Once again, our demo takes place on the Xbox 360 version of the game - in fact, nobody has seen anything of the PS3 version to date, outside of Rockstar and Take 2. We actually expected to see the PS3 version this time. "It's still a week or two behind," Rockstar told us, saying that we'll "absolutely" get to see it soon, but that for demo purposes this version was easier to show. The build is actually specially made for our demo, so certain things happen much sooner and more obviously that they will in the final game, so that we can really get an understating of all the new features.
And even though this build is five weeks old, we can reveal that frame rate is much improved - certainly more stable since the last build we looked at - so anyone worried about the version shown off at Take 2's
conference at E3 two weeks ago can relax. We're almost certain that was precisely the same code that we saw for our first preview, which was already quite old at the time we saw it back in May. When they warn that they are showing unoptimised code, strangely enough, they mean it. Now, the game is graphically a lot more stable, which is why they didn't hesitate to put the game engine through its paces this time with some very fast driving and shooting action around the city, that rarely struggled to keep up, unlike the more, shall we say, 'fragile' old build people have seen.
So, we have absolutely no concern about the technical quality that the final game will offer based on this latest viewing. The only issue at this time, is that as we slowly pan the camera around when there's a very broad view of many buildings, the many windows in sight are a bit jittery as they reflect the world - though this is not the case during typical in-game scenarios, where building detail is usually closer as you pass it by. Of course, the game is still a work in progress - visuals, voice acting, AI and so forth still have a few months' of thorough optimisation and finalisation time.
In the scheme of things - as we'll explain today - it's a minor detail to iron out, as this game is looking absolutely stunning. Rockstar's ultimate goal, they told us, is to set the standard for what a true next-gen action adventure videogame can be - and frankly it looks like they're already there, judging by the small portion of the game we've seen so far.
Indeed, the entire team at Rockstar is virtually unchanged since before GTA III - it's the same lead producer, executive producer, art directors. "What we have changed," Rockstar explained, "we have added a group of incredibly talented people on top of this pile to help us come up with something really special. They have an ambition which we believe is unmatched in the industry for what we're trying to achieve with next-gen GTA."
The music is also placeholder - "it's a very important part of any GTA, and something that we like to hold back for the fans to find out for themselves, plus it's something that could easily change", explains Rockstar. We did previously reveal that the placeholder music in the last build, however, was Fela Kuti's Sorrow, Tears and Blood, just to give a sense of how great a New York vibe we got from the tour through Broker - and we noted many readers went off to YouTube to picture cruising in next-gen Liberty City to this classy beat. Unfortunately, Rockstar doesn't want us to name the tracks this time, but the vibe was mostly similar and a little more well-known, too. One thing's more certain - as we revealed last time - there'll be a lot more, probably "spanning genres and decades", said Rockstar.
The purpose of the demo this time was to get a true sense of the fundamental design changes that have been made to the game and get a solid look at how missions, game structure and freedom of choice are all going to work in GTA IV.
The theme with lead protagonist Niko Bellic is 'small fish in a big pond'. It's not the rags to riches story that has highlighted past GTAs; rather it's "rags to slightly better rags", as Rockstar puts it. The character has different motivations this time around - in the last trailer, Looking for that Special Someone, we learn that Niko's not only there because of his cousin Roman, he's also there because he's looking for someone. But who?
We start with Niko at Star Junction, Rockstar's version of Times Square at 5AM early in the October morning, and it's still dark, yet full of all the real character of dazzling neon Times Square. An overweight 'De Vito-in-Friends'-looking cop passes by and like all other NPCs, is animated uniquely and walks just like a fat New York policeman should. There's a theatre show on called T.S. Pirate at the Thespian Theatre, as well as a camera store called Liberty Cameras - in fact we're pretty sure it's the exact store where Kikizo picked up a videocamera many moons ago. Yes, we like Times Square shopping, and we're not sorry about it.
