GTA IV: Best Game Ever??

Easily one of the biggest games to come out this generation, GTA IV is finally out in solid form and spinning in over 8 million PS3s and Xbox360s worldwide after less than a month on the market. Reviews had initially placed its average score at over 99% which made it the highest rated game of all time! Over the past two weeks, it had dropped slightly to 97.6 on Xbo360 (#1 all time) and 97.4 on PS3 (#3 all time). Needless to say, it had lived up to the hype in terms of sales and critical acclaim.

But does the game warrant all of this acclaim? Is it really the best game ever made? After only 6 hours of playing the game myself, I would have to say that it is a great game but not necessarily the best of all time. The game is definitely the best GTA game ever released. I admire the shear size and attention to detail the game exudes. Things like stopping to pay a toll to go across and bridge and the cops chasing you if you don't is one of those touches. The ability to call a cab from any point while walking the streets and take a realistic virtual cab ride while admiring the city is another. Being able to to actually attend a comedy show and watch a show in real time by the likes of Katt Williams and other big time comedians is yet another. The game world is absolutely phenomenal and completely engrossing. The story is also the best of any GTA game and better than most other games of its type. Voice acting is top-notch and the animation is much improved over previous games. However, I do have several complaints that take away from the experience. One is that the driving is pretty difficult, much more so than previous versions. It is pretty hard for me to drive straight without crashing all over the place and it can get kind of frustrating at times. My other complaint is with the overall graphics. The graphics have many moments of just seeming like a HD version of the previous games. The frame rate suffices but does dip below 30fps often enough to notice it (PS3 version). Also, I'm not a huge fan of the extensive filters applied to the image on the PS3. Overall, its not enough take away from the enjoyment of the game, but I was hoping for a little more.

These are just some of my initial thoughts and impressions after spending a few hours with the game. I'm interested in knowing what some of yours are?