There's no shortage of ways to play Grand Theft Auto 5 these days, including an upcoming next-gen version designed to take advantage of the power of the PS5 and Xbox Series X. But Grand Theft Auto 4, one of the best games in the series, is still only officially available on a few platforms—PS3, Xbox 360, PC, and via backwards compatibility on Xbox One and Xbox Series X—some of which are now basically obsolete. Rockstar is usually very good at keeping its games alive through relaunches and remasters, including the forthcoming remakes of Grand Theft Auto 3, Vice City, and San Andreas being released as part of GTA: The Trilogy. But for whatever reason, our old pal Niko Bellic has been left by the wayside.

From the moment I saw that first trailer, a moody homage to experimental 1970s film Koyaanisqatsi, I knew GTA 4 was gonna be something special. It's the darkest game in the series, with a downbeat, cynical tone that stands in stark contrast to the colourful, sunshine-soaked GTA 5. The story of an Eastern European immigrant escaping his troubled past to make a new life in Liberty City is a much more understated rags to riches tale than Rockstar usually tells. This grounded approach extended to the design and art direction of the game itself, with its weighty, heavily physics-based driving model and a muted colour palette.

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This version of Liberty City is a huge leap from its previous incarnation in GTA 3. While not as dense or technically impressive as GTA 5's Los Santos, when it comes to mood and atmosphere it's Rockstar's finest creation. By day, those vast concrete valleys of skyscrapers are bathed in cool, pale blues, shifting to balmy sepia tones in the evening as the sun dips below the horizon. Swing the camera upwards and its field of view widens, exaggerating the size of the buildings towering over you. It really captures the dizzying scale and distinctive ambience of New York City—and feels like an homage to the city, not just a parody.

It's not just Liberty City that makes GTA 4 great. The soundtrack is one of the most interesting and eclectic in the series. The missions are fun, varied, and exciting—albeit in a more low-key, semi-realistic way than other GTAs. The story is dramatic, twisty, and full of surprises. There are two great expansions too—The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony—which let you experience the city again from the perspective of two very different characters. GTA 5 is a much better game in terms of moment-to-moment play, but GTA 4 has a unique, idiosyncratic identity that sets it apart from other games in the series.

Grand Theft Auto 4

So why isn't it easier to play? I'd be amazed if many people still have a PS3 or Xbox 360 they actively use. If they have managed to cling onto them, they're probably sitting in an attic or a cupboard coated in dust. The PC version is an option, but not everyone has a gaming PC—and the older the game gets, the more compatibility issues there will be with newer hardware. I'd also like to see an updated version of GTA 4 that takes advantage of modern hardware to improve the visuals, with busier streets, denser traffic, increased detail in the distance, and maybe some fancy new ray-tracing effects. It's still a decent looking game, but the further we drift from 2008, the more in need of a fresh lick of paint it becomes.

The upcoming remasters will almost certainly be a hit for Rockstar. I'm certainly eager to relive the nostalgic glory days of the PS2 era, and I love that new art style. Hopefully this means it's already thinking about—or, even better, developing—a similar remaster of GTA 4. It certainly has its detractors, and isn't as widely loved as some of the other games in the series. Even so, it deserves both a visual upgrade and to be easier to play on modern consoles. It's an important piece of GTA history and should be preserved for future generations. Trevor, Franklin, and Michael have had their day in the sun—now it's time for Niko to shine.

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