Former Rockstar Games technical director Obbe Vermeij says he would've liked Grand Theft Auto 4 to be a bit less "serious."
GTA 4 is a bit of an outlier when you look at the series in the grand scheme. GTA is typically quite silly, with even the more harsh scenes being undercut by Rockstar's comedic chops, but 4 is a far more dreary affair compared to anything that came before or has come since (which is one game, mind you). This is mostly thanks to a more grounded protagonist in Niko Bellic, who is an immigrant to the country having to come to terms that the "American dream" isn't so good.
