I picked up Grand Theft Auto 4 last week and was immediately struck by how fantastic its storytelling is.

To tell it’s gangster-themed plot of Serbian immigrant Niko Bellic’s arrival in Liberty City, GTA4 uses excellent cut scenes with great characters and writing. Niko and friends often continue the conversations while driving to mission objectives, adding more to the story and cutting down on boring grind time.

Gameplay contributes to the narrative development in GTA4, adding to the player’s immersion in Niko’s world by keeping him there. Trains, taxis and helpful paths to show you where to go on the radar make getting around the massive Liberty City easy, without the need to frequently pause the game and check the map or have a convoluted interface.

Niko’s cell phone is cleverly used to manage plots, chose which missions to do, ask Niko’s friends to hang out or help out, and to talk to characters while on a mission. It also plays other roles in the game, such as sending and receiving pictures. It’s a very good device for managing a complicated game without breaking the immersion with convoluted and show-stopping menus.

The plot for GTA4 is fairly linear, and the missions are as well. Some missions are unique, but most have Niko either hunting down a target in a scripted chase scene or fighting through a building full of enemies, and there’s really only one way to do either of those.

Like the heroes of the previous games, Niko can chose when to take on a mission and which missions to do first. Early in the game, I was on my way to a date with a friend of Niko’s brother Roman when Roman himself called asking for help with some gangsters trying to collect money from him. I forgot the ancient rule of “bros before hoes” and went out on the date anyway.

Afterward, Roman called back wanting me to pick him up at the hospital and asked if I at least got some action. A couple minutes later, the same gangsters were assaulting him again and I was given the chance to retry that mission. The game offers similar scenes for other mission failures.

This sort of accommodation for player choice makes the plot of GTA4 fell much more vibrant and real, with Niko operating in and influencing a living Liberty City rather than just a playground with missions.

The depth of this fully-immersive environment is incredible. There are the characters you interact with, the driving and shooting gameplay mechanics, the multiple mini-games like pool and bowling, plus superfluous content like Web sites for in-game products, television shows, cartoons and ads, fleshed out radio stations, and comedy and cabaret clubs with multiple performances.

Making your way through Liberty City is a definite experience and should not be missed.