Ever since the first GTA IV trailer was released it's been pretty apparent that the game is going to be quite unlike any of Rockstar's previous crime epics. We know it's got a new, gritty edge that's very much dipped in realism and that the extra ooomph of PS3 and Xbox 360 will bring massive cosmetic and technical improvements. However, after recently seeing the game demoed at Rockstar HQ, we know that GTA IV is also going to play unlike other GTAs. And we mean that in the best possible way.
Based on what we saw in the latest GTA IV demo, here are the new elements that we think are going to make Rockstar's newest addition to its multi-million selling franchise a totally fresh experience...
Escaping the cops
Forget frantically racing to the nearest Pay 'N' Spray to wipe your wanted level - GTA IV overhauls the way you escape the law with the new 'search radius', which appears when Niko does something to warrant a wanted level - and the higher the wanted level, the wider the radius and the tougher it is to escape.
This should completely change the evade dynamic of previous GTAs, adding an entirely new level of strategy and quick-thinking when trying to shake the cops - you'll need to avoid them completely to stop the search radius being reset to the last location where Niko was spotted.
Will you plot a path of waypoints on the map through back alleys and follow it on the radar's GPS? Perhaps you'll try and give them the slip by swapping cars without being noticed (all dispatched cops in the area are given details of the last vehicle Niko's seen driving)? Or maybe you'll listen in to the police radio chatter and adjust your escape route accordingly on the fly?
However you choose to play it, rest assured that this new method of escapement will be an intense getaway game of cat and mouse and you'll now have to outsmart, as well as out drive, your law enforcing pursuers. And with wanted stars being much more difficult to lose, we're sure it's going to make players think a bit more carefully before busting out the rocket launcher and going postal.
Getting tooled up
While strolling into an Ammu-Nation and forking out for enough steely-heat to wage a small war has always felt like an adequate enough means of procuring firearms, the introduction of arms-dealers - and the consequent dropping of Ammu-Nation stores - promises to add an extra level of interest to what has always previously been a fairly chore-like necessity in GTA games.
The process of Niko having to hook up and hang out with the right people (and doing them a few 'odd jobs' to curry favour) before gaining the trust of any shady peddlers of ballistic tools should help convince us that we're an active part of Liberty City's criminal network.
After investing time in establishing a new weapons-dealing contact, being able to call them up on Niko's cell-phone to arrange a meeting and then heading off to the designated spot - whether it's a quiet alleyway to peruse merchandise stashed in the boot of a Jamaican's car or in some gun nut's well-equipped basement - it's got to be more engaging than over-the-counter transactions with anonymous hicks
The Whiz cell phone
GTA has always been big on breaking the shackles that keep players chained to predetermined paths and, thanks to Niko's fancy Whiz cell phone, GTA IV will offer even more freedom of choice - we'll be able to instigate missions when we're ready and hook up with contacts when we want to. All at the press of a button on Niko's Whiz.
Of course, absolute freedom in videogames is a fallacy - there must always be boundaries and limitations - but by blurring the lines between missions and empowering the player to effectively call the shots, rather than waiting to be called, it will certainly help make the illusion much more convincing.
But the Whiz is going to be about more than just making/receiving calls. It features a calendar, organiser and camera also, and multiplayer will, Rockstar tell us, be "channelled through the phone". We're not entirely sure what that means and Rockstar wouldn't elaborate, but know that having a Whiz in your pocket is going to be every bit as essential as having a shooter in your hand.
Shootouts straight from Hollywood
As explosive as GTA gun battles have always been, fire fights in GTA IV promise to be a whole new barrel of ballistics. Vastly improved AI means that GTA's dunderheaded kamikaze cops are upgraded with much smarter enforcers of the law - expect them to work together, take cover and use flanking tactics to flush out Niko. At this stage we've only seen a very brief glimpse of Liberty City's SWAT team in action, but we're guessing that they're going to be double-hard *******s and another reason to keep that wanted level down to a minimum whenever possible.
The shootout we saw in the demo (after Niko kills a lawyer) looked positively Hollywood and a far cry from the chaotic, haphazard massacres of previous GTAs. The way Niko moves throughout the game is - as you'd expect - much more natural, but his body movements are particularly bloody impressive when he's dodging a hailstorm of gun phlegm. The way he sprints and crouches (think Gears of War's roadie run) to avoid being Swiss cheesed before ducking behind cover and blind firing wildly with empty shells spewing from his SMG is all incredibly dramatic stuff and quite unlike anything we've ever seen in a GTA game before.
Sticking to the job
Generally speaking, getting from A to B in GTA games has always been pretty reliant on carjacking, but the cops in GTA IV will, Rockstar tells us, be much more vigilant, meaning more discrete methods of travel - such as riding in cabs - will be preferable if you want to avoid unnecessary heat from Liberty City's finest.
And while playing passenger in a taxi might sound like a dull alternative (although once inside you can either enjoy the ride from a number of suitably cinematic camera angles, skip straight to destination or pay the cabbie extra to drive faster) to stealing a car and tearing across town like a perp possessed, we think it'll help keep players focused on the mission in hand.
In the past we've been too easily distracted driving to our destination and the temptation to embark on a spontaneous rampage has always proved too irresistible. Inevitably, after 10 minutes of carnage and notching up a five-star wanted level, we're loading up our last save point and wondering if we're afflicted with ADD.
So, expect the inclusion of fare-based travel to help keep you moving along the game's main story missions much more rigidly. But hell raisers shouldn't fret, if you'd rather play with reckless abandon, no one's going to stop you. Apart from LCPD's donut munchers, of course
Access to an in-game internet
Niko is able to access Liberty City's internet network from any computer in the game and we know that it's going to play a pretty significant role in how players approach missions and in helping them keep tabs on what's happening in LC. We saw Niko using it to apply for a job (subsequently giving him access to a target), but it's also going to serve as an information aggregator and a way of digging up juicy dirt on enemies if necessary.
Although Rockstar is keeping tight lipped about other specifics at present, we're anticipating GTA IV's internet to be an integral part to Niko's success and will be a valuable tool when planning ahead. Certainly a change from the traditional 'suck it and see' approach we've been used to adopting when tackling GTA missions.
Interestingly, we also spotted a 'Gamer's Corner' in the 'Tw@' internet café and while Rockstar were keeping hush-hush, we're going to put two and two together and say that in-game PCs will be equipped with some playable games.
