Grand Theft Auto IV (also known as GTA IV or GTA 4) will be the eleventh game, and first in the fourth generation, of the Grand Theft Auto video game franchise, announced for release by Rockstar Games within February–April of 2008 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The game is set in a redesigned Liberty City, based heavily on New York City. GTA IV runs on the RAGE game engine, which also powered Rockstar Games presents Table Tennis.The game is being written by Rockstar co-founder Dan Houser. It will include online play, but will not be an MMOG.
Titles in the GTA series HAve traditionally been heavily mission based (fixed missions must be completed to progress through each game), but the freedom to explore and play outside of the set missions in GTA IV will now be more relevant to progress through the game, according to comments by a Rockstar spokesperson: "We're really trying to blur the line between on-[mission] and off-mission. So storyline, and wHAt you do outside [it], and how those two things influence each other."
An Xbox 360 demo of Grand Theft Auto IV published in the May 2007 issue of Game Informer reveals tHAt the storyline begins with Bellic standing inside the taxi depot (which Roman operates in the borough of Broker in a converted industrial garage), working at a cluttered desk in a sHAbby environment. Bellic walks to a brownstone house in Broker, where he pushes open the door and pulls out his pistol—the living room, however, is not occupied.
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 the seat of the car, as Bellic unlocks it from the inside. He hot-wires 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. Pigeons can be heard in the sky, and waves can be heard.
Bellic then pulls out his phone, which HAs options for phone book, messages, organiser and camera on its LCD screen. He selects phone book, and he is then presented with another set of options: City Contact, Docks Friend, and Cab Contact. After a brief conversation, he informs the receiver to meet him at the docks.
GTA IV takes place in a redesigned Liberty City. Comprised of five boroughs based on four of the boroughs of New York City (Staten Island is not included), as well as parts 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 (after the CHAnnel Island of the same name). The total area of the map is smaller tHAn Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, but the new rendition of Liberty City will be more detailed, and larger tHAn any previous individual city in the GTA series. Additionally, according to the Official PlayStation 2 Magazine (UK edition), "to get from one side of the new and improved Liberty City to the other will take you at least an hour." Rockstar HAs stated tHAt it's the biggest single city in a GTA game yet, and although smaller tHAn San Andreas, it is comparable to it in terms of scope when "the level of verticality of the city, the number of buildings you can go into, and the level of detail in those buildings" are taken into account. Furthermore, developers are still deciding whether bridges will be used to cordon off certain areas, by way of blocking access to cross them. However, eventually the player will be able to lead Niko Bellic to explore Roosevelt Island and cross the Brooklyn, ManHAttan, and Williamsburg bridges.
The GTA IV equivalent of the Statue of Liberty is called the "Statue of HAppiness", Times Square is called "Star Junction" and DUMBO (Down Under the ManHAttan Bridge Overpass) is known as "BOABO" (Beneath the Offramp of the Algonquin Bridge Overpass).
Another building called "Twitchins", the GTA version of Brooklyn's Domino Sugar Factory, is in the game. Dan Houser HAs also confirmed tHAt an area resembling Central Park will be in the game.
A Staten Island-esque area will not be featured in the game for the reason tHAt Rockstar believes it would not be fun to play there; Dan Houser also states tHAt there would not be any "dead spots" or "irrelevant space" within Liberty City such as the wide open deserts in San Andreas.
Pedestrians are much more intelligent, realistic and diverse, using mobile phones, cash machines, eating snacks, drinking soda, reading newspapers, scratching their nose, coughing and interacting with each other through laughter and threatening remarks. Homeless people will be seen in alleyways rubbing their HAnds over a flaming barrel, sitting against walls, asking for spare cHAnge and other expected actions. Pedestrians and traffic flow will also be different depending on the time of day.
It HAs been announced tHAt some meetings in the game will take place high in the office buildings of skyscrapers which will subsequently allow Niko to throw people off the buildings. However, Niko will not be able to access all the buildings in the game.
Niko Bellic(Voice acted by Croation actor Goran Visnjic) is Eastern European, in his mid-thirties and HAs come to Liberty City to pursue the "American Dream". Niko was persuaded to move to Liberty City by his cousin Roman, who claimed in multiple e-mails to Niko tHAt he was living a fabulous life, with two women, four hot tubs and fifteen sports cars; but he was in fact telling lies to hide his own failures, and in fact, HAs set up a small taxi business, for which he HAs plans of a job for Niko.
Roman is the only person Niko knows in Liberty City to begin with, and is one of his major connections in the first part of the game. Niko is a tough cHAracter, whereas Roman is friendly. Roman is heavily in debt and a lot of people are after him. He desperately needs Niko's support, hence the reason he deceived Niko into travelling to Liberty City. They are constantly bickering. It is later revealed tHAt Niko HAs also been avoiding other, as yet undisclosed, problems at home.
According to Dan Houser, "virtually none of the cHAracters from the previous games are returning, as a lot of them are dead anyway."
Features * The May 2007 issue of Game Informer reveals tHAt after the initial load sequence, no such occurrences persist when entering/exiting buildings or crossing islands. The extent of the loadtime-free expectation in the game HAs also been commented on, when a Rockstar spokesperson claimed: "You can basically play the game from beginning to end without a single load screen."
* The player will not be able to fly aeroplanes, unlike some previous instalments of the Grand Theft Auto series. Helicopters, however, will be flyable onto any building rooftop. There is also a confirmed airport.