As a newly arrived immigrant into Liberty City, Niko - or 'Nikolai', as he's referred to later in this demo - is about to embark on another day. Local police officer Francis McReary has some sort of dirt on Niko, and is asking a few favours - in return, he'll keep quiet about what he knows about Niko. One of the favours he's asking is to kill a lawyer from the law firm, Goldberg Ligner & Shyster - a mission that forms the basis of this demo. But if you've already heard about the basics of that from a games magazine, keep reading, because throughout this article we're going to cream on many of the extra details every one of them missed out.
He's about to call a buddy of his, a guy by the name of Little Jacob, and this simple phone call is emblematic of a couple of fundamental changes in the game. The series has always emphasised non-linear gameplay and player choice, and the phone call he's about to make, Rockstar says, extends this concept. "Whereas past GTA games have been about accepting missions, now that line is blurry and you actively take more of a part in telling the story yourself." More on this later.
He's got a long day ahead of him in this part of the game, so he's going to need some firepower. He's about to call Little Jacob - a Jamaican gun dealer from Dukes, Liberty City's interpretation of Queens. Little Jacob is in the neighbourhood of Rotterdam, one of the many areas you'll get to know as you play the game. For that matter, Rockstar has actually named each individual street in the whole of the city, and the name of each street is displayed in the bottom right as you enter it, as well as 'street signed' graphically in the game - a first for GTA. We set off for Rotterdam on a breezy motorbike ride, and stopped next to a pizza store that sells pizzas at the very reasonable price of 99 cents, and a large cocktail bar lit up in fluorescent pink called Bahama Mamas.
Weapons are a core part of any GTA game, but this being October 2007, Niko can't just walk along 5th Avenue into an AmmuNation store and purchase an Uzi; he's going to have to find them in basements, back streets, alleyways and car boots - weapons are a precious commodity in GTA IV, and aren't easy to acquire. Little Jacob - a friend of Niko's cousin Roman - is our man for the job this time around, and one of Roman's many associates Niko will build trust with through the game, Rockstar told us. And he's a pretty useful contact to have in the phonebook; when he needs weapons he can call them up, they can be somewhere and he can go and buy.
"Niko, how's it going? Check this, rasta", says Little Jacob, presenting Niko with the trunk of his car containing a 9MM, an SMG and a Micro SMG, all $100 a piece. We pick up all three as well as 540 rounds of ammo. Considering we started the demo with $7500, it's not exactly breaking the bank - although some purchases later will come close. "One love, Niko. I and I be seeing each other soon," says Jacob as he 'gestures' farewell. It's getting light now, and the sun comes out visibly quickly in game-time - we can see the soft shadow receding on the sidewalk.
Next, we need to head to the local internet café, ingeniously named "TW@". He and Francis McReary, the copper we mentioned earlier, are trying to work on gaining entrance to the law firm Goldberg Ligner & Shyster, and they figure that the best way to do that is if Niko submits his resume to them, then organises an interview without raising any suspicion.
A cab can be hailed at any time as Niko whistles to get its attention - (one time when we hailed one, a passer by was hit by the cab - the animation, as always, was superb) - Liberty City is a huge place so you might not want necessarily to drive yourself there. You press Y to enter a cab once it pulls over for you. You're given the option to just relax in the cab, skip the trip, or pay double the fare and the cabbie will drive twice as fast, but we opt to take the full ride and enjoy the views and sounds. Of course, you can still jack cars, which is a little more risky if the cops are out.
Inside the cab from Niko's perspective you can see and talk through to the driver in the front. The camera view of the cab as it goes through the city changes every five seconds to make things more interesting to look at; we see a three-quarters driver's window view from the front that shows the cabbie (who looks just as detailed as Niko), as well as views from the hood, the top of the rear wheel, underneath the window, and even a racing game-style replay cam panning around from up high, showing off some exceptional roof and top-of-subway rail detail that many developers simply wouldn't bother with - nothing is hidden here, and the world is constantly moving and dynamic. Undoubtedly, the RAGE engine is starting to show what it can really do here, and it makes you wonder whether Take 2 might license out this technology in the vein of Valve's Source engine or Epic's Unreal engine - it's that sort of benchmark quality we're talking about for the new consoles.
