Community:GTA IV Gripes/Combat



This is the official Grand Theft Wiki GTA IV Gripes list.

For now, this page is open to everybody. If there is any abuse of this page it will be locked, and all submissions will have to go through the Discussion page.

The "Gripes" on this page are intended to warn new players of things they may not like about the game.

The "Rebuts" on this page are intended to explain to new players why some gripes may not be a "gripe" for all players.

Please do not repeat other people's gripes. Also, no silly/stupid/idiotic/explicit/racist gripes or rebuttals.

How To Gripe

  • Find the appropriate sub-page for your gripe.
  • Make sure your gripe hasn't already been mentioned.
  • Start a gripe with {{Gripe}}, then follow with your gripe.

How To Rebut Gripes

  • Rebuttals to gripes should be directly underneath the gripe.
  • Start your rebuttal with :{{Rebut}}, then follow with your rebuttal.
  • Rebuttals should address reasons it is not a valid gripe, and should not accuse the gripe of being "silly" or "stupid."

Gripe RebutWhatever happened to the rumor that Niko would limp, not aim so well after being shot at? Aside from your armor/health gauge, nothing shows you are injured, except the bloody clothes, but that's just cosmetics.

RebutIf Niko got shot in the leg and he would limp to cover it would give the enemy plenty of time to kill him. It would get annoying after sometime as you could not get to cover quickly and you would be killed. It would also be annoying that if your health was low and you couldn't shoot well, you'd also be killed easily.
Gripe

RebutAdding to the realism that the player should use more caution when engaged in a fire fight. Okay, so maybe not everytime Niko is shot, but how about when low on health he should limp and not aim too well?

RebutJust think for a minute, you're about to pass the mission but you're low on health. With that feature, you could not kill the last couple of guys you needed to.
Rebut Yeah, that would suck. I beat a lot of mission with a sliver of health. If having low health would f**k up your aim and ability to runaway from danger, then the game would be a lot more harder.

Gripe RebutWish there was the ability to prone and shoot.

RebutTry barely holding the fire button, that will put you in free aim mode.
Gripe

RebutRight, I know about the "Free aim mode," in fact, I don't even use auto-aim at all. ust saying that I wish you could lie down and shoot, say as in SOCOM.

RebutNiko isn't exactly a Navy SEAL. Plus, lying down and shooting is really for when your taking cover when there are no good boxes or cars to cover behind.
Gripe

RebutNiko is a trained and experienced soldier! All soldiers are taught to lie prone when firing a rifle... plus, this would have been extremely useful to have for use when sniping with the sniper rifles and AK and M-16.

RebutThere would not be much of a use for it! When he is crouched, Niko can aim well enough with the sniper rifle. Besides, this is crime game, not a military simulation.


Gripe

RebutIt would have been useful in some cases, like hiding behind small objects or shooting under cars/tables


Gripe RebutWhen tossing a hand grenade into a gang, some of them still survive the blast, despite being thrown directly at their feet.

RebutCall them lucky. A grenade isn't always an instant kill in a real life. Some survive to live on, or die a slow, painful death.
Gripe

RebutNot these enemies, they just get right back up and shoot at you like nothing happened. No slumped over, walking away in pain, nothing. They just slide back into cover as if no grenade went off. Also, an annoying glitch with some is the enemy can be seen "standing up" in mid-air after a blast and land back on their feet.

RebutTry cooking a grenade before throwing it. If done properly, it should give hostiles no time to react when it lands and detonates.
Gripe

RebutI do, but it's when they fly up in the air and coming down they tend to stand up mid-air. Annoying.

Gripe

RebutHaven't seen the standing-up, but I'm with you there, the grenades are woefully underpowered considering how easily Niko is killed by them. They don't even seem to significantly damage the people they blow across the room.


Gripe RebutGTA IV's cover system is the crappiest I have ever seen. It doesn't properly work half the time, or Niko takes cover in the wrong area. Gears of War's cover system is better, and GTA IV's system is supposedly taken from that. What happened?

