The American Dream means many different things to many different people. Some say it's dead. Some claim to be living it. Whatever your take, it's an enthralling theme that has been tackled in countless literary and cinematic works. I love Fitzgerald's THE GREAT GATSBY and its discourse on the warping disintegration of American ideals (see my BIOSHOCK review in the GamingZone for more on Fitzgerald's gilded America) and most of my own fiction revels in gleefully disemboweling American principles. As long as America has been in existence pundits and politicians and artists alike, from Benjamin Franklin to Lil' Wayne, have debated what constitutes America. With such a weighty pedigree behind it, who would have thought that a videogame could push this ever interesting, ever complex theme as effectively as any of its iconic predecessors?

Much has been made about the Video Game as Art Debate (film critic Roger Ebert says No, horror icon Clive Barker says Yes), but I've always classified them as such. I'm biased. I love video games and think they drip art, but still, I might've balked if somebody tried to put a game in the same ballpark as my beloved Fitzgerald. No more. The day of reckoning has come my friends. Bow down before the artistically sound majesty of Rockstar North's masterpiece GRAND THEFT AUTO IV.

GTA IV is every bit as amoral, violent and wild as its previous incarnations. The controversy surrounding the series is sound. Players can steal cars, wield weapons, pick up prostitutes, go to strip clubs, do drugs and kill anything that moves. This is not a game for children (as it goes with a majority of today's video games). Nor is it a shallow, one trick pony. You can engage in the aforementioned chaotic hijinx, but you don't have to (though many missions do require gobs of evil carnage) and if you took the time to get lost in the game's central narrative you'd mumble to yourself, Holy shit, that was incredible.

The original GTA up thru GTA SAN ANDREAS and its paltry (but fun) sequel VICE CITY have always been a dirty adrenaline blast of hyper kinetic sleaze. Their open world structure suited the free form chaos well and I spent more time running around their nicely render digital cities blowing shit up and smacking down every fishnet wearing ho in sight. The story running through each would go ignored in favor of side missions and trying to out maneuver the cops. GTA IV has everything that made the earlier games great and so much more. It's as resonant and as affecting as a modern day Godfather film and serves up an honest portrait of our current cultural climate, a broken dream shared by a nation of broken dreamers.

You control Niko Bellic, hands down the most fully realized video game protagonist ever, an Eastern European immigrant coming to America at the behest of his cousin Roman. Niko arrives in Liberty City (New York City) on a freighter and like most of the characters encountered throughout the game he hopes to make a new life for himself and take a bite out of the fabled American Dream. Roman has fed him a bit of bullshit and Niko is disappointed to find that his cousin isn't living the idyllic life he bragged about in letters home. Instead of living in a penthouse with lots of naked women (as boasted), he lives in a slum and gets by day to day driving a cab. Niko moves in and starts taking on jobs in an effort to climb out of the slums.

Had this been one of the earlier GTA titles, that would have been that. You'd run around stealing and murdering your way into a position of prominence and power. This happens in GTA IV, but there is a depth of character and story that lends real gravity to all of those horrendous acts of violence and debauchery. Niko was a solider in the Bosnian War and he is looking for a rogue general who was responsible for the deaths of most of his squadmates. While gaining rank in the criminal underworld he remains focused on bringing his former superior a bit of justice. This storyline plays out in unexpected and satisfying ways, as do the interactions Niko has with tons of other characters populating Liberty City's seedy underbelly. Many decisions, to kill or not to kill, have moral repercussions down the road. Friends you are loyal to will help you. Friends you ignore will treat you accordingly (which proves problematic at times). All of these little tweaks in character and the importance of maintaining friendships make the game feel that much deeper. Twenty hours in, death begins to mean something. Life, digital, pre-programmed life, somehow becomes valuable.

Game play is basically the same as the earlier titles, but where Rockstar North has made slight yet dramatic tweaks in character development, they did the same for play mechanics and the improvements (again subtle, but crucial) are staggering. Improved targeting makes blasting fools much less frustrating. Driving is a dream. A cell phone feature makes contact and mission assignments feel organic and real.

I've played plenty of sandbox style games and have traversed many a digitally rendered city. From CRACKDOWN to JUST CAUSE to DESTROY ALL HUMANS, sandbox title cities have always been satisfying. Sure, there are doorways you can't enter and dead areas of the city, but it's a whole freaking city, an entire realized, living breathing city, what else should we expect from developers? With GTA IV the bar has been raised exponentially. Liberty City is a revelation. Its design, its depth, is an amazing accomplishment. My first few hours with the game were a series of breathtaking experiences. The city really does feel alive and I marveled at the detail. City slums, beaches, parks, middle class suburbia, industrial districts, business districts, Times Square (the city is heavily influenced by New York City), every borough, every nook and cranny, feels authentic. I could go on and on, but Liberty City really has to be seen to be believed. Even if you hate video games, or sandbox titles, you owe it to yourself to give it a look. Take a spin through the city and tell me that video games aren't art.

What else? Too much. There are radio stations for every preference, media cafes where you can surf the Internet and e-mail friends and foes. You can steal helicopters. You can shoot pigeons (affectionately referred to as Flying Rats). You can date three girls at once and get caught and then suffer the fiery consequences. Street races. Drug deals. Gang violence. Revenge. Strip clubs. Darts. Bowling. Paying tolls. Flying down the freeway with an Uzi blazing white hot death into the back of a thug filled SUV. Endless possibilities. Endless fun.

Rockstar North has crafted one of the most immersive, finely tuned games ever made. It's the perfect synthesis of game play and deep narrative. The mind blowing minutia of Liberty City is worth the price of admission alone. And hot damn, the game has something to say. It's a statement. A call. A proud, loud obnoxious, in-your-face declaration that video games are indeed art and the American Dream isn't dead it's just been reborn a bit darker, a bit more desperate, a bit more vital.