Grand Theft Auto IV has a mix of bad/dirty humor. It isn't all like that, there are times you hear something on the radio or watch it on TV that will make you laugh, but the rest of the time Rockstar slaps in your face a dirty joke that is not necessarily fitted with every occasion even though we are talking about life in Liberty City.

Let's talk about how the game plays. As stated earlier, Liberty City is roaming with lots of different cars. From high speed cars to SUVs and garbage trucks, each vehicle controls differently. If a speed car can make a turn relatively quick, a limo or a garbage truck will make a turn as slow as it should. The best vehicle control in the game is for the motorcycle, for it reaches high speeds and it is very responsive to commands. Because Liberty City has no speed limit, passing near a police car with 150 miles/h won't even make them blink but it can end with you having a massive accident, your car blowing up, the driver getting ejected through the windshield or more fortunate accidents like driving off a cliff. If you're riding a motorcycle, on every impact at high speed the player gets ejected as well. Rag doll physics were implemented for more realistic collisions.

Niko's health is represented by a green bar on the left of the mini-map. Niko can recover health if he sleeps, eat, drink or he can call paramedics using the phone. If Niko dies, he will be respawned at the nearest hospital but he will loose a small amount of cash.

Rockstar also implemented a sprint button for Niko when he's on foot, basically to catch a character that is running from you, or escape some mobs that are following you. If you're feeling mean, you can always engage them in combat. Melee combat isn't something you'd want to do, because of a poor system that will cause frustration almost every time. You need to punch then guard every time so it's something like: punch-block, punch-block - and then you take your guard down to deliver another punch but… *bang* you get a punch in your face. That fast. And this is for one-on-one combat. If there are more of them, you're screwed. Why don't you just take out a gun and pop them thugs? The targeting system works pretty well, and with the help of the new cover feature (similar with GRAW or Gears of War) combat is more interactive if you make use of the usual weapons: pistol, shotgun, Uzi, etc.

More than one time when driving a car I bumped in the police vehicle and they didn't seemed to care too much. But when they do care, and they're coming after you, this is represented by a radius on the minimap. The more wanted you are, the larger the radius on the minimap gets. This wanted level is also shown by the stars in the left top corner. When the cops are chasing you, you just need to get out their radius and stay put for a while (like NFS Most Wanted).