Kommande spel- Xbox 360

Grand Theft Auto IV First Look
We sneak a look at the next much-anticipated entry in Rockstar's GTA series.
By Ricardo Torres, GameSpot
Posted May 24, 2007 7:24 pm CET

You'd be hard pressed to find a more anticipated, or scrutinized title than Rockstar's upcoming Grand Theft Auto IV. The release of the game's trailer in March saw the fifty odd seconds of teaser footage scrutinized like evidence in a CSI episode with fans (ourselves included) rabidly dissecting it frame by frame. To further stoke the fires of anticipation, Rockstar Games recently hit town and did the previously unthinkable: they gave us a look at a work in progress version of the Xbox 360 game. Whereas years past have seen us getting access to GTA games when they were much farther along in development, Rockstar, confident in how development is going, actually raised the kilt and let us get a look at GTA IV months before it hits. Our guided demo of the title showed off a tiny bit of the city and gave us a taste of what Rockstar is cooking up for what is arguably the most anticipated game of 2007.

The demo opened up with the game's Russian hero Niko Bellic standing in a building, the offices of the taxi service to be exact. As our demoer guided him around the interior we were given a rundown of his story. The eastern European immigrant will come to Liberty City at the request of his cousin, Roman. The trip seems like a smart move for Niko who's had a rather rough life so far. The picture of life in Liberty City painted by his cousin is that of an opulent life with easy money. Upon arriving Niko gets a reality check. Roman is living around the poverty line and drives a cab. Once that realization hits, Niko realizes he's got to find a way to eke out a living, which is where the story begins. Given what was shown and implied in the trailer we expect Niko's career search to take some interesting, and probably violent turns. Rockstar reps noted that Niko's path through the game isn't going to tell a stereotypical "rags to riches" story but will instead offer a grittier tale that's about survival, "rags to slightly better rags" to be exact.

Once we got the rundown of the story our demoer took Niko out for a stroll in the city. As the tour started we got another quick primer on the city. The Liberty City in GTA IV is a modern day metropolis that's a bit different than the one we know. The city is obviously based on New York, though there's no version of Staten Island in the game. For fans at home already working on their maps, the borough of Broker is based on Brooklyn, Dukes is based on Queens, Bohan is based on The Bronx, Algonquin is based on Manhattan, and Alderney is based on New Jersey. Our tour took us on a run through some of the neighborhoods in Broker, underneath the Algonquin bridge overpass and eventually out to the docks to look out on the city proper. The environment had a lived-in look that featured pedestrians, homeless, trash, steaming manholes, traffic, and an impressive array of little touches used to set the scene. But, while we expected all that, the demo showed off a new wrinkle to the densely packed environments: height. Though "verticality" has turned into one of the newest buzz words for new games, it's still an interesting feature to see. From the sound of it, GTA IV is going to let you go up or down buildings in the game as needed. Our demo simply showed Niko climb a power pole and have a look around at the environment- highlighting the impressive draw distance. But we also noticed that the dense city environment, which is roughly the same size as San Andreas, will be a layered locale with things to see and do at different heights. If it works the way we're hoping, it might offer some additional options when avoiding the police.

But avoiding police, like much of GTA IV's gameplay is something that Rockstar wasn't going into too much detail on. There was no talk of the upcoming downloadable content or exclusive material for the PlayStation or Xbox 360. What was shared was that the role-playing elements are being dialed back so Niko won't be morphing into a superman by the end of the game. Car jacking is being tweaked, so you can now break windows and jack parked cars. You'll be able to call people via cell phone and help move the story along, offering you more control over how the story will progress. Though you won't be able to fly planes, you should be able to fly helicopters. One of our big questions, what kind of online multiplayer the game will offer, was just met with a coy assertion that the team wants the multiplayer to rival the single player experience. Reps did note that it will not be an MMO-style persistent city. Other details, such as the game's HUD, are still being ironed out. We did see a menu system that had all the expected options, we're just curious as to how it will be implemented. The driving force behind the game is its story according to the team. So, to that end, the gameplay experience must be seamless. We're pleased to see the lengths they're going to make this happen already. Moving in and out of buildings is seamless and you'll have ample places to go in and out of though not every building in the game is explorable.

