Australian Gamer Feature :: Grand Theft Auto IV

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Grand Theft Auto IV

Yug visits the Rockstar offices for the day and gets hands on with the latest in the Grand Theft Auto series

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�I�ve played Grand Theft Auto IV.�

Since visiting the Rockstar offices on Monday, I�ve had plenty of chances to utter this phrase to my varied collection of friends, colleagues, and random strangers. Some have said they hate me now, a few ask about specific details, while others just simply raise their eyebrows as their faces light up to exclaim how �that�s cool!�.

The point I�m stumbling towards is that everyone I know, serious/casual/non gamers alike, are all aware of the Grand Theft Auto series. They�d all played one of the games in the series, their experience varying from completing the games to simply running a few people over. They�ve all played a GTA game though; even my MUM � who in 20 years has still not come to grips with the fundamental basics of how to use a computer � has played a Grand Theft Auto game. And she enjoyed it.

To get the most out of this preview, you need to know where I stand with the series, as ultimately it shapes my opinion � and that�s all we do here at AustralianGamer, give our opinions. I could liken my experiences with the series to a tumultuous relationship ... in fact, I think I will.

So it was with great trepidation that I found myself looking forward to the next numerical step in the GTA franchise. How similar would it be to its predecessors, and what would it do differently to justify the hype?

The games protagonist, Niko, your alter ego

The first half of my day at Rockstar consisted of watching them give a live demonstration of 4 different missions you encounter during the game. The nice thing about watching someone else play is you can appreciate all the little details you may overlook when controlling it yourself.

The protagonist of the game is Niko Bellic, an eastern European immigrant who travels to Liberty City after his cousin talks up the opportunities and women available. The character is cool, calm and collected, but most importantly I�m told he has an underlying dark secret, an ulterior motive for coming to Liberty City, someone from his past wronged him and that forms the reason for getting involved in the criminal underworld. Intriguing story element � check.

The graphics, powered by Rockstar's custom RAGE engine (Also being used in the upcoming Midnight Club Los Angeles) look next-gen all the way. Compare this to an original GTA game and the difference is huge, but even if you compare it to something more recent like Saint�s Row, it comes up trumps. My biggest concern going in is how the game�s framerate would go, as I thought some of the videos looked a bit stilted. I can confirm the game I played was as smooth as silk, impressive when you have vast vistas and tall buildings in the distance almost all the time.

The first mission shown had Niko meeting up with a character called Brucie, who wants you to take out a police informant who�s currently hiding. First of all, Brucie ... oh man, I was pissing myself laughing. One of those pretend gangsta types, manically over the top, with huge overtones of homosexual repression ... kind of like Simon �Furious� Cole (I had to). The characters themselves are perfectly animated and suit their personalities. The voice acting is spot on, and ... well cmon, I was LAUGHING. It�s a big deal when a game makes you genuinely laugh as opposed to genuinely roll your eyes at the bad clich� ridden dialogue.

Walking out to the street, the first thing that needed to be done was to track down the police informant, and to do that we would need a police car. Immediately there was a run down police station across the road we could have pilfered one from, or perhaps cause some havoc then take down some cops when they arrive. The smartest way though is to use what seems to be your new best friend � your mobile phone. Hit 911 and you can get the police to send a squad car to your area. Once the cops get out, just jump right in and take off in their car! Brilliant!

Using the police car�s computer, we can now not only find the police informant, but anyone in the entire game, extremely handy me thinks. Once the hideout address was found, the details were then tapped into the onboard GPS that then gave you the exact route to your target. It�s a feature so nice that the GPS is different in different cars � get a luxury sedan and you�ll have a woman�s voice telling you to �turn left in 20 metres�.

On arriving, the informant tries to flee, and we subsequently give chase. An important new feature is that you can now smash the window in the car you�re driving and aim anywhere while shooting, not just �to your left�. You continue to steer with the left joystick, but aim with the right. Unless you�re on a long straight road though, changing your camera angle to accurately shoot someone is almost impossible, but then again, I suppose shooting out of a moving car shouldn�t be easy.

