do not nessiserily dissagree the existence of God/s, or divinity, but I am at the moment unconvinced by most of religious views, and am not religious.
Whew. THERE.