The way the HDR light glares off from the yellow bodywork looks like money, and touches like the proper tyre detail and fare prices etched onto the cab door are just another example of full-on detail in the world. Whenever the cab brakes suddenly, the passengers can be seen leaning forward and then setting back with the momentum, which looks very cool. The player can change the music selection in the cab to the next track, but isn't in control of what track is next. Rockstar couldn't confirm if the player can change their destination in the middle of a cab journey.
We're still in Algonquin, north of Middle Park, and after the ride we arrive at TW@. Like in all windowed building in the game, the outside world and its traffic can be seen and heard from inside the café - (here we see the underneath of a raised subway rail), and the traffic hum sounds like real traffic. We touched on this in our last preview but seriously - wow. It starts and stops so when the traffic is stationary, there's heavy noise like large trucks rumbling against a backdrop of extremely varied car horns and perhaps smaller parking traffic. You don't even need to see outside to know it's a living world, though you can do that too of course, thanks to seamless connection between interior and exterior environments all modelled in one consistent game world that never loads, never takes a technical short cut, and never feels cheap. It doesn't sound like a game, it doesn't even sound like a movie; it sounds like New York. And the detail on every vehicle is amazing; the grille at the front of a big truck we saw is shiny and reflective, and every mirror on every vehicle appears to reflect the world - useful, when often-paranoid Niko is always looking over his shoulder in the rear view.
The TW@ café advertises that you can get online for just a dollar, is "totally wireless", and also takes credit cards (might we see some sort of credit card fraud activity later in the game? With the technically advanced world of 2007 now emphasised, cyber crime is very likely to put a new spin on things, though this is just our speculation).
Rockstar is putting Internets in the game because it is an integral part of modern day life, and it should offer a good opportunity to channel gameplay elements. Liberty City is also a massive place that has its 'own Internet', and Rockstar promises that in true GTA fashion there's going to be lots of fun things to do and explore on it. "We're not going into this any further today," our rep says, but we still get a brief look at how it works. It also acts as a discovery tool and an information aggregator; Niko has his own account that can be accessed from any computer in the city, so there's always a way for him to find stuff out.
Inside, terminals are all neatly laid out and it's basically a pretty standard looking independent Internet café. Pressing LB sits us down, and once sat at the terminal, the screen is displayed, as you would see it on your monitor. You control the pointer with the analogue stick - certainly the first time Xbox 360 users will feel like they're browsing the web a 360 controller. There are plenty of easy-to-find visual links, so it's not hard to navigate around the web. Rockstar asked us not to write about some of the web addresses that appear while browsing GTA's quirky version of the web, "because it's still stuff that's being worked on at the moment"; interestingly we checked out some of the domain names we noted down on WHOIS and none are registered by Take 2 yet, so we best keep quiet and not register them ourselves if we want to go back for a third preview.
Anyway, Niko navigates to the Goldberg Ligner & Shyster website so he can submit his resume. A fake one, obviously, that says his objective is to (and we quote), "rise to the top of my profession in Liberty City" - he claims to have experience in criminal law with cases such as manslaughter under his belt, claims that he deals with emerging markets in the West Indies (particularly 'Jamaica and Puerto Rico'), claims to have been associate attorney at Mediterranean Shipping Enterprise, and even an intern at a police force - but best, it says he was educated at 'Walford University', UK with an MA in international relations and a first class degree to boot. First class bullshitter, more like?
According to the resume, he reckons his skills are people management, coping with cultural differences, athletic ability, shooting, boxing, running, and swimming "to a professional level", while his interests are world affairs, importing and exporting goods, and free market competition. There's perhaps more truth to some of his claims that others, as we're sure to find out during the full game. He submits the CV, and if his plan works, the address he'll need to go to according to the website, is 44 Emerty Street, The Exchange, Algonquin. They also had a phone number listed (area code 669), which didn't work when we tried to call it in the name of investigative journalism.
