After all the hype that follows teaser trailers, magazine previews and internet reports, it's too easy to forget that at the centre of the noise is, well, a Grand Theft Auto game. With the same GTA formula we've been happily playing for years.
That's not to say GTA IV is old-hat - far from it. But in the unprecedented event of being lobbed an Xbox controller and left to roam Liberty City unchained, we knew exactly what to do. Which was basically to steal a car, run over a pedestrian and outrun the police for ten minutes until we got nicked by a bobby hiding behind a tree.
It's still awesome; flying over walls from (poorly) hidden ramps to outrun the police, and rocket-blasting cop helicopters is just as fun as it was in 2003. After two hours of intensive hands-on, the question is no longer "does GTA IV re-write the urban crime genre?" but, "does it blow away San Andreas?" The answer clear and simple - yes it does.
Grams Theft Auto Controller in hand and game un-paused, the very brown-clothed Niko appears on screen, in our control for the first time. We're still knocked back by how fantastic everything looks - only this time there are no smoke and mirrors clouding our vision, and no handcuffs preventing us from peeking around the corner.
First thing's first; despite our concerns the framerate is absolutely rock solid. We're on a fairly busy street corner in Broker with cars, pedestrians and the massive cityscape looming on the horizon. It's all good.
Rockstar North hasn't been stingy with the effects either. Immediately we notice lovely motion and depth of field effects when locking on to targets (with the left trigger). There's also some bizarre but pleasant field-of-view "fisheye" mischief going on when you move the camera at an angle underneath or above Niko (making the distance between characters and the background look further - sounds strange but works).
The lighting system in particular looks fantastic. Some of the game's scenery and textures can look a bit rough around the edges in screens. But, in motion, the scale and detail of Liberty City is impressive. It feels just like a GTA city; pedestrians scatter and the sound of gun fire, the odd hidden ramp lurks behind low walls and comedy ad signs are never far away.
The mission we're on (Jamaican Heat) is early in the game and tasks Niko to pick up drug-dealing Jamaican gunman Little Jacob from his pad.
Stealing cars with the Y button is as simple as ever. The most noticeable difference from San Andreas is a strong feeling of weight behind the world, as demonstrated by the poor fellow flailing and rolling on the floor as Niko ejects him from his vehicle.
Euphoria Physics - the stuff powering LucasAarts' Force Unleashed game - is the tech to be thanked for this. It might not sound like a big deal, but because of how massively un-interactive and well, rigid the environments were in the PS2 instalments, it's incredibly liberating to see pedestrians fall over, cars bump in the road and scenery roll and collide realistically when hit.
The biggest impact of GTA's new-found physics is probably in the vehicle handling, which now feels far more realistic and affected by the world around it. By luck, we found the best car to test this out right on the street where we started; a completely rusted, half-burnt out old banger.
After happily evicting its previous owner (who was probably pleased to get some fresh air) we sped off down the road only to slam into the pavement, as the handling of the car was being skewed towards the dodgy wheel on our left hand side.
As with the walk and run animations of each character, vehicles can be seen bouncing and bopping with every bump in the road. This sense of gravity helps the world feel a lot more alive than previous Grand Theft Autos.
In this botched-up motor we had to battle with the analogue stick to keep it in a straight line, and the burst tyre on our side had a massive effect in how the vehicle handled. It's obvious that car damage is hugely more important in this GTA than in San Andreas.
Realism is a strong theme in IV's driving. It's much more difficult to simply right-angle around a corner at speed. You can't rely on the handbrake to spin you around a turn, and if you don't want to be sent into the side of a building by a bump in the road, you have to slow down.
It's still fun - perhaps even more so when you bugger up and do a barrel-roll into a hotdog stand - but as our extended play taught us, the gap between low and high-end cars is much bigger in the control department. Watch those corners!
OK Computer Back to our first point; GTA IV is still very much a Grand Theft Auto experience. But it's impressive how Rockstar has built up and over San Andreas' design.
Driving to Little Jacob's place is a painless and far smoother experience than it would've been in GTA III. Analogue acceleration on the triggers makes cruising around the streets a breeze. The new GPS waypoint system, which draws a line through the map to your destination, is executed perfectly.
Even little Jacob himself, who comes scuttling out of his pad smoking a funny cigarette, is a far less sterile character than the blocky blokes of old. We stop mid-run on our way to the next destination, a meeting point where Jacbo's about to make a dodgy deal, realising that like old GTA's we'd better get into a car and take the Jamaican along. But much to our surprise there he is running behind us, still puffing away mind.
Once in the car Jacob carries on talking for minutes (there's shed loads of non-plot-centric dialogue) and even his "cigarette" smoke drifts realistically out of the window.
It's still far from genius AI, but little bits like this are certainly far ahead of III, which had slightly dim-witted friendly and enemy AI to say the least.
Eventually we make it to our destination; a dodgy back alley where Jacob wants us to keep watch over his shady deal. A hovering halo, similar to that in previous games, indicates where we should go; a ledge overlooking the alley.
Clicking the left analogue stick has Niko crouch, and the three arriving dealers are completely unaware of his presence - which means we can get the first shot off when the deal inevitably goes sour.
Immediately the scene explodes into something far more frantic than any of San Andreas' simple lock-on blasting. All parties dive into cover, taking blind pot shots over dumpsters.
Aiming and shooting has been handled in quite a unique manor from your average third-person shooter. Holding down the left trigger locks on to a target, and you can cycle through targets using the right stick.
