Grand Theft Auto IV is a masterpiece of mature storytelling. Niko Bellic and the broken American dream in Liberty City. Ultra-dense and living world, cynical and human writing, total freedom. One of the best games of the generation.
Your verdict
Category
Open-World4 players18+
Co-op
Description
Ambitious Rockstar sequel to the Grand Theft Auto saga plunging the player into Liberty City alongside Niko Bellic, a Serbian immigrant. Published by Rockstar, released in Europe in April 2008. Mature cinematic narrative, vast Liberty City open world, refined emergent gameplay, 32-player online multiplayer, and diverse quality radio.
Grand Theft Auto IV review
MAX
Art direction
★★★★★
"Iconic"
MAX
Music
★★★★★
"Legendary"
MAX
Story
★★★★★
"Masterful"
Liberty City recreated with a dense, disenchanted realism, grey light and teeming architecture: the metropolis breathes a raw, living America. The coherence of the world and the density of the streets compose a credible urban theatre. This visual direction, dark and vast, brought the open world to a new maturity.
Broadcast across a multitude of radio stations, the music weaves the cosmopolitan soul of Liberty City, from rock to Eastern European through rap. Michael Hunter's main theme, dark and Slavic, signs the game's identity. This musical generosity, polished and immersive, turns the slightest drive into a tailor-made soundtrack.
An immigrant come to chase the American dream in Liberty City, a former soldier collides with violence and the ghosts of his past. Darker and more adult than its forebears, the tale paints disillusion and revenge with unexpected gravity. Carried by a tormented hero, this bitter portrait of a city still fascinates.
Gameplay
"Masterful"
Roaming a strikingly realistic Liberty City, blending scripted missions with emergent chaos: that's the strength of a sandbox of staggering density. The deliberately heavy driving disorients at first before revealing its own coherence. The physics may have aged, but the narrative ambition and freedom of action remain rich enough to leave a mark even now.
Fun
"From the very first seconds"
A living, detailed metropolis, where you improvise heists, chases and chaotic joyrides at will: the urban sandbox reaches an unprecedented density here. The pleasure springs from this total freedom, where the slightest drive can spiral into gleeful chaos. Rich, immersive and masterfully written, a landmark open-world that redefined the genre's standards.
Addictiveness
"Obsessive"
Crisscrossing Liberty City between scripted missions, unplanned joyrides and side activities sets up an urban sandbox where there's always a reason to extend the outing. Following the story and unlocking the city reward exploration. Its heavy driving and its phone calls grate, but the life of its metropolis and its freedom of action grip you relentlessly.
Difficulty
"Balanced"
Lifespan
"Massive"
Liberty City is discovered as much through its mature campaign as through everything spilling around it: friendships to maintain, outings, emergent activities and a refined gameplay that makes every ride unpredictable. The thirty-two-player online multiplayer and the multiple endings shaped by choice extend Niko Bellic's adventure. This density of a living world marked a turning point for the open world on PS3.
The entry that brought GTA into the HD era with an unprecedentedly realistic Liberty City, a huge critical and commercial success of the generation. Sold in volume, it stays everywhere and cheap. Its desirability is heritage-based, that of a milestone of the series and the console, without scarcity, its market ubiquity ruling out any speculative value.
Better with friends
An urban sandbox turned legend, whose open playground lends itself to a thousand improvised antics between players, from wild races to coordinated heists. The fun springs as much from freedom as from unexpected situations that spiral into fits of laughter. The online side, once colossal, now depends on servers whose activity is no longer assured, but the sandbox spirit keeps a unique pull.
A cult cover
A grid of black-bordered vignettes, comic-page style: portraits of Niko Bellic and fragments of Liberty City assemble into an urban mosaic. The clinical montage and desaturated tones convey crime, satire and the metropolis's excess. Instantly identifiable, it founded a visual charter carried on by the whole modern series.
A questionable morality
Under the pretext of climbing the criminal ladder, you borrow other people's cars, lose the police and settle every dispute with gunfire, all across open cities built for chaos. The game makes no secret of its irony, yet the thrill of total freedom makes you accept, without flinching, a daily routine of crimes chained together with a slightly guilty grin.
Is Grand Theft Auto IV still worth playing in 2026?
Grand Theft Auto IV remains a peak of mature storytelling in video games, and its ambition has lost none of its force. The story of Niko Bellic, an immigrant chasing an American dream that crumbles in the mire of Liberty City, unfolds a cynical and deeply human writing, rare in the medium. The metropolis, of gripping density and realism, teems with detail and life. The heavier driving and realistic physics still divide opinion, against the fantasy of the following entries. But for anyone who places narrative and atmosphere first, this masterpiece remains a striking experience.
