Grand Theft Auto IV

[ayush12ice]

just finished reading all the new info

wow

now i want to see a new trailer

[EA SPORTS]

Niko sits perched atop a high-rise building in the financial district of Liberty City, the wind swirling around him. He is crouched, poised, surveying everything. He can see hundreds of buildings in the distance - houses, skyscrapers, shops, towers, all in glorious detail. He can see cars driving below, oblivious to the chaos that is about to ensue. He can see a blinding blue sky, almost cloudless, and an aeroplane casually gliding overhead. He can see a river, one that dissects the city, glistening below. The Liberty City skyline is busy to say the least. But it is not the skyline or the beautiful view that Niko is interested in. Oh no. He is interested in the three unsuspecting Mafia henchmen whose job it is to keep people like Niko out of the building site they are protecting.

 

 

This is the third mission we've been shown during our behind closed doors super secret showing of a brand new hot off the press build of GTAIV on the Xbox 360 (the game will also be coming out on PS3), a title that's sure to bust the gaming world wide open when it's released on April 29. Hyped isn't the word. We'd say anticipation for GTAIV is beyond a level our mere mortal minds can truly comprehend. Is it unfair to expect Rockstar to fulfil those expectations? Nah.

 

What follows is a tentative claim, considering we haven't actually got our hands on the game yet, but from what we've seen (the game is all there, Rockstar is currently polishing and ironing out bugs) GTAIV looks like it's going to make happy even the most stingy of GTA fans. In fact, we'd go as far as to say it'll delight them. And, if you're not a GTA fan, GTAIV might just turn out to be the one that changes your mind.

 

 

 

 

Back to the rooftops and the mafia problem. Niko has been given this job by a Liberty City gangster called PlayboyX, who Niko has already spent some time with on a mission earlier in the game. Just before Niko set out, he enjoyed a cutscene where he met up with PlayboyX at his ridiculously plush pad in Algonquin (Manhattan). PlayboyX is your typical rude boy US gangster, all bling and guns - "this is my town!" he explains. We're scared to argue.

 

Niko, however, takes it all in his stride - his military background back in Eastern Europe has provided him with a steady, non-fussed air. PlayboyX needs someone like Niko, someone hard as nails and with a death wish, for this particular job, and Niko needs the money, although he makes a point of telling PlayboyX "I'm not low budget". So off you trot, ready to cause some chaos.

 

Niko and PlayboyX get in a car and drive. You're in control of the car of course, weaving in and out of traffic towards your destination, clearly marked on the mini-map. It's during these more laid-back sequences that you really get a sense of the graphical detail of Liberty City, an area smaller than in previous GTA games but packed to a much higher density and with a much greater sense of verticality. Mere streets are wonderfully detailed, with bright neon signs, loads of cars, intriguing shops and rolling poster advertisements demanding attention as you cruise around. While we're not convinced by GTAIV's water (in which you can swim) at night window lights impressively reflect in it. There's some noticeable texture pop-up, too (the game is still being worked on and a consistent level of 60 frames per second isn't confirmed), but Liberty City certainly has a next-gen, heavily populated feel to it. The streets are literally teeming with life - people are everywhere. Lifting the lid on Liberty City is like lifting a boulder and finding millions of ants underneath. The people certainly look as if they're minding their own business and getting on with their daily lives, drawing out money from cash machines, jogging, smoking and chatting. We'll reserve ultimate judgement for the hands-on of course, but it all looks mightily impressive.

 

 

 

 

But not everything in GTAIV is in your face impressive. There are loads of little touches (Rockstar claims it has made thousands of changes for GTAIV) that help add to a sense that you are a part of a living, breathing world. For example, while you're driving and listening to the radio (all the music is place holder while Rockstar sorts out licensing issues) interference will scratch the radio signal just before your mobile rings. It's a simple yet brilliant touch, and just one example of why GTAIV looks so impressive.

 

 

While you're driving, PlayboyX explains the background to the mission. He wants to impress a powerful Arab who has embarked on a building project in Liberty City. The Mafia, however, isn't happy, and has taken control of the building site in order to prevent construction. To curry favour with the Arab, PlayboyX wants you to storm in and kill everyone. Simple.

