As I drove up to the Chateau Marmont hotel in Hollywood, I knew I was just minutes away from going hands-on with the most anticipated game of 2008: Grand Theft Auto IV. While we've known about the existence of GTA IV for almost a year, the creators at Rockstar Games are known for being very selective in how they release information. In fact, GTA IV is the first GTA game that Rockstar is letting the press play before its release at the end of April on PS3 and Xbox 360.
Niko Bellic is the star of the latest Grand Theft Auto.
GTA's open-world gameplay takes its first leap into the next generation.
The game's controls are vastly improved over previous GTA titles.
Once inside a bungalow at the hotel, I was handed a PS3 controller and let loose in the world of Liberty City. My initial impressions of the first next-generation GTA? The game looks stunning. The brutal truth is that previous GTA titles were never the best looking games; it was the gameplay that set them apart. But with GTA IV, it looks like Rockstar will deliver both cutting-edge visuals and compelling gameplay. While the world of GTA IV feels very familiar, it's the little details that set it apart: The flying newspapers in the street, the way the character changes his stance to run down stairs, and most of all, the refined controls.
With GTA IV, it looks like Rockstar will deliver both cutting-edge visuals and compelling gameplay...
In past GTA games, the driving mechanic worked well, but the combat could be problematic. For GTA IV, Rockstar has gone back to the drawing board and completely reinvented the way the game controls in combat scenarios. Now you can duck behind objects for cover (just like in Gears of War), and the targeting system is much more intuitive. Driving feels the same as previous games, but the environment is much more interactive and the car physics are vastly improved. All in all, the core gameplay feels like a refined version of what worked in previous GTA games with a much glossier coat of next-gen paint on top of it.
The setting of the game also feels strangely familiar - Liberty City was also the setting for Grand Theft Auto III. Of course, now this New York City clone is rendered in full HD glory. It may not be quite as big as San Andreas, but it is denser and filled with more interactivity. As the character Niko Bellic, an Eastern European immigrant, players get to explore all the boroughs and interact with this world in new ways - including using Niko's cell phone to dial 911 to call the police to the scene of a crime - a crime which I'm guessing you will have just committed. This is, after all, GTA.
In terms of the game's story, Rockstar is tight-lipped about Niko's adventure. What we do know is that he's summoned to Liberty City by his brother Roman who runs a taxi business. Roman tells Niko that if he moves to the States, he too can "live the American dream." The early cutscenes I saw reminded me of David Cronenberg's movie Eastern Promises and its Russian mafia vibe. There's no doubt the story will take many twists and turns as you and Roman run around the city on various side missions. As always, Rockstar has put a particular focus on storytelling, dialogue and atmosphere to bring the game world to life.
After playing through a few missions of GTA IV, you begin to realize the challenge that Rockstar faced on this project: How do you strike a balance between tradition and change? How do you satisfy the core GTA fan while also trying to reinvent the wheel and show where GTA can go on a new hardware platform? While elements of the game are likely to be seen as more evolutionary than revolutionary, Rockstar seems to have done a good job creating a game that feels familiar but also improves on the GTA formula in big ways.
Of course, the biggest question is what parts of the game are still hidden from the prying eyes of the press. There are already rumors of controversial elements like drunk driving in the game - an idea which will no doubt be put under the political microscope. And my hands-on time did not include any details on the online multiplayer mode, a GTA first that is rumored to support up to 16 players. Could GTA's multiplayer be so addictive that it ranks right up there with Halo 3 and Call of Duty 4?
Regardless, GTA IV is a title that you'll want to have in your GameQ when it comes out later this month on PS3 and Xbox 360.