With that submitted, he's now going to make a few phone calls. First he's going to call officer McReary to let him know that he's submitted his resume. "Call when you hear about the interview," advises McReary. Niko's phone rings after the call. And, as part of our plan to tell you everything we saw - and then some - we present the proper first dialogue we've encountered in GTA IV in full (and we're going to do the same with every conversation, even the bits that had no voices in yet and just had subtitles).
Caller: "This is Karen from Goldberg, we'd like to arrange an interview at your earliest convenience. Come into our offices at noon tomorrow, is that alright?"
Niko: "I can free that period up in my schedule."
Karen: "Super, your interview will be with Mr Goldberg. Identify yourself to security and they will show you up. Have a nice day."
As we mentioned before, this specially built demo of the game is sped up, and so phone calls and appointments won't all occur this quickly in the finished title. Indeed, our eventual appointment with Mr Goldberg would be just a bit later today in game-time, rather than "noon tomorrow" as scheduled by Karen.
Finally, he calls McReary back (he's on speed dial, judging by the dialing sound) to let him know that he's organised his appointment for the interview. "Perfect," says McReary, "the smug bastard ain't gonna know what's coming at him. Teach him for sticking his nose in other people's business - and get the files."
An interesting feature about the phone is Niko doesn't have to accept phone calls if he doesn't want to, but if someone is intent on reaching him, they'll become increasingly annoyed. This call we just took from the lawyers though, and when we set up the appointment with Karen, it automatically dropped that appointment into our organiser on the phone, to remind Niko when it's time. "We really want to use the phone as the primary gateway into Niko's life", explains Rockstar, "it's his contacts list, a daily calendar, organiser, text messages and camera, all working through his cellphone, and of course that's exactly how life is for most of us these days." It also helps to hide the game mechanics, in an interface that 99% of us are already intimately familiar with, of course.
Right now we've got a bit of time to kill until our appointment, so we're going to hail another cab and meet up with McReary in person, who has some other favours to ask.
Time for an ad break! Yes, during our journeys, we made a note of the commercials we hear, and here's the first. Boring note - these are placeholder too, and may or not change. "From the people who brought you the Domestobot, we proudly present El Comercio Roboto! It's the robotic future... from south of the border! 'Politicians may demand illegal aliens leave the country, but I want a Mexican gardener I can ogle!' El Comercio Roboto! You little devil. He can mow the lawn, if you know what I mean! Comes with six different attachments!" Awesome. And there's more where they came from.
We exit the cab. Holding A makes Niko run at a good pace, although control layout is not finalised, and even changes from build to build during development. Still, the center of gravity that Niko has, and the very convincing, organic animation of his body tilting slightly when steering his direction, was still as impressive as the first time we saw it in May. In this scene, we hear birds singing, in a peaceful and relaxing pedestrianised area next to the river, with a circular
water fountain area, views of the city and scrapers, and a glimpse of the Statue of Happiness quite close in the background. We see a yellow light cone representing an objective, and walk to it to trigger a cut scene.
In GTA IV, the cut scenes look better than ever, with up-close texture and animation detail on the characters' faces and bodies really shown off. Here the cut-scene is with Niko and McReary, who is wearing a black suit and tie, and sports a moustache and strong side parting in his slicked blonde hair. Niko still looks best though with his unshaven face, his eyes blink and flick left and right as he scans the horizon and they both lean against the railings overlooking the river. "Now we can really convey emotions and subtleties that weren't possible previously", comments Rockstar; the expressive body movement of both characters during the conversation is impressive, and the Statue of Happiness is in the background at Niko's five o'clock.
Rockstar told us that there are reasons for Niko being in Liberty City beyond just escaping his past, and in this scene, there is a plot spoiler, so the rep had to mute the TV for a few sentences of this section. (That means don't worry, there's no plot spoiler here). Here's the dialogue:
McReary: "Were you followed?"
Niko: "Hey, strange seeing you here, Officer McReary."
McReary: "I told you to come here, you fucking maggot!"
Niko: "You did? Why?"
McReary: "I know about you."
Niko: "Know what?"
McReary: "I know enough, boy."
Niko: "Oh, what do you know, boy?"
