First off, don't get me wrong here. Great game, got it on opening day, been playing ever since.
However, a few things have bothered me about it, as I was kinda hopeing for a souped-up GTA:SA.
So far, seems like we're missing:
-Planes! I loved flying around, just doing nothing but listening to music, or skydiving and watching the plane crash down :(
-Upgrades. No 'skill/mastery' of anything, neither weapons or vehicle get any better with use. No dual weilding shottys this time around...
-Bikes. Not a biggie, but a fun way to get around for sure!
-Working out... maybe no big loss here, but being stronger was cool, and running stamina was sweet too. This also leads into...
-Fighting techniques. Seems like obtaining better moves for hand to hand is gone. While not used alot, it was alot better than just standard punching.
-Mod shops. Kinda pointless, but nitrous and sweet rims were a fun touch!
-Parachutes and basejumping. Gone :(
-Weapons. Of course weapons are still around, but no katana, chainsaw, flamethrower. Seems like alot less selection now.
-Army at 6 stars. Now it's some sort of anti-terrorist group (N.O.O.S.E.), but they dont seem as cool.
-Turf wars and gang members. While is may not make sense to the story, it was interesting.
-Map size/open road. While alot of it was dead space, San Andreas was beutiful and alot of fun to just go on adventures or fly around in the open country.
-Vehicle types. Seems like alot of cool cars are gone now. No more police bike, hovercraft, go kart, JETPACK, among others. Regular cars are mostly the same, some fun variations were nice to mix things up.
-Swimming underwater. While almost useless, it helped against police boats.
-Clothing. You can still change, but the choices are all pretty dry and bland. You can't dress up outrageously anymore, and there's nowhere near the selection.
-Purchased buildings! No more buyable safehouses or businesses for extra hideouts or side missions. I always liked that part of VC and SA, even Vice City Stories had a cool setup!
There's most likely more, post some if you think of anything...
I suppose they wanted realism in this version. Taking out over-the-top cars and clothes and weapons most likely make more sense, but to me, it takes away from a sandbox game.
More options, the freedom to do MORE is what makes these games better and better.
From GTA 3 to VC to SA, we saw more and more features and options. The games kept getting bigger and to me, more fun.
While GTA 4 is still lots of fun, I almost feel like it's a step backwards. As if it's GTA 3, with new graphics.
Well, that's about it for my rant :p
Feel free to comment!