* Details are also revealed tHAt demonstrate how variations in the terrain cause the way the cHAracter walks to cHAnge. The way the player moves is controlled by a physics engine instead of purely pre-written animations, therefore enabling cHAracter movements to be more realistic. Rockstar Games announced tHAt Euphoria by NaturalMotion would be used in future Rockstar titles in a press release tHAt accompanied the second trailer, confirming tHAt Euphoria would indeed be used in the game.
* The player will also be able to perform a variety of new actions such as climbing telephone poles and fire escapes, pushing people who bump into him and calling women for dates. When selecting the mobile phone, a zoomed-in version of the mobile screen pops up in the bottom right-HAnd corner of the screen and a list of several commands are made available to the player, such as "meet me here," etc.
* Bellic’s outfit can be cHAnged throughout the game; however, it will not be possible to customize his physique or HAirstyle as in San Andreas.
* Stealing a parked car can no longer be done simply by opening the door and driving off. Now it involves Niko approaching the car unnoticed, breaking the glass with his elbow, before hot-wiring it - only then can he use it. Also, there will be several animation variations to sneaking up to a car and breaking it. The way Niko enters the car would look different each time depending where and how he is in relation to the car. Because of the NaturalMotion system used in the game, the way the cHAracter will approach the car will be completely random. The trunks of cars will also be utilised by the player, though specific details are unknown. Furthermore, players will be able to choose from four different camera views whilst in a car according to their needs. The player will also be able to control vehicles such as boats and helicopters.
* The Police AI and star wanted levels now operate differently. When the police are in search of Niko, the player will now HAve to avoid a certain radius marked on the map in which the police will be looking for him. The size of this radius will increase with the player's wanted level (the more stars, the bigger the radius) and also re-centres itself on Niko's location if he is spotted by the police. Instead of utilising the 'Pay'N'Spray' as in previous games, Niko can now more realistically disguise himself by clandestinely cHAnging vehicles in empty areas such as parking garages, a feature seen in the video game Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven. Additionally, pedestrians can now report crimes such as car-jacking.
* The gunfight system HAs been reworked to feel natural by utilising a cover system similar to tHAt of Gears of War and UncHArted: Drake's Fortune, reason being tHAt the combat system in previous games were awkward and cumbersome.
* It HAs been revealed tHAt every street in the game will HAve a name for the reason tHAt some missions will require the player to go to a specific address.
* In addition to the mobile phone, Rockstar HAs revealed tHAt the player will also make use of the Internet as a means of communication. Although the exact details of the role of the Internet in the game are being kept under wraps, it HAs been revealed in a GamesTM Magazine article tHAt Niko can access the web from various cybercafes (one of which is called "TW@") in order to upload his resume for prospective employers.
MultiplayerMultiplayer in the game HAs been confirmed. However, it will not be an MMO, as Houser HAd previously suggested when citing Everquest as a source of inspiration. Multiplayer will be accessible from Niko's mobile phone and will allow up to 16 players, with a possibility of open-ended gameplay and exploring the whole city.
Episodic contentDuring Microsoft's 2006 E3 press conference on 9 May, it was announced tHAt Grand Theft Auto IV would be available for the Xbox 360 and tHAt Rockstar Games will offer exclusive episodic content via Xbox Live for the Xbox 360 version. This HAd been confirmed by Rockstar, announcing two extra, exclusive, episodes. On 28 February 2007 it was announced tHAt exclusive episodic content will be introduced starting in 2008.
Peter Moore, the then head of Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment Business division announced tHAt Rockstar Games is working on two GTA IV downloadable packs exclusively for the Xbox 360, which will be released after the full game. Moore described downloadable content as "epic episode packs", and not just extra cars or cHAracters. A press release during the conference said tHAt the packs would add "hours of entirely new gameplay" to the game. The official Xbox website states tHAt these episodes will last a minimum of 10 hours. Details on the pricing of these downloads HAve not yet been revealed, though it would almost certainly not be released for free, as Take-Two Interactive's former CEO, Paul Eibeler, HAve said numerous times tHAt these downloads would provide "additional revenue streams" to the company.
As part of a conference call following the release of Take-Two Interactive's Second Quarter Fiscal 2007 financial results, the company's Chief Financial Officer, Lainie Goldstein revealed tHAt Microsoft was paying a total of US$50 Million for exclusivity of this content split equally between the two packs. The payments can be found referenced in the company's Second Quarter Fiscal 2007 financial results as "Deferred revenue".
SoundtrackPhilip Glass, the composer of the music used in the original trailer, is rumoured to be involved in the production of GTA IV's soundtrack. The soundtrack was described as "modern and suits the mood perfectly". Glass' "Pruit-Igoe" theme from Koyaanisqatsi was used for the teaser trailer.
Dan Houser HAs said tHAt Rockstar is "certainly evolving the way the radio works". According to Official Xbox Magazine, one of the radio stations includes an "Eastern European-sounding" dancing theme. Other music announced as a placeholder for the press includes Russian and East Coast hip hop. The range of music in GTA IV will span different decades and genres, the first confirmed track shown to the media was "Sorrow Tears and Blood" by Fela Kuti. Ruslana, a Ukrainian singer, will also provide some songs for the soundtrack.
Various media outlets HAve reported on the quality of GTA IV's advanced sound engine. One describes the realism of the traffic noise on the streets, noting the "varying volume and intensity of car horns and the constant hum of traffic", as well as "the frequent deafening rattle of trains hurtling through the subway." As part of GTA IV's new physics, the player will be able to hear and feel the bass of vehicles passing by with their radio turned on.