[Rockstar mutes the TV because of a plot spoiler in the dialogue]
Niko: "I don't know what you're talking about, chief."
McReary: "Do you think this is a town that can keep a secret?"
Niko: "I really don't know what you're talking about."
McReary: "Yeah you do. You know that a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do. The people ain't perfect, their life is a mess..."
Niko: "Sure, everybody knows that."
McReary: "So. You look out for me, and I don't look out for you. Know what I mean?"
Niko: "I think so."
McReary: "So, there's a guy trying to blackmail me."
Niko: "Who?"
McReary: "I don't know. Thinks he's getting paid though. The guy's smart. He arranged to do the exchange by the Humboldt River off Silicon Street, said to call him from the viewpoint there."
Niko: "OK..."
McReary: "Listen, I did what I did. I made a mistake. That don't make me the devil. Now obviously I can't go, because then he gets a picture of me giving him money and then I'm admitting guilt. I ain't guilty of nothing, other than being a man."
Niko: "To be honest... I don't really care one way or another..."
McReary: "Call me when you get to the spot."
So, Officer McReary's asked Niko to retrieve a memory stick with compromising images of him from an unknown blackmailer. The only information McReary has is the blackmailer's location and his telephone number. So Niko's going to make his way to the viewpoint of this location at Union Drive East. He's going to phone McReary, who will then text Niko the phone number of the unknown blackmailer so Niko can call him and hopefully pick him out in the crowd. And once he knows who it is, he can do whatever is necessary to retrieve the memory stick.
We jump into a black Comet that has been left unlocked - one of those many different jacking and car theft animations obviously includes just opening it the easy way! As mentioned earlier, with this more graphically stable code, we rev the engine a lot more in this demo as we speed up down the freeway type roads, which is a great chance to check out the next generation sounds of the engine that are right up there with Forza or Gotham. The cars look great as they react to every bit of undulation in the road.
When driving, the default camera angle is slightly over to the drivers' side now, for a better line of sight. There are different angles and you can move the camera, but if you're not touching it, it will remain at the more central position leaning towards the drivers' side. When driving, the field of sight and sense of direction we have is superior to previous GTAs, thanks to the driver's viewpoint bias, full-on HD detail, awesome draw distance and of course widescreen display - you'll really be able to see what you're doing better this time. Feel the power.
Route navigation is also simpler, since it's 2007 and we have a GPS system in the car, and the recommended route shows up in yellow on the radar at the bottom left. You don't have to follow the route, but if you're playing the game for the first time it's often easier to use the assistance of the GPS system to get where you need to go. It's a much more natural experience than having to keep checking a separate map of the city as in previous games.
Time for another ad break! "Are you ready to live the real estate dream? Whether you're new on the market or an old hack, we'll take your dream to the limits of prestige, in a spacious loft or an outstanding penthouse! It's a 500-square ft glass coated box in the sky, with windows that won't open and a doorman that masturbates in your bed while you're at work! Only three million dollars, only three blocks from the ghetto!"
Let's also take a minute out to talk about the graphical detail in every square inch of this new Liberty City. Riding through the city, we see supremely detailed stuff everywhere, a visual fidelity that is simply not comparable to anything before in the series; bus stops, people on cells and payphones, people smoking, all manner of different trees and flower plant boxes on the sidewalk, roadworks and workers. We even saw one everyday pedestrian on their cell 'gasp' at something she'd heard in her conversation. We see trashcans with individually modelled items of different trash in them, newspaper dispensers, American flags hanging from many buildings. We pass a Cola van with the slogan 'Deliciously Infectious' and a hot dog stand (we're told we can buy a hot dog if we like) as well as a food joint called Burger Shot and a Chemist both right next to the TW@ internet café earlier. We also spotted a 'Vinewood' branded video hire store (Vinewood was San Andreas' rendition of Hollywood).
We see extremely detailed and varied sidewalk textures, steps, brickwork, street markings and so on, and the natural shadows cast by all the different moving traffic. Car lights convincingly light up and reflect the street tarmac and all their surroundings, and the different surfaces Niko walks on are distinct, including a shiny marble type surface in a scene earlier. Simply put, the texture and detail in the city, as well as the overall effect of it all in motion, is unquestionably the highest quality we've seen in any next-gen game in a realistic setting, bar none.
