A staggering twelve years ago, a little known game by the name of 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Grand Theft Auto IV released worldwide. After months of delays, fans finally had the chance to return to Liberty City. A💮n HD Liberty City, with the bigwigs over at Rockstar Games doing everything in their p🀅ower to make it glorious to the eye — and incredibly fun to play.

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Even now, over a decade on, GTA IV and its sprawling, wonderful map continues to impress. So we now take a l🎃ook at ten things we still love about Liber🌠ty City.

10 The Sunset ༒

When the first trailer for ꧒the game was shown off, it gave fans a glimpse of what to expect from the HD universe of New York City. And one of the first things that stood out was the lighting and aesthetics of the title.

The sunset is the standout. The yellow sky was a backdrop to many shootouts online and we still get a thrill out of riding on the highway, accelerating towards it full of wonder for what the evenings in the city have in store. It's just so fitting of New York, too, and 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Rocksta🎉r definitely nailed the authenticity.

9 The Landmarks 🅘

When you think of New York, you can't help but think about it's historic landmarks. There's the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, Time🅷s Square and Central Perk which often keep tourists occupied during their visits to the city.

And GTA IV gets this right. You can go to to all of the aforementioned places under their names of the Rotterdam Tower, the Sta🅠tue of Happiness, Star Junction and Middle Park. Not to mention many other famous places from New York. You can do this by car, by bike, by helicopter or, if you're not afrai♋d of a few high tides, by boat as well.

8 🌃 Star Junction In A Thunderstorm

Okay, so we've already mentioned the sunset of Liberty City as well as t✅he delights of the city's landmarks. But Star Junction in a thunderstorm is something that, if you🥂've never played the game or raring to get your hands on it again, is well worth checking out.

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The sight of the rain lashing down while the bright lights illuminate your path is a joy to behold. We've since been blessed with great graphical power on numerous consoles but, to this day, it st♋ill looks the part. We recommend walking on foot to che🏅ck it out because, if you're in a car, that vehicle could be tough to keep steady.

7 ♔ The Sounds

It's common knowledge that New York is rarely a quiet place, often being filled with noise no matter the time of day. Hence it's nickname, The City That Never Slee🍸ps.

And all of it's noise can be heard within GTA IV. From the constant tooting of the city's vehicles, the chirping of mobile phones and the non-stop talking of citizens, you can hear it every time you ste🌄p out from one of your safehouses. If you don't like that so much there's always the option to stay indoors. But, in a place filled with stuff to do, why would you bother?

6 The Diversity 🔯 ꦓ

While New York is one very big city, it's🎉 full of different a🌳nd diverse areas. And it's Grand Theft Auto counterpart is no different in the slightest.

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Algonquin and Broker are⛎ both high-class places within the game, often where you can find the biggest and glitziest vehicles and safehouses that t🌳he metropolis has to offer. But Dukes and Bohan are both economically poorer areas, with it's citizens often vastly different to their richer counterparts. In deciding to do this, Rockstar gave fans a truly authentic experience of New York.

5 ꩵ The Safehouses

GTA IV really is a rags to riches story. It's the tale of Niko Bellic who, after arriving on a boat fr♔om Eastern Europe, works his way up to become one of the most-important gangsters in Liberty City — as well as one of it's richest.

This is reflected in the safehouses, which get steadily better as the game goes on. By the end you're living the high life, residing in an apartment that even the world's richest celebrities would be jealous of. You can also get Playboy X's safehouse is you decide t🧸o bump him off, which is something we'🌄d recommend.

4 The Dating✃ Scene

Love life had never been a big part of Grand😼 Theft Auto before IV released in 2008. However, that changed with 🌄the release of the title, with gamers suddenly able to chance their luck at finding that lucky someone.

You can date three women as Niko Bellic using the in-game dating𒀰 website and, if you treat them well enough, receive perks such as having your wanted rating wiped away or discounts in stores. And speaking of stores…

3 𒁃 🐷 The Entertainment Scene

GTA 4 Screenshot Of Niko At Bowling Alley

If you live in New York, chances are that you won’t ever be bored. And the same﷽ can be sa🤪id of Liberty City, which is full of things to do.

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Fancy playing pool, darts or bowling? Sure! Feel in the mood to kit Niko Bellic out in some attire? H♌ead down to one of the three stores. Want to grab a virtual bite to eat or have a few drinks? Go for it! There’s loads of things to keep you busy, well after you’ve finished the main story too.

2 The Characters Who Live🧸 There

It wouldn’t be right talking about Liberty City withཧout touching on the ama⭕zing, quirky and criminal people who live there.

The characters you meet on your GTA IV adventure are now iconic, 12 years on from the game’s release. Roman Bellic, Little Jacob and Packie McReary are all thought of highly fans while others, such as Brucie Kibbutz and Dwayne, are interesting enough as well. We’re hoping to meet some of them again further down the line, although Packie does appear in GTA V.

1 🌳 The Easter Eggs ♒

GTA IV is full of Easter Eggs. Some are weird, some are wonder💫ful but just about all🍬 of them are worth checking out.

There’s the beating heart that sits within the Statue of Happiness, the weird little black box that exi🍬sts in Packie’s head and also the Statue itself, which has Hilary Clinton’s face on it. They’re just three things that are well worth looking at but there’s also many more, which makes all that bit more satisfying.

NEXT: GTA: ﷺV: 5 Reasons Why It's An RPG (& 5 It's Not)