Grand Theft Auto IV thread of hype and stray bullets

[Himuro]

Last Updated: March 28, 2008

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Antimatter and Manager are my heroes for making these gifs!



We should be expecting more GTAIV news and previews any day now, or to be more precise: January 23. So I decided to make a hype and news thread for my most anticipated game. If Smash, of all games has one, the biggest gaming event of 2008 deserves one too! This thread will cover what we know, various images, previews, confirmed songs, and anything GTAIV related.



Platform(s): Xbox 360 and Playstation 3
Developer: Rockstar North
Publisher: Rockstar Games
Downloadable Content: Xbox 360 (2 add ons in the future, both the size of VCS), Playstation 3 (while there hasn't been a confirmation, we should still expect something)
Game modes: Single player and multiplayer (online)
Release Date: April 29
Official Website: http://www.rockstargames.com/IV/

Story

Niko Bellic - a veteran crook, sex slave trafficker, and murderer, comes to America with one belief: that he will be able to experience the American dream and start over. His cousin Roman tells him, through exchanged emails, that he has a mansion, tons of women, and more cars than he really needs. Niko naively believes him, hoping for some escape from the current life he leads, and leaves Russia for the capital of the world: New York City...erm..Liberty City.

He finds that his cousin Roman was actually lying to him. Roman has no status or wealth, he only owns a poor Taxi business in the middle of Broker. He owes some people (right now they are rumored to be Russian gangsters) money, and it appears Roman is in a fix. Obviously it's up to Niko to set things straight, but unfortunately, he will have to disregard his wish for a new life and revert to his old ways. R* says that the game, unlike past GTA's since Vice City, is not a rags to riches story, it is a rags to slightly better rags story akin to GTAIII (thank GOD).

Gameplay and Features

Rockstar has been more tight lipped regarding this Grand Theft Auto more than any in the past. They were always quiet on this front, but we barely know a thing about the game so far aside from a few gameplay features and what we should expect. I hope they can deliver. They delivered in the past, so I trust they will again!

Anything bolded is regarded as new information.

- The location will be Liberty City, a completely retooled and more realistic version of Liberty than what we've seen in the past (GTA1, GTA3, LCS, GTA advance).

- There will be five buroughs: Dukes (Queens), Bohan (the Bronx), Algonquin (Manhattan), Broker (Brooklyn), and Alderney (New Jersey). It has been confirmed you start the game out in Broker. No, Staten Island will not be present because R* feels the area is boring.

- The game will be much harder than past entries. The days where you walk up to any car and jack it are over, as are the days where you simply have to run to a pay and spray to get the heat off of you.

- While the game is not as big as San Andreas, it has more detail and R* is going for less wasted space.

- The police system has been entirely retooled. You will not instantly become wanted whenever you commit a crime now, even in public. If there are no cops around, and someone sees you, they will have to notify the police. It sounds extremely similar to The Warriors, it sounds like. When and if you commit a crime in public and the police are notified, a circular search area will appear on your radar. The fuzz will go on high alert. If you are outside of this area the cops will not be able to find you unless you commit another crime. If you are spotted in the circular area, the police will follow you to that location. Thus, if you are sneaky, they will not know where you are.

- You can trick police to get rid of wanted level. Since there's no Pay and Spray you must use other ways to get rid of wanted level: changing your clothes (especially if they are bloody); switching cars to confuse the police; running into someone's house, out the back, and on to their fire escape, among other things.

- Many interiors are fully decorated and have been given a much bigger emphasis and importance.

- While the game does not have planes, it does have helicopters.

- Some cars are locked, so you will need to strategize escape routes more thoroughly this time. In order to unlock locked vehicles, breaking the window is necessary, as is hot wiring the car. Obviously, under a chase this will make things more hectic.

- Targeting system has been retooled. It has a Resident Evil 4 and Gears of War like targeting system, which is perfect for GTA, to be honest.

- Niko has a cell phone, which is essentially the start screen. With the cell phone, you can call any number that's in the game, including mission leads, and various characters so you can learn more about them.

