Grand Theft Auto 4: Lower Your Expectations

Just a few short weeks after we were all bouncing up and down about the Oblivion remaster, a new rumour has sprung up. Rockstar are working on bringing Grand Theft Auto 4 to PlayStation and Switch.

That should tell you everything you need to know right there. Skipping Xbox (and PC for now) implies that this is just a straight port, bringing the fourth numbered entry in the legendary franchise to audiences who currently can’t access it. The game is backwards compatible on Xbox and easily playable on PC, including with mods.

It’s a similar situation to Red Dead Redemption, which skipped Xbox and didn’t come to PC at first. For years ahead of time, rumours had suggested that it would be a major upgrade, perhaps even a remake within the Red Dead Redemption 2 engine. But for various reasons those rumours never bore fruit and we were left with the straightest of straight ports.

But Red Dead Redemption is a pretty perfect game. It needed to narrative fixes after Red Dead Redemption 2, which it didn’t get. That’s annoying, but it doesn’t break anything. Grand Theft Auto 4 is a bumpier prospect. Its driving controls are slippy, its world less deep than San Andreas before it, the visuals not quite as poppy as games that came just after. The shift to HD was tough for everybody, and Rockstar hit the landing better than most. The gap between 4 and 5 is immense though.

For a franchise like Grand Theft Auto and a publisher like Rockstar, Grand Theft Auto 4 should be incredibly easy to “fix”. All the right ingredients are there. But it won’t be fixed. It’ll be 4k and 60fps, and that’s all it’ll be.

Back to Grand Theft Auto 4

And in principal I’m not entirely against this. Grand Theft Auto isn’t some MGS4-like, trapped on a single console, unable to be touched. It’s available to buy right now. It has cut off part of the market on Switch and PlayStation and that is all. Still, these are profitable markets, where people want access to their games.

Even within this franchise there are games that need freeing from the shackles of older systems. The Stories titles are incredible, like QoL-improved sequels to 3 and Vice City, but most people don’t know it. They’re a bigger undertaking than just slapping GTA4 into a new place.

So be excited. Be ready to play an underrated classic again, if you only have a PlayStation or a Switch. You’re going to have a fantastic time. Hell, I might download my version on PC, which I bought in about 2012 for £5 with every other GTA game included.

But it’s not the release that it could be, and that’s disappointing. No matter how good the port is at getting new people to buy copies, there will always be a little something left on the table.

Of course, maybe I’m wrong. Maybe the developers here will pull an Angel of Darkness and smooth over the rough edges we remember from the first time around. That would be incredible. But for now? Lower your expectations, you’ll still have a pretty good time.