From here you can shoot at an enemy's arms, legs, chest or head - but it's not totally automatic. The cursor is locked on to the centre of a target's chest, and from there you can move your aim with the right stick inside a small circle radius around the target.
This way a headshot actually requires some skill; simply holding up with the right stick shoots over the bad guy's head, so you have to hover slightly to nail him in the face.
The genius of this system is that proper free-aiming is also instantly accessible by holding the trigger half-way in, allowing you to aim your gun freely where ever you like. This proves useful when a hitman bursts from the rooftop above us.
This is also (yet another) example of Euphoria physics at work, we nail him and watch him tumble across the rooftop before grabbing and swinging from the ledge in a last ditch effort to stay alive.
The much-welcomed cover system works (and looks) great. Once we'd dealt with the psycho dealers, it was off to find their shotgun-wielding mates, with the purpose of putting and end to it.
Taking cover underneath window ledges and at the side of doors is painless and intuitive. Tapping the right bumper slams Niko into cover (Gears of War style). If you're a bit far off he'll dive or floor-slide. Jumping between cover is just as simple as in Epic's shooter. Niko was never stuck in a place we didn't want him to be.
Shooting feels slightly different from what we're used, but at the same time delivers a new dynamic. One trigger performs simple blindfire shooting, while the other pops Niko out of cover for full-on gun pointing.
The difference here is that the aiming reticule is on screen even when you're behind cover, and to fire consecutive shots you have to hold the right trigger down, as letting go sends you right back in to cover.
This way you're never out of cover when you're not shooting, and the hop 'n bop blasting gameplay is even more simplified. Thankfully, as is emerged in this impressively detailed living room (complete with couch, telly, cockroaches), Niko can shoot through scenery and blast cover to bits.
Plasterboard falls apart with every shot and enemy gangbangers are accessible to your ammunition behind most objects. This new combat adds greater depth to the bullet ballet of GTA IV, which is bound to supply some absolute standout action sequences when the final game arrives.
Lights, camera, ACTION! The third and final most important layer we discovered is GTA IV's remarkable knack for a bit of cinematic flair. Our next mission takes Niko to meet some Russian mafia types in a shady Broker nightclub, where he's been called in for a chat.
The Russian head honcho is slouched in a smoky corner with female company, which he soon dismisses upon Niko's arrival. Character animation is top-notch. It's alomst like the rigid robots with square hands of San Andreas never happened.
So Russian's having trouble with the police, after the feds somehow discovered the shady deals they've been doing in Liberty City. Despite pleas from his subordinate, Dimitri, the boss is convinced the squealer is his right-hand-man's brother-in-law, and Niko's been hired to shut him up.
The target has been tracked down to a train platform not too far away from our meeting place. Thanks to the in-car GPS system we find the station with little problem (but we did run over a few pedestrians on the way) and there's our man sitting pretty on the platform, marked by a trademark yellow GTA halo.
A snappy cut-scene alerts the target to Niko's presence, and he legs it across the train tracks to set up one of the most intense chase sequences we've ever had in a GTA game.
We're hot on his tail but instantly blocked by a train shooting right in front of our faces. By the time it's gone the target's already racing down the staircase on the other side of the track, climbing inside a parked motor and speeding down the road.
We're straight after him with a quick tap of Y next to the nearest car. The combination of radar and a big floaty red arrow above our target had us hot on his tail in no time.
Tapping LB made Niko smash the driver-side window so we could get a chance to try out the new in-car shooting. It's miles ahead of San Andreas' drive-by right-angle shooting, letting you aim weapons using the right stick with an on-screen cursor.
This makes for far more hectic vehicle battles than in any GTA before. But because you can only really aim your cursor while continuously shooting it's a lot messier than on-foot combat, and spray tactics become top priority.
You can also drop grenades behind you vehicle, but as we discovered later this can just as easily blow up your own car as other people's...
Even though we're still getting used to the new car handling, the pursuit doesn't last long. Lamp posts still have cardboard physics but crash satisfyingly and spark violently on the ground.
We knock more than a few down as we unleash an Uzi rainstorm into the back of the target's petrol tank, sending his ride into space above an impressive display of smoke effects and flinging debris.
We even take out a fire hydrant, which sprays a gorgeous water spurt high into the air. The game autosaves, mission complete, and we're left to explore Liberty City on our own. Can you guess what's the next thing we do is?
Reach for the stars Cop shootouts are of a much bigger scale than in previous GTAs and on higher star levels you actually feel like you're being hunted down by the law.
Thanks to some cheeky cheats on behalf of Rockstar, we're completely tooled up with guns, ammunition and a chunk of armour (which shows up as an extra half of a circular health meter) - and it's time to see how much carnage we can cause before the SWAT team inevitably runs us into a wall.
It all starts off with a hijack. We spot a police car at the traffic lights across the street and liberate it - immediately giving us one star.
The cops are quickly on the tail of our siren-screaming motor but it's easy to escape their radar with a few sharp turns. Obviously we need to rack up the wanted level, so we direct the police car down the nearest busy street for a game of pedestrian Frogger.
As we're sure will be much to displeasure of Daily Mail readers, the vehicle-meets-old lady carnage is a lot more realistic this time around. Euphoria physics has pedestrians fold and flail like rag dolls while blood splatters liberally on street.
If you smash head on in a collision Niko will even go flying through the windshield. It's visceral, violent and not for kids.
The killing has earned us a further two stars (that's three - the highest we managed in our hands-on time) and the familiar coppa choppa quickly appears above our heads - the perfect excuse to park up and play with the rocket launcher.
