Yes, I did just call my own thread 'kickass', simply because any thread with information, news, videos, previews, and screens of Grand Theft Auto IV is kickass. This thread is for anyone who wants to learn more and get hyped up for one of the most incredible titles that gamers will be graced with for 2008.
Welcome to Liberty City: "Where the American Dream goes to die."
Check It Out:
fuzzysquash's Metal Gear Solid IV Mega-Hype Thread!
Latest News:
GTAIV Playstation 3 Bundle = Confirmed.
GTAIV censored for Australia.
New trailer shown March 27, click to see!
15 multiplayer modes, 16 players online.
GTAIV to take 100 hours to complete.
Reviews:
OXM UK - 10/10. Review here. Spoilers!
"The surprise, to our delight, is that everything - absolutely everything, from the dirt on the cars to the ringtones for your mobile right through to the character you play as - has been created to a ridiculously high level of detail. The result is a game that is almost impossible to get bored of."
Essential Info:
Release Date: April 29, worldwide.
Platforms: Playstation 3 and Xbox 360.
Game modes:Both Singleplayer and Multiplayer (16 players online).
Genre: Modern Action Adventure.
Developer:Rockstar North.
Official Site: Link.
FAQ:
What the hell is Grand Theft Auto IV?
If you don't know the answer to this question, you need to get the ** out of the cave you've been living in. Grand Theft Auto IV (GTAIV) is the first entry in the fourth generation of the Grand Theft Auto video game franchise. The game is set in a redesigned Liberty City, based heavily on New York City and New Jersey. You do NOT need to have played Grand Theft Auto III, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, or Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas to play and understand Grand Theft Auto IV.
GTA IV follows the release of the hugely successful GTA: San Andreas and also marks the 10th anniversary of the Grand Theft Auto franchise. With Grand Theft Auto 4 being the milestone that it is, Rockstar Games has been working overtime on perfecting the game. Approximately 150 developers are currently working on GTA 4.
Niko Bellic is the badass protagonist of GTAIV who 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 a mansion, two women, four hot tubs and 15 sports cars; but he was actually 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. Niko is a wanted criminal.
What's all this I hear about Downloadable content?
The 360 version of GTAIV will have exclusive downloadable content with 2 episodes announced thus far. Delivery of the GTA expansions will be available via digital download. Prices have not been announced. The PS3 version has had no confirmed downloadable content atm.
Special Edition? What?
The normal edition of GTAIV retails for $59.99 in North America, AU$119.95 in Australia (Target has $20 off if you preorder), and £49.99 in Europe. The normal edition simply consists of the game. The special edition consists of:
- A customised metal safe deposit box.
- A Rockstar keychain for the safe deposit box keys.
- A limited edition Rockstar duffel bag.
- Production artwork in the Grand Theft Auto IV Art Book.
- Selected soundtrack CD from Grand Theft Auto IV.
- A specially packaged version of the game.
The special edition will retail for $89.99 in North America, AU$149.95 in Australia (Target has $20 off if you preorder), and £79.99 in Europe. This is a picture of the special edition of GTAIV:
What's the gameplay like?
Awesome, of course. 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." What happens in the storyline will affect your off-mission choices. There is more freedom in GTAIV than any other entry in the franchise.
Lots more info but read at your own risk, ie. you might prefer to wait until you play the game to find out about what sorts of new stuff you can expect:
- Niko can use a mobile phone to recieve calls and phone his contacts. He can also use it to call taxis and purchase weapons. The options presented on the phone's LCD are Phonebook, Messages, Organizer, and Camera.
- Pedestrians smoke cigarettes, read books and newspapers, drop litter, talk on mobile phones, walk in and out of buildings, and generally act like a normal pedestrian would.
- It is possible to climb and descend telephone poles and exterior fire escapes.
- There are many different animation sets for breaking into cars. One of these involves Niko smashing the side window with his elbow, climbing into the car, and then hotwiring it.
- Niko is able to manage his funds at ATMs.
