5 reasons why GTA 4 is the biggest let down of 2008

Earlier this year you will remember the Media Frenzy that was Grand Theft Auto 4. You couldn't turn on the TV, Radio or open a Magazine without having its impending release thrust into your face. It was everywhere and I for one was sold just on the idea of a Next Gen version of San Andreas, it's going to be unbelievable or so I thought..
However, here are my 5 reasons why after countless hours of game play I'm very disappointed -

1. Interaction
Liberty City is supposedly a living breathing city, what's the point in that if all you can do to interact with general city life is smack people one in the face? Even in San Andreas I'm sure you could say positive or negative things to people which would trigger some sort of reaction in return.  Also, there's a fairground including a Rollercoaster but you can't go on the rides, Basketball and Baseball courts that you can't play on (see point 5), a Huge Jail that you never get put in no matter how much crime you commit and you can't enter around 95% of the buildings.
It's like they are saying to you "hey look at all the cool stuff we've put into Liberty City, just look though and don't touch"  I'm actually quite surprised that you can still board Trains to be honest!

2. The Mobile Phone
For the first half of the game this seemed amazing, people can ring you up at anytime day or night and request that you go and meet them.  But later on it just becomes a real pain for the exact same reason, your getting called up almost constantly it seems by people asking if you want to 'get together' with them which you need to agree to do in order to keep up your friendship/relationship with them.  That's bad enough in itself but the selection of things you can do with them are very limited, boring and quickly become tedious.  The only joy I get from the Mobile Phone is putting it down on people when they are midway through a sentence, but they soon call back again unfortunately.
   
3. Bridges
If you want to get around in Liberty City by Car or Motorbike will need to cross long winding interconnecting bridges which make navigating a nightmare. They never seem to go where you expect and you are constantly pausing the game to check the map or have to set your destination in the GPS which you can follow.  There's a point in the middle of the map where a number of bridges all interlink with each other and make it near impossible to quickly find your way off it in the right direction. How annoying!

4. The Story
The stories in both Vice City and San Andreas were both very engaging with Vice City letting you live out your Tony Montana/Scare face fantasies and San Andreas with Boyz in Da Hood. 
What these both had in common though was that you started at the bottom and worked your way up until you were the Top Dog in town and you felt like it too which was a real buzz.
The story in GTA4 hasn't interested me at all, it feels very disjointed, few of the characters give me any reason to stay interested and you don't ever really feel as though you've progressed in the same way you did in Vice City or San Andreas.

5. Compared to San Andreas
My main grievance with GTA4 is that it just doesn't compare to its predecessor San Andreas. When you look at it overall it just seems like a cut down version of the PS2 classic. There were so many elements that I loved in San Andreas which are missing in GTA4.  Here are some of them -
Gangs - you could get a gang together who would follow you and help you out in fights.
Take over - with your gang you could take over rival Gang's turf and defend your own
Working out - you would bulk up or slim down depending upon how much exercise you did in the gym (which was actually quite fun)
Learn new moves - you could learn new moves in the boxing ring or karate dojo then go test them out on the public.
The City - absolutely huge and most importantly varied! There were acres of desert and forest to explore as well as the main urban areas.
Customisation - You could change your character from a massive amount of clothing to your haircut and tattoos.
Story - The story was great and kept me hooked from beginning to end
Sport - You could actually play basketball on the basketball courts!
Property - when you began making serious cash you could buy a variety of different properties.
Gambling - enter Casinos or Betting Shops and Gamble your fortune away.
Parachutes - you could steel a plane, jump out of it and parachute safely back down to earth.

In GTA4 it seems that graphics and realism have taken the place of what matters, fun!