 

Back to the rooftop (you following?). Sniping the lookouts from a rooftop building is, we're told, just one way of approaching the mission. If we had wanted we could have taken Niko on a Commando-style blast-em-up and shot our way in, or taken out the spotters from the ground. But we're not interested in that. We're interested in doing a clean, professional job, Leon style.

 

Niko steadies himself and zooms in on the spotters. Our handy Rockstar demo guy swiftly and precisely takes all three out, sparsely positioned on cranes overlooking the building site. One of them tumbles from a crane onto the roof of a car below. Cue delirious praise from PlayboyX through a radio headset. It's time for Niko to c*ck his shotgun, make his way down the building and aim squarely for the Mafia.

 

 

 

 

It's here that we're given the clearest indication of how combat will work in GTAIV. As we predicted in our GSI on the Move Up, Ladies trailer, GTA IV indeed features a cover system, which, we're happy to report, looks stunning, and is the change to the core GTA gameplay mechanic we're most excited about.

 

As in previous games, you have a targeting reticule and can switch targets at will, allowing for strafing and locking on. When targeting, clicking up on the right analogue stick moves the targeting reticule to your enemy's head, and clicking down lowers it. To get into cover you press the right bumper. It's context sensitive, so depending on your distance from and the type of cover, Niko will do a different move. For example, if you're a couple of metres from cover and press the right bumper, Niko will do a Thierry Henry-style knee slide and seamlessly slam his back into whatever is keeping the bullets from penetrating his skin. If you're right next to the cover, however, he'll simply crouch down. Put that in your chainsaw and smoke it Marcus Fenix.

 

As in Gears of War and what seems like a million games since, GTAIV also features blind firing. Here, Niko swings his arms up and over or around to the side, depending on the cover, and fires off rounds from whatever gun he has equipped. I'm told the blind fire is quite useful - indeed it looks like the enemy AI isn't quite up to coping with it. Here the targeting reticule is merely a guide - the bullets will spray wildly and inaccurately.

 

Back to the assault on the Mafia. Just before you start shooting 'em up we noticed another of those nice little touches. Depending on your distance from a vehicle, if the radio is playing you'll hear it. Move close and the sound gets louder. Move away and it slowly fades out. And, get this, if you fancy a booming hard rock soundtrack to accompany the on-foot carnage, you can whip out your mobile, tune in to a thrash metal station and have it play on loudspeaker. Nice.

 

The combat itself looks fluid and fun, and not particularly heavy on the strategy. It's a case of moving from cover to cover, chucking grenades and letting rip with the shotgun at anyone foolish enough to rush you. There's lots of action, lots of goons to take down and plenty of exploding barrels to add to the carnage. The job-based on-foot sections of GTAIV look like being extremely action intensive.

 

Our demo now skips to a mission late in the game. Niko is with Rey, a Mafia-type character friend of his who has been helping him search for "that special someone". Niko didn't come to Liberty City just because his cousin Roman promised him a better life. Niko has his own, personal motive. He wants to find "that special someone" we're told (Rockstar won't elaborate on this), and Rey has been helping him do it.

 

 

 

 

He brings Niko to see Phil Bell, a big-cheese Mafia gangster. A cut-scene kicks in which is ripped straight out of the Analyse This script book. "The thing?" "What thing?" "You know the thing, with the thing." "Oh the thing. Yeah what about it." "Badda beep badda boop." Turns out the Triads want to offload some heroin they believe is cursed, and, since Rey has turned down the job, Phil offers it to you. Off you trot.

 

On the way another nice little touch catches our eye. Cars have sat-navs, as you'd expect, which explains how Niko is able to set waypoints on the main map and have directions appear in the main HUD mini-map. But that's not all. In certain "better" vehicles, if you strain hard enough, you'll be able to hear a sexy female sat-nav voice tell you to turn left, or turn right, in lovely, dulcet tones.

 

Eventually Niko gets to where he needs to be. It's night now (Rockstar's demo dude was able to change the time of day at will to show off the game's lighting and weather effects). The moon is high in the sky and is casting shadows on the ground. There's what seems like a million stars looming overhead. But Niko hasn't got time for all of that. He's concentrating on stealing a truck filled with heroin from an army of Triads.