- Car trunks are now usable. Supposedly you can put bodies and weapons into car trunks.

- Missions are far more dynamic now and have a different structure. Many missions start at specific times now, similarly to Shenmue. If a train leaves at 10:00 am and you arrive at 10:01 am, you fail the mission. Missions also happen on specific days. If it's Monday, sometimes you will have a mission that starts on Wednesday. You can obviously do other missions in between or come up with a plan. Rockstar wants to blur the difference between story missions and non story based missions. I do not know what this means.

- Missions have been completely retooled. Now, you do not have a giant arrow over someone's head if they are your target. Let's say you have to kill a target, but he's surrounded by a group of people. You do not know who is who. You can handle this in multiple ways. You can find out his phone number, call him up, see if he responds, and kill him; or you can simply go up to the entire group and kill all of them. The choice is up to you. Of course, if you do the latter choice, your boss may be pissed off...

- Depending on how well and what you do during missions, you can form relationships with your bosses and clients. If you do good, kill your targets discreetly, you will have a good relationship. If you do things in plain sight, without using your brains, your boss will most likely hate you and break all contact. It sounds like a great evolution on GTA2's fun, but not exactly deep, respect system.

- Maintaining character relationships can result in specific rewards. Little Jacob is the guy who sells you weapons. Your relationship is maintained through phone contact and loyalty. If you boost up his relationship, perhaps he gives you better weapons?

- Trip skip feature from Vice City and Vice City Stories is back, thankfully. Now you can even use cabs to drive you pretty much anywhere you want apparently.

- You do not get weapons Ammunation any more. Ammunation will most likely not be in the new game.

- As the third trailer hinted, before you gain any sort of weapon, you're going to be using your fists. More emphasis on hand to hand combat will be in GTAIV.

- Beware night time in certain Burroughs, as you may get jumped by random gangsters and the freaks of Liberty. You can get robbed.

- There is now a GPS. Saints Row ftw.

- People will react to your weapons. So if you have an rpg out, they will obviously go batshit, which will cause attention to you.

- You can push people off of buildings.

- As the third trailer showed, there is now an emphasis on cover. Kill.Switch and Gears influence obviously.

- Girlfriends are returning. No word on whether R* will make them funner than last time they appeared.

- The internet is a feature in the game. How this will affect gameplay is unknown but Rockstar promises it will be crucial to the gameplay.

- The game will NOT, THANK GOD, place emphasis on territory or gaining territory.

- The days where you carry millions of cash on you are over. You can now use atms or go to the bank to deposit or withdraw funds. Sounds pretty similar to Dragon Quest. Maybe when you die or get busted, you lose half of your funds or something. Can't imagine what will happen when you get robbed.

- It seems getting busted may have bigger consequences than simply losing your money and a lil cash this time. Many people think this means you may end up going to jail every time you get busted, but that's just mindless speculation at this point. Honestly, that wouldn't be very fun.

- You can now shoot different body parts and your victim will react realistically depending where he has been hit.

- Rockstar will use the Euphoria Engine, known from "Star Wars: The Force unleashed". Result: Every Explosion looks different.

- Enemies that have been hit may still try to get up again and attack you.

- Pedestrians have a memory. They remember your face when they saw you doing a criminal act and run away in terror whenever they see you again.

- The multiplayer will be activated via the cell phone. Nothing is known about the multiplayer modes except that there will be up to 16 players possible.

- Francis International Airport is back but resembles JFK Airport

-Niko's cell phone has a Built-In Radio

-2 Minutes real time is now equal to 1 Hour In-Game time. Thus, longer, more fleshed out days.

-Seasons are NOT in the game

-Every cop car has a working computer, which allows you to search for any criminal in the city, find his where abouts, and any thing remotely related to him or her. Should be handy if you need information on a target.

-You can call the police via 911 AT ANY TIME. Maybe you can use this feature to your advantage somehow...

