{"id":15568,"date":"2026-10-14T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-14T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nextlevelnews.co.uk\/blog\/2026\/10\/14\/grand-theft-auto-iv-the-legacy-review\/"},"modified":"2026-10-14T14:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-10-14T14:00:00","slug":"grand-theft-auto-iv-the-legacy-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextlevelnews.co.uk\/blog\/2026\/10\/14\/grand-theft-auto-iv-the-legacy-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Grand Theft Auto IV \u2013 The Legacy Review"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
<\/section>\n

I\u2019m taking a look back at each of the core Grand Theft Auto games and replaying them in the lead-up to the arrival of Grand Theft Auto 6. What we\u2019ll be putting together won\u2019t be traditional re-reviews, and they won\u2019t come with any new IGN score, but they will re-examine what made each GTA remarkable upon the time of its release. By the end of the project, using GTA\u2019s previously six-star wanted level, you should be able to get an idea of where each of these games roughly rank in my long-term love for this series. <\/em><\/p>\n

Today it\u2019s time to revisit Liberty City in Grand Theft Auto IV.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/section>\n

Grand Theft Auto IV is smaller than GTA: San Andreas. Significantly so, if you exclude water, as its land area is reportedly around only one-quarter the size of San Andreas\u2019s physical real estate. GTA IV also has markedly reduced vehicle variety, with much fewer of them overall and zero car customisation. It has no asset management, less mission variety, no RPG-inspired skill system, a pretty paltry list of cheats, and the only thing you can alter about lead character Niko Bellic is his outfit. In fact, if you weren\u2019t around for the arrival of GTA IV, I think it\u2019s fair enough that you may actually find yourself a little confused about its place in the series pantheon. That is, how could this apparently smaller game with overtly fewer features than its predecessor have instantly become not only the highest-rated GTA in the history of the series, but one of the highest rated games of all time, full stop? Well, the devil is in the details. Countless, unprecedented, incredible details.<\/p>\n

<\/section>\n<\/section>\n

For all his faults as an Eastern European war veteran with a shady past and a short temper, who may or may not have spent 106 minutes trying to kill Owen Wilson back in 2001, Niko Bellic has actually carved out a place as one of the most likeable and accessible characters in the franchise. Lured by his cousin Roman\u2019s lies of wealth and opportunity, it\u2019s easy to both sympathise with Niko\u2019s disappointment at his first encounter with the American Dream, and share in his distaste for the various bastards of Liberty City who seek to exploit him.<\/p>\n

Released in 2008, GTA IV was the first game in the series to be set in the present day since GTA III. In 2026, it\u2019s an interesting snapshot of the world just prior to the smartphone takeover \u2013 back when the internet was still a destination you took time out to visit on a computer, social media was still a novelty rather than the worst thing to happen to humanity since disco music, and your radio would always let you know you were about to receive a mobile phone call. However, despite the 18 year gulf between its setting and today, GTA IV doesn\u2019t feel remotely as retro as something like GTA: Vice City did in 2002 \u2013 even though there were only 16 years between its <\/em>setting and the time of its release. The aesthetic distinctions between the \u201980s and 2000s are, of course, profound. What are the visual differences between the 2000s and now, other than the fact The Rock used to have hair? It\u2019s not a long list. Monoculture is dead, fashion is looping, and \u2013 as remarkably detailed as GTA IV is \u2013 I don\u2019t think there\u2019s anything Rockstar could have done to dodge this phenomenon, Dwayne Johnson\u2019s shaven skull notwithstanding. <\/p>\n

<\/section>\n

Flashing Lights<\/strong><\/h2>\n

However, even though the feeling I glean from GTA IV being a depiction of a specific moment in time <\/em>may not be as strong as that elicited by either GTA: Vice City or GTA: San Andreas, there is no denying what a victory it is in terms of its capacity to represent a true sense of place<\/em>. GTA IV\u2019s Liberty City wasn\u2019t just one of the most convincing virtual cities of its generation; I honestly don\u2019t think it\u2019s an overstatement to say its commitment to tiny details still stands up to scrutiny today. <\/p>\n

