Posted April 30, 2008 - - The most anticipated video game in history is finally here.

“Grand Theft Auto IV” hit stores on Tuesday and is projected to make $400 million in sales from the first week alone.

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So, why all the hype and fanfare around a video game?

GTA IV is arguably the most realistic video game to ever be developed. The plot of the game revolves around the main character, Niko Bellic, an immigrant to the fictional Liberty City from Yugoslavia. Like most immigrants, he has left his home country to pursue the “American Dream.”

Liberty City is based loosely on four of the five New York City boroughs and the game features Broker (Brooklyn), Dukes (Queens), Bohan (Bronx) and Algonquin (Manhattan). Sorry, Staten Island, you weren’t cool enough to be included.

If you are familiar with the “Grand Theft Auto” series, then you should be pretty comfortable popping in the disc and playing right away. The controls will take some getting use to, especially the driving features, which can be frustrating at first (and much like actually driving in Manhattan).

One of the great features in the GTA series has been the music soundtracks that are highlighted in the game. It’s not different in GTA 4 as the game has over 200 songs over 18 radio stations, ranging in artists from Fela Kuti, Bob Marley, John Coltrane to Kanye West, Nas, Ne-Yo, and R. Kelly.

There has been some backlash surrounding the violence in the game. The game is rated Mature and is meant for audiences that are 17 and older. Take that into consideration before playing the game. You will have your share of profanity and a heavy does of violence in this game.

Hands down, “Grand Theft Auto 4” is the premiere video game on the market. Even if you aren’t a hardcore gamer, there is enough in the game to get you to pick up the controller and drift away into fantasy for hours on end.