Grand Theft Auto IV

Rockstar Games shook up the games industry when they created Grand Theft Auto III for the Playstation 2. Moving the once 2D game series into the third dimension and presenting a wide open world for the player to wreak havoc in proved to be a winning combination. Seven years later, they updated that experience for the new generation of consoles, and Grand Theft Auto IV was born.

The series has come a long way since then. Grand Theft Auto IV returns us to Liberty City, the setting of Grand Theft Auto III. This city has gotten a significant facelift thanks to next generation graphics, and it’s also been expanded to be much larger. The design of this massive, open city is based largely on New York City and parts of New Jersey, with each region of the city having its own cultural and socioeconomic groups.

As the real New York City has long been a haven for immigrants, it makes sense that the story of GTA IV focuses on a freshly arrived immigrant looking to achieve “the American Dream.” The player steps into the shoes of Niko Bellic, an Eastern European man with a painful past, who is looking to start over in a city full of opportunity. Niko links up with his brother, Roman, who has lived in America for some time and has sent home word of his success. However, it turns out that most of Niko’s successes were made up – he’s heavily in debt to all the wrong people. Niko soon discovers that a lot of things about the American Dream aren’t what they’re cracked up to be – as he gets swept up in the same violence that he fled Eastern Europe to escape.

As with the prior games in the Grand Theft Auto series, the focus of GTA IV’s gameplay is all about crime. Niko has the ability to easily carjack just about any car in the city, from station wagons to sports cars to tractor-trailers. Players will spend a fair amount of time driving about the city getting to the next mission location, but it rarely gets boring with such a huge variety of vehicles and complete freedom to go choose your own path. Plus, when it vehicles, you can listen to the radio stations, which feature real music from a variety of genres and eras as well as humorously written and performed mock talk radio shows. Niko can even fly planes and helicopters during certain parts of the game.
You can do a fair amount of damage with a vehicle, but Niko also has access to a substantial arsenal. Weapons can be bought from gun stores or taken from slain enemies. GTA IV introduces a new cover system that allows players to duck behind walls or crouch behind smaller obstacles to take cover from enemy fire. The targeting system has also been improved from prior versions, making for more fluid gunfights.

As the game progresses, Niko develops a number of contacts in the criminal world. These contacts will give him various missions that will provide the player with a source of direction and income, as well as moving the story along. Mission objects are widely varied, from simple tasks like driving a passenger to a different location to assassinating a rival criminal. While many missions seem straightforward at first, complications frequently ensue, keeping this fresh and exciting.

There are a lot of things for Niko to do when not engaged in missions. GTA IV introduces a persistent relationship system where Niko can build friendships and romantic relationships with certain characters. Friends and romantic interests will call up Niko to go out to strips clubs, get a drink, go bowling, or to go see a show. Other ways to blow off steam between missions include simply watching TV in Niko’s apartment, or hunting around the city for hidden items. Some players find the most fun thing to do is simply to wreak havoc on the city until captured by the police or killed.
The developers have added a lot of features that make proceeding through the GTA IV story more convenient. For instance, Niko can now opt to take a cab to a location, such as a mission start location, instead of making a long drive himself. The player can instantly skip the cab ride – for a small fee – so they can get right into the action of the mission. Niko’s cell phone also plays a big role, as he can communicate with mission contacts and allies while walking or driving through the city, instead of having to go to their location.

While the single-player experience has always been the focus of Grand Theft Auto games, GTA IV introduces online multiplayer. As many as 16 players on consoles, or 32 on PC, can join a game and participate in 15 different sorts of multiplayer modes. Mission types include traditional deathmatches, team deathmatches, and races as well as objective based missions like competing to steal the most cars and even a “cops vs. crooks” mode.

Key Features:

• Explore a massive, open and incredibly detailed urban environment modeled after New York City and is brimming with virtual life

• Meet a cast of colorful criminals and contacts including Italian and Russian mob bosses, drug dealers, Jamaican gun runners and many others

• Follow Niko’s story as he attempts to make his own way in Liberty City and unravels the secrets of his past

• Jack dozens of different models of vehicles, from regular old sedans to pickup trucks to helicopters and planes

• Utilize a wide arsenal of pistols, shotguns, machines and explosive weapons to destroy Niko’s enemies

• New cover system makes gunfights more dynamic and exciting

• Classic Grand Theft Auto humor reappears in new radio talk shows, television shows, and the overall game script

• Use Niko’s cell phone to communicate with contacts, set up dates, and even call up friends just to chat

• Create your own game avatar and enter online games with up to 31 other players, with a variety of dynamic gameplay types