Once you dispatch the informant and the mission is complete, it auto saves your game. I�ve heard some people complain about this, but I honestly have no idea why. It�s awesome, now I don�t have to waste my time travelling somewhere just to save my progress.

Steal a police car and get access to the entire police database, T-1000 style

The second mission involved a guy called Playboy X, and taking out some Mafia that are holding down construction on a business site. I couldn�t help but think to the many Sopranos episodes where Tony�s men do exactly that, and kind of got me thinking we were going up against Tony Soprano ... not the smartest thing in the world to do, even Niko relates this to Playboy as they drive to the site. Of course, he�s also doing it for the money, so will pretty much do whatever the job entails.

That�s an interesting side note, in almost every mission Niko is all about the money. �It�ll cost you�, �I require money�, �I can do it if you have the money�. It�s nice to know the character has another story, the search for �someone special�, but there wasn�t much insight to it here ... a shame.

Once you reach the building site, Niko and Playboy head up to the very top of a building across the street � it took a good minutes for the buildings side elevator to reach the top as well, during which I got a nice view of the city as the sun was setting over the water. At the top, we first had to pick off the Mafia�s snipers sitting atop the various cranes, and this allowed me to see some of the aspects of the new combat system.

You can still auto select your targets, only now it�s done by gently flicking the right joystick to the left or right. Once locked on, you can then use the right joystick to aim for certain parts of their body. In this case, a sniper shot to the head caused the character to fall backwards, dead. Another Mafia character we shot in the leg, and he crumpled to his knees, fell forward, lost his grip and fell down to the ground below in an earth shattering crunch. I was told that none of this was scripted; they would fall differently depending on where you shot them. Awesome.

Once the snipers were taken out, it was down to Niko to take out the rest of the Mafia on foot, so we hightailed it to the building site where I got my first look at the new cover system. Think Gears of War, Splinter Cell, or pretty much any game that has you standing flat against any solid surface allowing you to peer around the corner. The difference is GTA IV has the benefit of being able to aim at different parts of the body, and it�s great to peek round the corner to shoot someone in the foot. You can also just press the right trigger when you have no-one targeted to have Niko shoot blind random fire from behind cover. Almost every character in a movie does that just before they run to cover somewhere else, and I�m amazed it�s taken this long before we�ve seen it in a game.

Handguns, Uzis, M-16s, Rocket Launchers, Grenades, Lions, Tigers and Bears, Oh my

The third mission I was shown involved working with a character named Phil Bell to steal a truck full of heroin off the Triads, who believed the shipment had been cursed. Upon arriving at the scene where the truck is, it�s full of Triad members who need to be dispatched. This was done most effectively with a well place rocket launcher, creating a shattering explosion with bodies flying everywhere, and thick smoke left in the aftermath. The truck takes off unfortunately and you have to chase and grab onto it, leading to a small mini-game type section where you have to roll around the top of the truck while trying to move forward and not get thrown off. It looked difficult, but most importantly it showcased the skeletal physics of the Euphoria engine used by the game. Niko was flung around appropriately, and you got a really good sense of how easy it would be to slide off if you weren�t careful.

The final mission follows on from this one, as Niko, Phil and Frankie go to retrieve the H from where it�s stored, only to have the Feds turn up and catch them in the act. Immediately everyone flees, with you following Phil as you are both pursued by the cops. Eventually shaking them, the group switched cars but only after being spotted by a police helicopter. With the assistance of a well placed shot from the rocket launcher, it was taken down quite easily though, falling to the streets in blazing glory.

What can I say, I was impressed. The new combat system especially looks like a huge leap from the previous games, the new engine handles tight action sequences just as smoothly as open epic vistas, and the game is funny ... FUNNY. Not in a corny �hey my character has a pink mohawk� kind of way, but in a clever and witty kind of way. It suits the gritty style. Saints Row felt and looked like a cartoon, Grand Theft Auto looks like an edgy action movie.

