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The problem that I’ve always had with the GTA series, the thing that has always driven me to the brink of maddening frustration and prevented me from ever actually finishing one, is the lack of a mission checkpoint feature. GTA IV at least tries to lessen the pain of failing at the end of a particularly long mission by giving you both a mission retry option and the taxi cabs that can instantly transport you across the map, but one must wonder why they can’t just make the game autosave your progress in a mission once when you arrive at your destination, and once when you complete your main objective.

The other big problem I have with GTA IV is that they changed up the driving mechanics, which personally baffles me because the one thing that I always thought the series nailed perfectly was the driving mechanics. Things have been made much more realistic this time around, which for some might be a positive thing, but I’m sure for many like me it’s going to be a let down because they want to be able to turn that corner going 90 miles an hour while being chased down by cops. It makes things more exciting. What makes matters even worse is that the game doesn’t even offer you a tutorial to help you get over the newly imposed learning curve that comes with driving. All that they offer is a couple of pop up tips that tell you to use the handbrake to turn sharp corners.

Then there are all of the little nitpicks to be said about the game. There’s still a lot object pop up in the 360 version, the framerate becomes very unstable when a lot of carnage starts going on (especially in multiplayer), and many of the cool features that were included in San Andreas and even in Vice City have been taken out. You can no longer buy your own safe houses; bicycles and planes have been removed; the RPG character building aspect that was present in San Andreas is missing; and several of the more violent weapons such as the katana, chainsaw, and even the flamethrower have been removed.

While I may not 100% agree with the score that my fellow writers are about to give this game, it must be said that GTA4 is still a fantastic game that needs to be played by anyone and everyone with access to a PS3 or 360. Still, it's far from perfect. Personally, the lack of a mission checkpoint system, the new driving mechanics, the outdated weapon cycling system, the unstable framerate, and the often unresponsive targeting system bring the game down to about a 95% for me.

We saw shades of local co-operative play in GTA: San Andreas via a handful of girlfriend missions, but it wasn't until the series hit the PlayStation Portable that any semblance of competitive or team-based multiplayer was introduced. Both Liberty City Stories and Vice City Stories had WiFi ad-hoc modes that let up to six players duke it out 'gangsta' style. Grand Theft Auto IV is the first full-fledged console offering in the series to support online play over Xbox Live or the PlayStation Network, and it's readily obvious that all of Rockstar North's practice has paid off. GTA IV multiplayer is a blast.

Accessing the game's multitude of online offerings can be done through Niko's cellphone (and the Xbox Live dashboard). Joining or hosting random ranked and unranked deathmatch games is a simple affair, but you'll soon develop a taste for GTA IV's more unconventional modes. Aside from the expected free-for-all and team-based battles, you can square off against up to 15 other people in a variety of ways.

You'll be stealing cars and making contract hits in Team Mafiya and Car Jack, neutralizing (or protecting) crime bosses in Cops 'n' Crooks, and winning street races by any means necessary in the aptly named Race mode. Perhaps the most fun of them all are three little story-based co-op modes that insert you and three other partners in crime into some hairy situations. Each episode begins with a short, powerful in-game cinematic that sets the tone, followed by some of the wildest car chases and gunfights of recent memory.