 

There's no time for subtlety either. Niko storms in with a rocket launcher, blind firing at anything daring to move. Again, lots of carnage, lots of explosions. The ground is on fire and Niko caps a Triad in the leg, forcing him to the floor. The poor unfortunate soul catches fire, rolls around in agony and eventually dies. Ouch.

 

 

The truck starts to move and looks like it's getting away. Niko runs after it and grabs the rear bumper. Here you have to tap A (on the Xbox 360 pad, we assume it will be X on a PS3 pad) to climb to the roof of the truck as it swerves and speeds its way towards a getaway point. This sequence, we're told, was in the recent trailer, and was inaccurately described by forum posters as not in-game. It is.

 

Niko rolls around the top of the truck as the driver desperately tries to force him off. You need to control Niko in order to keep him there. Eventually you make your way to the passenger seat, jump in and kill the driver - you don't control Niko when he does this. You bring the truck under control, call Phil and let him know the heroin is in your hands. He tells Niko to drive it towards an old mansion, which you do of course. Niko, after all, needs the money.

 

 

 

 

Time is jumped forward again, this time to 9.45am (one real-life minute equals half-an-hour in-game) and a speed boat is spawned. Niko is going to take a boat trip in order to see Liberty City in all its glory. We take in the Statue of Happiness (the Statue of Liberty), speed under the Broker Bridge (Brooklyn Bridge) and generally get a sense of the scale of the city. The game will include four boroughs, Dukes (Queens), Algonquin (Manhattan), Bohan (Bronx) and Broker (Brooklyn). It will also include Alderney (New Jersey), which is more of a state. In all it takes us a good few minutes to get from one end of Liberty City to the other on the speed boat. We're told that if you're not in a rush players will easily spend 100 hours getting everything the game has to offer, and that it's about as long as San Andreas or Vice City. And that's not including the confirmed two batches of episodic content, which Microsoft has an exclusive deal to keep only on Xbox 360 (sorry PS3 owners). Nor does it include the multiplayer side of things, which Rockstar is keeping quiet on until March. But what we can say for certain is that GTAIV, like its predecessors, will be a game that will reward effort. If you want to put the time in and engage in exploring, side quests and other non-main storyline stuff, you'll get your money's worth.

 

This is a first look, and as such, firm opinion is difficult. From a distance GTAIV looks superb, and, now that Rockstar has implemented subtle tweaks to the combat, looks like a great deal of fun to boot. But it's still classic GTA. This is an evolution of the genre, not a revolution. While Rockstar has dismantled all the parts and examined them in great detail, you'll still spend loads of time stealing cars, escaping cops and engaging in bloody murder. It's the first true next-gen GTA game and as such is perhaps more of a refinement than an overhaul.

 

It's also GTA grown up. The graphics are certainly improved (we're not sure the character models are the best we've ever seen, or the face textures) and more realistic. Niko's mobile, his gateway to the world, means he's never far from a call and a new job (littered about the city will be an Internet cafe chain called Twat, a sort of Liberty City information gateway). We're told GTAIV is the most sophisticated and opportunistic GTA world ever created, and much of that is to do with the phone. It has a camera you can actually use, a diary, a memo system and, hush hush, it'll be the device through which you channel the multiplayer portion of the game. Interesting.

 

The game's emphasis on relationship building too, suggests a more mature approach. Here you'll be able to pick and choose who you spend time with in the game. You can simply call someone up whenever you want and ask them if they fancy going for a drink. Getting pally with your mates in this way opens up "friendship favours". For example, get friendly enough with Little Jacob and he'll provide you with guns for free whenever you want them, saving the need to buy them from a shop. And once you've actually got the favour out of NPCs, you'll need to maintain your relationship with them by hanging out with them to keep them sweet. Ignore them for a bit and they'll start to call you, complaining at the lack of love. Perhaps Rockstar's implementation of the relationship system is in part a result of its decision to drop the character customisation through eating and working out from San Andreas?