Explosions in GTA IV are stupidly destructive and absolutely massive - on the same scale as Crackdown's multi-car-flinging booms. Smoke trails realistically as car doors and debris are flung through the air. Even pedestrians who escape the initial blast are usually left on fire, running around like big, fiery Guy Fawkes.
There's also a slight heat-seeking function to the rocket launcher. When we fired it at a near-by cop for example, it swerved up and behind him, favouring the police car instead as a more worthy target. This made nailing the chopper even easier, which comes smoking and exploding down to the street in a twisted mass of metal and flame.
Although our star level is the same, the resulting chaos kicks off a massive game of hide and seek, with cops, minus their eye in the sky, frantically searching for us.
In GTA IV when you're out of sight from the law your stars will 'grey out', indicating that you're hidden. Unfortunately this doesn't work like the big game of peek-a-boo we expected, and even when you're hidden the cops are slowly drawn to your general location.
Eventually the law tracks us down to the dark alley we're parked in. Locking on to cover and whipping out the AK, we frantically take out as many as possible, but they've called in a second police helicopter and it's time to leg it or be shot to pieces by the new chopper's on-board mini-gun.
Eventually we make it to a small canal, where most of the on-foot bobbies seem to have lost our scent. It's just us and the helicopter now, but with no ammunition left for the RPG we pull out the next best thing; the sniper rifle.
The rifle works in pretty much the same fashion as before, but what impressed us most was the amount of detail you can pick out down its scope.
Lining up with the chopper above us - which is now spraying bullets liberally in our direction - we can make out the gunner actually sitting inside. We take him out and smile as he plummets to the ground in a single shot.
Now that its defenceless we're free to aim up and take out the pilot as well. Shooting right through the glass we perform yet another one shot kill, and the helicopter bucks violently downwards, exploding in the canal.
GTA has always been about the randomness, the wide-open battles and sheer chaos you can cause. We're delighted to see that GTA IV hasn't forgotten it routes. At the very least the fourth game will provide a bigger playground, louder explosions and probably the most epic and engaging shootouts we've ever had in a game.
Underneath the litres of polish and great combat additions, IV controls and feels just like a GTA game. But as we've said, that's no bad thing at all. Multiplayer details next, please Rockstar.
Sorry to sound all doom and gloom, but is anyone but me starting to get tired of these really overhyped games
To be honest I feel Rockstar have been one of the best developers for keeping the hype meter down and then bursting it of the charts a month or two before release. Sadly this hasn't been the case with GTA4 simply down to the delay (was supposed to be out Oct 07), so I can understand where you're coming from. I just hope this game turns out to be worth the wait.
Also, not meaning to bait fanboys but how come we still haven't seen anything from the PS3 version? All the previews and hands-on have been from the 360 version...
Sorry to sound all doom and gloom, but is anyone but me starting to get tired of these really overhyped games such as
smash bros brawl? Halo 3? Crysis?
They are allways so high profile you know that they will get a high score even if they are sh*t.
IMO Gta 4 is beggining to become such a game and im tired of all the hype. perhaps more time could be spent on covering more less known titles......
does anyone else feel the same way?
p.s i dont want a bloomin flame war, its just my opinion, i respect that people are looking forward to this game though.
I do understand what you're saying. Certainly on these forums (and other sites!), hype does a game very little favours if it's taken to an extreme level - but, I'd have to say that a game like Halo 3 was, and has, been treated unfairly - take away the hype and it's fantastic.
We all just want great games - whether it comes with hype or not, it's a case of buying it and playing it for the right reasons. On the 360, it's hard to avoid the big games that your friend list is playing - whether you actually want it or not, so you tend to get sucked in.
Having said that, the hype for GTA4 is 100% warranted - I wasn't San Andreas' biggest fan, but I love the series and I have high hopes that this will be one of the highlights of 2008.
Great preview but personally, I would rather have had this kind of preview around a week before the games release. This preview will only leave me depressed that this game is not out for another two long months
After reading the PSM3 preview then this i feel its safe to say... GTA4 is gonna be amazing. I admit that I lost some intrest for this title after the delay, but following what I have see recently I honestly can't wait. As for all the GTA naysayers, just remember the first time you were unleashed on any of its prequels, did you feel that there was an almost limitless world of possibility lying before you? If so then GTA4 will deliver the same feeling, for that I am sure
.... just remember the first time you were unleashed on any of its prequels, did you feel that there was an almost limitless world of possibility lying before you? If so then GTA4 will deliver the same feeling, for that I am sure
Thats half the problem, its the same experience as the last and its starting to get dull.
.... just remember the first time you were unleashed on any of its prequels, did you feel that there was an almost limitless world of possibility lying before you? If so then GTA4 will deliver the same feeling, for that I am sure
Thats half the problem, its the same experience as the last and its starting to get dull.
You misunderstand my point. I was trying to say that the options open to oneself in prior incarnations of GTA games were things that a gamer had never experienced before and I believe that this game will offer the same level of new opportunities that no one has yet had the chance to explore. However I understand what you're saying and the fact that GTA Vice City and San Andreas were not complete sequels but additions to GTA3 did leave alot of people jaded, including myself. I only hope that the current Gen makes a similar leap that GTA3 made to its predecessors
Don't get me wrong I'm looking forward to the game, but I'm getting well tired of repeatedly reading things about it which are made out my the journos to be revolutionary or new.
