I must admit, for a long time leading up to the release of Grand Theft Auto IV, I wasn't very hyped about the game. I mean, I played the shit out of GTA III and GTA: Vice City, I was super excited about San Andreas, although I wasn't hooked on it nearly as long as the two games before it. When I heard Grand Theft Auto IV was coming out for the 360, I was originally pretty stoked for it, but as time went on the feeling waned.

How could a franchise I loved so much improve on itself? How could they possibly not completely rehash the previous games? How would GTA IV hold my attention better than San Andreas failed to?

I have a strange attitude toward new titles that come out for my favorite franchises. Rather than be a complete fanboy about them I usually become cynical toward them, forcing the series regain my favoritism. This holds especially true for new releases that are coming out for the first time on a new system. Such as Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow for the Nintendo DS.

The trailers for GTA IV did nothing for me. As sweet as there are, I didn't get anything out of them except for saying "Oh ya, that's cool." etc. I intended to preorder the special edition of the game, but my lack of excitement lead me to reserve the standard version instead. A fact that I initially regretted, but I'm fine w/ it now.

April 29th hit, and as soon as I got out of work I went to Gamestop to pick up my copy. I got home, ate dinner and then sat down with Grand Theft Auto IV... and couldn't look away for 5 hours straight. The game is beautiful. The voice acting is amazing and the whole experiance is spot on. Since I've gotten my hands on GTA IV, there has been no other game in the tray of my 360 and I've play countless hours of single player and multiplayer modes. Rockstar definitly got it right with GTA IV. Now if you don't mind I'm going to get back to ruling the mean streets of Liberty City.