A Brilliant Satire Wrapped in an Ingenious Crime Story Inside an Interactive Masterpiece

In Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto IV, Liberty City lives like Frankenstein's monster, a concrete- and billboard-plastered jungle sparked to life and spoiling for a fight around any street corner. Come ready, come wary, come emotionally steeled: It's Liberty City as you've never seen a fully interactive metropolis before. The ninth iteration in Rockstar's acclaimed--albeit controversial--series uses its astonishing $100 million budget so effectively, in fact, that it's difficult to imagine this deluxe sandbox and crime spree simulator being a single penny better. Grand Theft Auto IV--Platform: Xbox 360, PS3; Developer: Rockstar; Publisher: Take 2; ESRB Rating: Mature; PCW Score: 100. --Matt Peckham