GTA: IV - more details:

[MinionZombie]

* According to the magazine, GTA IV is currently 66% complete.
* When Niko pulls out a pistol, a crosshair with a simple black cross within a circle shows up on the screen. This could be an indication of manual aiming being available in the game.
* Rockstar's humorous take on the number 69 makes an appearance yet again in GTA IV, the editors of the magazine saw a sign for a "69th Street Diner". Another building called "Twitchins", the GTA version of Brooklyn's Domino's Sugar Factory, is in the game.
* Niko will be able to climb and descend exterior fire escapes and some meetings will take place high in the office buildings of skyscrapers. It's said that from on top of them you'll be able to throw people off.
* Hand to hand combat is also being reworked on for GTA IV, and will feel "much more natural" than before.
* One of the radio stations includes an "Eastern European-sounding" dancing station.
* Players will be able to change their camera views whilst in a car according to their needs. This however is said to still being experimented on, and that Rockstar want to give better control and "immediacy" to players.
* For confirmation, boats will be making a return and the handling is "really nice".
* When selecting your mobile phone, a zoomed-in version of the mobile screen pops up in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen, where you can use its address book to pitch for "jobs" with gang contacts among other things.
* One of the things that makes it easier for Rockstar setting GTA in a fictional New York is that they sometimes get a call from the developers at Rockstar North in Scotland, wanting to know more about a specific building or traffic flow in a certain area, for instance, and using their in-house researchers in NYC they can easily assist the guys back at R* North.
* Dan Houser is quoted saying that the Liberty City in GTA IV is bigger than any single city they've done before, giving a more clear indication of the physical size of the game.
* He continues saying that the "detail" of the game is the big thing. He also confirms Central Park to be in the game, though it's fictional name is still unknown to us.
* Dan says that they're "certainly evolving the way the radio works". He says the same for police behaviour and their reaction to crimes. Nothing further is said about this...
* "Fun ridiculous" weapons is said to be in the game, because R* is not going too "naturalistic".


http://www.gta4.net/news/3868/gta-iv-preview-in-official-xbox-magazine/

*rubs balls*

Ah mate I'm so up for this! :D

[Cody]

minion your sick. I cant wait either!

[capncnut]

Yeah, <sniffs> gonna be a unit shifter this one.

[MinionZombie]

Yeah, <sniffs> gonna be a unit shifter this one.
Yeah mate, sorted innit, it's gonna rake in a fair few fists of monkies I tells-ya.

Alright, I'm off down the Phoenix to see some dodgy cabaret acts...:D

...

Yeah it's Friday and my brain's melted from the TV line up...:p

[Terran]

* "Fun ridiculous" weapons is said to be in the game, because R* is not going too "naturalistic".

But I want more "naturalistic".....!!!....*sigh*

[Cody]

I kinda like the auto aim too.

[Danny]

i agree a 3rd person game like this needs 3rd person shooter controls, i hope his mixes traditional gta vehilce controls, with max payne fps movement and shootign (minus the bullet time im sick to my back teeth of it), id love to see the kind of almost online play thats been implememnted in the latest pokemon game, by merely contecting another user of the same games on tv you hear about what exploits theyve got up to, mixing this into xbox live would be great as you could listen to the radio and hear how you freinds whent on a hit and run killing spree and whatnot.

[MinionZombie]

The fun weapons thing is kinda odd, "not wanting to be too naturalistic", yet they're been hammering on about how they're going more naturalistic - like the exclusion of planes and missions that make more sense to reality and to the main character as well...

Although perhaps it is just a bit of fun you can choose to take if you want, go a bit Dead Rising by the sounds of it. :lol:

I'd really like a better news system, not the same report for ages until a new one comes along when a bridge opens or something. I want more varied and frequent news reports, and perhaps have a news station so you don't always miss them - it's fun to hear them, but sometimes you forget about them, or you have to wait for all the other programming to get out of the way, so a news channel would be awesome - as well as more news, especially pertaining more to what you've been up to.

If you've just conducted a huge across-town massacre, I wanna hear about it! :D

[suicide22]

cool!

