System: Microsoft Xbox 360

Also available for: Sony PlayStation 3

Publisher: Rockstar

Reviewer’s rating: ***1/2

ESRB rating: Mature

Game type: Third-person action

Kind of like: “Grand Theft Auto III”

Best feature: Endless hours of gameplay.

Worst feature: You can’t buy property anymore. What are we supposed to do with all this cash?

The bottom line: An exclusive handful of game reviewers were lucky enough to get their hands on early copies of “GTA IV,” and judging from the unanimity of the perfect scores they awarded it, one could be forgiven for concluding that either (a) the reviewers are on the take, or (b) this video game is the single most impressive achievement in the entire recorded history of human endeavor.

At least one of these two things is patently false. “GTA IV” is a good game. A very good game. Arguably, it’s even a great game. It is, however, far from perfect.

“GTA IV” tells the tale of Niko Bellic, an Eastern European immigrant fresh off the boat in Liberty City, where he finds that his simpering cousin hasn’t been entirely honest about the wealth and prosperity that would await him. The game’s main missions follow Niko’s struggle to climb out of the gutter by whatever means necessary, revealing a profound moral ambivalence while driving home the point that the American Dream is just that—a dream.

Critics (many of whom have never logged a single minute actually playing the game) will tell you the “GTA” series glorifies crime and misogyny, but while the action is long on cheap thrills, the narrative tells a very different story: These are scared and desperate people for whom a life of material luxury is little consolation for the hopelessness that gnaws relentlessly at their very souls.

While Niko may be the most finely nuanced character the game industry has ever produced, the real star of “GTA IV” is gritty, grimy Liberty City, a living, breathing world with its own vibrantly drawn characters, culture and history. The sights and sounds of this sprawling metropolis are rendered with a remarkable level of detail that makes aimless exploration every bit as engaging as the game’s gripping, character-driven story.

We could spend hours watching TV in Niko’s apartment, where ads for “America’s Next Top Hooker” and “The Serrated Edge,” a Home Shopping Network-styled knife show, had us practically rolling on the floor; or driving around listening to the radio, where a crazed right-wing talk show host rants, “Technology is a lie sent by liberals to kill us!” and “I’ll tell you right now, I’m married to two women. My wife, and the second person I’m married to? America!” The social commentary throughout is scathing.

Adding to the realism is NaturalMotion’s Euphoria, an inventive new physics engine that doesn’t rely on canned animations or traditional motion-capture technology, instead creating characters whose movements are disturbingly lifelike. You can almost feel Niko’s weight shifting from left to right as he walks. (Oddly, however, the effect disappears when he runs.)

But that’s where the innovation ends. In terms of its core gameplay, “GTA IV” refines the same sandbox-style formula the franchise pioneered over six years ago. The missions, which cover every imaginable form of organized crime from simple executions to hijacking a helicopter, involve loads of gunfire and even more running from the cops in stolen vehicles.

Apparently there’s a law on the books that requires every game to include online multiplayer action, and they’ve thrown that in, too. To its credit, “GTA IV” has some unique co-op and racing modes in addition to the usual deathmatch fare, and it’s cool that all the action takes place in a huge city that’s teeming with traffic and pedestrians, rather than in a comparatively small map that’s easy to memorize and navigate. But the matchmaking architecture is often confounding, and we experienced excessively long load times and major lag problems that may or may not have been due to the heavy launch-week strain on Xbox Live. Even so, “GTA” purists may view the whole multiplayer thing as an unnecessary afterthought. Frankly, we’d find it hard to argue.

Breaking “GTA IV” down into its individual gameplay components reveals the game’s most obvious flaws. Despite a handy new auto-aim feature and the introduction of an occasionally annoying cover system, the gunplay doesn’t hold up to more sophisticated shooters such as “Gears of War” or “Rainbow Six: Vegas.” The hand-to-hand combat remains clunkier than even the most primitive old-school fighting games. And for pure urban driving excitement, you’d be better off with “Burnout Paradise.”

Still, the overall experience is far greater than the sum of its parts. “GTA IV” may be treading well-worn turf, but if you’re a fan of the series, you’ll like it even more when the production values are through the roof. And, besides, if there’s one thing better than a groundbreaking game it’s a fun one.