Grand Theft Auto IV

Vice City Stories tickled my GTA itch, and GTA4 has been scratching it thoroughly. While my previous forays with the game have been mostly limited to dicking around and blowing up police cruisers, this time I'm actually doing the missions, and I'm surprised at how fun they are. Where many previous GTA missions felt like they were fighting the engine the whole way, this time they're harmoniously integrated. Read: I'm not dying all the fucking time. (And when I do die, I keep all my weapons and ammo! Nice.)

I landed in Hove Beach last weekend, and have been playing it at every opportunity since - finally, I'm pleased with Rockstar's delivery on the GTA adventure formula. It may not do much for the little things like earlier installments did, but GTA4 gets it right where it counts. And would you believe that Niko actually has a compelling story on him? Neat, right?

So far my three biggest complaints are:

• Cell phone conversations are easily interrupted, and they usually don't call back (thank you, game script!)
• No trip skip (mission retries are easy, but some trips are still really long)
• I cannot understand what the fuck Little Jacob is talking about

Which are not super-huge complaints, really. I'd complain about the targeting system being a little wonky, but for once, it's actually good enough to convince me that dying is my own damn fault. And a lot of the little extras, like in-game TV and bowling, are a total waste of time and/or pain in the ass - but they're always fully skippable.

This engine and storytelling, in Vice City? Yeah, I could dig that.

Progress: Robbed a bank! Yes!