Grand Theft Auto also capitalized on a vital undercurrent of flippant humor. Much of the controversy courted by the original game wasn’t due to the brutality of the violence, but the slapstick realism that provided the punch line to its hit-and-run jokes. Taking distinct pointers from the kind of gore-nography based hilarity of films like Evil Dead 2, or anything ever made by Troma, Grand Theft Auto dared to suggest that carjacking a Policeman then running him down with his own car could be funny.

The guilty pleasure of laughing at such a terrible act was central to the brilliance of the game. Leaving bright red skid marks on a pedestrian precinct, then hightailing it from the authorities in the blazing wreckage was priceless in terms of inappropriate hilarity, and fed into the unrealized rebelliousness of the subjugated family man. This breezy, ebullient attitude made Grand Theft Auto a thing of unique beauty – at once uproariously outrageous and obscenely violent. An inspired object of dichotomous escapism that was completely unrivalled in terms of raw entertainment value.

GTA IV hasn’t lost its style – it’s perfectly replete with individual panache – but has fallen into the disappointing modern trend for darkening its premise in an attempt to garner capitalist credibility. Quite what the different entertainment industries think is so valuable about ‘being dark’, I wouldn’t like to say. From Revenge of the Sith to GTA IV, beloved franchises have been corporately mangled to conform to some imagined ideal that darker is better. Return of the Jedi and the original Grand Theft Auto reveled in the fact that their events were fully washed in vibrant light. They marveled at their own upbeat attitudes to matters of dire consequence – whether a galactic war or urban genocide.

The savage, socially abusive jokes are gone. Does Rockstar not recall the magnificent moments it directed so beautifully in Grand Theft Auto? Have the developers of the megalithic fourth game never split their sides after stealing a fire truck and running down a troupe of tambourine shaking Hare Krishnas to the rebellious the call of “Gouranga!”? If there was but one aspect that separated Grand Theft Auto from the glut of conformist games at the end of the last century it was this celebration of unspeakable tactlessness. And yet GTA IV focuses its listless energy on exemplifying the world of organized crime. For f**k sake! The entire purpose of Grand Theft Auto was basking in the hysterics of disorganized crime!

It’s not that I expect the same game to be made repeatedly, however. Before the GTA series began to believe its own hyper-hype so blindly it demonstrated a superb ability to adapt the theme to new possibilities (GTA London being the prime example) – but to shed the fundamental state of mind exhibited so brilliantly in Grand Theft Auto, as GTA IV has now done entirely, robs the franchise of its founding quality.

It’s become a chore, albeit an invigorating one, to play GTA. What was once a salacious waste of time in incredibly enjoyable juvenility is now a serious, achievement fuelled quest. GTA highlights the tragic difference between playing a videogame and competing in one. Perhaps it’s ironic that Grand Theft Auto has been indifferently murdered by its own bastard off-spring, but it’s certainly not an amusing irony – GTA IV has been careful not to raise any smiles; dry or otherwise.

Once again the modern games industry has adopted an attitude of mutation rather than evolution. Undoubtedly GTA IV will go down in financial history as a far greater success than its founding title, but it doesn’t change the fact that yet another delicate thread of creativity within videogames has snapped.

Grand Theft Auto is dead. If only it had gone out in the riotous blaze of glory it deserved, the inherent tragedy of this latest sequel might not feel quite so wretched. Play GTA IV, but remember that it extinguished a radiant gaming light when it cast off its heritage.