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.
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.
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.
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.
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Originally Posted by CapnKnut
Still, bloody good fun.
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