“Grand Theft Auto IV”
Genre: Third-person action-adventure
Developer: Rockstar North
Publisher: Rockstar Games
Platforms: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3
Price: $59.99
ESRB rating: M (mature)
Grade: B-

Niko Bellic enters this country from Eastern Europe as the full-blown comical stereotype of everyone who lands on our shores: a neophyte armed with an over-the-top perception of America as the land of opportunity.

He arrives in the New York knock-off known as Liberty City with more optimism than sense, and so for a moment gamers might think “Grand Theft Auto IV” needs a laugh track.

But only for a moment.

Within an hour or so of play, Bellic, GTA IV’s central character, is neck deep in Liberty City’s social cesspool — thanks in part to a cousin who arrived in the country 10 years earlier and already wades in it — and gun play erupts, drugs are passed around, women are bought and sold like used clothes, and bodies pile up.

No, GTA IV is not the feel-good story of 2008 — at least not on screen. Publisher Rockstar Games no doubt will feel mighty good after the first week of sales, however, when hype-driven profits are likely to bump up against record numbers.

Instead, GTA IV, which debuts across North America today, is an artistically splendid indictment of the American dream. The imagery enthralls, much more so than previous GTAs, and the soundtrack of about 200 tunes has a range capable of appealing to almost everyone. And though there are assorted camera angles from which to choose, Bellic’s perspective probably is best: Thanks to the effort paid to design detail — right down to the trash blowing across the subway platforms — gamers are able to see what he initially found so evocative about America.

The scenery in GTA IV alone is fascinating and impressive — and is about the only thing that kept Game Guy interested in playing. Beyond the cinematography, unfortunately, GTA IV remains pretty much the same as every other GTA before it: an overlong soap opera about America’s dreary drug- and gun-toting subculture. Even the gunfights are stiff and uninteresting.

At several points, one half expects a coke-dusted Tony Montana to jump out from the shadows and shout, “Say hello to my little friend!”

A few technical aspects strewn throughout GTA IV are unabashedly fun. The subroutines that let Bellic do things such as bowl or shoot pool, buy clothes or date a woman are particularly entertaining early on as he acquires an understanding of American culture. And Game Guy likes that when cars crash into something, they actually show damage and lose power just as real cars would. (Gran Turismo makers, are you reading this?)

This matters mainly because cars play such an important role in GTA IV. Perhaps too much of a role. The drives across Liberty City from one “job” to another are endless and, after awhile, boring. Surely the game’s makers did this to provide extra playing time for the soundtrack, but anyone who, for example, commutes to work hours each day already spends enough time listening to music in the car; no need then to settle in and relax at home before a roaring hot game and spend hours watching somebody else do it.

Which brings Game Guy to why he wasn’t floored by GTA IV: It’s nothing new. Sure, it’s pretty. Sure, particular visual aspects are stunning. Sure, it’s violent in ways that make “The Sopranos” seem like “Smallville.” But anyone who wants to shoot, maim, kill, bowl and drive around the video screen can pick out a dozen or more titles that do a much better job of those things. All GTA IV does is splash those same elements onto the screen at once amid a plot that lacks intrigue and decent acting.

Perhaps the makers of “Grand Theft Auto V” will pay more attention to fixing those things.