 

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We're shown an example of the friendship system in practice. Niko calls Roman just after completing a mission to see if he fancies a drink. Roman obliges and wants to meet at a local bar (get friendly enough with Roman and he'll offer Niko a free taxi service from anywhere in the city, saving the need to nick cars every time he wants to get somewhere). When we get there, the game quickly jumps to Niko and Roman stumbling out of the bar (we're not sure if you'll have in-bar sections), and you regain control of Niko. Both are struggling to stand up, and it's an effort for our demo guy to get Niko to walk in a straight line.

 

Here we're shown the game's much-hyped Euphoria scalable physics engine in action. Niko and Roman struggle to the car, their character models reacting to the surface and lines of the vehicle depending on how players approach it. They trip over themselves and each other in ultra realistic fashion. On the face of it, this isn't anything important or essential to the game. But dig a little deeper and all these little touches add up. And yes, for the first time in a GTA game, you can drink and drive (the car swerves all over the place and you have impaired vision for a few minutes while the alcohol wears off). GTA was never the most politically correct game series in the world and GTAIV will be no exception (just wait for the Daily Mail to get a sniff of this).

 

As you'd expect for the first GTA game to be developed on the PS3 and Xbox 360, you've got a greater level of vehicle damage than ever before. Bonnets fly off and cream unfortunate passers by and shooting out tyres has a real effect on enemy cars. Rockstar has also tweaked the way you attract unwanted police attention in the game, with a new police wanted system. Here, you have up to six stars worth of attention from the cops, which will fill up depending on how much carnage you cause. The level of hate will affect the search area in your mini-map, which you have to move out of to escape attention. But there are other options here. Niko can switch cars when outside line of sight and fool the pursuing cops into thinking you've disappeared.

 

The first mission we were shown in our demo gave us a glimpse of how all of this will work in practice. Niko is given a job from an annoying loud-mouthed wise-cracking gangster called Brucie - "ice cold man!" - who you might have seen from the second GTAIV trailer. Brucie owns a garage just round the corner from Roman's taxi depot, in Algonquin (Manhattan). He wants you to kill someone, someone who is about to go on the stand and put a lot of people in prison, but before you can do this you need to find out where he lives, and to do that, you need to steal a police car, log on to its mobile internet network and search their database for an address. Simple.

 

So you steal a car (what else?) and start mowing down people and generally causing a bit of a ruck in order to attract some attention. It's not long before the cops come calling. Niko rams into the cop car, gets out, uses his own car as cover and starts blind firing with a pistol. Then, once all of the cops have left their vehicles, our demo dude makes Niko sprint towards a cop car, jumps inside, and speeds off.

 

 

We've only accumulated a couple of stars worth of attention, so it's a fairly simple escape out of the search area. But we're told that the police can become incredibly difficult to dodge. They will communicate with each other over police radio (you'll hear them talking about specific streets), set up road blocks and combine to force you to a halt. They will also readjust their search depending on where you were last spotted. So, if they see you while you're trying to get away the search radius will restart from that position. In all, it looks like Rockstar have tried to create a more realistic getaway experience then ever before, one that's based on line of sight and feels like a game of cat and mouse.

 

Once we've escaped we're given a glimpse of the police database. You simply type in the name of the person you're after and it will cycle through hundreds of faces, eventually returning a selection of results. You pick the right one, in this case Lyle Rivas, and get his address. You mark it on your sat-nav and head towards the mark on the mini-map, smashing multiple posts and destroying fire hydrants along the way.

 

Niko arrives and, predictably, Lyle does a runner. Here we witnessed a known bug where the mission will fail one out of four times, but don't worry, Rockstar's on it. Incidentally, if you do fail a mission Niko will receive a text message which lets him give it another go. You jump in the cop car, put the sirens on (to smooth the journey so to speak) and give chase. Here we're given a look at how driving and shooting at the same time works in GTAIV. In a first for the series you can smash the near side window, lean out and shoot forwards while in a car, aiming with the right analogue stick. Luckily Niko has an Uzi at his disposal, and goes straight for Lyle's tyres. The car crashes to a halt and Lyle makes a run for it. He doesn't get far.