Street names pop up at the bottom right as we enter them. On this particular journey towards the park, we pass through Chinatown, Presidents City, Lancet, Hatton Gardens, Middle Park East, and a stretch of freeway, on to Lancaster, and Ruby Street. "I'm in the park, now what?", Niko asks McReary on his cell. (The name of the cell network, by the way, is 'Whiz'). "This guy told me to bring the money there and call him," says McReary. "That means he's somewhere close and he's got a phone. I'm gonna text you his number. You've got to call him and keep a look out for someone answering a phone. He won't be far." McReary then follows up with a text message, signified by a note at the bottom left - '1 text from Francis'. It reads: "Call the thief's mobile and see who answers their phone. Keep him talking until you identify him."
Niko makes the call:
Blackmailer: "Hello? Who is this?"
Niko: "A friend. I am calling about your exchange with McReary."
Blackmailer: "Yeah. He better have my paper. I ain't fucking around."
Niko: "I'm sure he's got your money. Have you got the stuff that he wants?"
Blackmailer: "Yeah I got it. We going to make this shit happen? I don't mess about you know. Push me and this shit is all over Weasel News. I got them on speed dial."
Niko: "Really..."
Blackmailer: "Yeah. And there's a lawyer called Tom Goldberg who's real interested. He's hungry for McReary's blood and shit. Yeah."
Niko: "Good thing Francis is paying them."
Blackmailer: "Call me when this exchange is going down. I don't like all the talking, yeah?"
We then call the guy and can hear a
ringtone, so we have to figure out who it is as we get closer. Just at the bottom left of the steps there's a guy speaking on his phone on a bench, so we follow the guy to see where he goes. Niko pulls out his gun, triggering an over the shoulder aiming view, and we cap him nine times to make sure he's a goner. We see the memory stick that we have to return to McReary and collect it. As soon as the shots were fired, police sirens were heard, and we immediately got a two-star wanted level. Pedestrians start running all over the place in panic, and they're all running in different ways and directions.
The way the 'wanted' system works is that when a crime is committed, it triggers a wanted level, and a blue and red search radius appears on the radar at the bottom left of the HUD. Police dispatch will notify officers in their area of the details - who they're looking for, description, last known location, and direction they're heading. It's the player's job to try and get out of this search radius as quick as possible, and escaping the radius will lose the wanted stars. It's realistically based on the line of sight as well; if an officer sees you changing cars or spots on the road after your description has been given out, then the search radius is refocused to your last known location.
And the bigger the crimes you commit and the more people you kill, your stars go up and the search radius expands. "It's a lot more realistic and a lot more fun, more of a game of cat and mouse", explains Rockstar. We can see cops on the radar so we know where they are, but new ones can appear as their backup comes to help out. As we exit the search radius, the stars will keep flashing so you have to be careful until they're gone. Once the stars disappear this time, we can head towards McReary to return the memory stick. We head down Cod Row, Denver Avenue, Exeter Avenue and stop at Northwood / East Holland.
Niko: "Yeah, he's dead."
McReary: "Great, I can get rid of these now. I feel like a new man. Not many people get a second chance like this. Thank you."
Niko: "Your sins are absolved, I guess."
So, job done there but, earlier in the day we organised that interview with the lawyers, so we're going to head to a store called Perseus - a quality menswear shop with prices to match its flashy décor - to change into something a bit more presentable for the interview and not to raise any suspicion. A t-shirt icon appears on the radar to mark our destination and we head towards Silicon Street, through Quartz Street, and Middle Park East.
Ad break! "You can begin living a life of luxury. Why worry about health, your weight, or what people think of you? Now, you're faster! Motorised scooters are the future of the American lifestyle - carefree! Take the wait off!"
