FEATURE: GTA4, Bad Game Design Strikes Again
- Scribbled on May 7th, 2008 by Jonah Falcon
- Filed in Action, Features, Microsoft Xbox 360, Sony PlayStation 3
I don’t care how many copies of Grand Theft Auto IV get sold. I don’t care how many rave reviews it gets – from magazines and websites highlighting it as a feature story (nudge, nudge, wink, wink), but Rockstar continues to prove when it comes to basic web design, they’re stuck in the Stone Age. I’d already detailed a long time ago on game design, Rockstar may have great tunes, and nice graphics, but gameplay-wise, they still don’t get it.
An excerpt:
One of my biggest pet peeves are repeatable missions, some of the sort you see in Grand Theft Auto or Saints Row, and so forth. Some of the missions go out of their way to not only be excrutiatingly difficult, and illogical (the toy helicopters in the first GTA springs to mind), but also bring the narrative to a screeching halt – for no reason whatsoever, which stretches any sort of suspension of belief to the breaking point. Honestly, if some idiot who is only tangential to the plot gets killed, would that really end the story? I mean, if Frank can’t stop some loon in a motorcycle in Dead Rising, and runs away instead, would that end the story? Early in GTA: San Andreas, so WHAT if you can’t get that guy on the motorbike, who had sex with Loc G. Maybe failing to get him makes him turn around and attack you for failing. It would be a different story, sure. But is that so bad?
Case in point in Grand Theft Auto IV: first sniper mission, I have to take out some baddies who are attacking a dealer. Forgetting for a moment that even with the scope and a tiny little red arrow icon, it’s difficult to pick out who’s on your side, for some reason, the mission keeps failing when seemingly all of the enemies are killed. But worse, worse, if the dealer gets injured, mission over. Do it again. Why? Niko isn’t dead. Let him fail. Failure is a part of life.
And Rockstar once again proves that forcing someone to do the same thing over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over is boring.
Just think how boring that was to read. This isn’t an arcade game where you’re forcing the player to pump quarters. Just get on with the storyline.
But it gets worse – a previous mission had a player take out some gang members who are hanging around a garage. Now, half the members don’t take off in a car til you attack, so I thought I’d be cute and use this tactic: I rammed a car a number of times til it was on fire and ready to explode. I drove the car in front of the car where some of the game members were sitting in the car. The car explodes, and the gang car doesn’t, even though the other cars nearby did. That, my friend, is the opposite of cheating. That’s fixing the mission and robbing creativity from the player. So much for “free-form thinking”.
Of course, you can’t save anywhere – Grand Theft Auto IV still has a lame save point feature, though it does autosave after successful missions. But, God knows, why have someone save when they do well in the first half of a mission? Nope, redo the whole mission, sucker. Someone tell Rockstar it’s 2008, not 1988. No one needs to input a pass code anymore. People who owned a computer since 1982 have enjoyed saving anywhere; I guess we’re just spoiled that way.
But hey, GTA4 sold a quadrillion copies, so obviously, that’s a real motivation to, you know, actually change the formula. Right?
[Oh, and escort missions where a mission will end if they get hurt, let alone killed, should be illegal. End of story.]
May 7th, 2008 at 1:49 pm
I couldn’t agree more. the game is very entertaining though, but it kind of sucks that you have to redo missions instead of just “moving on”
May 7th, 2008 at 4:43 pm
Correction, it’s not bad game design, it’s just game design features that you don’t like. I myself am fine with them. Same for Dead Rising. I PREFER save points in that game. Do you know how hard it is to have save-anywhere in a scripted game?
May 7th, 2008 at 4:56 pm
Yeah, I prefer save points too. I also prefer microtransactions.
Checkpoints > Save anywhere?
Where’s that Kool Aid?
June 13th, 2008 at 4:37 pm
With the sniper mission, I agree that there should be a clearer read to who the enemies are, it’s easy to get confused. That said, the red icons are a dead give away to who the enemies are; I beat the mission on the first try, don’t know why you had such a hard time, unless you’re color blind.
As far as repetitive gameplay goes, yah driving gets old. But that’s why they introduced taxi’s if you don’t want to waste your time. The missions have more variety than the last game as well.
But to say you’d like to save in between missions is a joke. I mean come on, you spend about 15 minutes max on a mission, it’s not 2 hours or something. Games were meant to have fail conditions; you learn from them, get better and advance.
Overall your comments don’t really point to anything about bad game design, just that if you made the game, this is what you’d do out of preference (meaning you like games to be easy and not challenging). Maybe you should go play Lego Star Wars, my 5 year old nephew beat it no problem.
August 17th, 2008 at 10:41 pm
Derwhat OWNS “Maybe you should go play Lego Star Wars, my 5 year old nephew beat it no problem.” Lmao. Yes GTA IV in my opinion is a really good game, and from what I’ve read you are just really bad at the game.
August 17th, 2008 at 11:21 pm
LOL Standard ad hominem argument. If it isn’t “You just don’t like Rockstar” or “You don’t like GTA”, it’s “You suck and you’re a newb! LOLZ”
I’ve been gaming for 30 years. I know what’s what.
July 23rd, 2009 at 11:10 am
Honestly I thought it was going to be like the other games in the series but i was dissapointed after my initial play ,I thought the whole thing was bad no-way as entertaining as San Andreas.I felt as it was only half a game.I mean,how boring is it playing darts on machine as the 360???or pool for that matter.I felt as there was not enough free thinking for the player and not enough distractions even the freeplay multiplayer mode was dull after a while.The cars in the games handled as though you where driving a cow !!!!,,,very frustrating in races and in missions where you have to chase npcs.Also when controling Nico I felt as it was sluggish. I loved the other titles in the GTA series but for me this one sucks and blows at the same time….sorry Rockstar
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:00 am
Yeah, I agree about the save feature in the game! I wish Rockstar would realize that not everybody has the stamina to do missions that some times take ages then realize you’ve forgotten something that could help you. Adding a per part save function would be a great idea, especially for the really long missions.
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:02 am
Chinatown Wars does the save system right.
April 14th, 2010 at 7:50 am
I agree, this game frustrated me more than any other. Games should suppose to be fun and make you want to see and play more, not throw the controller away in anger. Why do I get shot by police if I bump into their car, or get chased by them if I shoot a pigion? Or even fire my gun in my own freaking house?? And the lack of savepoints is what made me throw away this game in the bin, after trying to beat the race with the porsche for the sixth time, being run off the road again and having to drive to the steroid guy again, skip the intro, and back to the race again to fail another time aaaaargh. Why not back at the race starting point for crying out loud? What about the ‘pickup the drugs’ mission in the old hospital. Drive there, shoot a bunch of guys and then get shot by hordes of policemen blocking your way out. No other solution available. Get arrested and loose all your posessions. I really cant understand why this game got such praise.
May 10th, 2010 at 12:48 pm
Could not agree more, aspecially about the savepoints. Beutiful game, but after having to repeat the same mission for more than 20 times (because you get bored and sluggish buy constantly repeating the first 5 parts of the mission)you should be allowed to save anywhere.
February 10th, 2012 at 8:20 pm
GTA 4 is one of the worst games i played in a long while.
I never played a gta game before, got gta4 cheap on steam on their xmas promotions.
Bad design at its worst.
I dont mind a stupid game when i see one, but what i do mind is how this steaming pile of poop got such glorious reviews and such a following.
Actually no, wait….i dont want to know how it got great reviews and a big following….i just dont want to know.