I suppose it’s also important to say I have not actually purchased GTA IV for PC, although I do have firsthand experience with this travesty. A good friend of mine called me over the weekend and asked if I wouldn’t mind taking a look at his computer, because according to him, his rig was running GTA IV very slow. When I arrived I could hardly believe this product was from the same company I gave my money to.

Everything you read here is accurate. SecuROM, with or without “teeth,” is always to the detriment of honest consumers and here it is in full effect. But not satisfied with that, Rockstar apparently made it possible to play the game if and only if you agree to Byzantine Windows Live and Rockstar Social Club contracts. That is frankly unacceptable by any standard. And to top it off, on a computer with a Quad-Core, two 8800 Ultras in SLI, and 8 (yes, eight) GB of RAM the game runs worse than it ever did on my PS3. And it looks about the same. For a game developer, the words “code optimization” mean very little to Rockstar.

Perhaps the most heinous injustice about this whole shameful affair is the warning included that, summarized, warns “… most current hardware will not be able to run this game at high settings.” Unbelievable. When did releasing games, especially games which ran acceptably well on inferior consoles, incomplete with a requirement to spend hundreds more dollars on future hardware become acceptable? To me that is the lowest form of terrible work ethic and is the main reason I feel I cannot buy another Rockstar product ever again. Is it not enough to completely ruin a product by making the consumer sign away his privacy just to play it? When did Crysis, whose infamy cannot even measure up to this abomination, become the golden standard for a successful game release? If the market into which you’re releasing your product is “unprepared” for the “requirements” of said product, then there is something wrong with your product, not the market.

But here Rockstar really shot itself in the foot because the game has already been proven to run, with over 10 million witnesses, on inferior hardware. I told my friend to get his money back and now I’m thinking of selling my PS3. The most successful PC games have always been the ones that are not laden with malware and actually run on consumers’ PCs. PC gaming is in dire straits if the biggest developers think people actually want to have to deal with insurmountable mountains of red tape just to play a video game. It’s a video game- nothing less, but especially nothing more. Playing GTA IV on PC is worth far less to me than the actual time it would take to accomplish said goal.

I consider myself a Grand Theft Auto fan. I played GTA IV an unhealthy amount over the summer. But merely seeing this stillbirth of a title that Rockstar threw onto PC gamers makes me realize I can live without. Do not purchase this under any circumstances. It is far cheaper, in terms of money and life lost in frustration, to buy a new console to play GTA IV. If you want a new PC game, I recommend the excellent Left 4 Dead or any other title by Valve. I beseech you not to give money to companies who treat their costumers like this.

Rockstar, you have released an utterly pathetic excuse for a personal computer game. I hate to say this is another nail in the proverbial coffin for PC gaming, but even I feel a little dismayed that almost every new title for computers is burdened with SecuROM, doesn’t run well on hefty hardware, or is some unholy combination of the two. In short, Rockstar has taken everything that is “killing” PC gaming and mixed it into one completely miserable experience. Caveat emptor.
Rating: 1 / 5

The fans didn’t want SecuROM, Windows Live, Rockstar’s Social Club, and ridiculously high system requirements.

What the fans WANTED was a great video game, and while there’s no denying GTA IV PC is a great video game, its greatness will be overshadowed by the virtual shackles Rockstar have imposed on it.

The DRM has been beaten like a dead horse, and we all know it’s there and what it does, and it’s too bad Rockstar has adopted such a broken, anti-consumer friendly system like SecuROM. However, they’re not trying to hide the installation of SecuROM, and listed it as a requirement on both the outside of the box and immediately after inserting the install disc.

As for system stability, the SecuROM software is only active when the game is running. Upon exit, the DRM closes, too. SecuROM has not negatively impaired my ability to use my computer, and the hidden stuff can be removed with a special SecuROM uninstaller (but only after you’re done playing your SecuROM protected games). No, I’m not happy it’s there, and I do not see reason for it being there, but either you accept it, or you don’t play the game.

GTA IV PC is further encumbered by the Rockstar Games Social Club and Games for Windows Live, two unnecessary and annoying pieces of software that make the simple act of playing a video game overly time consuming and downright painful. The social club (minus the social part — seriously, there are no chat rooms, message boards, or other ways to socialize) provides a place for players to compare their in-game stats with complete strangers. Ditto for Windows Live, a similar and equally pointless “Let’s Compare Sizes!” website that contributes nothing to game play but is required. You’ll also be required to sign-in to Windows Live (offline mode is available) in order to save your game, something that is becoming increasingly more common these days. Live will also track achievements, and if connected to the net they’ll be posted for all the world to see and shared with Rockstar’s Social Club site. Prepare to be mocked by the world for your gaming failures.

