Socio-nerd Clive Thompson reviewed GTA IV with a rhetorician’s eye for detail, discussing the “why” of why he liked the game and how cool it is to play through and find little tidbits of sheer beauty in something that should just be an average shoot-em-up.

I finally escaped by ducking into a subway station, and while catching my breath, I decided to explore a bit. That’s when I stumbled upon a lovely piece of artwork: A huge mosaic of a subway train on the second level. It looked precisely like the mosaics you see in the New York City subway, except even more ambitious and gorgeous. And I was thinking, “Man, who put this thing here? Who thinks of this stuff?”

Rockstar has always been good with detail. From the radio stations to giant beating hearts, they always add a little extra something to keep us constantly amazed. Although I probably won’t play through the entire game, I really like the aesthetics of this new version and totally agree with Clive.