- "When I first jumped into the game, I shot one of the cab drivers through the windshield and thought it was cool that he just slumped over in his car. But what I didn’t realize was that all of his dead weight would press down on the gas pedal, which caused the cab to barrel down on me and slam me into a wall."

-Dramatic vehicle jumps from previous games return.

-There are no returning characters from previous GTAs.

-A GPS system will tell you the optimal route for arriving at a mission checkpoint.
-You can plant waypoints anywhere in the city.

-The wanted rating can go up to six stars.

-Customization is restricted to clothing changes--no afros or anything like that.

-The fighting style Niko uses is krav maga.

-You can take a taxi or ride the subway to get to various points on the map. You can sit back and enjoy the ride or immediately jump from one point to the next.

- There is no car customization, nor can you store things in cars.

- The controls seem to work pretty well, and the driving controls have mostly been entirely retooled.

- Driving phsyics have been retooled. Now when turning around corners, you will have to use your regular break and then your hand break, other wise your car may turn over.

- Car damage is more realistic now. Various parts of the car can be damaged, making it hard to drive in certain situations. For instance, if your tires get bent from an accident, it is much harder to drive after the fact.

- The game's story is longer than San Andreas and should take around 100 hours if you take your time and do every thing.

- You can search for people in the police's search engine in their database. It turns out your can take photos of people and scan it through the database and find info there as well. Will this happen with any type of pedestrian?

- The magazine editors asked Rockstar Games if there was any place that they could see some Portuguese pedestrians or a Portuguese part of town. Rockstar Games told them to drive to an area north of Alderney. When they arrived, they found themselves in a Portuguese neighborhood with flags and posters representing their culture.

- Side mission: Kill pigeons and litter the streets of Liberty City with bird blood.

- One previewer mentions that he previously felt the series was a jack of all trade, a master of none, but after playing GTAIV he feels it's a master of all.

- Ped are able to phone you by mistake

- Phone bills are payable

- You'll be able to take photos and upload them to share with people.

- There's a bunch of references to Crackdown in it.

- If you rob a bank or murder someone people will find out about it by news tickers around the city. The news tickers will also give your description.

Multiplayer

Modes

1. Hangmans NOOSE
2. Car Jack City
3. Bomb da Base
4. Bomb da Base II
5. Mafia Work
6. Team Mafia Work
7. Deathmatch
8. Team Deathmatch
9. Turf War
10. Cops N Crooks
11. Race
12. GTA Race
13. Deal Breaker
14. Free Roam
15. unknown

- There are total 15 multiplayer modes, the previewers were able to play 7 of them.
- All modes can be accessed through the cellphone.
- Multiplayer mode can support up to 16 players.
- The entire city will be opened during this mode.
- Confirmed 14 (out of 15) multiplayer mode names are: Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Mafia Work, Team Mafia Work, Race, GTA Race, Cops N'Crooks, Hangman's NOOSE, Deal Breaker, Turf War, Car Jack City, Bomb Da Base I, Bomb Da Base II, Free Mode.
- Player customization will be available in the multiplayer mode.
- The host makes the rules.
- Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch: In both modes, host can decide the number of peds, the flow of traffic, the intervention of police and the weapons. (The previewers tried playing a Team deathmatch, all of them equipped with rocket launchers. Almost half of the city lighten up shortly with series of explosion caused by them.)
- Race & GTA Race: The host can decide the choice on vehicles and number of laps.
- Mafia and Team Mafia: The player will assume him/herself as a henchman to Kenny Petrovic and will be competing with other players to complete hits (ordered by Kenny over the phone) before the rivals can.
- Cops N'Crooks: In this mode, a group of player will act as cops, the rest as criminals. The cops can see criminals' location on their GPS and will make sure the criminals don't escape alive. On the other hand, the criminals will have no clue where the cops are.
- Hangman's NOOSE: In the single player mission called 'Hangman's NOOSE', there will be co-op, where you and your friends will be escorting a mafia mobster, while ambushed by the NOOSE (GTA IV version of SWAT).
-In multiplayer, as stated previously, the host gets to decide on a number of options such as weather, vehicle types, spawn location, etc. The host also gets to decide if auto-aim can be used.
-Health, armour and cash pickups are available during multiplayer. The cash determines your online rank - from 0 to 10. Kill people and steal their money to boost your online credibility.
-You can wander anywhere during multiplayer, but if you die you will respawn in the area that the host has set.
-You can't play as Niko during multiplayer, but you can create your own character (male or female) using different clothing.

