I have to say that I enjoy Grand Theft Auto 4 and have gotten to really like the main character and the stories in the game.  So it really annoys me that the game absolutely sucks at the controls.  Driving a car is horrible in this game with the cars having too much weight so it's hard to manage your turns.  The cover system and blind fire, ala Gears of War, are poorly implemented so that there is no consistency between areas of cover.  Often I have to get out of cover to shoot around corners which is the easiest way to get killed.  

Now the GTA franchise has been known for having poor controls but this GTA was supposed to have fixed all that.  Well they may be better than previous GTAs but they still stink.  Part of the problem is that there are so many options mapped to the buttons on the controller that the controls are often not very responsive.    On a couple missions I've been faced with a ladder I needed to climb and have had to just stand there while I tried several buttons in an attempt to figure out which one allows me to climb a ladder.  It's not the X button which is used climb and jump, no it's the Y button which is used to climb ladders. 

Now add to the fact that the controls totally suck the fact that the save system in missions totally suck.  Most missions early on are fairly short and make it easy to pass on either the first or second try.  Later on the missions get harder and longer.  I'm currently stuck on a fairly long mission that really makes me wish there was a check point system.  If GTA had a nice check point system replaying missions would not be so dam annoying.  You only want to replay a mission so many times before you move on.  

SPOILER ALERT....I plan to grip about a mission..   I'm currently stuck on a bank robbery mission.  At the start of the mission you need to get a four door car.  So if you have one at the time great, else you have to find one and steal it.  Then you drive to the bank you plan to rob.  Then you got get some money out of the safe.  Then you shoot your way out of the bank,  Then you kill lots of cops on your way yo a subway.  You proceed to kill more cops in the subway.  Then you steal a car and have to get rid of the cops.  So far I have not gotten through the mission successfully.  I keep dieing in the subway or in the car chase.  Problem is once I die I have to do the whole mission over again.  I lose the car I found and any armor I bought before starting the mission.  END SPOILER. 

It's a bit disappointing to be playing a game I do enjoy but am getting progressively more annoyed by the controls.  I'm getting to that point where I think it's time to move on to play something else but I really don't want to be done with Liberty City. I want to find out what happens to Nikko and his cousin.  I want to complete the Packie missions.  I just wish the game was a little more user friendly.

Update:  Added bold text because of the number of GTA IV searches landing on this article looking for how to climb a ladder.  I like the traffic and for those hitting the site check out the other GTA IV posts on this site.