GTA IV is undoubtedly more focussed on Niko as a complex character than CJ was in San Andreas, so to make this more realistic, there's been an effort to minimise some of the more fantastical customisation that was seen in San Andreas; there'll be no Niko with a Mohawk, and no create a character mode for this reason either, Rockstar told us. For Niko not to raise suspicion in his interview however, he needs to change into a suit. At the Perseus store, we pick up a Chocolate suit for $1000 and some nice shoes for $200. There's a lot of classical museum style architecture outside in the area of this store, looking fantastic in the HDR-lit sunshine. Now, Niko looks pretty much ready for his interview - were we to forget to change his clothes, we'd get a reminder about it.
So it's off to the lawyers for the interview, past Star Junction, The Triangle, Easton, Chinatown, Diamond Street, and Calcium Street. Amusingly, as well pull up outside Goldberg Ligner & Shyster, we knock over a trashcan (Home Alone style) - maybe not the best first impression to give! Luckily, nobody saw. "Welcome to Goldberg Ligner & Shyster, sir" says the security doorman. Again, no load time whatsoever as we enter the building, which is something that just makes us smile every time.
Inside is a very slick and attractive corporate décor, very smart with browns, whites and greys, nice natural and artificial
lighting, a foyer with executives' pictures framed on the walls - and the building structure is great to look at on multiple open floors, with escalators, elevators and stairs in the open-plan core of the building. The receptionist welcomes Niko:
Karen: "Mr Bellic, welcome. I will just see if Mr Goldberg is available... Mr Goldberg, Mr Bellic has arrived for his interview."
Goldberg: "Alright great, tell him to come to my office."
Karen: "Uh-huh, I'll bring him through. Would you please follow me, Mr Bellic."
We set off with Karen towards meeting room, passing different rooms, offices and boardrooms, all glass, so that the detail of each suite we pass is very much visible, each one labelled on the glass door. "He's just in here. Don't be nervous, he doesn't bite," advises Karen. Mr Goldberg has a friendlier, more all-American kind of voice than we've heard in the game so far. Up here on maybe the third floor we can see through the Goldberg's window all the way down to the street below which remains as busy and detailed as when we pulled over on it just a few moments beforehand.
Goldberg starts talking, it's not a cut-scene, and we can move about and take the shot at any time during his speech: "Hello, Niko! I'm looking for a man who can get jobs done right. Nikolai, I like your resume. You seem to be the sort of man who would go the extra distance, a man who's struggled. I just need to take another look and get myself reacquainted with your experience.... So you're the sort of man who doesn't wait to get told what to do, a guy who looks at the world, sees problems, and..." - then Niko pulls his gun out. "Woah, woah, hold on second there friend! We're
lawyers, we don't need guns! Strong move though, I gotta say, I like that style... I'm all about the Second Amendment... guns don't kill people, videogames do!"
And with that, Niko demands to know where the McReary files are, then puts a bullet in Goldberg before he smashes and falls through the window of his office down to the street below - that's him taken care of. One can't help but wonder if Rockstar was thinking of its own special someone when designing a scene in which a smug anti-videogame lawyer is disposed of. Of course, we get a little bit of bother afterwards because ten seconds after Goldberg 'leaves the building', the police sirens start again and we need to make an
escape.
Since Niko has a dark criminal past, he's familiar with just about every weapon you can throw at him - there's no need to train him like a nancy. "We're about making a game that's accessible by everyone," Rockstar promises. The targeting system works accordingly; you've got your auto targeting as well as manual aim, for people who are happier to do that. Rockstar also has a brand new cover system for the game - Niko can basically take cover behind anything (in this office environment, a cleaner's maintenance trolley does the job), and you will see the cops taking cover as well. The gunfight and chaotic rhythm of hiding, taking cover, shooting and reloading is classic gameplay that is great fun to see action, particularly with the ragdoll deaths of everybody in sight - against walls, down stairwells. We rush downstairs to the central area of lobby, and we're still up at three wanted stars (six is the current total), so the cops keep coming into the building to try and bust us. We make an exit using various emergency stairs - it's a tactical exit in which, once again, the player has a choice and things could go either way depending on your actions.
