The is not just a tutorial. It is a short film about the death of the American Dream. It asks the player: Why are you here? Are you here for revenge? Or are you here for love?
When Grand Theft Auto IV launched in April 2008, it represented a seismic shift for the franchise. Gone were the jet packs, the flamboyant rapper-gangsters of San Andreas, and the pastel-soaked 1980s of Vice City. In their place was grit, grime, and a deeply personal story about immigration, trauma, and the American Dream. The entire thesis of this darker, more mature narrative is established in the first thirty minutes of gameplay: The GTA 4 Prologue. gta 4 prologue
We are not treated to the standard rock anthem radio intro. Instead, we hear the melancholic, Eastern European strings of the Soviet composer Georgy Sviridov’s "Time, Forward!"—a piece of music associated with Soviet industrialization and longing. This is no accident. The is not just a tutorial