 | ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids. |
 | OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | NOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age. |
Grand Theft Auto IV
- Xbox 360, PlayStation 3
- Price: $59.99
- Genre: Action/Adventure
Common Sense Media says
Murder, sex, drugs, drunk driving. Not for kids.
Parents say
QUALITY
Kids say
QUALITY
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that this game isn't for kids in any way. This new version is as controversial as its predecessors, letting you lead a life of crime, shoot police officers, drink and drive, and have sex with prostitutes. It features pole dancers and lap dancers at a men's club and is laced with profane language that pushes the envelope (much of it peppered throughout the over 100 songs played on car radios in the game). The star rating given to this game is based on the quality of the gameplay within the context of adult gaming and isn't an endorsement of the violence within the game.
What's it about?
Without question, GRAND THEFT AUTO IV isn't for younger players because of its graphic violence, sexual themes, and coarse language. Yet the game will be extremely popular with adult gamers because this sequel lives up to its hype in the game-play department. Available for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, Grand Theft Auto IV lets you play as Niko Bellic, a tough-looking character who arrives on U.S. shores from somewhere in Eastern Europe, expecting to live the good life with his American cousin, Roman, who lied to Niko about his posh lifestyle in the New World. In fact, Niko is a scheming loudmouth who owes money to loan sharks because of gambling debts and lives in a cockroach-infested apartment the size of a walk-in closet. Nevertheless, Niko decides to help out Roman with his rundown cab stand and keep thugs off his back until he can figure out how to make money and connections in Liberty City, the same town as 2001's Grand Theft Auto III, modeled after New York City and New Jersey. Plus, you'll discover a few hours into the game there are other reasons why Niko left his homeland.
For the uninitiated, Grand Theft Auto games offer "sandbox" play, meaning you can virtually go anywhere and do anything in this fully realized 3-D city with pedestrians, traffic, and storefronts. Played from a third-person perspective, this includes carjacking any vehicle, listening to more than a hundred songs on car radios (as well as very funny DJ banter and commercials), and playing mini-games such as billiards, darts, bowling, or arcade games. Niko can go on dates, swim, surf the Net, and purchase clothing and weapons. But it's the seedy missions that unravel the lengthy single-player story. In-person or on his cell phone, Niko will be asked to perform missions that include escorting Roman's friends, taking out drug dealers, evading police cruisers, racing to one end of the city before someone else, flying a helicopter, or retrieving stolen money. And how you go about a mission may vary, such as carjacking a cop cruiser to gain access to the police computer to look up an informant: you can call 9-1-1 on your phone so a police car comes and then take out the cop; shoot at pedestrians until the police come; or stealthily steal a cop car from the police station.
Is it any good?
For the first time in the series, Grand Theft Auto IV offers high-definition graphics, including smooth animation and lip-synching, varying weather effects, and a new physics engine that models everything authentically. This sequel also adds more hand-to-hand combat and optional in-car GPS to help you better navigate this city. Without question, though, the biggest new feature is something gamers have been asking about for years: multiplayer. In Grand Theft Auto IV, up to 16 gamers can play online in a host of game head-to-head modes, like "Cops & Crooks," or cooperative missions like "Hangman's NOOSE." Xbox 360 gamers will also be able to download bonus missions and other content later this year, via the Xbox Live service.
Of course, the controversy this game will garner is unavoidable. As with past GTA titles you can shoot at cops, drive into pedestrians, or request "services" from a prostitute and a lap dance from a stripper. This sequel is also laced with plenty of foul language and you can drink and drive, though your cousin calls you a "bloody idiot" for doing so. Again, take heed of the "M"-rating. Aside from a slightly choppy frame rate at random times, where the action stutters for a bit, and hard-to-read green GPS directions on your mini-map, there is little to complain about with the gameplay mechanics of Grand Theft Auto IV. Adult gamers will find a single-player story that can easily last a month, not to mention the ability to hop online and play with friends. In short, this highly-polished sequel will gratify adults who will get a long "bang" for their buck. But don't let your kids anywhere near it.