On the PS2, the overriding theme in GTA was to exploit the technology through freedom, but what Rockstar says it's adding now is "immediacy and intimacy" with that freedom; it's not simply about making things bigger and broader, it's adding a significant level of depth, diversity, and detail. "The game is now about the experience as a whole, it's not just a features list anymore, and everything in GTA IV is done to a very thoughtful design, for a specific purpose." The experience when you play, Rockstar told us, is all about choice and consequence, and the fact that everything you do has weight to it - "so whatever choice you make will have a consequence to that particular action - that is something we're trying to highlight with the game."
We actually went through the demo twice at Rockstar this time. On the second play through, after we take out Goldberg, instead of pursuing the missions from the first play, we instead opt to get our hands dirty in a massive outside shootout, in an area full of opportunities for cover. Cops, pedestrians, traffic and choppers all get in on the action, and we even blow up a gas station for the hell of it with some carefully aimed shots at the refill terminal when we switch our weapon to the Micro SMG. Awesome, as it explodes out in different directions out of the pump and the screen shakes with a bassy boom. This place is full of highly destructible environments - this particular shootout looks like a bombsite once we're done with it, with street lights fallen all over the place and trash spilling everywhere. Paper dispensers nudge around as bullets ricochet off them, and bullet shells line the sidewalk. Even the Walk / Don't Walk sign box is unceremoniously deposited on the floor.
In addition to the involving cover system, there's also the ability for Niko to blind fire. Throw in the stupendous level of animation on Niko and everyone else, and these shootouts often look, sound and generally feel as involved and intimate as some of our favourite dedicated first person shooter games, and often, better.
What's cool in GTA IV is that players can finish a mission, and then carry on with one that was started earlier in the game, something that was exemplified on the second play. It's an indication of the how the structure has changed, with the intent being to blur the line between on- and off-mission, as we revealed in our first detailed preview. Back in San Andreas, if you embarked on one mission, that was it, you couldn't do anything else apart from complete the objective of that mission; you couldn't do any side missions, and certainly couldn't embark on another mission altogether.
Unfortunately for Niko on this second play through he dies; battered from the shootout and outnumbered by aggressive LCPD cops, he falls to the ground and the camera pans high looking downwards to show that you've botched the job up.
Interestingly, between the second and first play through, we had to leave the room while Rockstar went through some "secret menu stuff". It makes us curious what could have followed the reboot sequence and title screen (which our sound recorder picked up)- it makes us think there's still a lot we have to learn about in this epic title in the run up to release. After all, Rockstar confirmed to us that this whole demo only showed off one third of Algonquin, and when you consider there are five boroughs - Broker (Brooklyn), Dukes (Queens), Algonquin (Manhattan), Boham (Bronx) and Albany (New Jersey) - it's about 1/16 of the full game map we saw here. Combine that with the area we saw of Broker last time, and we reckon we've seen only about 15% of the full playground that is Liberty City 2007. But we bet there are some surprises in there too. How cool would it be to go see how CJ is getting on in next-gen Los Santos a decade later?
GTA is quite a unique series for the games industry today. It has the ability to excite a massmarket, and not many games can boast that. Using the cellphone interface in GTA IV, people should automatically know what's going on, and the same goes for the Internet usage in the game. GTA IV could be a release that convinces people to buy next gen consoles; Rockstar probably deserves to be in this fortunate position owing to the quality of the series to date. There's no doubt in our minds that GTA IV will set new standards here, and frankly, it's tough to predict anyone outdoing them right now.
And yes, Rockstar again reconfirmed to us that it is still on course for its stated release dates. Only three months to go!
Stay with Kikizo for unrivalled depth of GTA IV first-hand coverage anywhere in the world, as we follow up with continuing previews, which will most likely include PS3 impressions, online features, multiplayer modes, and pre-release hands-on impressions, before our final review in October.
stolen from:
http://games.kikizo.com/news/200707/115_p01.asp
GTA 4 massive in-depth preview
Reply With Quote
Re: GTA 4 massive in-depth preview
Social Networking Bookmarks