RebutIt isn't crappy, you just don't know how to use it. When I play GTA4, the cover system always works fine, and the game automatically selects the nearest cover, not the smartest, due to the game isn't as smart as you think it should be. Its only 2008, and not all systems used in video games are perfect.
RebutAs you have little to no control over which surface Niko will choose, it is not a matter of 'knowing how to use it'. Whether there's anything that can be done about this is the question -- an algorithm which can pick the surface most sheltered from enemy positions, perhaps?... Throwing grenades and firing rockets from cover is frequently catastrophic, too, and that's something that surely can be fixed; seemingly clear shots can end with Niko firing an RPG point-blank into his cover, or bouncing a grenade off his cover to fall at his feet -- boom, dead.
Gripe

Rebut Yeah, but the game could a least find the cover that best shields Niko from enemy fire. No, I agree that the cover system could be a bit more responsive. Half the time Niko jumps into cover that actually FACES the enemies and i get shot to death. Or Niko doesn't even move at all and the enemy blasts all my armor away. Rockstar North should really work on that.


Gripe RebutYou cant fight the cops like in other GTA games.

RebutActually, you can fight cops. Just take out your gun and shoot them. You also fight them in missions, like the Bank Heist.
Gripe

RebutThat's one of the worst ideas you posted on. If you take out a gun and shoot at the cop, you'll get 2 wanted star levels and more cops will swarm in and kill you. And if you attempt to fight a cop, he will easily arrest you and don't even bother holster a weapon. Cops will always shoot back anyways.

RebutAll cops attacked you in previous GTA IV games. And if you don't suck, then you are able to survive the cops with no problem. So yes, you can fight the cops.
RebutAnd you can press A/X button if you are about to kneel down on the floor, gives you 2 star rating. Pretty realistic.
Gripe

RebutBut since the cops don't have night sticks, if you try to punch them, the will just shoot you.

RebutCops in real life carry guns, and if somebody came and tried to kill you then you would fight back.
Gripe

RebutSo your saying that if someone punched you, you would shoot them?

RebutIf you had anger problems, or abusive power, then yes.
Gripe

RebutPolice officers are trained to only use their firearms when fear of their own life, or the life of another. Being punched is largely not life threatening nor justifiable after the incident when the cop has to explain why they shot someone. This is why cops have nightsticks, pepper/CS spray, tasers and hand-to-hand training.

RebutThe police have been well known to be as corrupt as everyone else in the GTA series.

RebutDoes the name tenpenny ring a bell.


Gripe RebutCombat is unrealistic and hard to attack people. You'll have to use weapons to kill them instead (not meleé ones).

RebutHand-to-hand combat was meant to injure the victim, without killing him. It's useful for missions.
Gripe

RebutIt doesn't matter what the intent was. The point is, the combat system is horrendously awkward and often, unrealistic.

Gripe

RebutStill, it's hard to target people you are attacking and it's completely unrealistic while GTA SA had realistic hand-to-hand combat moves.

RebutNo it didn't. The combat was sloppy, too fast paced, and glitchy in animation. GTA4 delivers a more realistic fighting system. You can't just keep punching someone without them being able to do something back, unless they were unconscious or dead.
Gripe

Rebut Niko Belic is a former Serbian soldier, correct? So obviously(and for the sake of realism) he would know several martial arts moves. If you still disagree with me how can you explain Niko taking a couple of punches from hobos inside the game? Niko fights the way a civilian would fight, even though the game explained that he was a former soldier. There's also no way to grab your opponent and silence him by breaking his neck or at least throw him to the ground.

Rebut All of the counter-attacks you can perform are highly-stylized, quite obviously showing his training as a soldier.

Gripe RebutDuring shooting missions, you die very easily by shooters before you even run for cover. Enemies somewhat has great aiming, and Body Armor is highly recommended for hard missions.

RebutOnce more, the game is meant to be more realistic. If you'd be facing down ten trained gunmen with nothing more than a few grenades and a pistol, do you think you would live?
Gripe

RebutYeah, but even during Vigilante missions, the "criminal on foot" seem to survive a shotgun blast to the face. How's THAT real?

