GTA IV Update!

[Eyeball Chambers]

Full Summary of the Preview

• The protagonist's name is Niko Bellic - an Eastern European immigrant who has come to Liberty City to live the "American Dream." The game is set in Liberty City in 2007, but it is bigger than the Liberty City we saw in GTA III.
• The GTA 4 equivalent of the Statue of Liberty is called the Statue of Happiness, and DUMBO (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass) is known as BOABO (Beneath the Offramp of the Algonquin Bridge Overpass).
• In Grand Theft Auto IV, Rockstar have recreated 4 of the 5 boroughs in New York, as well as part of New Jersey. Broker is the GTA IV equivalent of Brooklyn, Manhattan is now called Algonquin, Queens is now Dukes, the Bronx is Bohan, and New Jersey is Alderney. The map is smaller than San Andreas, but considerably more detailed. No countryside or desert, we are led to believe.
• Pedestrians are far more realistic in GTAIV than in previous GTA games - they sit on benches, smoke cigarettes, read books and generally act like any real pedestrian would in the middle of a street.
• The screenshots in the preview are not representative of the final quality of the graphics, Rockstar insist. The game will only look better as the release draws closer..
• Niko was persuaded to move to Liberty City by his cousin Roman, who claimed to be living a wonderful life there with two beautiful women, fifteen sports cars, and lots of money etc, but he was infact telling a lie in order to hide his own failures. Roman is the only person you know in Liberty City at the beginning of the game, and he becomes one of your major connections at the start. Niko is a tough character whereas Roman is friendly. Roman is heavily in debt and a lot of people are after him - he needs Niko's support. They are constantly bickering.
• The demo (which was played on Xbox 360) begins with Bellic standing inside of the taxi depot, which Roman operates in the borough of Broker in a converted industrial garage. Roman works at a cluttered desk in a shabby environment, and at this point the graphical improvements are extremely evident. Bellic walks to a brownstone house in Broker, where he pushes open the door and pulls out a pistol. The living room however, is not occupied. He then moves onto the kitchen, which he also finds to be empty. He pushes his way through the back door and smashes the window of a red four-door car using his elbow. The broken glass falls onto the street and onto the seat of the car, as Bellic unlocks it from the inside. He hotwires the car and sets off to his next destination. The camera angle behind the car is closer to the vehicle than in previous GTA titles, which enables more detail on the car to be seen. After selecting a radio station, Bellic navigates to a section of the BOABO arriving at a dockside with a terrific view of the city skyline. Pigeons can be heard in the sky, and waves can be heard rustling in the water. Bellic then pulls out his cellphone which has options for Phonebook, Messages, Organizer and Camera on it's LCD screen. He selects Phonebook, and he is then presented with another set of options: City Contact, Docks Friend, and Cab Contact. After a brief conversation he informs the reciever to meet him at the docks.
• As Bellic walks, you can feel the weight behind each step he makes. Variations in the terrain cause realistic changes in the walking animation. The physics have also improved and character movements are more realistic.
• In previous GTA games you were like a slave because you had to constantly take orders from people when doing missions. There is still an element of that in Grand Theft Auto 4, but you can also choose how you want to spend your time, for example "I want to hang out with him and her. I want to hang out with this guy because he always has fun things to do." Call him up and maybe you can hang with him. Maybe he'll answer. You have a lot of choice over what you want to do.
• In GTA 4, Rockstar is giving its players more freedom, more choice, and more sense of control over their destiny - the structure of GTA4's storyline is quite different to it's predecessors as it can be told in a number of different ways. You can talk to people in person, by cell phones, and there are a bunch of other ways of giving the player information. In general it's a different experience, with new ways of interacting with the characters and the game world.
• Rockstar consulted crime experts and ex-policemen when making the game, and they learned that being a criminal is a lot harder these days than it was during the 80s and 90s (for example) and they have tried to reflect this in the game. This means you can expect to see a lot of people getting arrested - the police are a heavy presence in Liberty City.
• There are no planes in GTA IV because there is only one city, and Rockstar want the game to seem realistic. That means there will be no rollerblades, no unicycles, probably no jetpacks and indeed no planes. Rockstar are giving choice and variety which feels right for the character. However there will be motorbikes.
• Rockstar North is approaching the recruitment of voice actors in a different way. This means that we will probably hear less familiar voices in GTA 4, as R* are looking for voices which suit the attitude of the characters, and are not just looking for big names. A similar approach is being done with the soundtrack - Rockstar are looking for great music which works with the 2007 Liberty City.
• After an initial load sequence, the game will never load again. Not even during exterior-interior transitions (and vice versa).
• Both versions of the game (Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3) will likely be identical, but the Xbox 360 version will have exclusive downloadable episodic [sizeable] content. Rockstar have now spent over 3 years developing the game, and Dan Houser compares the leap from GTA III to GTA IV, to the leap from GTA to GTA III.
• GTA IV will have multiplayer, but it's not going to be a massively multiplayer online game, says Dan Houser. They are trying to make something that is interesting, fun, progressive and which goes along nicely with the single-player game.

[Bluto]

sounds like an interesting title, still i cant help to wonder if i as a player had enough of the whole concept...