1. Driver Parallel Lines was set in a f**king massive recreation of NYC, with real names. 2. Driver Parallel Lines had superb vehicle handling with a feeling of real weight and gravity 3. Driver Parallel Lines had the "line to destination" thing on their maps. 4. Driver Parallel Lines had analogue acceleration which made cruising a breeze...
I say this in response to one paragraph in the article "Analogue acceleration on the triggers makes cruising around the streets a breeze. The new GPS waypoint system, which draws a line through the map to your destination, is executed perfectly."
It's as if they are happy to ignore the fact none of that is new, just cos it's GTA it's suddenly a revolutionary thing to have weighty cars with good handling and analogue acceleration in a free-roam crime city.
I'm sure it's great, I love GTA games, but I really think Rockstar copped out doing NYC... they've done Liberty City before, Driver has done NYC on the same scale (it sounds) as GTAIV and a bunch of new stuff is copied from other games.
The good thing, of course, is where driver lead the way (imo) from the very first iteration with handling and driving experience, it sucked on foot and in combat - so if GTAIV is now going to combine drivers level of driving quality with it's own on foot and combat levels it's mostly a good thing. It's just not new, and NYC is a big disappointment.
So what we have here is more of the same with better graphics.When other games are rehashed with just better graphics we all criticise like its a crime and were all graphics whores,but when its done over and over with GTA its ok?.....not sure whats going on here.
I agree with a lot of the points made so far. The thing with the GTA series is they do take little bits from a lot of games and put them into their big blockbuster title and say "hey, check out this stuff!". Like said earlier, the driving was taken from DriverL and the cover system taken from Gears, the targeting system from Crackdown, and only someone with a lot of time on their hands would know where the physics engine is from. Definately got some Unreal/Frostbite type physics in there, and you could say the graphics are trying to emulate Crysis in terms of awesomeness. OK, the graphics are good but that doesn't make a great game, and it definately doesn't make an original game.
The only reason I liked San Andreas was the fact that it was great playing multiplayer over the net (with MTA) and the gambling was a great inclusion. But I can only presume the gambling bit will be disappearing so there's no easy money. If you have to do drug running side missions like on Scarface for extra cash, I'm going to refuse to add GTA4 to my collection.
We need more new ideas, like with Fable 2 (Live arcade linking and emotional adaptive AI just as two examples), and frankly I don't think Rockstar have the creativity to do that.
I'm not saying GTA4 will be terrible, because it is GTA. But it won't have anything we haven't seen before, so don't get too exited.
Sorry to sound all doom and gloom, but is anyone but me starting to get tired of these really overhyped games
Also, not meaning to bait fanboys but how come we still haven't seen anything from the PS3 version? All the previews and hands-on have been from the 360 version...
I wondered that too, but PSM3 previewed it recently and I am pretty sure they would have said something if it wasnt on a PS3.
They also said something about framerate in this as well, but never elaborated it!!
So what we have here is more of the same with better graphics.When other games are rehashed with just better graphics we all criticise like its a crime and were all graphics whores,but when its done over and over with GTA its ok?.....not sure whats going on here.
Well, in certain cases I like a little 'more of the same' - I'm one of those that will go and buy the latest Pro Evo, purely for some novel little enhancement....
With GTA4, I'm really looking forward to some much better combat...Vice City was some of the best fun I've had playing games, but the shooting was woeful. I also think that the extra graphical polish is going to add more atmosphere to it and make the story a bit more compelling.
I am a huge GTA fan. I remember playing GTA III for the first time, before that I had played GTA on the Playstation with its top down view and when I first played GTA III I was completely blown away. I had rented the game from a local video store and after about 30 mins playing it had to go and buy it because I couldn’t bear the idea of giving it back.
The only other game I felt this strongly about was Half Life.
I think that Vice City is the best GTA to date for some reason I didn’t get into San Andreas.
I really can’t wait to play GTA IV and the fact that it is in Liberty City is a good thing in my opinion because lots of people have visited New York so it’s a familiar city to many people all over the world.
Roll on April. I am getting the 360 version but I am planning on getting a PS3 for my birthday on the 12 April can any one recommend some good games for it?
Hmmm I'm getting a slight vibe of disappointment from this hands on and from other previews I've read. I keep hearing the statement that it's 'more of the same, but that's no bad thing'.
Maybe it's just me, but I was hoping to be blown away by GTAIV.
Maybe I will be, but then maybe it will be lacking compared to San Andreas. All I can think about was how cool it was to drive right out of Los Santos into the countryside into those small villages. That contrast was so unlike anything in GTA before, and losing that might be disappointing.
Don't get me wrong, I'm still looking forward to GTAIV, but I can't shake the feeling that it's not going to rock my world.
1. Driver Parallel Lines was set in a f**king massive recreation of NYC, with real names. 2. Driver Parallel Lines had superb vehicle handling with a feeling of real weight and gravity 3. Driver Parallel Lines had the "line to destination" thing on their maps. 4. Driver Parallel Lines had analogue acceleration which made cruising a breeze...
Comparing Driver Parallel lines to GTA IV is like comparing s**t with gourmet food. You can eat them both, but it is NOT recomended that you eat the former, since it tastes like s**t. Now just replace 'eat' & 'tastes' with 'play', and you get my idea.
I'm just looking forward to standing on the 'brooklyn' bridge, lookin up into the sun, taking in the whole scenery, dynamic shadows and all. And doing all the other non-mission related stuff that you actually want to do because it all looks so sexy. You can't really say that of Driver, now can you?