RebutIt all depends on health, and if you were better at aiming, you would have killed them.
Gripe

RebutI'm at point-blank range, they should die with a shotgun to the head, not just from a pistol shot (which works).


Gripe RebutThe Hand-to-Hand Combat is not as good as in San Andreas.

RebutStated somewhere else, the hand-to-hand combat has a new purpose: subduing enemies that you aren't meant to kill.
Gripe

RebutYes, but that doesn't excuse it for being horrendously awkward and sloppy.

RebutGTASA has blocky and glitchy animations for fighting, with CJ being almost unstoppable in fist combat, detracting from realism.
Gripe

RebutNiko is a trained soldier that has no doubt used his hand to hand combat training in the field. He would be able to take down 80% of average people on the side of the road without breaking a sweat. He wouldnt have to kill them as mentioned in the above post on this, but he would be able to quickly injure an opponent. And in the game when he does get hit he stumbles backward like it almost KO'ed. Horrendously awkward and sloppy.

Rebut So being able to take a knife or bat and also being able to headbut is not good enough for you. I mean it would be cool if he could bust out kickboxing moves but it has to be realistic.
Rebut Have you ever been in a fight? If you get hit, it hurts. You stagger back from the transfer of force. The combat works very well if you apply real-world principles, like timing your attacks and not giving your opponent time to get their guard up between strikes.

Gripe RebutThe thing that really annoys me about it is the way he walks so slow while fighting and his stupid looking attacks, soldiers are trained to close in on a downed enemy fast and take them out with kicks to vital areas like the head. Instead he likes to shuffle over and when he does reach them he insists on doing these odd looking stomps(bar the occasional kick). Looks like he has forgot anything he may have learned


Gripe RebutStealth kills as in San Andreas are no longer possible.

RebutYou can perform a stealth kill during Final Interview and walk out without a wanted level.
Gripe

RebutBut on outside missions, you can't. It's straying away realism because it didn't even have the silenced pistol.

Gripe

RebutIn final interview you cannot perform a stealth kill. Even if you use the knife to kill Goldberg, the receptionist still runs in screaming, and a 3 star wanted level is in place.

RebutThat is not true. I was able to kill Tom Goldberg with a knife and not receive any stars.
Gripe

RebutStill does'nt count as a stealth kill, even with a knife, the recepsionist still runs in screaming and a three star wanted level is still present. Besides, he can still scream even with a knife.

RebutNiko isn't exactly a ninja, and he does whatever it takes to get the job done, including killing a hundred cops if needed.
Rebut With the mission that is in discussion, if you stab Goldberg, smash the window and jump outside - you don't get a star. I've done it and I've seen another person do it on Youtube.

Gripe Rebut Stealth kills, with a knife or a silenced pistol are no longer possible in GTA IV. Slitting one's throat has been taken out, and so has the silenced pistol. It is nearly impossible to kill someone with a knife because they will most likely scream. In addition, the combat system is awkward, forcing you to follow your opponent every time he sways from a hit.

RebutI just the other day, went to the laywer's office and went up behind him and killed him, stabbed the hell out of him, walked out the door and outside to the street, no cops, no alarms, so it is possible at least with the lawyer mission.
Gripe

RebutDespite the stealth, I did the same thing, but he screams anyway and I got a 3 star wanted level. Like I said, his screams are always audible by the receptionist. Never counts as a stealth kill.

RebutYou didn't kill him fast enough then.
Gripe

RebutIt does'nt matter how fast or slow you can kill him. The fact is that his screams can always be heard by the receptionist, so there is no possible way to complete the mission by just killing him and not acheive any stars.

RebutThen you aren't good enough. I redid the mission and I did not get any stars.
Gripe

RebutUnlikely. I've been experimenting with stealth kills on that mission for an age. I'm past it now, but I spent an hour attacking Goldberg with Niko's fists, a baseball bat, and a knife. Almost took him out without him screaming with the baseball bat, but a squeak got out, and the receptionist ran in.