Finally, GTA IV PC’s stupidly high system requirements will force many to put the game back on the shelf, or purchase the XBox version. While the game can be played on the minimum system requirements, it looks awful and can cause a bit of nausea due to dropped frame rates.

The game also requires access to a computer with an internet connection to register the game and download additional software updates. The offline registration requires a 10 MB zip file from the SecuROM website. The offline activation software is flaky and the directions are fuzzy.

When you start the game you can run a benchmark test under the game options. A short demo will run and reveal your frame rates, and the game offers suggestions for improving texture and detail quality.

The game itself, despite everything you’ll have to go through to get it playable, is fun. Really, really fun. And if you’re willing to put up with the BS and jump through the hoops Rockstar has established for us, you’ll be playing a very fun, very awesome game. Remember, not all of Rockstar is evil, and the folks who actually made the game are an incredibly talented group, and they made an equally incredible game.

The overall artwork is more realistic and less cartoonish than previous GTA games. The characters are well detailed, their mouths move and form the proper shapes for different words, and they even have working fingers now. People on the street obey the laws of physics and no longer fly into the air when hit by your car: they now bounce off the hood, hit the windshield and roll across the road like a ragdoll. Cars take more unique damage — everything from bullet holes to differing extremes of impact damage, and after taking X amount of damage, they won’t necessarily explode anymore; they may simply stop working and you’ll be forced to abandon them on the road. Police chases are more fun and evading and escaping your wanted level is now possible with the changes made to the police system. The missions (so far) have been entertaining and enjoyable, with just the right mix of challenging objectives. I have yet to feel frustrated by having to repeat a mission — it’s clear to me what I did wrong, and how I can do better. And the city is gorgeous, and huge, and if you tried walking from one end to the other it would probably take the better part of a day.

Multiplayer, especially with friends, and especially with some sort of voice chat, is also very fun. There is a free roaming option, which is just player created chaos (watch out when your friend picks up a rocket launcher) and there are also multiplayer missions and races to accomplish, too.

From a purely game play perspective, there is almost nothing wrong with this game, which is why it’s sad GTA has been tainted by this nasty DRM fiasco.

GTA IV PC will probably take home Game of the Year from nearly all video game reviewers, despite SecuROM, poor system performance, and Rockstar’s other bad choices. And I think it may actually deserve that title. Even with a 1-star review (mostly from fans feeling personally attacked by Rockstar, and rightly so), many fans of the series will overlook the laughable system requirements and DRM shackles for the incredible game buried (deep) beneath. It’s worth your money, if not today (either you lack the system requirements or are waiting for them to drop the DRM, which won’t happen) then down the road. It’s just sad and disappointing that we, the gamers, are wrongly and unfairly treated by Rockstar like the criminals in Grand Theft Auto IV PC.

Rating: 2 / 5

Rockstar, shame on you.

To anyone considering this game, I highly suggest you pick it up for the 360 or PS3 instead – and that is the very first time I’ve ever made that recommendation about any game before.
Rating: 1 / 5

My PC lets me run any game I want. Most modern games run at 720p, 60 frames-per-second, 4xAA on my 46″ HDTV. This includes Fallout 3 and Dead Space. Other games, like Far Cry 2 are more taxing, but I still manage to crank out a solid 30 frames-per-second. GTA4, simply put, performs horribly. I am only getting 15 to 20 FPS on average. I can’t picture someone without a hardcore gaming PC getting anything close to a playable experience with it.

Also, to install the game you’re forced to also install Rockstar Social Club, Games for Windows Live, the SecureROM service (DRM). Plus you need a Windows Live account to even save your game. Terrible, terrible port. Shame on you Rockstar.
Rating: 2 / 5

It is only after you wade through their registration requests, the insistence upon registration requests, refusal to even load the game until you update windows live, you finally get to playing.

Then it tells you you cannot save any progress unless you sign-in to windows live. What a shaft job.

I called Take2games and they confirm that you cannot save unless you sign-in.

What a let down. I have uninstalled the game and am now working on a refund. lol.

I have played every GTA so far, mostly on PC. I have GTAIV on the PS3 and was looking forward to playing on the PC with great graphics.

I do not like a company who seems like a spyware vendor out to capture my machine.
Rating: 1 / 5