<\/section>\n

Revisiting GTA IV\u2019s Liberty City in 2026 \u2013 a game that my Xbox 360 play data indicated to me I haven\u2019t touched in around 14 years \u2013 I\u2019m immediately reminded of how fastidiously crafted every corner of this world is. Yes, it\u2019s a smaller environment than that of San Andreas, but it\u2019s one that is so much more crowded, dense, and dripping with depth. It\u2019s more immediate, more authentic, and more intimate than anything that came before it \u2013 and it\u2019s still a more credible and convincing city than those in most of the open-world action games I\u2019ve played since.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s still a more credible and convincing city than those in most of the open-world action games I\u2019ve played since.<\/section>\n

Strolling though Star Junction \u2013 Liberty City\u2019s glitzy Times Square proxy \u2013 I find myself in tourist mode. I\u2019m too engaged by the fact there\u2019s something to see, read, or admire everywhere I point the camera to be distracted by the temptation of causing anti-social chaos. Hoofing it through Hove Beach \u2013 inspired by Brooklyn\u2019s Brighton Beach \u2013 and I\u2019m once again impressed at how much mileage Rockstar extracts from the seemingly mundane. Garbage strewn on the sidewalks. Individualised storefronts that are faithful to the demographics of the area and are never repeated elsewhere around the city. Places with stories you\u2019ll never get to the bottom of. Like, who is <\/em>Mikey Pissroll, and how much better at pool is <\/em>he than Anal Alan?<\/p>\n

<\/section>\n

The architecture, the lighting, the lived-in grime; Liberty City here feels more than real. It feels aged<\/em>. Rockstar didn\u2019t just build streets; it built them, and then assaulted that asphalt with decades of simulated wear. As a result, those streets are a patchwork of potholes, road plates, and sporadic strips of more recently re-surfaced segments. The custom signwork, the bespoke graffiti \u2013 the fact that no piece of the city looks like any other. A multitude of elements combine to create what was an unprecedented sense of immersion at the time, and absolutely still holds up today. Sure, there\u2019s an unavoidable murkiness to playing GTA IV on original hardware like the Xbox 360, where you\u2019re obviously beholden to the resolution limitations of its age. It results in a soft and rather muted image, and one that\u2019s admittedly exacerbated by the overly cool and slightly washed out colour palette Rockstar opted for. However, it\u2019s still a stunning place to simply explore, whether walking, driving, or using public transport \u2013 which is a viable and realistic way to move around this tightly-packed urban metropolis.<\/p>\n

One Vision<\/strong><\/h2>\n

While Rockstar was committed to rebuilding its famous riff on New York City as realistically as possible within the fidelity it could muster at the time, it also placed an enormous emphasis on physical <\/em>realism. The beating heart of this approach was NaturalMotion\u2019s procedural character-animation technology, Euphoria \u2013 an animation and physics solution that completely transformed how people moved, reacted to impacts, and interacted with their surroundings. It wasn\u2019t just a trivial technical flourish; it fundamentally altered the way the game felt to play, whether you were cutting enemies down with a barrage of bullets, or mercilessly bouncing them off the bonnet of an automobile. It reinvented GTA.<\/p>\n

[Euphoria] wasn\u2019t just a trivial technical flourish; it fundamentally altered the way the game felt to play…. It reinvented GTA.<\/section>\n

Traditional animation relies heavily on pre-authored movements, with developers creating and canning specific sequences that characters will perform in particular circumstances. That is, fill them with lead and they\u2019ll sink to the ground the same way every time. Strike them with a car and they\u2019ll fly up and flop down identically, regardless of the forces at work. Euphoria does away with all of this and, in 2008, it felt like a stunning glimpse of the future. Ditching those pre-determined animations, characters in GTA IV react realistically \u2013 both based on the forces impacting them, and the world within arm\u2019s reach of them. A spray of gunfire may stagger an enemy into a railing behind, which they can tumble over dramatically. A well-placed shot may cause someone to lose their balance and fall off a ledge. Clipping someone in a car will skittle them in a totally different way to clobbering them head-on. One too many drinks may make putting one foot in front of the other temporarily tricky.<\/p>\n

