Review: The Official GTA IV game guide

by Steven Williamson on 1 May 2008, 10:53

Tags: Grand Theft Auto IV, Rockstar Games (NASDAQ:TTWO), Xbox 360, PS3, Action/Adventure

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I don’t envy people who have to write game guides. Sure, they get to play the game before us and obviously get some help along the way from the developers, but it must be a right headache stopping and starting every few seconds to write down every tiny detail. When that game is as huge as GTA IV, well, it’s impossible to comprehend how many hours Brady Games staff must have put into the 288 pages of the official Grand Theft Auto IV game guide.

The guide has been bed-time reading for me since it landed through the letterbox, but whilst playing GTA IV I’ve also had it sitting right next to me and used it for reference, tips, land-mark hunting, and to track down those difficult to find, flying rats..

First and foremost the guide is a complete 100% walkthrough of the game, told via screenshots, maps and reams of text explaining ‘who’, ‘when’, ‘why’ you’re taking part in these missions. It details every objective in the game and every procedural mission, offering advice on how to tackle situations as well as teaching you things that you may not be able to find out from other sources. Did you know you can date up to five women, of which two of them you can find by surfing the web at the internet café? You do now.

It goes into meticulous detail on how to increase your friend’s rating with your girlfriends and associates, giving breakdowns on their preferred choice of entertainment, cars and clothes and even showing you in percentages how they’ll react to your decisions. (Whatever you do, do not take Michelle lap-dancing!).

The main story walk-through takes up a big chunk of the guide, approximate 250 pages in total and the final 40 pages are taken up mainly by detailed maps of the four boroughs. You get a map guide when you buy the game anyway, but these maps clearly and concisely show you where every weapon, every health spot, every piece of armour, every flying rat and every stunt jump is across the huge game world. It even goes into further detail by showing a screenshot of each individual location where you can find the flying rats.



Finally the guide ends with a comprehensive look at the multi-player modes, with details of each mode, such as Turf War, Deal Breaker and Hangman’s Noose and it offers tips and tactics to give you an edge over the opposition.

Like most other people I love playing Rockstar’s crime epic. Take a look at my GTA IV review to read my thoughts on it. The guide has been a perfect companion to the adventure and, if you want to complete the game 100% or want to ensure you don’t miss anything, I’d thoroughly recommend it

The game guide features an exclusive double-sided foldout map and poster, and goes on sale with an RRP of £12.99.

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HEXUS Forums :: 22 Comments

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i got this wth my deluxe set, its pretty good but if i remember rightly - the massive map doesnt even show venue locations which is a bit odd, but i cant remember - only had a quick scan
How can you thoroughly recommend something that just stuff you can get in a million places for free on the net, just on glossy paper? And for £12.99 as well…
I found the one for san andreas very useful indeed… especially for getting the 50 “tags”…

I didnt buy it however, a friend had it, and we used it together…

I might buy this one though… and having it is a book is more useful than having to search the net…

espcially if it is as useful as the previous one!
13 quid more useful?

Nah mate. Paying for free things is never good, unless you are a) stupid, or b) stupid.

There will have been a million sites with maps of the tags on San Andreas. A million and eight, probably.

Steven, why are you reviewing a guide book anyway? :D
hahaha, it'll be less than £13 if you shop around… and it all depends on what you want from the game?

hell, ive bought 2 copies, (one included a whole console) to play the game in 2 formats… so having the guide book isnt all that far fetched.

Sure someone might scan it and put the info on the net, but i'll have the hard copy of the book and it will b easy to reach, easy to get to and easy to read… so whatever?