I�ve left my favourite part of the mission demos to last though ... at the end of one of the previous missions, Niko calls up his cousin and asks if he would be keen to meet up at the local pub for a drink. Keeping in contact with your friends is important to building your relationship with them, and in turn they will help you when you need it. Roman runs a Taxi company, so if you get close enough he�ll pick you up when you call him.

So you pick up Roman, head to the pub, and what happens next is the best example of the new Euphoria engine I�ve seen.

Niko gets drunk. Which means you get drunk. Which means you have to control a drunk Niko.

Unlike most 1st person games, where drinking simply blurs the screen, Niko stumbles from side to side, swaying and pushing people out of the way, falling over sideways, all the while having drunken conversations with his cousin. It wasn�t just comical � it was accurate. Never before have I seen such an accurate depiction of drunkenness in a video game. For the benefit of our readers though, I plan to accurately simulate the situation this weekend to give you a full report on how it compares.

So after this we took a break, went outside (ahh! The Light! It burnsssss) and got some lunch from the local cafe. The break allowed me to reflect and realise how impressed I was with the overall GTA IV package, but how incomplete the perception is without actually having played it myself. I ate twice as quick in the hopes we would get back sooner.

I sat down ... the controller was handed to me ... I was given a licence to do whatever I wanted, free play, have some fun.

Well what does one do in the world of Grand Theft Auto when there�s no missions available to you? Steal a car, run people over, get the cops to chase after you. And that�s exactly what I did.

There's a nice blurring effect that happens when you get to a certain speed too

Driving in the game is alot more sliding around than I initially expected. The driving mechanic still feels like something out of a Blues Brothers movie, bouncing and sliding around the streets. Hitting just the brake more often than not won�t help you around corners, so a careful combination of brake and handbrake tapping seems to do the best. The cars are affected, both practically and graphically, by the environments around them. Suspensions are put to the test when driving over pavement or into parks, and your car's damage model is capable of taking hits at every angle, eventually I actually managed to dent the car I was driving so badly the front right wheel bent inwards.

The police in this game are tougher than you expect, a testament to the latest games idea of toning down the �stupid� factor. The star level is still there, but it's no longer the focus, as you now have a �search radius� attributed to the area where you committed the crime displayed on your map. If you can escape that area for a certain amount of time, you�ll be scot free, however if another cop spots you at any point, the search radius will be reset to the area you were just seen. Which means the aim is to escape the cops, then switch cars or try and keep out of sight of any other cops.

I managed to get a full swat team and a helicopter chasing after me, but after some extremely high speed and dangerous driving, and hiding under some over passes, I was able to escape arrest � only to accidentally jump off a ledge and fall to my death.

Just like previous games you start out at a hospital after dying, something which might happen more often as there are less health kits littered around the area. Only expect them to be found in logical places, otherwise you could buy some food from local vendors, or choose from the many other methods available. There are no �eating/running/stamina� stats in the new game, Rockstar clearly more focused on packing more detail and quality into a smaller sized world. They could have made a game that was twice as big as San Andreas. I�m glad they didn�t.

Thankfully, shooting out of a moving car ain't easy, just like in real life. Not that I would know, mind you

The first hands on mission involved picking up a Rastafarian called Jacob and driving him to a dope drug deal. It was during this mission that I noticed something odd. In the cutscenes, they hardly ever actually tell you what your specific mission is. It�s more about who you have to meet, or why, or entertaining banter to set up the next mission. The specific details are usually told as you�re travelling to wherever you have to go. It�s a nice touch, and makes the travelling more entertaining. Although I actually couldn�t understand a single word the Rasta was saying, except for when he ended his sentences with �Mon�.

