It seems as though this blog has become an annual thing lately, and while you haven't heard much from me, I've been rather busy. I'm posting on the forums again, and the most mystifying thing to me is how my union recruits about 10 new members every day (my inbox is flooded with join notifications) and yet the union has slowed to a crawl.

In any case, I hope to see union activity pick up in the coming weeks, but if not, I suppose I am to blame. I just recently beat GTA4 (SPOILER ALERT), and I have to say, the ending was rather disappointing. Despite the versatility of the story, I found that the game seemed to just end, with no rhyme or reason. I ended up killing Pegerino last, and I have to say, the mission to kill Dmitri on the tanker ship was much more satisfying. I mean, getting revenge for Kate is cool and all, but I feel like I didn't even know her anyway, much less love her. All we would ever do was go out drinking and eating fast food anyway, mainly because I couldn't be bothered with the more time consuming activities. I felt like I was babysitting my friends and dates, rather than getting to know them. The relationship system felt like a chore for me. My friends would always call right before I was about to start a mission, then proceed to give me an hour (in-game time) which equates to about 5 minutes to go all the way across town to pick them up. If I am late, they cancel and hate me. If I say no because I can't possibly make it in time, they pout and still hate me. While the relationship system is deeper than ever before, It needs some serious retooling before GTA5. Anyway, the game as a whole was a great experience, if a little disappointing at the end. But it is immersive and awe inspiring no-doubt, and I am glad I finished it. Take that all of you who think I am an "irresponsible gamer" *ahem* Neo-EGOS *ahem* A review for GTA4 should be upcoming, and hopefully another blog post before 2010!

-barbierian205