Grand Theft Auto? More like Grand Theft...of my Heart

So, because I've got my finger on the pulse of popular culture I got GTA IV over Christmas, and finished it a week ago. And it's been stuck in my head for a while, more than any game where you can murder prostitutes should have any right to.

I think that it's the first time that I've ever been properly emotionally connected to a video game character, which is a big step. I mean, normally, you're playing as generic Space Marine #40024, and you're called something like Slab Bulkhead, Thick McRunfast, Punch Rockgroin or Big McLargeHuge, and you're tasked with fighting some kind of generic evil. The GTA games are tough to find some kind of emotional connection, especially given that the character is some kind of blank slate for you to act out your sociopathic impulses. What truly helps is the sheer level of production detail that's gone into this world. Not only the realism of the city, but the way cars move, crowds react. More than any other open-world, this feels like a living place.

Anyway, you're playing as Niko Bellic, you've got some kind of haunted past, and you turn up in Liberty City, lured by promises of riches and glory from your cousin, Roman. From there, it's standard GTA, working your way up the criminal ladder, as Niko searches for a dude who wronged him in the past, during the Yugoslav war. The first time I actually felt a little weirded out is when you end up killing the first dude you work for. Niko, shooting a dude in the head, uses his other hand to shield himself from the blood spray. It''s a kind of sick detail that made sense, built character, and genuinely rocks.

Man, the ending though. That's some heavy hitting stuff. The entire game builds up to you finding a dude who seriously screwed you over back in the old country. As a gamer, you assume this will be an epic gunfight, thousands of mooks, culminating in a final fight that has at least 20 explosions. Instead, you get a phone call in-game, drive down to the airport, and then have to choose for yourself. Kill him, or let him live. It's tough, because you see this guy, and he's a wreck, addled with drugs and disease.

So, you choose either way, and shortly after, you get a call from your cousin, who's getting married. 'Ah' one thinks. 'Happy epilogue mission, this should be fine' Unfortunately, it's not. Depending on your choices ingame, someone that Niko cares about gets gunned down, dying right on the steps of the church. Then, you get the big finale mission, hundreds of mooks, big car/boat chase, and a final fight. Which you win, obviously.

But then, seeing Niko at the end, with absolutely no happiness to look for, really stands out as a metaphor for the hollow nature of the American dream, the empty nature of the immigrant experience, and the knowledge that no matter what, all actions have consequences.

Of course, immediately afterwards, you call up Little Jacob, get drunk, and run over hookers. But still, it's not a bad shot.