This is the only video game in existence that I can fully relate myself in, maybe it is because I grew up in a third world country or my eastern european ties, this level of writing in a video game, this kind of atmosphere, the feelings it manages to touch, this was a superior video-game for it's time, still is. Rockstar will /never/ ever reach this quality writing, obviously I am hyped for may 26 as much as the next guy but this was a true story.

Liberty City is a real place with somewhat real people, unlike all the other entries in the series, where everyone is comedically absurd and beyond point. Everything is real in this story. Our main protagonist for the series, Niko Bellic is not a stereotypical african-american gangbanger, he is no american bank robber, he is not mob tied, he is no one, just a soldier, a real one at that, gone through the worst moments of his life before deceived by his idiotic cousin to start over in America and live the American dream. But no, this is not Los Santos where people get away with anything literally. Niko keeps on making mistakes and suffering for it, throughout the story, there is no moment he can say that life became normal for him, it never does. It is the only emotional entry, hell only Rockstar game aside from obviously rdr2 that managed to make me cry, I always felt personally involved in these characters lives, especially in Niko's. I relate to him more than any video game character ever created. This Serbian war criminal is a real human-being and not just a computer generated pixels and polygons, and he regrets most of his decisions, but the moment he realized his life was screwed was when he lost his comrades in the war. Beyond anything, he craves vengeance, mostly. No one understands him. The greatest fact is that he does not care if anyone understands him at this point, he just needs people to be useful to him as he does to other people, to find this traitor and get over his PTSD when finally dealing with him. Of course handling this, won't bring any closure to his troubled past. Not going to get into story spoilers although I would guess anyone reading this would have already finished the story, the game is from 2008 for god's sake. Music, whilst always being great in any Rockstar project, the main theme, Soviet Connection, is just iconic, couldn't use any other word than iconic for the greatest soundtrack in existence. Whatever the game gives, you take any you feel like you are part of something. I am sure, if you are a person whom achieved his life goals in life, playing this story with a clear head, man you will be depressed and look for other things in life. Friendships Niko develops through the story, most being for their own profit of course, some care for Niko as they also relate to him in some way, whilst no one is a Serbian immigrant in this case, all characters have some problems within or outside the society and it's norms, and they all try whatever they can to get by, keep going on with their hustle with their lives. You won't become the big shot when the game ends unlike every other entry in the series, when this game ends, the only feeling you will have is sorrow and the satisfaction of survival, but at what cost? American Dream is fake, it always has been, and Rockstar has the balls to tell this to the mainstream media unlike any other company. GTA IV is not just a game to me, it is something entirely different. Few quotes I love from the game;

" War is when the young and stupid are tricked by the old and bitter into killing each other. " - Niko Bellic

" So this is what the dream feels like? This is the victory we longed for. " - Niko Bellic

" You know, if there is one thing that I have learned, it is that we must obey the rules of the game. We can pick the game, Niko Bellic. But we cannot change the rules. " - Dimitri Rascalov