Grand Theft Auto IV

What does the American Dream mean today? For Niko Bellic, fresh off the boat from Europe, it is the hope he can escape his past. For his cousin, Roman, it is the vision that together they can find fortune in Liberty City, the gateway to the land of opportunity.

As they slip into debt and are dragged into a criminal underworld by a series of shysters, thieves, and sociopaths, they discover that the reality is very different from the dream in a city that worships money and status, and is heaven for those who have them and a living nightmare for those who don’t.

Grand Theft Auto IV has an extremely complex plot with a very long list of characters. It is also the first game in the HD Universe that allows the player to change the plot by making choices, which all have consequences. This creates an atmosphere where Niko is haunted and shadowed by his past actions wherever he goes. He tells Roman: “There is no such thing as a new beginning, Roman. With every day we live, we pick up new baggage, the baggage we must carry with us for the rest of our lives.

There’s no dropping it and pretending we are fresh and clean, just because we get off a boat in a new place.” Prime examples include his numerous encounters with Ray Bulgarin, most of the random characters, and working alongside Johnny Klebitz or Patrick McReary while he had, either by not having met them yet or circumstances beyond his control, killed someone close to them. In the finale, Niko feels the coffin of Kate or Roman, depending on the player’s choice, on his conscience because of his criminal lifestyle, saying they “never should have gotten close to me”. He is deeply depressed about being trapped in the criminal lifestyle (by a need of income), telling Kate McReary and others that he wishes he could leave it behind, but often adds that he knows he can’t.