The difference was night and day, and the players couldn't help but feel the game was intentionally trying not to be fun. One of the biggest distinctions was how cars were handled in a way that seemed to have realistic weight.įor comparison's sake, it was akin to suddenly a sim-style racing game a la F1 right after playing Need for Speed, which is an arcade-style racing game. While the players had fairly little trouble getting used to the 'Batman Begins'-ish tone and narrative, the gameplay did cause some trouble. Giving Liberty City a distinct, soulless personality that played very well into the kind of story the game was attempting to tell. GTA 4 adopted a far grimmer color palette, with many bright colors almost drained from the picture.

Giving the open-world city a personality of its own is a big part, as the city itself is a huge character in the GTA games. Rockstar Games have always utilized a dominant color grade for a variety of purposes.

While they also thought of San Andreas' particular shade of sunset-yellow during that particular time of the day. For instance, the neon sheen over Vice City is the first thing players thought of when looking back on their visual memories of the game. But it would be an oversight to suggest that GTA 4 was the first game in the series to have utilized color grading and palette as a way to relay a singular tone.Įach game in the past has had a distinct art style and approach to color grading. The same rules apply to the medium of games, as GTA 4 illustrated that a much-muted color palette and de-saturated look to the city gave it a distinct tone. What makes GTA 4 so distinct from the rest of the series? A gritty tone and narrative The catch is, it can easily sway either way - negative or positive.Īs the first game in the series to divide public opinion since the early days of the franchise, what made GTA 4 distinct from the rest of the series? The true genius of GTA 4 lies in its inherent ability to evoke a passionate reaction from the audience.

Yet that is exactly what Rockstar Games envisioned the next Grand Theft Auto title to be, and the result was a rather divisive title in the community. Fans, by that point, had grown accustomed to GTA as satire-rich, action romps, with hints of serious undertones, but never saw it as a gritty crime drama. By 2008, GTA 4 had been in the works for a while, and fans had been anticipating a sequel to the dearly beloved GTA San Andreas since 2004.īut if early trailers and marketing material were anything to go by, then the upcoming title was shaping up to be different than the last. 13-years-ago, on this exact date, GTA 4 was released for the Xbox 360 and the PS3 to much fanfare, wide critical acclaim, and massive commercial success.

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