[DK II]

sounds like an interesting title, still i cant help to wonder if i as a player had enough of the whole concept...

WTF???

How can you get enough of the concept of GTA??

I loved it from the first part. You get more and more freedom, it's great. One of the best games there is.

[Bluto]

WTF???

How can you get enough of the concept of GTA??

I loved it from the first part. You get more and more freedom, it's great. One of the best games there is.

because ultimately it might get boring.

[DK II]

because ultimately it might get boring.

killing and destroying never gets boring...

[Bluto]

killing and destroying never gets boring...

it does to me 

[Pollux]

One of the best games there is.

One of the best? No way! The best! 

[Always Sore]

I agree to some extent after you have been play sometime it does get kind of repative. Toward the end of each one was my limit on mission after mission of running around. The best part of the game is when you first start and start to unlock the city or get new stuff. When you got Las Vegas unlocked in the last one was a really cool part. But after you know every turn and where everything is and you break down and start using cheat codes to just have massive battles with the cops it can get old.

[BroadStreetBruiser]

As long as I'm not a black man who is the worst qualities of the American Negro I'm happy

[Always Sore]

As long as I'm not a black man who is the worst qualities of the American Negro I'm happy

I did find it funny on the last one that whenever my character was making a long drive I put it the rock station...

[anvil]

I did find it funny on the last one that whenever my character was making a long drive I put it the rock station...

Or the country/western station 

[BroadStreetBruiser]

I remember if I dressed CJ a certain way and gave him a blonde buzz I would pretend he was white.

[DK II]

I remember if I dressed CJ a certain way and gave him a blonde buzz I would pretend he was white.

bah!!

It was funny pretending to be a black man killing dozens and dozens other black people. You do it and don't feel racist, what a great thing. 

[BroadStreetBruiser]

One big thing I kept thinking was "why the fuck can't they rerelease vice city with swimming and climbing along with all the cool shit CJ could do".

[Always Sore]

One big thing I kept thinking was "why the fuck can't they rerelease vice city with swimming and climbing along with all the cool shit CJ could do".

Thats a great freaking Idea. I would love to have been able to swim with all the water and watercraft. I don't know how many times I died because of water.

[DK II]

One big thing I kept thinking was "why the fuck can't they rerelease vice city with swimming and climbing along with all the cool shit CJ could do".

Dying because of water totally sucked. But that's the good thing with GTA, it progresses. I loved how you could get CJ in shape in the gym or make him a fatass or whatever. Also the lung capacity and stamina thing was great.

[Always Sore]

Dying because of water totally sucked. But that's the good thing with GTA, it progresses. I loved how you could get CJ in shape in the gym or make him a fatass or whatever. Also the lung capacity and stamina thing was great.

A little sad really but the first day I got the game and got to his home street, I found the gym and maxed him out as fast and as much as I could...

[BroadStreetBruiser]

A little sad really but the first day I got the game and got to his home street, I found the gym and maxed him out as fast and as much as I could...

Fuckin A right. I did that as well. I also rode the bike everywhere to max my stamina out. Another thing I would do is sit outside and shoot the tires off of big smokes car to improve my handgun skill. Get 3 stars then run in and save.

It is great GTA progresses but it kind of ruins the older games. I remember loving GTAIII's city then I go back after playing San Andreas and it's just not the same cause you are so limited in what you can do. I'm thinking "why the fuck can't I climb!?!?!?!?!"

[DK II]

Fuckin A right. I did that as well. I also rode the bike everywhere to max my stamina out. Another thing I would do is sit outside and shoot the tires off of big smokes car to improve my handgun skill. Get 3 stars then run in and save.

It is great GTA progresses but it kind of ruins the older games. I remember loving GTAIII's city then I go back after playing San Andreas and it's just not the same cause you are so limited in what you can do. I'm thinking "why the fuck can't I climb!?!?!?!?!"

hahaa, i did the same!!!

[BroadStreetBruiser]

hahaa, i did the same!!!

You have to play Crackdown. The whole premise of the game is to max out your stats

[DK II]

You have to play Crackdown. The whole premise of the game is to max out your stats

i have no xbox360. 

I think i will buy a new game console next year.

[BroadStreetBruiser]

i have no xbox360. 

I think i will buy a new game console next year.

I had no idea I was talking to a peasant! I need a shower now

[Always Sore]

Fuckin A right. I did that as well. I also rode the bike everywhere to max my stamina out. Another thing I would do is sit outside and shoot the tires off of big smokes car to improve my handgun skill. Get 3 stars then run in and save.

It is great GTA progresses but it kind of ruins the older games. I remember loving GTAIII's city then I go back after playing San Andreas and it's just not the same cause you are so limited in what you can do. I'm thinking "why the fuck can't I climb!?!?!?!?!"

Yea I tried to go back to play liberty city and was to bored. Would not mind a updated version with all the new stuff and maybe some underground tunnels added.Plus being able to fly jet pack stlye would be cool to add to the older ones.Well that and base jumping.

[DK II]

I had no idea I was talking to a peasant! I need a shower now

haha. yeah i definetly feel like one.