Rockstar Social Club

Rockstar Games today announced a new feature for Grand Theft Auto IV, releasing April 29. Titled the Social Club, the website will act as a community hub for all things GTA IV related. Registration for the Social Club begins exactly two weeks prior to the release of the game on April 15. Either an Xbox Live Gamertag or PlayStation Network ID will earn you access to the Social Club, though the release wasn't specific as to whether that means it will be open to all Xbox Live members or if it will be exclusive to Gold Tier users. We'll update this story later when we get the specific details from Rockstar.

More found here!

Radio

The radio has been a big thing in the GTA games as far as GTA1. This is the first modern day GTA since GTAIII, however, and as we all know, modern mainstream music sucks balls. Thankfully, R* has taste and this is what we know so far.

- The music will be wide ranged in terms of genre. It will have international radio stations, even 1960's and 70's music.
- It seems that the music will be just as underground as GTAIII. Awesome stuff.
- If you're not into underground stuff, it'll have just as much mainstream music. :) The music genre classification is ranging from popular 80's hits to modern r&b.
- Download any song you like from the 200 song soundtrack!

Radio Stations

1. WKTT - We have a radio station confirmed as well: WKTT - A talk radio station, which is call in. Sounds similar to Chatterbox. The website is here. You can actually call in, and say your piece. The best callers will be featured in GTAIV. WE KNOW THE TRUTH.

WKTT will be hosted by Richard Bastion and more!



2. IF99 – International funk music, hosted by Femi Kuti

3. Vibe FM - Supposedly rhythm and blue and soul.

4. Vladivostok FM – Post-communist community radio to rock the Eastern Bloc, hosted by Ruslana

5. K109 - Disco radio hosted by DJ Kart.

Screenshots

New images









Previews

IGN
TeamXbox
1up
Gamespot
Kikizo
Gametap
Gamespy
Videogamer
CVG

Videos

Things Will Be Different
Looking For That Special Someone
Move Up Ladies
Everyone's a Rat[/b]
Whiz Wireless
The Steinway Beer Garden
Manny Escuela
Roman Bellic
Vlad Glebov
LCPD
Packie McReary
Phil Bell
GameTrailers's Bonus Round

Contests and Events

Gamestop contest

Events

I would like to thank planetgta, gtagaming, and gtaforums, kikizo, for their excellent wealth of information.

This thread couldn't be made without you, gaf! Especially SolidSnakeX, Goreomedy, HolyStar, Newsguy and many others who have contributed to this thread and thus, this OP.

[Dark FaZe]

Nice thread. What exactly is coming Jan 23?

[sprsk]

NO.

[bishoptl]

I'm going to allow this one. Having all of the info in one post/thread is handy, and with two (!!!) Smash Bros breaking the Megathread etiquette FAQ, GTA IV certainly deserves similar treatment.

[Himuro]

Thanks, Bishop! I didn't know about this Megathread rule. I certainly don't think it was in effect when I posted here in 2005 and 2006.

[Maggot9]

Nice thread. What exactly is coming Jan 23?

seconded...is it a new trailer?

[bjork]

I'm going to allow this one. Having all of the info in one post/thread is handy, and with two (!!!) Smash Bros breaking the Megathread etiquette FAQ, GTA IV certainly deserves similar treatment.

GROVE STREET.

someone change sporks' tag to "balla"

[Himuro]

seconded...is it a new trailer?

No, it's the next wave of previews. Embargo goes up on the 23rd.

[Kyoufu]

seconded...is it a new trailer?

New preview coming 23rd.

