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jakeholko
Reviews
Grand Theft Auto IV (2008)
I have never felt this way about a game before
First of all, this was based off my first playthrough I finished a week ago and so there is no nostalgia bias or any of that. Grand Theft Auto IV is a gritty tale and is basically a black comedy in the form of a video game. It's dark, depressing and comedic at times. It knows when to make a joke and when not to, it proves that not everything will have a happy ending and will end in an unexpected and unfortunate way. While it is a 10/10 for me because of its amazing story, fun physics and awesome characters, it's still one of my favourite GTA games and there is no denying that. Even just minor details like civilians holding onto car doors when you drive off or the fact that Niko repeats Roman's first words said to him at the start of the game and Niko says it the a near death Dimitri who is bleeding out on the floor. The ending was amazing because it made me feel empty, like was revenge what I really wanted? Should I have killed Dimitri? Should I have shot Darko 12 times for my lost friends? Should I have told Roman that her mother was r*ped and killed in the war? Or should I have come to liberty city in the first place and caused all of this pain for others around me? Niko is a broken character and his dialogue, actions and facial expressions show this and it's saddening how realistic this is. I am going to miss playing Grand Theft Auto IV for the first time as I will never play it again knowing that Kate or Roman have to die in the end and you can't do anything about it. You have to do something about playboy X or Dwayne in Grand Theft Auto IV and you don't get a choice! Niko blatantly says he doesn't want to kill any of them but he has to, he has to move on, he has to pick to deal with Dimitri or not and get revenge and he has to face his past by either killing a broken war criminal from his past begging to be shot or not kill him and let him suffer and Niko and Roman talk about how killing him wasn't worth it at all!! This is amazing!! Choices in video games are amazing in general, the fact that you have the choice to affect the way the player feels about a specific situation and it's utilised perfectly in Grand Theft Auto IV. I love this game and I always will, I have played the amazing dlcs and loved them however their stories aren't as impactful as the main game's story. Highly recommend this masterpiece.
Fallout: New Vegas (2010)
Just amazing
It is amazing, from the story to the excellent gameplay. New Vegas never disappoints, still my favourite fallout game as it nails the atmosphere and theme. The world is absolutely amazing, the strip is so cool to go to and the Mojave wasteland is so empty, depressing yet realistic. There are at least 100 weapons and each weapon feels different which makes for unique combat encounters. Each enemy feels unique, each requiring different weapons or types of ammunition to kill. Gambling is also existent and it now feels more purposeful to have a high luck skill. As well as the smaller details in casinos, with the fun casino mini games and the three rewards you can get before earning too much money and getting banned from the casino. Each quest is unique yet fun and I genuinely think (after over 150 hours of playtime) that this is and always will be the best fallout game.