RebutStill, it can be done. Knifing an individual in a concealed location can lead to a "stealth kill" that doesn't alert others. The lawyer is one case, as is the strip club manager counting money in the back office. Quickly knifing these individuals can result in a murder that is not detected.
Rebut I'm a third party, so I'll resolve this argument. You can, I repeat, you CAN kill the lawyer with the knife WITHOUT alerting the receptionist. I’ve done this mission once on my cousin’s game as well as my own, and I killed Goldberg with ONE slash on BOTH games. As long as you slash Goldberg’s upper body to kill him in one move, He will die SILENTLY without attracting attention. YOU CAN kill him silently. Maybe you just have real bad luck. Actually, I’ve never seen what happens if you kill him with a gun because I always kill with the knife. After killing him and grabbing the files, I slashed one of the windows with the knife to jump out to escape without attention.

Gripe RebutYou can't strangle enemies or snap their necks like in GTA: VCS. This is a crucial stealth kill and this has been taken out to reduce realism. This means you cannot grapple enemies to perform grapple attacks.

Gripe

RebutI agree. Strangling enemies in VCS was fun, a helluva lotta fun. IV dumbed a lot of the stealth gameplay style down, though. No silenced weapons, no throat-slitting moves with a knife, and melee fighting was... not as good as I had hoped.

RebutThere would have to be a pretty stupid person not realizing that someone is behind them about to creep up and snap their neck or slit their throat. And remember gun control in the city? Silenced pistols were removed due to the fact that no one can hear them.
Gripe

RebutYou can't get a silenced pistol, but you can get an RPG-7? That's some very strange gun control. And most people on the street are distracted, it's very easy to sneak up behind someone.

RebutBoth of your gripes are totally correct i give you my support, i always see the positive point of the gripes but this gripe hasn't a rebut. It's sucks you been Niko a war soldier can't buy a silenced pistol to kill a person more professionally or even snap their neck, not everybody is paying attention of the others people in the streets in real life so why the didn't put this feature?.... but I still think that gta iv is the best gta at this point by the way

Gripe RebutNiko is unable to run while firing weapons. He always is forced to aim while walking slowly.

RebutIt is simply being realistic, If you were to run and fire in real life it would seriously impair your aiming and possibly cause injury. Niko isn't superman

Gripe RebutThe "Finish Him" trophy is seemingly hard (and putting up a bronze trophy is just plain retarded). You're unable to have your foes (peds) gang up on you and whenever they punch at the wrong guy, it turns into a free-for-all, rather than a handicap. You also can't keep doing 10 counter-attacks especially since performing that move can kill an enemy in 2 counters.

Rebut Four minutes is much longer then you would think it to be. Performing ten counters on five enemies (as you said, two kills the target) is not too difficult, assuming the enemies do not gang up on you. I have noticed the frequency of enemies working together differs depending on the zone you attempt this achievement in. Just keep trying, and don't get too frustrated!
Gripe

RebutUnfourtunately, that's the whole problem of obtainin this trophy. GTA IV has REALLY poor and slow combat physics and I always get beaten to death by nearby gangs before I even get a chance to counter attack. GTA SA has better and reliable combat physics, unlike GTA IV.


Gripe Rebut The weapons in 4 suck, while the classic Ak47 is there, there just aren't enough of them. I mean look at the shotguns. One is way too easy to kill someone with the other you can't kill anything with. Why not have the shotgun from GTAIII it had decent range and great power. When i used to play multitheft auto it was awesome to play with it. And what is with thee assualt rifles. All niko does is pull the bolt on the gun and its automatically reloaded? He doesn't even have to put a new magazine in. They also need to put the flamethrower in. But don't get me wrong i enjoy playing GTA 4.

Rebut This gripe belongs in the Weapons section, and some of your gripes, specifically the omission of the flamethrower and the limited number of weapons, are already addressed there.

Gripe Rebut Gang and Police gunfights arn't fun anymore and you're most likley to LOSE.

Rebut And that all adds to REALISM. If you take on a whle gang of crooks or cops all on your own, you're most likely going to lose. Un-der-stand?