EDIT: beaten like tina turner

EDIT 2: get rid of imageshack, and read the FAQ forum :P

[jet1911]

Gaf don't like imageshack. ;)

Nice thread though, can't wait for the new previews.

[Archer]

Good times will be had.

[Dark FaZe]

No, it's the next wave of previews. Embargo goes up on the 23rd.

Ah, hopefully we'll see something about multiplayer or some gameplay vids.

[bishoptl]

Just a new preview? I thought there was a fourth trailer coming. :(

Honestly, if the multiplayer expands just slightly on the PSP GTA's, I'd be very pleased.

[Mindlog]

I bet you $50 Mindlog buys this game. That asshole keeps going on and on about how much he wants this game. I just want it to come out so he'll shut the fuck up.

[Himuro]

Ah, hopefully we'll see something about multiplayer or some gameplay vids.

I'm hoping for multiplayer information myself, but I have a feeling Rockstar won't tell us shit about that until at least a month before release.

I'm not expecting any gameplay videos at all. Same thing happened with San Andreas. The only video footage we had of GTASA before release were the trailers and videos of people playing leaked copies.

[Maggot9]

Just a new preview? I thought there was a fourth trailer coming. :( Honestly, if the multiplayer expands just slightly on the PSP GTA's, I'd be very pleased.

Local or online?

[Death Dealer]

I'm so excited for this game. One of my most anticipated titles for all of 2008.

[BlueTsunami]

I love the WKTT logo

[GalacticAE]

I thought I read somewhere that Rockstar is going to break the 3 trailer tradition for GTA games.

[SolidSnakex]

No, it's the next wave of previews. Embargo goes up on the 23rd.

I guess that'll be a good indication of whether or not it really is getting close to release. I remember the last set of previews all brought up how it featured horrible popup and slowdown. But that was months ago so hopefully it's been cleaned up by now.

[Green Biker Dude]

- Missions are far more dynamic now and have a different structure. Many missions start at specific times now, similarly to Shenmue. If a train leaves at 10:00 am and you arrive at 10:01 am, you fail the mission. Missions also happen on specific days. If it's Monday, sometimes you will have a mission that starts on Wednesday. You can obviously do other missions in between or come up with a plan. Rockstar wants to blur the difference between story missions and non story based missions. I do not know what this means.

I don't like this, waiting isn't fun. The only way it'd turn out right is if say, you arrive on the place for the mission on Sunday and it skips to the correct day, but I imagine that won't happen since it'd be no different from the current system, unless there are differences of open stores/cars/whatever on the city during week days.

- Missions have been completely retooled. Now, you do not have a giant arrow over someone's head if they are your target. Let's say you have to kill a target, but he's surrounded by a group of people. You do not know who is who. You can handle this in multiple ways. You can find out his phone number, call him up, see if he responds, and kill him; or you can simply go up to the entire group and kill all of them. The choice is up to you. Of course, if you do the latter choice, your boss may be pissed off... - Depending on how well and what you do during missions, you can form relationships with your bosses and clients. If you do good, kill your targets discreetly, you will have a good relationship. If you do things in plain sight, without using your brains, your boss will most likely hate you and break all contact. It sounds like a great evolution on GTA2's fun, but not exactly deep, respect system.

These sound pretty awesome, reminds me of the Hitman games.

[Powerslave]

- The police system has been entirely retooled. You will not instantly become wanted whenever you commit a crime now, even in public. If there are no cops around, and someone sees you, they will have to notify the police. It sounds extremely similar to The Warriors, it sounds like. When and if you commit a crime in public and the police are notified, a circular search area will appear on your radar. The fuzz will go on high alert. If you are outside of this area the cops will not be able to find you unless you commit another crime. If you are spotted in the circular area, the police will follow you to that location. Thus, if you are sneaky, they will not know where you are. - You can trick police to get rid of wanted level. Since there's no Pay and Spray you must use other ways to get rid of wanted level: changing your clothes (especially if they are bloody); switching cars to confuse the police; running into someone's house, out the back, and on to their fire escape, among other things.

oh my god I came. Multiple times. I didn't know this before. Fuck I just came again.