- GTA IV features multiplayer, but it's "not a massively multiplayer game," according to Rockstar's creative vice president Dan Houser.
- It is possible to surf the internet in GTA4 via internet cafés. It is available from any computer in the game, and provides a hub for all sorts of interactivity within Liberty City. The camera angle behind the car is closer than it has been in previous GTAs. This allows you to see more detail on the cars, and more of the verticality of the city.
- In GTA IV, you will gain a police wanted level for any crime that you commit, providing there are witnesses present. The police can only chase you if they know where you are, and they need to see you to know where you are. If you escape the search area marked on the radar without being spotted, your wanted level will disappear.
- In terms of scale, GTA IV is about the same size as GTA: San Andreas, but the map size is considerably smaller. This is mainly due to the fact there is no desert or countryside in Liberty City. Liberty City in GTA4 is biggest city R* have ever created.
- Every street in Liberty City contains a street sign with a name on it.
- It is possible to do more than one mission at a time. For example, some missions take place over several days and may involve waiting for phonecalls or attending interviews, and you are free to carry out other business during the waiting period.
- The story can be told in a number of different ways. Rockstar are trying to give people greater freedom and sense of control over their destiny. You now have a lot more choice in what you want to do.
- Interpersonal relationships are now dynamic; ignoring cell phone calls or refusing help will change the attitude by specific characters towards Niko.
- The flow of pedestrians and traffic will be different depending on the time of day. Pedestrians and motorists will often act as good samaritans and aid characters that Niko is attacking or carjacking.
- Niko's outfit can be changed throughout the game. However, it will not be possible to customise his physique or hair as in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
- Heavy fire will scar - and permanently destroy - parts of the environment. It is possible to shoot through walls with powerful weapons.
- When Niko goes to the hospital, he has to pay $100 and he will keep his weapons. When Niko gets arrested, he has to pay more than $100 and he will lose his weapons.
- In a police vehicle, Niko can use an in-car computer to access the criminal database and discover information about various criminals in Liberty City, possibly including himself.
- The player can hail a cab in order to travel to any address in the city. When riding, the player has the option of viewing the journey from the inside, or skipping it to arrive at the destination immediately. The player will be able to ask the driver to change the radio station by pressing D-pad left or right.
- Niko will 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 secret, it has been revealed that Niko can access the internet from various cyber cafes in order to upload a resume for prospective employers. There are over 100 accessible, fictitious websites within the game.
- There is now an autosave that activates after completing a mission.
- Characters will be able to hang on to helicopters and trucks, which will swing them around as the vehicle moves.
- Some meetings in the game will take place high in the 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.
This next section about the gameplay is courtesy of donwoogie who summarised the latest 13-page EGM interview about GTAIV into a few main points:
- Using the cell phone, you can call the emergency services like an ambulance, police car or fire engine and it will be dispatched in real time from one of the stations in the borough you are calling from. This can work to allow you to easily ambush and steal an emergency vehicle. Services also respond to threats in the environment that may not be your fault, so if you get into a firefight with a group of enemies, you can lay low and call in the cops who will try to take down anyone they see as lawbreakers including your enemies.
- The phone system allows you to start your missions however you want, and this works through a contact system. You need to keep contacts happy for them to stay on your list which means you must do jobs for them, doing sub-missions for them, or participating in mini-games for them, like taking them out for drinks then doing the drive home drunk mini-game.
- Houser mentions an example of "bomb the base" mission in GTA3 where 8-ball and the protagonist needed to blow up the ship in Portland Harbour while the player is sniping people to keep 8 ball from getting shot by them. He states that he is trying to harness the power of the next gen systems to make this type of gameplay much deeper.
- The aiming, drive-by and cover systems are purposefully made grittier so that players are forced to refine their gun shooting skills instead of simply using auto-aim like in previous installments.
- You can flag down cabs to take you anywhere you want which can be easier since this game introduces more realism into stealing cars, ie. stealing cars and taking them to destinations is not as simple an affair as in previous GTA games.
