GTA IV: The Little Things - part 1: Niko Bellic
I know you’ve probably already completed GTA, but fuck it, I’m going to spend a post or 2 here explaining the oft-overlooked aspects of the greatest piece of home entertainment ever created. First off, let’s look into the troubled mind of Nikolai Bellic.
When you first start off, you can instantly sympathise with the protagonist (Niko). You see him talking to a man on the boat about the American Dream, and about how his cousin has all the cars and women a man could ask for. You actually feel sorry for him (whilst also chuckling) when he starts shouting at Roman.
“WHERE’S BARBARA WITH THE BIG TITTIES, AND STEPHANIE WHO SUCKS LIKE A VACUUM?”
The story itself unfolds into one of the most cinematic in gaming history. It’s right up there with Metal Gear, Final Fantasy, and the Halo series. The story lets you understand Niko’s ulterior motives of moving to the Land of Opportunity, and the kind, caring man that’s masked behind the cold-blooded gun for hire. This is especially true when you venture away from the story. Whether you’re just doing a favour for the ‘genetically different’ steroid junkie, Brucie, or joining the incoherent rasta Little Jacob for a quick pint.
The aspect of GTAIV that impresses me above all else is the inclusion of Random Characters - pedestrians you see in the street who beg for (or just suggest) Niko’s help. Niko touchingly obliges all the time, and even helps a heroin addict overcome her addiction in a surprisingly heartwarming duet of encounters with Marnie, of South Algonquin. He is never particularly thrilled to grant these people’s wishes, but the fact that he does is what separates Niko, and ultimately, the story, from all other videogame experiences. It’s the exact opposite of what one expects from the twisted minds of the Houser brothers, but it’s refreshing.
Of course, Rockstar just wouldn’t be Rockstar if they just left you thinking “aw, what a sweetheart.” Just as you start to grow a fondness for Niko, spanners are thrown into the works in many forms. There are several points in the game where someone near and dear to Niko is in grave danger, and adrenaline literally fills your body as you use your thumbs to fight your way through a buttload of faggots to save them.
Minor spoilers in the next 2 paragraphs. In one part, Roman is captured by the man who eventually becomes the big villain in the game, and whilst Niko fights through the old warehouse to save his cousin, you hear him shouting things like “YOU WILL DIE FOR WHAT YOU HAVE DONE TO MY COUSIN” and “I’M LEAVING HERE WITH ROMAN!” The emotion in the voice acting is astonishing, and very believable.
There is a point where your opinion of Niko turns on a sixpence, and that is when you take the daughter of a mobster hostage. The way he treats the girl at first is expected. He sympathises with her a little bit, even as she is going apeshit in the passenger seat and pulling the car off the road. However, he becomes the most cold-hearted bastard you ever did see when he’s taking a photo of her tied up (as proof, natch), and makes fun of the poor girl as he drives her to the inevitable exchange point. I honestly couldn’t believe his behaviou, even if it was slightly influenced by the presence of a true bar steward in Packie McReary.
Niko Bellic is definitely the best protagonist of any game, topping even the great Solid Snake. The way Rockstar havepainted a picture of a complicated,troubled soul is near flawless. I don’t see how they’re ever going to top it.
3 years ago