[Himuro]

I guess that'll be a good indication of whether or not it really is getting close to release. I remember the last set of previews all brought up how it featured horrible popup and slowdown. But that was months ago so hopefully it's been cleaned up by now.

I expect a release date and a date for the fourth trailer during this preview onslaught.

At the end of the day, I'm predicting....5 trailers.

[AAK]

It really sucks how there are no planes.... but oh well. R* knows what they're doing.

[Himuro]

I don't like this, waiting isn't fun. The only way it'd turn out right is if say, you arrive on the place for the mission on Sunday and it skips to the correct day, but I imagine that won't happen since it'd be no different from the current system, unless there are differences of open stores/cars/whatever on the city during week days.

Well, it's not like you can only do one mission at once so I'm not worrying about it.

[charlequin]

Nice thread, Himu.

[CurseoftheGods]

I am not a GTA fan, but I must acknowledge that a lot of work/effort was put into the original post. Nice work, Himuro!

I hope Sp0rsk doesn't get an ulcer over this thread reopening. It's the second time that he had this happen to him.

[Dark FaZe]

I don't like this, waiting isn't fun. The only way it'd turn out right is if say, you arrive on the place for the mission on Sunday and it skips to the correct day, but I imagine that won't happen since it'd be no different from the current system, unless there are differences of open stores/cars/whatever on the city during week days.

Hmmm. Hopefully there are just good alternative options and fun enough content to fill us in between the waits. It kind of reminds me of the worst part of Saints Row for me though, which was doing a bunch of pointless shit just to gain access to a new story missions. We'll see how it ends up.

[rotaryspirit]

Re-posted because I think it's worth it.

In the end isn't it all up to the user how they define what they like and want out of these sandbox games as to whether or not they like it? Saying one thing or another makes it a "true" GTA game is a little bit difficult if you aren't the developers. Keep in mind that this series has already changed fairly radically once in its lifetime - very few games go from what Grand Theft Auto II was to the jump it made into III. However, thanks to the massive success that GTA III brought with it, I doubt Rockstar will be doing very much to change the formula all over again or provide players with a radically different experience than what we are accustomed to in the GTA world as we know it. Honestly pretty much everything I've heard about this game is almost pure speculation. People are just guessing and trying to draw conclusions from the smallest facts that Rockstar has put out. We have no idea what kind of multiplayer there is - specific multiplayer only missions? Is it online or just local? We don't know any of this. The majority of Himuro's linked thread is taking something Rockstar has stated or shown to people, such as breaking windows and opening trunks, and hypothesizing on what that could mean. Which is OK except when you try to state those things as facts. We don't know how deep relationships will be, we don't know exactly what the missions will be like either. What I'm expecting isn't some "true" sandbox. For instance in 1UP's preview, they have a mission where you have to kill a lawyer working in a firm. The two given "options" they have is for you to go in guns blazing or submit a resume, get hired, pull off the job from the inside. If that's it, which I expect it is, then it's just more of the same. However if Rockstar pushed it to the point of, say being able to enter a building across from it and snipe him through his office window, or plant explosives on his car so it blows up when he leaves, or send him some poisoned flowers, or get a job as a deliveryman at a restaurant he likes and give him the "Special Slovaki Sandwich". This would be a "true" sandbox as opposed to offering you the option to take the floor or the stairs to get up to his office - nothing really different. When it comes right down to it I'm not expecting anything radically different. There may be a few new "more realistic" features put in that take away from the arcade feel that GTA III has and bring it home with a bit more grit and grime. That's fine if the vast majority of the GTA audience wants that and what they have clamored for. I'm expecting a lot of these features to be met with the same kind of resistance that eating/working out/girlfriends were in GTA III: San Andreas. You know what would cook my eggs? If Grand Theft Auto became more about the Auto and less about trying to be "Ethnic Mob Culture Killing Mission Game." Yes, there are cars and you drive them. However now we get to take taxis all around the city to the locations? Obviously since it's got Grand Theft in the title there will be a heavy influence from crime culture, which includes the mafia and all of that is fine. Where I start wondering where things changed from the first two GTAs is when it became much less centred on the cars and started pushing missions as shooting and guns and killing targets rather than stealing cars. Basically, give me more Gone in 60 Seconds and less Scarface if you are going to call it Grand Theft Auto. Give me NHL 08's detailed create a player feature to make the protagonist however I want him. Give me a, young, down-on-his-luck but skilled thief who gets busted for boosting cars, but his crooked cop friend gets him off as long as he starts to work for his boss. From there you go around town jacking cars to build up your reputation - the nicer the car, the more money. Of course you can always do other jobs for the boss if you want to, the majority of them being stealing this car or that boat, maybe running errands where you have to make it to a certain point in a certain period of time. Give me a conflict of interest where you start to wonder about your boss's ethics when he kills an innocent girl in front of you; give me a rival boss who you run into on a job but spares you life in return for a favour. I'd like the choice to join this new, seemingly benevolent boss or to stick with what got me to the game. Perhaps in the end we get a nice, clean ending where our protagonist breaks off our of the city with the money, double crossing both bosses, or where he sticks in the game and eventually loses his life. That's what I think Grand Theft Auto IV should be. Whether that game or something similar to it ever gets made, well that's when Rockstar will get my 60 bucks. As it stands now there is nothing I've seen to make me want to play GTA IV or think it's going to be any more or less entertaining than the previous installments, all of which got more boring and stale with each successive entry.