 

Back with the speedboat and our demo comes to an inevitable conclusion as we park up on a beach area. Here we find a random computer-controlled resident of the city sitting on a bench reading a paper and minding his own business. Perhaps he highlights Rockstar's most impressive achievement with taking Liberty City into next-gen territory on the PS3 and Xbox 360 - that is to create the most atmospheric video game sandbox we've ever seen. We just can't wait to try it out for ourselves.

[ayush12ice]

April 29th release date set

 

one of the many sites posting this info

Edited January 24, 2008 by ayush12

[Ne0]

Some GTA IV missions info from the previews:

 

Source

 

Mission Name: Search and Delete

Summary: Brucie asks Niko to kill an informant named Lyle Rivas, before Lyle has a chance to testify.

 

* Niko steals a police car in order to access the criminal database.

* After Rivas flees his residence, Niko takes after him in a high-speed chase that shows off the new and improved free-aim “drive-by” targeting mechanic.

* If Rivas escapes, Niko’s phone receives a text message allowing him to restart the mission immediately.

* During chases you can enter a chase cam that will reorient the camera to focus on your target, even if he gets out of your line of sight.

* This mission takes place in Broker, and parts of Bohan.

 

 

Mission Name: Deconstruction for Beginners

Summary: Niko offers to help Playboy X in taking out a few “union leaders” down at the construction site.

 

* Niko can now take cover behind anything in the game and engage in more sophisticated firefights than ever before. In addition, he can also blind fire over or around targets.

* Some cover points are destructible, and will degrade if fired upon.

* Targeting improvements include headshots, procedural damage, lock-on targeting, free-aim, and blind fire.

* Repeating failed missions will often result in brand new dialogue strings, which is one of the many ways GTA IV is aiming to keep things fresh and original even on repeated playthroughs.

* Rooftop sniper point helps illustrate the verticality and density that we’re aiming for.

* This mission takes place in Algonquin.

 

 

Mission Name: Truck Hustle

Summary: Niko gets introduced to Bell through a mutual acquaintance; Niko plans to steal a drug truck from the Triads, and deliver it to Bell’s son-in-law.

 

* GPS navigation in all of GTA’s vehicles. Default settings enable GPS speech in luxury cars, but settings can be tweaked to turn speech on or off in any vehicle.

* Rocket launchers and grenades make a return!

* Climbing the truck and shimmying across its roof to the front is one of the many implementations of Natural Motion throughout the course of the game.

* This mission takes place in Alderney...and ends at a somewhat familiar location for fans of GTA 3.

 

 

One "friend activity" that isn't really being referred to as a "mission" is when you go drinking with Roman. Niko picks Roman up and heads to a nearby bar to hang out. He will then have to navigate his way back to Roman’s apt while (slightly!) impaired.

 

* You can hang out with friends by giving them a call on the phone, and of course they’ll call you too...you can choose to accept or decline their invitations.

* Building friendships will offer Niko some help during his stay in Liberty City (i.e. Little Jacob meeting up to sell him guns!).

* Niko’s stumbling is further evidence of the abilities of Natural Motion. These animations weren’t mo-capped or drawn by hand...they are the work of the computer software procedurally reacting to stimulus in the world. For example, when Roman stumbles into Niko and they trip over each other...or Niko leaning against the car.

 

 

Boats weren't intended to be shown to those that got previews, but you can swim, jack boats and create havoc on the water...Liberty City is a series of interconnected islands after all!

 

That's all of the mission details from the January 23, 2008 special.

Edited January 24, 2008 by ..Ne0..

[ayush12ice]

the release date is on the home page of the gta4 website too..

 

GTA 4

[KnackChap]

April 29 confirmed, looks like mgs4 will hit sometime in late may or early june

[Chaztin]

Previous date for MGS4 was around March 15th.

[Assassins Creed]

time to pre-order

[Chaztin]

But need not preorder ( u knw why )

[SchizoidFreud]

*Wrong Section

*A GTA Thread Exists

*Read Forum Rules Before Posting Stuff.

*God Just Killed A Kitten =(

Edited January 24, 2008 by Ψ BarnacleBrainBrant Ψ

[nosextillim18]

i hope they have army choppers with missiles and machine guns and retain the chainsaw plz.a chainsaw shud be made compulsory for all games even super fckin mario.