The visuals in the game come courtesy of Rockstar's proprietary RAGE engine and offer a comfortable compliment to the game's new look. The city area we were shown had all the real world elements that are key to a GTA game's atmosphere: pedestrians, traffic, and a lived-in look. The key difference, as you can see in the trailer, is the level of detail and the art style. The expected bump in graphics seems to be agreeing with the team's ambitious tendencies, resulting in a dense city with rich lighting populated by a diverse group of people. The little touches that were wrung out of the last generation of hardware are now fully realized with proper lighting, particle effects, and shadowing being used to highlight the distressed city streets, old buildings, dusty windows, and vast panoramic views of Liberty City.

As for the residents, our tour of the city gave us a look at a sampling of some work-in-progress models that are set to be used for the non-player characters you'll meet. The models sported a higher level of detail, obviously, and looked good, albeit nondescript like any good NPC. Niko is obviously the star of the game, with a character model that reflects his mental baggage. The detailed model has a decidedly gritty look that makes it pretty clear he's been around the block a few times, maybe even hit by some cars. Animation was early but seemed to be coming along fine. His gait when walking was deliberate and was on its way towards adding to his world weary vibe. Our demo also focused on showcasing a number of subtle touches being worked into GTA IV. The standouts were Niko leaning in a direction as he runs and, most awesomely, his breaking windows on parked cars so he could jack them. Though we just saw a small slice of what to expect from the game's visuals we have to say we're impressed by the restraint we're seeing. In a time when so many games on PS3 and Xbox 360 are going all out with the special effects and a generally glossy look, GTA IV seems to be drawing on the effects and tech it needs to establish a convincingly rundown look. While it may not bowl you over with blinding use of light blooming and other stereotypical "next-gen" effects, although we've seen most of them used in subtle ways, the game is focused on its realistic look and we're pleased by what we're seeing.

Audio was far from finished as Rockstar reps were quick to point out what we heard in the demo was very placeholder, with a fraction of the audio that will be in the final game peppered through it. It seems as though the plan is to expand on the concepts used in the previous games so you'll hear tons of ambient chatter, and city sounds designed to sell you on the game's virtual world. Finer elements such as voice acting and the ever popular radio stations are still being ironed out. The team is still mulling over the direction of where to go with the radio stations, given the tone of the game. There will still be plenty of variety in music, but what it is remains to be seen. The voice acting in the game is in a similar state of reevaluation. The team is thinking on what would best serve the story in terms of the talent used and the direction. As with the previous entries in the series, Rockstar is competing with the standards set by GTA IV's predecessors which all featured great voice acting. As it stood, what we heard of the audio was coming along fine and, finished or not, we liked where it was headed.

Ultimately our demo of the game was a pretty controlled experience and was more about showing off the world and the possibilities of what could be done inside it than showing off specific gameplay features. That said, even this modest look at a fraction of the city shows a whole lot of potential. The nuanced story, greater interactivity with the world, a densely packed, vertical environment, an ambitious scope, and even more freedom seem like the right ingredients to have in play for such an anticipated sequel. Factor in the mysterious online multiplayer and downloadable content and you have about as fully loaded a sequel as you could ask for. Grand Theft Auto IV is currently slated to ship this October for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Look for more on the game in the coming months.

* Rockstar reps noted that Niko's path through the game isn't going to tell a stereotypical "rags to riches" story but will instead offer a grittier tale that's about survival, "rags to slightly better rags" to be exact.

* The city is obviously based on New York.

* The new Liberty City is roughly the same size as San Andreas.

* The role-playing elements are being dialed back so Niko won't be morphing into a superman by the end of the game.

* Car jacking is being tweaked, so you can now break windows and jack parked cars.

* You'll be able to call people via cell phone and help move the story along, offering you more control over how the story will progress.