And to all of you who sounds disappointed with this game: It's okay to have ambitions about things beeing better, but be realistic, and try to fathom the scale of what GTA IV is pulling of. It's not fantasy-la-la-land to make a game that big. And instead of whining about what's not in, why don't you celebrate the things that made it into the game. I would have been disappointed, if this game didn't feel like a GTA game.(WHICH IT BY THE WAY ACTUALLY IS!!)
Oh, wait a minute... If you are looking for a game that doesn't feel like a GTA game, why don't you, say...... look for another game than GTA then?
I mean, if you prefer Driver Parallel Lines over GTA, there's pretty much no hope left anyway.
Does this game have ragdoll physics like Saints Row? Nothing amused me more than running people over in that game and watching their bodies spinning through the air.
Underneath the litres of polish and great combat additions, IV controls and feels just like a GTA game. But as we've said, that's no bad thing at all.
Yes it is. I've always thought the controls in GTA games was incredibly ropey. Basically, in spite of the hype, the inevitable +90% rating it'll get everywhere and all the bravado postured by Rockstar, we all know this is GTA. I agree that's not a bad thing generally, but I wish people would stop dressing it up to be anything more than just an update of GTA3.
Underneath the litres of polish and great combat additions, IV controls and feels just like a GTA game. But as we've said, that's no bad thing at all.
Yes it is. I've always thought the controls in GTA games was incredibly ropey. Basically, in spite of the hype, the inevitable +90% rating it'll get everywhere and all the bravado postured by Rockstar, we all know this is GTA. I agree that's not a bad thing generally, but I wish people would stop dressing it up to be anything more than just an update of GTA3.
Well said that man,at last someone smelling the coffee.It is just basically an update of GTA3 and nothing more.A good game but definitely "not the messiah" shame people get so wound up about this and can't see the wood for the trees.Hmmmm too many cliches i think.
The guy that wrote this article apparently never played Crackdown. The aiming system sounds like it was lifted straight out of it like the cover system was from GoW. Not a problem... those mechanics were great... put them in the same game and it's gonna be sweet.
Just giving credit where credit is due... Crackdown had a great aiming system.
Anakin why are you so offended by my comments? What an outrageously defensive response.
Comparing DriverL with GTA is nothing like as big a gap as you say, especially when i was only comparing a) the driving and b) the scale.
DriverL's driving was far better than GTA San Andreas's - and I very much enjoyed SA. (shock horror, it is possible to enjoy 2 games without it being a crime and without becoming a massive fanboy). I already stated in my previous message i'm aware outside of the driving PL's was utter crap.
It seems to me that GTA IV will be doing just a few things: - bringing graphics up to date (hardly something to get that excited about) - scaling the city up to a size comparible to PL (it tooks something near 10 real world minutes to get all the way through that city) - improving the driving feel to something other games have had for years.
As for where I would like it set to the chap who rather childishly suggested Coventry. My answer is somewhere OTHER than a city which has been used in a not just in a previous incarnation of GTA, but also in Driver and True Crime:NYC. I'm not the developer it's not my job to come up with great settings, but as a consumer I'm perfectly entitled to feel disappointed they've gone with a city used so many times before.
The early rumours of them buying up domains to do with gtatokyo and such like got me excited, any other large characteristic city which hasn't been used so much before.
the reason GTA3 is "more than an update" (from 1&2) was because of the leap from 2D to 3D.
what the f**k do u want now? 4D?! cant mate, so this is a meare update?!
its a lot less cartoony, lot more believable for a start. the shooting system means there a lot more depth, cars handle realistically. the general mood is a lot more serious. its much more than an "update". the added depth, both cinematic and playable makes it so.
I think your'e missing the point,and way too defensive over a game you haven't played.Oh wait you have played this before,at least a couple of times,GTA3,san andreas.
Most of the features talked about bring memories of Saints Row, I think that if this game had not been made GTA 4 would have been more similar to San Andreas.
Another over hyped mediocre game which will soon be collecting dust with Halo 3, Gears of War 2 and Metal Gear Solid 4.
Another transparent, bitter PC (or Wii) fanboy. These are going to be (or already are in Halo 3's case) great games. So will GTAIV. Instead of sitting over in the corner by yourself, you should try a 360 or PS3. People who do love them for a reason. Don't hate... participate!
I already have Gears of War and Halo 3 so Im not interested in another shooting game and I've ever been one to get really excited about fancy graphics,especially since I dont really like all the violence. All I want is some more of those epic car (and boat,motorbike,helicopter,planes,etc) chases. GTA 4 has a much smaller map,its gotten rid of planes, theres no countryside and the handling is more realistic;not good news for car chase fans.
Does this game have ragdoll physics like Saints Row? Nothing amused me more than running people over in that game and watching their bodies spinning through the air.
They're using LucasArts Euphoria engine, and damn impressive it is too. There's some tech videos on youtube.
Really looking forward to GTA4, I agree that the article glosses over the fact that none of these features are new, but each refinement will definately improve the game.
Look at it this way, Gears of War hung it's whole game from the cover system. With GTA4 we're getting that dynamic in a freeform setting, what's not to love about that?
If this manages to distill what's good about GTA, improve on it's scope, improve the graphics and make combat satisfying then they've got my money.
Don't get me wrong I'm looking forward to the game, but I'm getting well tired of repeatedly reading things about it which are made out my the journos to be revolutionary or new.
1. Driver Parallel Lines was set in a f**king massive recreation of NYC, with real names. 2. Driver Parallel Lines had superb vehicle handling with a feeling of real weight and gravity 3. Driver Parallel Lines had the "line to destination" thing on their maps. 4. Driver Parallel Lines had analogue acceleration which made cruising a breeze...
