I Just Don't Get It: GTA IV

The media is so fricking excited about GTA IV (Grand Theft Auto IV).  It's metacritic.com score is 99 out of 100! How is that even possible?  I have no desire to play this game at all. 

It's a game about crime.  You can get and kill hookers in the game. You can shoot cops and steal fast cars...okay. I just don't get the draw.  

I love games. I have since I first played that old Atari 2600 that my dad (who I can see now was a tech geek just like me) brought home when I was very young. I think the Xbox 360 is an incredible platform and there is a lot of incredible content for it. In fact, just this last week my gamerscore reached 10,000.  Now, if you are a 360 owner that might have a little significance. But otherwise, it's an arbitrary number of false achievement.  Let's just leave it at I am a serious gamer.  I am usually open to playing almost anything. 

I am totally stumped by the GTA hype.  I hear it has a great story. I hear it has the most realistic alternate reality city ever created. I even hear that the main character, Niko, has remorse for his hyper-violence.  But what is the "why" of this game? 

I like games about heroes battling the darkness. I like games that enliven and bring the magical realm to the world.  Give me unicorns and faerie dust any day. 

This game scares me just a little.