<\/section>\n

The results are often wildly slapstick \u2013 like when Niko flies through the windscreen after neglecting to use a seatbelt, or when NPCs insist on clutching the door handle of your car as it begins to peel away. I still live for these moments. In fact, I\u2019ll often hesitate before getting on the throttle to allow carjacking victims a brief window to grab on before I take them on a brief trip to destination road rash. I don\u2019t know what that says about me. Nothing good, probably. <\/p>\n

So much of the endless experimentation on offer in GTA IV is a direct result of Euphoria, and the fact no two encounters will ever really play out the same way twice. But it also works because it\u2019s part of a much wider commitment to granular realism. That is, what good is a world that oozes so much character and authenticity if the people feel painted on? Like they\u2019re skating through it rather than actually inhabiting it? Everything about GTA IV is engineered to immerse us into its world; like we\u2019re just another living, breathing citizen of Liberty City. <\/p>\n

<\/section>\n

Goodbye Horses<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Despite the incredible critical acclaim GTA IV accumulated, it remains one of the more divisive games in the series. While I am quite partial to the slower nature of its more pragmatic story and straightforward missions as a change of pace, it wasn\u2019t to everyone\u2019s tastes, nor was the relationship system. It was a smart way to disseminate rewards for fostering relationships with your in-game friends, but it admittedly could\u2019ve benefited from a larger range of activities to do with them around the city \u2013 and preferably ones that were a little more fun, too. As it stands, the relationship system is too chore-like, requiring you to repeat the same cycle: pick them up, head to one of a couple of venues, and drive them home.<\/p>\n

<\/section>\n

Similarly, GTA IV\u2019s extremely weighty driving physics are another controversial topic. For mine, I\u2019ve actually always been quite partial to the feel of GTA IV, particularly in certain cars where I think the exaggerated body roll and sluggish steering makes sense \u2013 like muscle cars and beefy 4x4s. I would\u2019ve liked some more sharpness in its range of sports cars and supercars \u2013 they should have stiffer suspension as they ought to be the cars with the firmest rides \u2013 but I do much prefer GTA IV\u2019s approach to damage modeling over GTA V.<\/p>\n

There also doesn\u2019t seem to be any real consensus regarding the radio stations, either, with sentiment that swings between high praise for the outright station variety to claims the song list is the most forgettable in the series. I have to concede I lean towards the latter; coming off the immense highs of Vice City and San Andreas I remember being a little underwhelmed at the time \u2013 although the soundtrack expanded and improved quite noticeably following the arrival of The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony, the two smartest pieces of DLC Rockstar ever produced.<\/p>\n

But that\u2019s a topic for a different day.<\/p>\n

Verdict<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Sentimentally speaking, Grand Theft Auto IV isn\u2019t my favourite<\/em> of the series \u2013 but I would say it\u2019s the one I respect the most. It was bold to dial things back from the unhinged freedom of San Andreas in favour of a slower paced and more grounded crime saga, but it was a decision that allowed Rockstar to establish the importance of having a city so detailed it became a character itself, as well as flex a tech solution for character animation that has gone on to be a defining pillar of the series\u2019 brand of emergent, slapstick fun. Obsessively detailed and impressively timeless, GTA IV is the prototype for modern Grand Theft Auto.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

For more reflections on the incredible Grand Theft Auto series, you can read our new Legacy Reviews of Grand Theft Auto<\/a>, Grand Theft Auto 2<\/a>, Grand Theft Auto III<\/a>, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City<\/a>, and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/section>\n
<\/section>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m taking a look back at each of the core Grand Theft Auto games and replaying them in the lead-up to the arrival of Grand Theft Auto 6. What we\u2019ll be putting together won\u2019t be traditional re-reviews, and they won\u2019t come with any new IGN score, but they will re-examine what made each GTA remarkable […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15569,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15568","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nGrand Theft Auto IV \u2013 The Legacy Review - Next Level News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Stay on top of the gaming world with Next Level News. 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