I say this in response to one paragraph in the article "Analogue acceleration on the triggers makes cruising around the streets a breeze. The new GPS waypoint system, which draws a line through the map to your destination, is executed perfectly."
It's as if they are happy to ignore the fact none of that is new, just cos it's GTA it's suddenly a revolutionary thing to have weighty cars with good handling and analogue acceleration in a free-roam crime city.
I'm sure it's great, I love GTA games, but I really think Rockstar copped out doing NYC... they've done Liberty City before, Driver has done NYC on the same scale (it sounds) as GTAIV and a bunch of new stuff is copied from other games.
The good thing, of course, is where driver lead the way (imo) from the very first iteration with handling and driving experience, it sucked on foot and in combat - so if GTAIV is now going to combine drivers level of driving quality with it's own on foot and combat levels it's mostly a good thing. It's just not new, and NYC is a big disappointment.
Most of the features talked about bring memories of Saints Row, I think that if this game had not been made GTA 4 would have been more similar to San Andreas.
Doubtful, GTA 4 has been in production since before san andreas was even released.
Hmmm I'm getting a slight vibe of disappointment from this hands on and from other previews I've read. I keep hearing the statement that it's 'more of the same, but that's no bad thing'.
Maybe it's just me, but I was hoping to be blown away by GTAIV.
Maybe I will be, but then maybe it will be lacking compared to San Andreas. All I can think about was how cool it was to drive right out of Los Santos into the countryside into those small villages. That contrast was so unlike anything in GTA before, and losing that might be disappointing.
Don't get me wrong, I'm still looking forward to GTAIV, but I can't shake the feeling that it's not going to rock my world.
The vibe of disappointment is due to them only getting to play for 2 hours.
I'm buying GTA IV. I'll enjoy it. I'll play it till the end, and probably try for 100%.... so please, fanboys, try and read the rest of my comment without having your head explode.
I can't tell you how infuriating this review was to read. Everything about it made me realise just how little gaming journalists know about the subject they're supposed to be experts on.
Lets take a look at games that already did everything GTA IV has done, shall we?
"a strong feeling of weight behind the world, as demonstrated by the poor fellow flailing and rolling on the floor as Niko ejects him from his vehicle... ...It might not sound like a big deal, but because of how massively un-interactive and well, rigid the environments were in the PS2 instalments, it's incredibly liberating to see pedestrians fall over, cars bump in the road and scenery roll and collide realistically when hit."
Saints Row, specifically. But just about every game since GTA3 has had ragdoll physics. It's nothing new. Why make a big deal about it?
"we sped off down the road only to slam into the pavement, as the handling of the car was being skewed towards the dodgy wheel on our left hand side"
Uhh.. this is quite funny. Most racing/driving games do this. But guess what? EVEN GTA3 DID. Jesus. Some people
"Analogue acceleration on the triggers makes cruising around the streets a breeze."
Like every driving game ever?
"The new GPS waypoint system, which draws a line through the map to your destination, is executed perfectly."
Directly ripped from Saints Row.
"realising that like old GTA's we'd better get into a car and take the Jamaican along. But much to our surprise there he is running behind us, still puffing away mind"
I'm sorry, but have you ever played a GTA game? They've always done that. If the mission is to take a character somewhere, they will follow you. It's extremely basic AI and is nothing an experienced game review should be 'surprised' about..!
"It's still far from genius AI, but little bits like this are certainly far ahead of III,"
You should not be allowed to comment on GTA3, as you clearly never played it. That behaviour is not a new addition to the series.
" Aiming and shooting has been handled in quite a unique manor from your average third-person shooter. Holding down the left trigger locks on to a target, and you can cycle through targets using the right stick."
You literally have to be joking. I mean you cannot be serious? Pretty much every third-person game has you hold the left trigger to lock on, and cycle through targets with another button (and in many games, the analogue stick). Holy freaking.... there are no words to describe how tragic this review is.
"Tapping the right bumper slams Niko into cover (Gears of War style)"
Woah! Careful there. Remembering other games might cause you to get a bit light headed.
"It's miles ahead of San Andreas' drive-by right-angle shooting, letting you aim weapons using the right stick with an on-screen cursor."
Saints Row.
" We even take out a fire hydrant, which sprays a gorgeous water spurt high into the air."
Saints Row.
"Euphoria physics has pedestrians fold and flail like rag dolls while blood splatters liberally on street. "
Saints Row.
" If you smash head on in a collision Niko will even go flying through the windshield. It's visceral, violent and not for kids. "
Saints Row.
"Lining up with the chopper above us - which is now spraying bullets liberally in our direction - we can make out the gunner actually sitting inside. We take him out and smile as he plummets to the ground in a single shot. Now that its defenceless we're free to aim up and take out the pilot as well. Shooting right through the glass we perform yet another one shot kill, and the helicopter bucks violently downwards, exploding in the canal."
Saints Row, Saints Row, SAINTS ROW! PLAYED IT?? ugh.
Now I know what a lot of you are going to say. "Saints Row copied GTA" - well of course it did. But the reviews clearly admitted that. You couldnt read even a short preview of SR without it being compared to GTA in someway - so why the hell are all these things in GTAIV being talked about as though Rockstar came up with them? I royally p*sses me off, it does.
I'm buying GTA IV. I'll enjoy it. I'll play it till the end, and probably try for 100%.... so please, fanboys, try and read the rest of my comment without having your head explode.
