Grand Theft Auto IV came out more than two weeks ago, which should explain why I'm just now reviewing it. Normally, my reviews are generally pretty harsh, but I really can't find much to complain about with GTA IV. The amount content of this game is monumental. The quality of graphics, more beautiful than I can appreciate. The character models are, well, I'd say mediocre. The depth and breadth of environment is, I feel, perfectly balanced. You can race through neighborhoods at break neck speeds, or stop and explore single block for half and hour. The story is as engrossing as an adventure novel. And its fun and interactive to play.

Now, some people have problems with the message of violence in the game, and how it seems to imply that shooting someone in the face is the solution to everything. Its a valid concern. GTA IV ( and GTA San Andreas) does a good job of limiting how much violence is glorified, but it does permeate nearly every element of the game. Violence is common place in much literature as a means of conflict. I won't argue that GTA IV is a contemporary Hamlet though I do feel most people that read Shakespeare or play this game understand its fictional.

While I can understand that concern, there is another I can't. This is a statement put out by MADD:

Each year nearly 13,500 people die in drunk driving crashes and another half a million are injured in alcohol-related traffic crashes. This is why MADD is extremely disappointed by the decision of the manufacturers of the game Grand Theft Auto IV to include a game module where players can drive drunk. Drunk driving is not a game and it is not a joke. Drunk driving is a choice, a violent crime and it is also 100 percent preventable. MADD is calling on the Entertainment Software Ratings Board to reclassify Grand Theft Auto IV as an Adults Only game, a step up from the current rating of Mature and for the manufacturer to consider a stop in distribution – if not out of responsibility to society then out of respect for the millions of victims/survivors of drunk driving.

There are a number of things I disagree with this statement and not just in relation with GTA. If you've played GTA and tried to drive drunk in the game, I think you'd agree its not really a pleasant experience. At no point in the game must you drive drunk, and many of the characters call you stupid for attempting it. I found myself saying out loud, "If this is what its like to drive drunk in real life, why would you ever do it?" If anything its a promotional tool to discourage the behavior.

Now about their other statements... I'm sorry, this is tangential, but drinking and driving is not 100% preventable so long as there is alcohol and vehicles. Drunk driving is also not a violent crime. Illegal, yes. Grossly irresponsible, yes. Dangerous and potentially violent, yes. But on its own isn't violent, just astoundingly stupid. Asking that this game be made adults only and put out of production is also deprived of thought. In high school driver's ed, they showed us a film about what can happen when you drive irresponsibly. This film showed people impaled on steering columns, decapitated by the "glass necklace", split in two, guts hanging out from some horrific collision. If that's appropriate to show 15 year olds, then this game is a marshmallow in comparison.

I give GTA IV a 9.9 out of 10 because its fun, pretty and lasts longer than most chewing gums. I give MADD's GTA IV statement 0.1 out of 10 for while being mostly uninformed, poorly thought out, alarmist, propagandist shit, it was also short and I was glad when I was done reading it.