What families can talk about
Families can talk about why kids -- who are not the intended audience -- play this game. What is it about the game that appeals to them? Do they understand why this game is inappropriate for young people?
You also might ask your kids if they think video game violence is
different from TV or movie violence. What affect does it have on your
kids when they initiate the violence within the game or do something clearly outside of
the law? In the game, they can break the law with no consequence.
- Show:
- All members
- Parents
- Teens & kids
AGE
Understand the Logic Behind It
People, people, people, you have to understand one thing about this game first before you write anything in reference to it: this game is meant to be a harmful outlet in a harmless setting! What I am trying to say is that the game is supposed to be violent because that is what we are as humans: VIOLENT, FURIOUS CREATURES. Why do you think children fight over toys? Why do men lie and cheat and steal? It is the crater to our morality, our innate human nature, the primal instinct to serve the id, the "selfish" center of the human psyche.
You must realize, that Grand Theft Auto IV is only playing on the fact that this id is one of the most controlling factors of our lives; our own primeval instincts usually serve to be the most useful (anyone heard of fight or flight? The base center of human survival?). Essentially what Rockstar Games is doing is allowing us to use GTA IV as an outlet for our uncontrollable human nature; so why is it bad for children? IT IS NOT (if said children can distinguish this as a harmless, fantasy context rather than reality). Children need an outlet for their own primal selves as well (kid punching a pillow: releasing his anger, preparing himself for the next hour, and a new day). Letting out violence is what we as humans must do in order to survive, and what better way than staring at a box, a harmless screen comprised of billions upon billions of triangles, colors, and scripting codes, where all of our violent intentions can come true, so that we can fully release the tension, the blinding furies of life?
Grand Theft Auto IV is an excellent game, and once you start playing it, you do grasp one major concept: everything we do has consequences. Say for instance, you break into a car on the game: well, the alarm was set, and goes off, and a cop happens to notice this. You have two choices: you could either run, and have the cop follow in pursuit, where you are likely to be caught by some means of governmental force (i.e. search helicopters or even the S.W.A.T. force), or you could stay put, get arrested, and follow through your sentence (which in the game is called getting "BUSTED," where you lose all your possessions, a large portion of money, and are siphoned of all your time for the next couple of days [in game time, that's quite a while]).
So really, are we dealing with the next "killing sim" as some parents like to call it? Or has Rockstar finally provided such an imaginary context in which we can express real and tangible emotions and outbreaks of our own humanity, providing we can discern the imaginary from the real (which is another case of perception of it's own), finally producing a resolve to everything we experience throughout our lifetimes? The message is there, but it can't make you listen to it. That's up to you.
Was this review useful?
|
|
AGE
Good for Kids 12 and up
I, as a mother of one child think this is fine for children over 12. My child got this game for his 12 birthday, and I was skeptical at first. I had heard this game was horrible, but once i saw my son play this, I found it wasn't as bad as I thought. It turned out that ESRB rated this M mostly because of cheats, which allow there to be more gore and blood, make random AIs literally only speak in profanities, make many characters smoke or do drugs, and make people walk around in bikinis, even though it completely destroys your save file. Another thing is that the "strong sexual behavior" can only be found one of two ways. One, is to use the game breaking cheats, or to complete the game, then find a random object, then bring it to one of 30 predetermined places. So in my opinion, this should be rated a high T, or a low M.
Was this review useful?
|
|
AGE
It's possible to be 14 and be above this game.
Yes there is a lot of violence, cursing, blood/gore, drugs, sex (partial nudity), pretty much everything bad you can put into a video game. The thing is, you can be 14 years old and above all that, so long as your moral values are in check. As long as you know that you shouldn't run away shooting at cops chasing you, that you shouldn't have sex w/ prostitutes, that you shouldn't do or deal drugs, and that you shouldn't steal or blow up every car in sight, you can play this game. Basically the player needs to grasp the fact that the stuff in this game needs to stay in this game and not leak out into the real world. It's fun to be bad sometimes, that's why you play the game, but does that make it right and should you do it in real life? As long as you know the answer to that question is no, then you can play this game.