I can't tell you how infuriating this review was to read. Everything about it made me realise just how little gaming journalists know about the subject they're supposed to be experts on.
Lets take a look at games that already did everything GTA IV has done, shall we?
"a strong feeling of weight behind the world, as demonstrated by the poor fellow flailing and rolling on the floor as Niko ejects him from his vehicle... ...It might not sound like a big deal, but because of how massively un-interactive and well, rigid the environments were in the PS2 instalments, it's incredibly liberating to see pedestrians fall over, cars bump in the road and scenery roll and collide realistically when hit."
Saints Row, specifically. But just about every game since GTA3 has had ragdoll physics. It's nothing new. Why make a big deal about it?
"we sped off down the road only to slam into the pavement, as the handling of the car was being skewed towards the dodgy wheel on our left hand side"
Uhh.. this is quite funny. Most racing/driving games do this. But guess what? EVEN GTA3 DID. Jesus. Some people
"Analogue acceleration on the triggers makes cruising around the streets a breeze."
Like every driving game ever?
"The new GPS waypoint system, which draws a line through the map to your destination, is executed perfectly."
Directly ripped from Saints Row.
"realising that like old GTA's we'd better get into a car and take the Jamaican along. But much to our surprise there he is running behind us, still puffing away mind"
I'm sorry, but have you ever played a GTA game? They've always done that. If the mission is to take a character somewhere, they will follow you. It's extremely basic AI and is nothing an experienced game review should be 'surprised' about..!
"It's still far from genius AI, but little bits like this are certainly far ahead of III,"
You should not be allowed to comment on GTA3, as you clearly never played it. That behaviour is not a new addition to the series.
" Aiming and shooting has been handled in quite a unique manor from your average third-person shooter. Holding down the left trigger locks on to a target, and you can cycle through targets using the right stick."
You literally have to be joking. I mean you cannot be serious? Pretty much every third-person game has you hold the left trigger to lock on, and cycle through targets with another button (and in many games, the analogue stick). Holy freaking.... there are no words to describe how tragic this review is.
"Tapping the right bumper slams Niko into cover (Gears of War style)"
Woah! Careful there. Remembering other games might cause you to get a bit light headed.
"It's miles ahead of San Andreas' drive-by right-angle shooting, letting you aim weapons using the right stick with an on-screen cursor."
Saints Row.
" We even take out a fire hydrant, which sprays a gorgeous water spurt high into the air."
Saints Row.
"Euphoria physics has pedestrians fold and flail like rag dolls while blood splatters liberally on street. "
Saints Row.
" If you smash head on in a collision Niko will even go flying through the windshield. It's visceral, violent and not for kids. "
Saints Row.
"Lining up with the chopper above us - which is now spraying bullets liberally in our direction - we can make out the gunner actually sitting inside. We take him out and smile as he plummets to the ground in a single shot. Now that its defenceless we're free to aim up and take out the pilot as well. Shooting right through the glass we perform yet another one shot kill, and the helicopter bucks violently downwards, exploding in the canal."
Saints Row, Saints Row, SAINTS ROW! PLAYED IT?? ugh.
Now I know what a lot of you are going to say. "Saints Row copied GTA" - well of course it did. But the reviews clearly admitted that. You couldnt read even a short preview of SR without it being compared to GTA in someway - so why the hell are all these things in GTAIV being talked about as though Rockstar came up with them? I royally p*sses me off, it does.
Eh? Tell you what, while im playing GTA IV why dont you start up Saints Row and we'll both be playing games we enjoy.
I'm buying GTA IV. I'll enjoy it. I'll play it till the end, and probably try for 100%.... so please, fanboys, try and read the rest of my comment without having your head explode.
I can't tell you how infuriating this review was to read. Everything about it made me realise just how little gaming journalists know about the subject they're supposed to be experts on.
Lets take a look at games that already did everything GTA IV has done, shall we?
"a strong feeling of weight behind the world, as demonstrated by the poor fellow flailing and rolling on the floor as Niko ejects him from his vehicle... ...It might not sound like a big deal, but because of how massively un-interactive and well, rigid the environments were in the PS2 instalments, it's incredibly liberating to see pedestrians fall over, cars bump in the road and scenery roll and collide realistically when hit."
Saints Row, specifically. But just about every game since GTA3 has had ragdoll physics. It's nothing new. Why make a big deal about it?
"we sped off down the road only to slam into the pavement, as the handling of the car was being skewed towards the dodgy wheel on our left hand side"
Uhh.. this is quite funny. Most racing/driving games do this. But guess what? EVEN GTA3 DID. Jesus. Some people
"Analogue acceleration on the triggers makes cruising around the streets a breeze."
Like every driving game ever?
"The new GPS waypoint system, which draws a line through the map to your destination, is executed perfectly."
Directly ripped from Saints Row.
"realising that like old GTA's we'd better get into a car and take the Jamaican along. But much to our surprise there he is running behind us, still puffing away mind"
I'm sorry, but have you ever played a GTA game? They've always done that. If the mission is to take a character somewhere, they will follow you. It's extremely basic AI and is nothing an experienced game review should be 'surprised' about..!
"It's still far from genius AI, but little bits like this are certainly far ahead of III,"
You should not be allowed to comment on GTA3, as you clearly never played it. That behaviour is not a new addition to the series.
" Aiming and shooting has been handled in quite a unique manor from your average third-person shooter. Holding down the left trigger locks on to a target, and you can cycle through targets using the right stick."
You literally have to be joking. I mean you cannot be serious? Pretty much every third-person game has you hold the left trigger to lock on, and cycle through targets with another button (and in many games, the analogue stick). Holy freaking.... there are no words to describe how tragic this review is.
