Final version of GTA IV realism mod makes it look better than GTA V, also reveals drunk airline pilots

And releasing just as GTA IV hits the Steam summer sale? My, what a coincidence...

Words: David Houghton on July 18, 2012

So the final version of the unbelievably beautiful Icenhancer 'realism' mod for Grand Theft Auto IV has arrived, and it might just look better than GTA 5. And coincidentally just as GTA IV hits a stupidly low price in the Steam summer sale. Yeah, coincidentally. Yeah.

Needless to say, the trailer is gorgeous, but it does also, via an unfortunate side-effect of time-lapse photography, blow the lid on the insane behaviour of Liberty City's airline pilots. Seriously, just look how many of those guys just fly around in circles. Are they drunk? Are they depressed? Has Spider-Man come to the city, understandably mistaking it for New York, and accidentally attached one wing of each plane to a skyscraper by way of some haphazard web-slinging?

Some bigger flight paths next time please, Rockstar. That shit just looks weird once you notice it.

But yeah, if you want to run this and you have a decent PC (but no GTA IV), get over to the Steam summer sale now. GTA IV, bundled with both Episodes add-ons and every other main-series Grand Theft Auto game ever made, is now available for but £4.99. Seriously.

But PC gaming is so expensive!

Platforms:

PS3, PC, Xbox 360

Topics:

Grand Theft Auto IV, GTA IV, mod, PC, Steam

51 comments

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Redeater - July 18, 2012 5:52 a.m.

I just bought The Witcher (among other things) for $2.49!!! These sales have almost convinced me to drop consoles altogether. I'm getting sick of the bloated prices and constant closure of studios I love. As far as I'm concerned if I can keep getting games like Dear Esther and Grimrock for a few bucks I'm damned happy. I don't need to shell out $60-$70 to try to support a game only to have the developer shut down in a few months.
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db1331 - July 18, 2012 5:53 a.m.

"But PC gaming is so expensive!" Snerk. Seriously though, I'm scared to even try this. GTA IV is so poorly optimized on PC that you need a Witcher 2 on Ultra-level rig just to run it at a decent frame rate. I can't imagine dumping this on top of it.
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Redeater - July 18, 2012 5:54 a.m.

Also, Torchlight is running at $3.74 for the next few hours. So if you didn't really care for Diablo, get your ass on down to Steam.
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Mooshon - July 18, 2012 6:20 a.m.

Just gobbled up the GTA back catelogue for 5 quid. Madness. Probably a stupid question, but does this mod fully work alongside the main campaign or just the open world assets?
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ParagonT - July 18, 2012 6:21 a.m.

"But PC gaming is so expensive!" Hardware, that is all. All thanks to Steam as well. Just on a side note, does there really have to be flame-bait in every article Dave? Is Gamesradar doing so poorly that they need that sorta thing? Or is that how you set yourself apart from the rest?
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Redeater - July 18, 2012 6:54 a.m.

Wow. Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.
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Redeater - July 18, 2012 6:59 a.m.

You can always save it for later years. I just bought a $300 video card and was FINALLY able to run Doom 3 at the highest settings on my big screen TV. The way God intended!
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cooldevi - July 18, 2012 7:15 a.m.

pc gaming is the most satisfying and cheap (in the long way) kind of gaming if you know what you're doing. don't believe anyone who tells you otherwise
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db1331 - July 18, 2012 7:28 a.m.

The Witcher is possibly my favorite game of all time. You are in for quite a treat. Just make sure you select the over-the-shoulder controls at the beginning, and not the top-down mouse ones. Also, don't drop consoles all together. Keep them around for their exclusives, but if a game comes out on PC and console, of course get the better PC version. At one point I had ~60 games for my Wii, DS, and PS3 combined, and not one of them was something I could have also had on PC.
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Sinosaur - July 18, 2012 7:37 a.m.

I would love to jump on the PC gaming boat if I had the money to fund getting a new computer. As it stands, every time I buy something on Steam I'm risking having it sit there for years as I find myself unable to run it (and being stuck with a laptop, can't exactly just upgrade my graphics card).
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GamesRadarDavidHoughton - July 18, 2012 7:46 a.m.

Erm, that was sarcasm in direct reference to that fact that I'd just detailed a really, really cheap PC gaming deal. And in indirect reference to every feature I write on this site championing PC gaming above consoles at least in part due to the economical nature of it.
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SentientSquidMachine - July 18, 2012 7:57 a.m.

Decent PC? No no no. Let's not get everyone's hopes up. Do some research before you buy because this game only plays nice with very few video cards, no matter what your specs are. So if you cant get the game to run above 20fps, how could you possibly handle this shader happy mod.
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SentientSquidMachine - July 18, 2012 8:05 a.m.

I wish PC versions released with consoles more often though. How many times have you bought a game for console only to have it be announced as being released on PC in a few months with added stuff. Its annoying. But I also use both for your stated reason, and sports games.
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wndem - July 18, 2012 8:15 a.m.

"insane behaviour of Liberty City's airline pilots" Damn it ever since I saw that that was the only thing I could look at. The amazingly good looking cars in the front of the screen stood no chance. That was terrible flying though.
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ParagonT - July 18, 2012 8:18 a.m.

Dang straight.
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db1331 - July 18, 2012 8:18 a.m.

I'm usually pretty good at anticipating which games will make their way to PC. The only one I'm stunned that hasn't made it is RDR. Sometimes you get some nice surprises too, like Dark Souls. I already beat it on PS3, but by no means am I upset I didn't wait. Now I can trade in my PS3 copy, and get it on PC with bonus content. You have to come to expect the standard one month delay from companies like Ubisoft. They think they will stop piracy by forcing people to buy it on console rather than wait a month to steal it on PC, which is ridiculous.
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ParagonT - July 18, 2012 8:36 a.m.

I know its sarcasm, but its a taunt and jab at gamers that has the opinion that PC gaming being more expensive (which could be right or wrong). It's flame bait. Economical nature of it? Could you elaborate?
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DannyMB - July 18, 2012 9:55 a.m.

But.. but.. Doom 3 is 8 years old? I have a 3 year old Dell laptop that can run Doom 3!
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ncurry2 - July 18, 2012 10:24 a.m.

Ignore him, Davey boy! You are the best editor on all of the interwebz! I wonder if ParagonT sees the hypocrisy of accusing one of flame baiting by posting a comment that is so rife with it, it could easily be mistaken for a very large tackle box factory catching fire. Not too mention that the only way a flame bait can be successful is if someone bites (ie ParagonT). So complaining about flame baiting is in fact the only way the practice can continue to live on, causing ParagonT to sustain the very thing that he claims he seeks an end to. Bit ironic.
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TheHowetzer - July 18, 2012 10:32 a.m.

^^^^^^^^^^ Nice.
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