Was this review useful?
|
|
AGE
Great game for kids who know right from wrong
This game may inspire a few psychos, but any sane child will know this game is fictional and any crimes are wrong.
Was this review useful?
|
|
AGE
The Game
This game is good. And mabey it could be a good lesson CRIME DOESN'T PAY!! And secondly parents should stop yelling at its creators its just a game. third chances are the same damage could be happing to your kids at SCHOOL. I went through this But the damage is done. 4th Tell Johnny not to kill that person, NOT to smoke crack, NOT to have sex with a prostitute. Just stop blamming it on the creators.
Was this review useful?
|
|
AGE
Inapprioriate, yet misunderstood.
First off, let me start by saying I first experienced the Grand Theft Auto (GTA) series at the age of 6, and haven't stopped playing it. And as a high school student, I can also tell parents that anything your child experiences in this game, is nothing he/she isn't accustomed to after elementary~mid-junior high, depending on your area. Which happens to be a lot of areas. In GTA, you will not have a single play-through without hearing the 'F word', or go without violence. Just like walking through the halls of an average American middle/high school (give or take the violence). I am in no way saying that this is appropriate for younger audiences. Though, my bottom line is, if you're going to shield kids from this game, don't send them to public school. Unless they have trouble differentiating reality from a game. I think the game is okay for 10+ so long as it's made clear who the bad guy is. I'm no psychiatrist, but I personally believe if I were to teach a child good morals, that this game would only cause he/she to lash out less in the real world, because they are doing so in a safe, non-repercussive environment. The game is fun, and not appropriate. That is why kids like it. But then again, anything you see on GTA is reported only a bit less graphically in the news. Everyday.
Was this review useful?
|
|
AGE
...Wow
Best Grand Theft Auto yet, but its still to violent for people 18 or younger... NOT!
Was this review useful?
|
|
AGE
Fine for anyone who comprehends real-life "right" from "wrong"
The Grand Theft auto series does not MAKE people "go bad". This game does have gratuitous amounts of violence, sex, drugs, etc. but it is FICTIONAL. I let me 9 year old play this while I'm in the roo because he understands its not real. He knows that violence and crime in real life has [major] censequences. Since playing this game, he has had NO negative life changes whatsoever. A game is NOT real life, get over it people and take some darn responsibility for what you do and stop blaming things that have NO effect on the utmost VAST majority of people who experience it.
Was this review useful?
|
|
AGE
Fine for 10 and up, not really too violent...
It contains way too much swearing, but it proves to be a very fun and unless your kids are stupid, very un-impressionable game. You can walk around a live city full of people and drive cars around. The cheats are also an entertaining way to fire up the gameplay. There is no graphic gore, although blood splattering in some cases. When we did a questionaire on kids in a class aged 10-11, 88% put this on their games that they own list. Believe me, they weren't little hoodlums or murderers, they were mainly intelligent young people who were not swearing or beating each other up at breaktimes. So I conclude with: This game should be fine for your 10 year old or upwards and is not really that violent.
Was this review useful?
|
|
AGE
GTA IV ROCKS!!!
First of all, there is no sex in the game. I don't consider rubbing a woman on the street sex. Also, this stuff happens in real life, so banning this game will stop all this violence from happening? This game tells the story of immigrants struggling to find themselves in America. This game is edgy but the game shows kids that life isn't all peachy. Newsflash, life is hard and bloody!
Was this review useful?
|
|
| Platforms: | Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 |
| Available online? | Available online |
| Genre: | Action/Adventure |
| Developer: | Rockstar Games |
| Release date: | April 29, 2008 |
| Price: | $59.99 |
| ESRB rating: | M for Intense Violence, Blood, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content, Partial Nudity, Use of Drugs and Alcohol |
Contact us to give us more feedback on our learning ratings.
Review It
Tell us what you think about our new Learning Ratings.
Great alternatives handpicked by our editors
Already played it? What do you think?
More from Common Sense Media
Top advice and articles
