Yes, it's true:
"This may sound strange, but I found that Grand Theft Auto actually offered a less sensational portrait of gangland and ghetto streets than the one put out by most cops, politicians, policymakers, and even academics ... The game is a carnival of violence, deceit, and cruelty that makes you slightly nauseated after playing for only a few hoursI had to periodically rest and play a Neil Diamond song just to calm down. But I have to admit that I was surprised a video game had such a well-developed, fine-grained understanding of human nature."
This article available online at:
http://www.theatlantic.com/daily-dish/archive/2008/05/the-sophistication-of-grand-theft-auto-iv/216713/