- If you smash into something at high speed, you'll fly through the windshield. One rep mentions, one time, to escape the police, he smashed his car into the curb on a waterfront and his avatar was launched through the windshield and into the harbour where he quickly nabbed a boat and sped off.
- The new hand to hand combat system involves counter-attacks. They had a consultant who gave them advice on Krav Maga (Israeli Special Forces Martial Arts) for them to integrate into the game.
- Climbing is more versatile this time round with the avatar being able to shimmy up pipes, along conduits, jump from building to building like Lara Croft and hang on to back of vehicles with a minigame which you need to complete constantly to hang on and keep balanced.
- Grenades can be dropped out of vehicles onto the road. You can "cook" them, meaning they have a time limit before explosion so, you hold down a button to pull the pin out and let go to drop it out the window onto the road. By holding down longer, you can time it so that the grenade explodes sooner after being dropped on the road over if you had just tapped the button. Holding too long causes it to explode in Niko's hand.
Jack Thompson? Who?
Jack Thompson filed a document with a federal court in Florida that claims that the assassination target of a mission in GTA IV is a lawyer character based upon himself. When the main protagonist enters his office and pulls a gun on him, the lawyer yells "Guns don't kill people! Video games do!" Thompson has threatened that unless the similarities to himself are removed from the game he will "take necessary and proper means to stop release of the game".
Which version of the game has better graphics?
Jeronimo Barrera, Vice President of Product Development at Rockstar said that the games are "identical" and "neck and neck" in terms of development.
Is there a PC version of the game?
No, it has not been announced (yet).
What about the tech info?
Grand Theft Auto 4 runs on Rockstar's proprietary next generation game engine, R.A.G.E., allowing for an unprecedented level of realism and interactivity.
- New sunlight and weather effects which give the city a whole different appearance as the time of day progresses.
- Volumetric lighting effects allow sunlight to stream realistically into dusty interiors. Police spotlights will likely benefit from this effect as well when helicopters kick up debris.
- Normal (bump) maps will provide much more detail in models than the underlying polygons, as well as giving materials more texture and depth.
- Road and building textures are more varied than in previous GTAs. On some roads you will find potholes, metal plates (etc) where the road has been dug up.
- Modern pixel shaders give water, glass, cars, etc.. more realistic reflections and shininess than the earlier games.
- In cars, you can see real reflections on the rear and side-view mirrors.
- There are no load times in GTA4, not even during exterior-interior transitions.
What's Liberty City look like in GTAIV?
Liberty City, the "Worst Place in America".
That picture above is a rendition of Liberty City for GTAIV.
The Characters of GTAIV:
Niko Bellicis the main protagonist (pictured above) and playable character of Grand Theft Auto IV. Niko is revealed to be guilty of previous criminal acts in his life, such as killing, selling and smuggling people. He wishes to begin a new life in Liberty City. Everything will of course go very smoothly.
Roman Bellic (no artwork for this character yet) is Niko's cousin who has lived in Liberty City for 15 years. He is heavily in debt with various figures around the city, and needs help from Niko who he has convinced to join him in LC.
For 10 years or more, Elizabeta (pictured above) has been a successful drug dealer in Bohan. Successful because she kept things low key and paid off or killed the right people. She knows that a crackdown on drug dealing is going to put her under scrutiny and her own narcotic consumption has spiraled out of control, making her dangerously paranoid and delusional.
Lola is a prostitute.
When the PoliceOf Liberty Cityare 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 re-centres itself on Niko's location if he is spotted by the police.
Mikhail Faustinwillbe an ally initially to Niko and it is rumoured that he is a corrupt detective.
For more info on characters, check out this link.
Trailers:
Things Will Be Different.
Looking For That Special Someone.
Move Up Ladies.
Everyone's A Rat.
Hope that helped get you pumped for the GOTY of 2008. If you wish to discuss why one version of the game will suck or why this game is crap, please GO. This thread is for discussion of GTAIV of any kind but no trolling please.
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