Rockstar's iconic and long-running series indulges in criminal activity, and Grand Theft Auto 4 was no different than its predecessors. The frankly impressive levels of violence and reckless endangerment than can be performed in GTA 4 are held up as the pinnacle of corrupting influences by those who believe video games influence the youth into becoming violent, even though this has been proven repeatedly not to be the case. In fact, if one were to engage in hypothetical musings of that nature, a counterpoint might be that GTA actually deters people from illegal activity, especially more banal, all-too-common crimes like driving under the influence.
Grand Theft Auto games allow a relatively large amount of player freedom, and one of the freedoms bestowed upon GTA's American protagonists by the laws of the land is the freedom to consume alcohol. But that doesn't mean they can operate a motor vehicle afterward. It's well known that driving under the influence is incredibly dangerous because of alcohol's influence on motor function, eye sight, reaction time, and more, and GTA 4's Niko Bellic can be taken here as a case study.
As part of its sandbox nature, the game allows players to put an intoxicated Niko behind the wheel and discover that drunk driving is as bad an idea in Grand Theft Auto 4's fictional Liberty City as it is in real life. The first challenge is actually getting a drunk Niko into a car. Going to a bar with one of GTA 4's many NPCs can result in Niko becoming so intoxicated that he can't walk in a straight line, falling down repeatedly and tripping as a result of even small elevation changes. Once inside a car, driving it is just as hard, if not even more difficult.
GTA 4's Drunk Driving Is A (Fairly) Good Analogue For Real Life
Getting behind the wheel while Niko is intoxicated in GTA 4 actually changes the way the driving mechanics work. In addition to the camera wobbling erratically and the player's vision being blurry, the vehicle is impossible to drive in a straight line. Although Grand Theft Auto is typically outlandish - especially when considering GTA Online's stunt drivers - seeing Niko try to drive a car intoxicated is, in a way, a good look at why driving under the influence in real life is a bad idea.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration delineates the effects even the smallest amount of alcohol can have on driving. With a BAC of .02, "Decline in visual functions (rapid tracking of a moving target)," are represented by GTA 4's wavering, out of focus camera. It only requires going up to a BAC of .05 to reach "difficulty steering," which comes into play in GTA 4's game-ified drunk driving immediately. BACs of .02 and .05 are only the first two categories on the NHTSA's table of alcohol-related effects on the ability to drive. Though Grand Theft Auto 4 can't be considered overly realistic, its self-contained world is believable and consistent, and part of that believability stems from the consequences of player action - like trying to drive a car while hammered.
Source: NHTSA