Grand Theft Auto IV, developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games

In Round 1 of our Vs. Mode exchange with MTV News reporter Stephen Totilo (also featured on Totilo's blog Multiplayer), he expressed concern over the direction in which Grand Theft IV has taken the franchise, which narrower and more restrained than its wilder, freer predecessors. We accused him of damning developers for running in place (The Legend of Zelda series) and damning them for walking a new path (GTA IV). In today's Round 2, Totilo reveals his favorite GTA title and explains why he believes that Rockstar North should have preserved player "liberation" as the spine of its gameplay, while we advocate forcefully for "emotion" as the broader focus which explains why the developer has taken a left turn. Some excerpts:

Stephen Totilo: Everyone I've spoken to who has played GTA IV can tell me a moment when their manipulation of Niko through gameplay made Niko seem like a different character than the one portrayed in the cut-scenes. Friends cite moments when the cut-scene Niko--cautious about causing wanton violence--didn't seem like the guy they had gunning down everyone in sight at the behest of either the player or, more oddly, in order to fulfill a mission scripted by the developers. What do you make of that? I see the game developers writing Niko one way in cutscenes and requiring him to conform to a very different script in some missions. You see Rockstar maturing. I see Rockstar creating a game that sometimes works against itself. San Andreas didn't have these problems, I think, because it resounded with the tones of cartoon criminality and non-seriousness that the gameplay of a GTA almost demands of its story-writers. Jetpack-riding and rhyme-book-stealing were zany examples of the sprawl of possibility. Anything could happen and anyone could be around in the game to be part of it.

N'Gai Croal: On the radar, I could see that the drug dealer and two other people were inside. Now, whether it was the tension that had built up over the lengthy, deliberate pursuit of my target or a strange aversion to failing and restarting a mission, I can't be sure. But I nevertheless stood outside the door for what seemed like an eternity, Micro-SMG in hand, steeling myself for the firefight to come. Then I burst into the room and kept squeezing both triggers until I absolutely, positively killed every motherf---er in the room. It was over in what seemed like the blink of an eye, and immediately afterwards, as I came down from the adrenaline rush, all I could remember was the echoing gunfire and motion blurred visuals that accompanied my frantic switching from target to target to make sure that I got them before they got me. The pacing of that mission; its rising and falling tension; the juxtaposition of the tempo and duration of its constituent parts; its blend of driving, walking and shooting--all of that was memorable for putting me in a stunned, shaken, disquieted and finally relieved state of mind.

Please be sure to note that spoilers can and do abound. To read Round 2 of our exchange in full, click on the link below.