Near perfect sandbox of crime

Being a big fan of the GTA franchise when I heard GTA4 was coming it was both inevitable and a joy to hear.
Now that I've finally finished it, I am not disappointed.

GTA4 revolves around Niko Bellic, a immigrant from Bosnia trying to start his life over in Liberty City. But later on in the game Niko explains that his coming to Liberty City wasn't just to start over but to find who he thinks betrayed his former army unit.
On the way Niko makes friends and finds work with lots of different interesting people; from a Russian loan shark, a Jamaican arms dealer, a loud mouth (slightly gay) steroid user, to a family of Irish mobsters.

Graphics are pretty stunning and have forgone the cartoony look for a more realistic look and it pull that off really well.

Sound is a big plus in almost every aspect. The voice work on all the characters sound perfectly matched, the sound FX's are spot on, and the radio is full of tunes and talk stations that anyone is sure to find one or two that like.

Gameplay is fairly the same as the other GTA's as far as missions go but the rest has taken a major overhaul since the last GTA.
Shooting is a lot better with the lock-on system being really good at picking the dangerous targets before random passer-by and also the manual aim with the PS3's new triggers felt really natural.
The cover system is also new for the series and while not original or the best out there it's a welcome addition as with previous GTA's you almost had to have armor on all the time when fighting and the cover system gives the player a better chance against multiple enemies.
One of the more radical changes is the driving as there is now a physic engine and so driving doesn't feel as arcady and now more realistic and takes time to get used to.

Overall the game is great and near perfect and should be picked up by any 360 or PS3 owner.

9/10