[Himuro]

You should have reposted it anyways since it's a great post.

[Green Biker Dude]

Well, it's not like you can only do one mission at once so I'm not worrying about it.

Still, there are times when only one is available or you just don't feel like doing the other(s) for whatever reason. This limits you too much imo. Also, think of it this way: if you miss a mission, you'll have to wait a WHOLE week - ingame, obviously - or reload the data. For people who didn't save after every mission, it can be very frustrating.

This is the kind of bad idea akin to "hey, let's have the main character die with one shot because it's realistic".

Also, with the respect thing is back, I think you'll be more limited to pick your story missions, since you need some respect to do them and that means having less respect from the opposing gang(s) ala GTA2.

[Hootie]

Great thread...I cannot wait for this game to come out, though I am slightly nervous as to whether or not it will be superior to Saint's Row in the places I want it to be.

[Himuro]

Still, there are times when only one is available or you just don't feel like doing the other(s) for whatever reason. This limits you too much imo. Also, think of it this way: if you miss a mission, you'll have to wait a WHOLE week - ingame, obviously - or reload the data. For people who didn't save after every mission, it can be very frustrating. This is the kind of bad idea akin to "hey, let's have the main character die with one shot because it's realistic". Also, with the respect thing is back, I think you'll be more limited to pick your story missions, since you need some respect to do them and that means having less respect from the opposing gang(s) ala GTA2.

I really hope you have the ability to betray your gangs and join some other gang if you choose ala GTA2.

[Cardon]

Don't know if anyone else knows this but Will Wheaton is reprising his role as a radio newscaster once again and several Saturday Night Live actors are doing some voice work for the game.

[tribal24]

how close of a recreation is this gonna be off nyc?

[ashiato]

Rockstar wants to blur the difference between story missions and non story based missions. I do not know what this means.

It refers to the burglary mission in San Andreas for example - you couldn't start the mission until after sundown.


I'd like to see much more freedom in how you go about completing missions. In San Andreas there was the National Guard depot robbery where you had to take a specific truck, drive it to a specific point, then you were told to go shoot the buttons to open the gate, then drive the truck to another specific point to trigger the next cutscene, etc. Why not just say "rob the National Guard depot" and have it highlighted on the map, then let the player use whatever method they want to rob it?

To be completely honest though, basically the gameplay in the GTA series has not changed since the first 2d version - making it 3D and adding new vehicles hasn't changed the gameplay. And key to GTA gameplay is two things - jacking any vehicle you want and the fact that just driving wildly is so damn fun. That's why I'm concerned about how it won't be easy to jack vehicles any more.