"Tapping the right bumper slams Niko into cover (Gears of War style)"
Woah! Careful there. Remembering other games might cause you to get a bit light headed.
"It's miles ahead of San Andreas' drive-by right-angle shooting, letting you aim weapons using the right stick with an on-screen cursor."
Saints Row.
" We even take out a fire hydrant, which sprays a gorgeous water spurt high into the air."
Saints Row.
"Euphoria physics has pedestrians fold and flail like rag dolls while blood splatters liberally on street. "
Saints Row.
" If you smash head on in a collision Niko will even go flying through the windshield. It's visceral, violent and not for kids. "
Saints Row.
"Lining up with the chopper above us - which is now spraying bullets liberally in our direction - we can make out the gunner actually sitting inside. We take him out and smile as he plummets to the ground in a single shot. Now that its defenceless we're free to aim up and take out the pilot as well. Shooting right through the glass we perform yet another one shot kill, and the helicopter bucks violently downwards, exploding in the canal."
Saints Row, Saints Row, SAINTS ROW! PLAYED IT?? ugh.
Now I know what a lot of you are going to say. "Saints Row copied GTA" - well of course it did. But the reviews clearly admitted that. You couldnt read even a short preview of SR without it being compared to GTA in someway - so why the hell are all these things in GTAIV being talked about as though Rockstar came up with them? I royally p*sses me off, it does.
^I agree with most of that, i think this preview is horrifically biased though as its in super hype mode,im surprised then wherent raving about the menus, i guess thats the price that has to be paid for a preview scoop.
Anyhow im sure this will be a fun game,i ll get it on the PC later on in the year as ive had all the GTA titles sofar
However, theres hardly anything here to warrent the GTA4 Title, there was a massive jump from GTA2->GTA3, even between VC and SA( Planes that flew properly, helicopters, massive landscapes, casinos, pool, dancing, RPG elements, shooting ranges, gang warfare, girlfriends........ ), the next big proper GTA game will be a 'proper' online version( not like the bolt on multiplayer of SA, ewwww ), this is one game if ever there was one that could rock online, the potential is huge, but alas is the stuff of dreams like car damage in Gran Turismo, in that context i dont get all the hype
Anakin why are you so offended by my comments? What an outrageously defensive response.
Comparing DriverL with GTA is nothing like as big a gap as you say, especially when i was only comparing a) the driving and b) the scale.
DriverL's driving was far better than GTA San Andreas's - and I very much enjoyed SA. (shock horror, it is possible to enjoy 2 games without it being a crime and without becoming a massive fanboy). I already stated in my previous message i'm aware outside of the driving PL's was utter crap.
It seems to me that GTA IV will be doing just a few things: - bringing graphics up to date (hardly something to get that excited about) - scaling the city up to a size comparible to PL (it tooks something near 10 real world minutes to get all the way through that city) - improving the driving feel to something other games have had for years.
As for where I would like it set to the chap who rather childishly suggested Coventry. My answer is somewhere OTHER than a city which has been used in a not just in a previous incarnation of GTA, but also in Driver and True Crime:NYC. I'm not the developer it's not my job to come up with great settings, but as a consumer I'm perfectly entitled to feel disappointed they've gone with a city used so many times before.
The early rumours of them buying up domains to do with gtatokyo and such like got me excited, any other large characteristic city which hasn't been used so much before.
Seeing as the game is developed there, Edinburgh would be an awesome location to set GTA in. A city so full of identifiable landmarks (Castle, Palace, Volcano) an Old and New Town, windy cobble streets and a World Famous Harbour would definitely put a new fresh spin on the GTA series
the reason that all the GTAIV demos have been played on the xbox 360 is because the 360 version of GTAIV is graphically better and more complete and the reason GTAIV was delayed in the first place is because of technical difficulties with the PS3 version of the game not too mention the fact that microsoft has just paid rockstar £25 million too secure exclusive game content that the PS3 wont have if ur not gettin my drift let me explain it simply IF UR GONNA GET GTAIV GET IT ON THE XBOX 360 and for any playstation 3 fanboys that are reading this i aint makin it up cause ime a 360 fan its fact from dan houser himself the founder of rockstar games! dont belive me then go on wikipedia and type in grand theft auto IV all the info u need is there and while ime at it how can u say that GTAIV is over-hyped?????? so wot if its over-hyped it deserves to be GTA san andreas sold more copies than any other game ever beating even the sales of HALO 3 so GTAIV will be the greatest game ever and if u aint lookin forward too it chances are u work for the daily mail THE END kind regards Mr Cowell
yeeah but u forget driver copied everything from the orginal GTA and parrallel line was poor be honest poor graphics and gameplay san andreas was much better
Another over hyped mediocre game which will soon be collecting dust with Halo 3, Gears of War 2 and Metal Gear Solid 4.
What the f**k are you talking about you bald snooker cue, you have not even played gta4, gears of war 2 and mgs 4 so how can you say they are mediocre. dumbs**t.
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L and the cover system taken from Gears, the targeting system from Crackdown, and only someone with a lot of time on their hands would know where the physics engine is from. Definately got some Unreal/Frostbite type physics in there, and you could say the graphics are trying to emulate Crysis in terms of awesomeness. OK, the graphics are good but that doesn't make a great game, and it definately doesn't make an original game.
Whats this? Somebody on the Internet didn't read a complete message? Got the completely wrong idea? Tried to be funny but looked stupid?