Edited January 24, 2008 by nosextillim18

[ayush12ice]

It doesn't support DivX/Xvid playback.

 

Edited January 24, 2008 by ayush12

[akS !]

From Next time just quote a small portion of the Article and then in the end put a link to the Original. It's too difficult to keep track of such a huge post

 

akS !

[Ne0]

R* Blames PS3 for Delay

 

Reports are coming in to us that the delay was because of development issues with the PS3. Rockstar hinted that GTA IV may have actually been ready for release back in October if it were not for the PS3 development going slowly.

 

A Rockstar rep has come out and told MTV that the PS3 was a big factor in why GTA IV had to be delayed beyond its scheduled holiday 2007 release date in either October or November.

 

He did state though that the development is at the point now where the PS3 version has caught up to the Xbox 360 version.

 

He stated that the PS3 is no longer an issue in terms of the development of GTA IV on it, stating that it is identical to the Xbox 360 version.

 

Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick stated that the reason for the delay of GTA IV was due to “technological problems,” or “challenges.”

 

The rep told MTV News that “It’s really no surprise to anybody that the PS3 was definitely a contributing factor to that.”

 

He stated “That’s not to say, there’s anything wrong with the PS3 version. It’s awesome. They’re both identical.”

 

Source

 

 

[STICK3Rboy]

April 29 confirmed, looks like mgs4 will hit sometime in late may or early june

 

 

http://ps3.ign.com/articles/847/847389p1.html

 

Update! Shortly after adding the info to its website and sending out fan mailers, Rockstar also discharged an official press statement confirming that the April 29 date is a worldwide release.

[STICK3Rboy]

http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/847/847548p1.html

 

GTA IV: NaturalMotion's Euphoria Technology

The future of physics and animation in Liberty City dissected.

 

 

The future generations of open-world gaming will not be defined by their graphics anymore. It will come down to the underlying technologies at work that replicate all the subtle nuances of physics, sound, movement, animation and camera control. That's our prediction after walking out of one of the most startling game demonstrations we've witnessed in a long time. The game is Grand Theft Auto IV, long submerged from public eyes, and the technology is Euphoria – a technology by NaturalMotion that intelligently replicates the subtle – natural – motions of the human body under various conditions.

 

Rockstar regularly likes to remind us that GTA IV is not just a set of features. The setting of Liberty City is amazing to behold – probably the greatest open-world city we've seen, with intricacies that can't help but impress. Part of its allure are the subtleties that a lot of other developers simply overlook: crowd mechanics, small autonomous movements by the main character, reactive AI, natural collision and crumpling effects, centre of gravity simulation and so on. It's in this evolution of rag-dolling, made possible by licensing the Euphoria technology, that GTA IV takes a quiet step forward for the genre. So while this game is more than the sum of its parts, we think this technology's impact on the gameplay and game world is interesting enough to warrant a closer look.

 

Euphoria underpins all the core character animations under a variety of circumstances in the game world. Niko Bellic, the central antihero, is injected with surprising physicality thanks to his freeform movements. In the most basic examples, Niko's stance adjusts depending on the grade of the ground he's standing on, and he is seemingly spatially aware of his environment. Standing on a hillside, his knees and feet adjust for the angle of incline or decline; he walks with a noticeable counterbalance in his stride, to take the angle into consideration and keep his centre of gravity in check. When moving at speed, he'll automatically reach to his front and push doors open with fluidity. It's starling in its execution and attention to detail, but this is barely scratching the surface of how Rockstar has implemented this technology.

 

Niko deals with terrain in a highly realistic way. If he's going down steps for instance, he takes them one at a time.

 

In a more practical, action-oriented setting, enemies are also imbued with Euphoria's influence. When Niko is unloading a clip into his adversary, none of the reactionary movements to the hot lead are canned or scripted. The hapless bad guy recoils naturally in response to being struck by the bullet. Wound him enough and he'll fall backwards, slouch on the ground or start to try and crawl away to cover with his last ounces of strength. Shoot him on a ledge, and he'll topple backwards or lose his balance and plummet, arms waving, to his death. In the most recent trailer, you might recall a body falling onto a four-wheel drive. This was part of a mission involving Niko sniping thugs off of high points in a construction yard. The falling body and its final impact are also controlled by Euphoria. It's actually quite moving and unnerving to watch such a logical cause/effect relationship play out as naturally as it does.