[Himuro]

how close of a recreation is this gonna be off nyc?

Whew. I could post a lot of comparison pics right now. It's not going to building by building, but it will be close apparently.

I'll post some comparison pics soon.

[MercuryLS]

HOT.

Does anyone know of a real-world equivalent?

[Himuro]

To be completely honest though, basically the gameplay in the GTA series has not changed since the first 2d version - making it 3D and adding new vehicles hasn't changed the gameplay. And key to GTA gameplay is two things - jacking any vehicle you want and the fact that just driving wildly is so damn fun. That's why I'm concerned about how it won't be easy to jack vehicles any more.

I think it'd be interesting if they locked the more exotic vehicles early on, and in order to get the best cars, you have to have a high hot wire, driving, or car boosting stat.

[Topher]

Groin your loins folks!

[striKeVillain!]

I can't wait for the full radio list to be announced. Probably my favorite part of past GTAs.

[puebla]

- There will be four buroughs: Dukes (Queens), Bohan (the Bronx), Algonquin (Manhattan), Broker (Brooklyn), and Alderney (New Jersey). It has been confirmed you start the game out in Broker. No, Staten Island will not be present because R* feels the area is boring.

lol at SI . good decision by Rockstar.

- Targeting system has been retooled. It has a Resident Evil 4 and Gears of War like targeting system, which is perfect for GTA, to be honest.

i'm a little worried about this. i like being able to shoot on the run, i hope they make this work.

[painey]

i want this so bad .. so very bad. I could give two shits about multiplayer, games like this are made for single player.

[Hootie]

i want this so bad .. so very bad. I could give two shits about multiplayer, games like this are made for single player.

Co-op ala Crackdown would be an awesome addition, though.

[kylej]

GTA IV is going to be pretty good I reckon

[Himuro]

[striKeVillain!]

Co-op ala Crackdown would be the perfect addition, though.

Fixed.

[IcebergSlim3000]

Great thread. I think this one should be the official hype thread. Hopefully the OP will be updated with all the new updates.

[Teknoman]

Radio The radio has been a big thing in the GTA games as far as GTA1. This is the first modern day GTA since GTAIII, however, and as we all know, modern mainstream music sucks balls. Thankfully, R* has taste and this is what we know so far. - The music will be wide ranged in terms of genre. It will have international radio stations, even 1960's and 70's music. - It seems that the music will be just as underground as GTAIII. Awesome stuff. - GTA trailers have always had songs that are featured in the games. That confirms three songs already. So far the songs we know, whether placeholders or official are: 1. Fela Kuti - Sorrow Tears and Blood Genre: Afrobeat Comments: Excellent choice for GTA. I grew up on this song, so I was shocked it was even in GTA. 2. Philip Glass - Pruitt-Igoe theme from "Koyaanisqatsi" Genre: ? Comments: It's a good song for a trailer, but I'm not sure if it's a good GTA song. We'll have to see. After all, GTAIII's classical station worked great. 3. The Boggs - Arm In Arm (Shy Child Mix) Genre: Alternative rock Comments: This group is from New York and it definitely has a NYC-ish sound and vibe. Perfect for GTAIV. 4. Serega - King Ring Genre: Hip Hop Comments: Underground hip hop ftw. This song is from a Russian based rapper and will most likely featured on the International radio station. 5. Run D.M.C. - Sucker MC's Genre: Hip Hop Comments: Oldschool hip hop ftw! Mainstream sucks. Get that shit out of my GTA. We have a radio station confirmed as well: WKTT - A talk radio station, which is call in. Sounds similar to Chatterbox. The website is here. You can actually call in, and say your piece. The best callers will be featured in GTAIV. WE KNOW THE TRUTH.

This makes me really happy. Especially with the true hip-hop stuff. Also im hoping for a really nice online mode if they can pull it off.

[Himuro]

TRUE HIP HOP.