[capncnut]

So here it is. It's not every day that a game arrives with the power to really change the cultural landscape in which we live, but that's the right that the Grand Theft Auto series has earned itself over the last decade. From debates with Jeremy Paxman on Newsnight in the 90's to the earth-swallowing phenomenon that was San Andreas in the Autumn of 2004, Rockstar's fanchise has single-handedly changed both the public's perception of what a videogame can be and influenced almost every facet of modern game design. It really is that big.

With Grand Theft Auto IV, Rockstar North is attempting neither an evolution or revolution. No, the buzzword for GTAIV is 'rebirth'. This is a re-imagining, a refinement of everything that has come before, played out in the most impressive and coherent city space ever concieved. If San Andreas was a game of excess, then GTAIV is one of focus. It's vision of Liberty City - as close to the true New York City as it has ever been - is gritty, dour, almost ugly... if you can refer to the most graphically impressive game to date as 'ugly'. And in Niko Belic, the franchise has found it's most grounded, believable and fascinating protagonist yet.

http://ps3media.ign.com/ps3/image/article/706/706234/grand-theft-auto-iv-20060521043111010.jpg

Steering away from the caricatures that were Vercetti and Johnson, Rockstar has created Belic with an altogether more menacing mould. An Eastern European lured to Liberty City by his cousin on the promise of a slice of the American Dream, Niko soon finds out that life in the Big Apple isn't quite what he expected. Instead of the cars, women, money and power, he finds a down-and-out taxi cab service run by Roman, his cousin and countryman, and unsurprisingly, he's not happy. So, instead of the typical rags-to-riches story that has typified GTA since it's inception, GTAIV is a tale of survival, alienation, loneliness and discovery. Rockstar North has created a city on a scale and scope not seen before, and it's up to Niko to find out how it's all put together.

Of course, wherever Niko goes, so do we. And from the brief and tantilising demo that GamesTM was recently privy to, there'll be a lot of ground to cover. Even from the tiny section of Broker (Liberty City's Brooklyn) shown, it is clear GTAIV displays a level of detail never before seen in the genre of the franchise. Just a brief stroll down the street showed pedestrians chatting on mobile phones, clutching grocery bags, chatting in groups and throwing a few cautious glances in Niko's direction. And with the lighting and soft shadows that RAGE (Rockstar's new proprietry engine) throws around with ease, a casual walk from A to B looks like a scene from a movie, an illusion that is helped no end by the weight and believability with which Niko moves.


The key to GTAIV's still-to-be announced mission structure is Niko's mobile phone. From here, it is possible to call contacts and arrange meetings, but the potential for it's use is near limitless. Imagine planning a heist on a downtown bank, arranging for a pick-up at 2.30pm outside the front door, and sprinting out of the building to see your trusty wheelman hurtling around the corner to meet you. Pure conjecture, of course, but it's this cell phone that could prove GTAIV's most innovative and revolutionary feature. Surely the next batch of information will reveal additional fascinating details. We're itching to learn more.

Our antihero has a connection with the world that only helps to amplify the level of player immersion. His feet land on the correct steps when scaling a staircase, he leans around corners, he adjusts his posture on an incline... it may not sound like much, but successful suspension of disbelief is always in the details. It's all about coherency, about transporting the player into another world: the very definition of true escapism. The same attention has been lavished on the vehicles too. After a slick hotwiring job (elbow through the window, then jump into the driver's seat), Niko cruises around Broker while Rockstar manipulates the camera to show off the re-modelled driving engine. The vehicle suspension now reacts to every bump in the road, the light reflects and retracts faultlessly over the chassis. Again, it's like watching a movie, and this was while driving at 20mph! We can only imagine how incredible a spectacle GTAIV will be when neck deep in a high-speed police chase.

http://media.monstersandcritics.com/articles/1284730/article_images/fourscreen001.jpg

This new focus on immersion and pseudo realism has leant GTAIV an entirely new aesthetic. The art style, sound design and tone of the the previous three (plus spinoff's) iterations have now been cast into the annals of time. GTA has always created it's own world but now that world has changed. What was once a universe of pastiche is now a playground for the perverse, a New York freed from the shackles of lesser technology but oppressed by grime and post-9/11 paranoia. It's going to be a fun place to be but certainly a bad place to be at the same time. If Niko is GTAIV's hero, then the city itself is his antagonist. And GamesTM is pretty sure where the Oscar would end up. Liberty City is the star of the show.