 

During car chases, this also comes into play pretty spectacularly. Niko, as well as enemies in the game, are affected by inertia – to the point where rear-ending a car causes people in the front to fly through the windshield and into the air, arms in a controlled flail. The impact is sickening and realistic; bodies don't just ragdoll in GTA IV, they roll end over end or side-on, before coming to a natural pause. If you're still alive, Niko will gingerly pick himself up and you can be on your way. Bailing out of a burning car works in the same natural way, albeit in a more controlled and therefore less painful way. When jumping and falling or scaling walls and staircases, Niko's hands and feet are also controlled automatically, ensuring that his body moves and reacts authentically. He never clips through stairs and when he falls too far, he'll automatically duck into a commando roll.

 

At one point in the demo Niko slammed into a truck and was sent flying through the windshield.

 

Two of the more surprising ways that Rockstar has taken advantage of Euphoria extends to getting drunk and during missions requiring Niko to cling to moving vehicles. As part of a side-mission, Niko can take his cousin Roman out on the town and get plastered. I'm talking completely legless – and that's where Euphoria once again kicks in, influencing the gameplay directly this time.

 

The object of this minigame of sorts is simple enough – guide Niko and Roman out of the bar. The kicker is that Euphoria simulates the drunken, stumbling shamble, while the camera blurs and bobs, adding to the disorientation. As Niko walks, he sways around, dynamically grabbing onto people and objects to prop himself up. Roman does the same – sometimes grabbing Niko and pulling him down accidentally in the process. Although we didn't get to see it, we're told that the pair will even grab onto bystanders, who will shake them off dynamically in disgust. The use of Euphoria as a gameplay feature is very clever; it's hilarious to watch and likely a challenge to play.

 

In one mission, you need to chase down a truck, leap on and then scale it bit by bit. All of this is complicated by Niko's Euphoria-enabled skeletal system that makes him susceptible to inertia and momentum. As the truck turns corners, you need to counterbalance him – otherwise, he'll fly over the edge and cling for dear life. Make it all the way to the front and Niko will swing in feet-first through the side window and swiftly remove the driver from his seat. Not only is it tense, but it adds the same kind of tangible accomplishment at the end as scaling a complex environment in a platformer. Plus, watching the driver thud and splatter on the pavement is perversely entertaining.

 

Falls are even more bone-crunching thanks to Euphoria.

 

The AI also reacts to weather conditions. During one jaunt through a seaside park area (reminiscent of Salvatore's mansion, in the old northeast end of the Saint Mark's district in GTA III), we witnessed a woman break into a jog and pull her shawl close around her. Moments later, a storm front rolled in and the rain came down. That's pretty impressive stuff right there.

 

When you combine this reactive AI with the bustling street life, you get fascinating crowd mechanics. Everyone seems to be doing something unique; there's much less of the repetition of character 'types' as compared with past entries. People carry bags of groceries, read magazines and hold conversations, changing the pace of their walk and their task on the fly. They all react to what Niko does around them; opening fire within earshot of pedestrians causes a panicked flurry of activity – something improved since San Andreas thanks to more circumstantial and conditional AI.

 

Rockstar's use of Euphoria stands as another understated gem in Grand Theft Auto IV's already decorated crown. All of this is, amazingly, a minor feature running in the background at all times. And as much as Rockstar might shy people away from dissecting their game rather than viewing it as a whole, there is a beauty to the use of the tools and technology at the team's disposal that very few other companies come close to matching.

[Ne0]

Anybody pre ordering the game yet ? PA or game - which website ?

[reaper]

^^ already preordered it on PA a month back ...

[Ne0]

damn, only NTSC J is available for X360 on PA Need to pre order from game then ! Does anybody know if this game is RF ?

[reaper]

^^ game is a good site .... i preordered Ace Combat - 6 from there and got it within 4 working days from the release date

Edited January 25, 2008 by reaper