The drug deal inevitably goes bad, and I had my first real experience with the cover/combat system. It took a bit to get the button combinations sorted ... I kept accidentally hiding instead of shooting ... and the auto lock switching feature only goes left and right, not up and down, which I didn�t previously realise either. The aiming at different parts of the body while locked on though works a treat, and dare I say was one of the best gaming combat mechanics I�ve played with in a long time. It�s quick and simple, yet highly effective and open for improvement with practice. I�m hooked.

The second mission was set a little later, now working for Jacob and waiting in an alley while he undertakes a drug deal ... that goes bad. Do any drug deals go well in this city? As the botched drug deal flunkies escape out the back, you have to take them out. This mission is supposed to involve you breaking your car window and shooting them down, but I struggled a bit with aiming and driving straight, so in the end I just ran them all over � equally satisfying.

After this botched mission, you and Jacob head over to the house of the people that set him up, and take them down. This is where the cover system really comes into play, as you shoot people through the windows, then the front door, then systematically run through the rooms, taking cover at each doorway and picking them off one by one. It�s jam-packed with action, and little details I�d never even heard about. After shooting at one guy hiding behind a post, I noticed the wall was actually starting to strip away. I shot a few more times, and it broke a splintered hole through it, and with careful aiming I was able to shoot the guy � through the hole I had just made in the wall. Awesome.

Niko and his boys post for the latest David Jones men's clothing catalogue

The final mission has you start out by meeting the charming (!) Packie McReary and his family, including virginal sister Kate, and after some filthy yet funny dialogue you head to the docks to steal a truck shipment of meds. Once I arrived and scoped out the area, I realised why it was so difficult. There were at least 20 guys spread out around this wide open area, myself and Packie on one side, the truck in a building on the other. Time to take care of business.

I�d managed to get the hang of the cover system by now, to the point where I was doing particularly well. No need for random fire, simply attach to the wall, shimmy to the corner, find your targets, hold L trigger to lock on and tap right joystick left or right to target the one you want, then use right joystick to aim for the part you want to shoot at, and tap R trigger to shoot. If you aim for the head, only one shot is necessary. Aim anywhere else and you�ll find them still alive most of the time, although usually incapable of firing back. You can also roll sideways between cover, jump over low walls, and crouch while hiding. Hell, if you wanted you could even change to a �behind the shoulder mode� and play the combat levels like an FPS. Easily.

Now that I�d taken all the guys out, I simply jumped in the truck and headed towards the drop off point, only to be intercepted by irate gang members firing out of cars. The idea was to use the aiming while driving mechanic to lob grenades at them, but I only managed to lob a grenade practically inside my vehicle. I�ll need more practice which that mechanic.

I�m glad it happened though, as it allowed me to see what I consider one of the coolest aspects of the game.

I was able to restart the mission simply by pulling up my phone and choosing to restart. It instantly takes me to the beginning of the mission � no need to drive all the way there to start again. Only this time, as I�m driving with Packie to the docks, he�s explaining the what the mission is, how they�re not sure what�s in the truck but it�s extremely important to Rays business and ... hang on, this isn�t the mission? Fundamentally it is � steal the truck and get away � but the objective and content had changed. When I got to the docks, even the truck was different.

The fact is, we�re going to have to retry alot of missions, but having different dialogue and mixing up elements goes a long way to curing alot of the repetition boredom. It�s the same when you�re at the pub, or talking to any character. Repeating the same section or action will usually not result in the same expected reaction. I dig this feature, even though I�d heard practically nothing about it previously.

And that was it, my experience with Grand Theft Auto IV. I would love to pick some flaws in it, but honestly, right now, I can�t. Everything about it, from the amazing water effects to the dynamic shadows, from the way Roman slouches when walking only to change his posture when walking up stairs. Play the missions as you choose to continue the story, or highjack a limo and drive through a park doing handbrake slides as you take people out. This is a real and persistent world Rockstar have created, much more detailed and nuanced than anything I�ve ever seen before.

April 29th can�t come soon enough.

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