Although not every interior of the city will be modelled, key locations will feature a fully interactive inside. And unlike GTA's of the past, there will be no loading screens; Niko simply pushes open the door and walks in. In fact, this seamlessness is evident throughout the whole game. As soon as Niko arrives in Liberty City, the player will not see a single loading screen at any point. This is as believable a world as has ever been crafted, and Rockstar doesn't want that authenticity shattered by unnecessary intrusions. If only more developers would follow suit.

All of this angst and aggression doesn't spell the end of the playground mentality that has underpinned GTA since day one. Although Rockstar remained tight-lipped when it came to specifics - keen to promote GTAIV as an experience rather than a features list - the ability to express oneself and create mayhem is still very much a key aspect of the gameplay. A barebones HUD gave away a few secrets, but you can bet there will be plenty of buildings to climb, super cars to jack and poor, unsuspecting pedestrians to mow down with little or no remorse. While Rockstar has made it clear that the likes of skateboarding, jet packs and planes will not be found in the skies or streets of Liberty City this time around, it doesn't take a genius to accept that the development team is not about to desert the freedom that GTA fans simply demand.

So what can we expect? The area of Broker shown was miniscule, but still demonstrated a bounty of exciting new features. For starters, Niko is able to scale telegraph poles, giving him a greater view of the surrounding areas. What purpose this will serve is still a mystery, but the potential for long distance sniping or tactical reconaissance is huge. When pulling a pistol, the control system appeared to ape a standard third-person shooter, with a central reticule and twin-stick movement. If GTAIV's firefights can match Saint's Row's surprisingly meaty shootouts, then it's already on to a winner.

http://media.monstersandcritics.com/articles/1284730/article_images/fourscreen002.jpg

The temptation to go on listing titbits and potential telltales is vast, but to do so would be to miss the point of GTAIV. This is a videogame that is pulling out every stop to drag you kicking and screaming into it's universe, developed by a team that has already changed the world once. To fret about the funky modes of transport seems a little unfair.

So, should we be excited? Of course. Details still may be a bit thin on the ground, but on the evidence that GamesTM has seen, mixed with a smattering of faith in a developer that has yet to disappoint, Grand Theft Auto IV will be staggering. The next few months are going to be both incredibly exciting and highly frustrating as Rockstar drip feeds new information, but rest assured, it will all be worth it in the end.

[darth los]

I like the fact that they're doing alot of different things. San Andreas was a great game but the series was beginning to suffer from the repetitiveness that the tomb raider series did until recently. Every new game sported only incremental upgrades. Every game was bigger but didn't feel that different from the rest. Just drop an italian or black guy in there and let her rip. Going on the same type of missions all the time. This is a breath of fresh air.

[MinionZombie]

Indeed, San Andreas - while great fun - wasn't the best of the series (that honour goes to Vice City, personally), so I'm really looking forward to GTAIV...initially (from the trailer), I wasn't impressed ... but as I said back then, that was to do with being up really early on not enough sleep, so I wasn't in the zone for such viewing, when I later re-watched it, I was "sporting" ... to quote Chuck Palahniuk's latest ("Rant"). :sneaky:;)

Anyway, I look forward to the greater sense of gritty realism while having fun, flying around in a jet and all that men in black stuff from SA was just daft and way too out of it for the character, and rags-to-riches was certainly tried and tested...several times.

I can't wait for GTA IV, I've recently been binging on Saints Row, which I've enjoyed a lot, but we all know GTA is the daddy of the genre...but SR has been/still is a hell of a lot of fun, and a great dick whetter for what we can expect to come. :cool:

[darth los]

I can't wait for GTA IV, I've recently been binging on Saints Row

Saints row brought a couple of new, cool things to the gameplay. One of my favs was the way the map pretty much pointed you in the right direction. This was especially helpfull when on those timed missions.

[MinionZombie]

Oh hell yes, the way point selector option is immensely helpful. The number of times I used to take wrong turnings on GTA was untold, but the way point thingy is really, really useful. I've done 50% of the game so far, kinda stuck on that Los Carnales mission where you have to kill the bloke trying to escape in his plane, all this bitching about RPG blokes, but I can't feckin' find them in time to shoot them, especially when aiming from a wiggling car, and especially not with analogue sticks! :eek: Still, bloody good fun.

