She Likes to Watch

“Grand Theft Auto IV” has appeal, even for novice gamers

When it comes to video games, I’m definitely a novice.

As a kid without a console, I was more interested in puzzle-solving PC games such as “Myst” and “Sim City.”

Now entrenched in a coven of hardcore gamers, my personal experience remains limited to the user-friendly basics: Wii Sports, Harmonix’s “Rock Band,” Nintendo’s “Mario Party” and”Katamari,” a delightful Japanese game in which players collect items ranging from ice cream cones to cats by rolling them into balls.

My main game strategy? Randomly mashing buttons. (Oddly, it usually works.)

Yet even I’m intrigued by “Grand Theft Auto IV.”

Set in the fictional burg of Liberty City, this latest addition to the GTA empire lets players explore life as an Eastern European thug. You run errands, battle fellow crooks and cops, and of course, nab the occasional sweet ride.

As the Mature rating suggests, “GTA IV” has more than its share of sex, violence and crime, but there’s something to be said for the game’s gorgeous graphics and all-inclusive “open world” format.

A friend of mine even noticed the tags of a real-life graffiti artist, Cope2, on various game environs. Now that’s realism.

You can read more about “Grand Theft Auto IV” at my co-worker Justin’s brand-new blog, Up Down Left Right.

Check it out.

* Image courtesy of Rockstar Games.