[darth los]

They need more more hot coffee mods imo. :elol:

[MinionZombie]

I have to admit, I would like more sex in these sort of games, make it properly adult, but Americans are so twitchy about sex...but then again a lot of gubments would bleater on about sex in a videogame, they did in the UK...hell, they're having a field day with this Resistance: Fall of Man thing...it really is lame.

But yeah, more boobies in videogames! :D I have to admit, I enjoyed the increased sexual element of Saints Row (which I'm surprised hasn't been moaned about as much as I'd thought - if at all! :stunned:)

[darth los]

The God of war series definitely has no qualms about sex and boobs, i'll tell you that much. lol

[MinionZombie]

The God of war series definitely has no qualms about sex and boobs, i'll tell you that much. lol
Well, damnit, we need MORE! :cool::D

[darth los]

No arguement here. That doesn't even need to be voted on. Nobody is against more boobage. :D

[MikePizzoff]

This game can't come soon enough! I'm still really upset that there won't be any planes in the game. Oh well, at least there'll be helicopters. One of my favorite things to do in San Andreas was to get on top of high buildings via plane/heli and base jump off.

[darth los]

My fav from San Andreas was the jet pack. They need to keep that in there.

[Danny]

i preffered riding the chopper through red county with the metal radios tation on :lack of a white trash smiely: :lol:

[MinionZombie]

There will be choppers in GTA 4, but there are perfect reasonings behind no planes:

1) It's set in a New York-like city, putting planes in themselves would be a complete Pandora's Box of negative attention.

2) The character is supposed to be much more realistic in his journey, the dull rags-to-riches story is shafted in favour of variety, and in turn his missions will make much more sense to the character and to the overall realism they're after - none of that men-in-black 'steal a jet fighter and fly it around to kill people' rubbish. :rolleyes:

I don't object to flying in the game, but I object to that god-awful flying license garbage from GTA:SA, that was such a pain in the arse, I had to download a save game that put you just after completing it for cripes sake! Flying should be a fun aside, not a mission requirement, it's too OTT and just annoying I say.

I'm looking forward to the grit and grain of GTA4, but that's not to say the game won't have the silly fun factor - it's going to have that as well. :cool:

[darth los]

i preffered riding the chopper through red county with the metal radios tation on :lack of a white trash smiely: :lol:


That's probably the only thing missing from the jetpack. A radio !! They should let you buy mp3 players in this game ala shenmue ( cap's gonna love that reference) so you can have music even if your not in a vehichle. :D

[DVW5150]

w/ a mag lite on it.
Big vehicle jumps too , gotta have 'em!:lol:

[darth los]

I don't object to flying in the game, but I object to that god-awful flying license garbage from GTA:SA, that was such a pain in the arse, I had to download a save game that put you just after completing it for cripes sake! Flying should be a fun aside, not a mission requirement, it's too OTT and just annoying I say.

I hate flying and driving missions all together. I've never been good a those and for them to be required to advance in the game is very frustrating.

[MinionZombie]

Well driving missions kinda make sense pretty much, but aye, flying missions - where's the majority of the sense in those? They're certainly too OTT for the story of the game, but if you just wanna have a bit of cheeky fun on your own - away from the plot - then fine by me. I'd much prefer it to be a choice, rather than forced.

[Danny]

w/ a mag lite on it.
Big vehicle jumps too , gotta have 'em!:lol:

i was dissapointed san andreas' red county didnt have a dukes reference that would have been legendary.:D

[darth los]

Well driving missions kinda make sense pretty much, but aye, flying missions - where's the majority of the sense in those? They're certainly too OTT for the story of the game, but if you just wanna have a bit of cheeky fun on your own - away from the plot - then fine by me. I'd much prefer it to be a choice, rather than forced.


Yeah, a former gangbanger now involved in deep cover ops. First you with chinese gangsters then running missions for dirty cops. Then dealing with a crazy latina bend over buddy. More believable storylline please!!. It seems as if they put a minimum of effort into the storyline. It was there simply to create more missions.