New GTA IV preview

[SAJ]

Secondhand from a games magazine : http://gamers-creed.com/?p=373#more-373

- In GTA IV Time Square will be called in ?star Junction?
- You can buy weapons using a cellular phone
- The police radioing for help feature returns
- Each criminal offense drives the Wanted level up. As soon as you reach several stars, The other player can locate you on the radar and deliver some serious fireworks on ya.
- Rockstar is designing GTAIV as a seamless HD Experience
-The driving mode has been altered given the cars addition weight( and a more realistic feel) (PLASTIC CARS UNCONFIRMED)
- The city Skylines are breath taking
-There are no pauses for Loading when entering an interior location
-Nikos facial expressions fits the actions perfectly.
-The use of cover and an overhaul system makes battles very fierce.
-The liberty city waterways plays a significant role in the game
- The atmosphere and noise of firefights is scarily reminiscent of GEARS OF WAR
More details in magazine scans.
- GTA4 has its own internet in the game and its going to be very important, and Niko uploaded his cv using it to someone hes hired to kill so he cud get a interview for a job, then he go?s to the interview and kills his mark.
-Theres this new way of shaking the cops to do with a circle thing, when u get out of the circle u lose em and u can be smart like go down a street when ppl can?t see you and knick another car and drive straight past the cops and they won?t notice you, more realistic stuff, sounds cool, the gun mechanics are apparently a lot like gears of War.

?You gain a wanted level for every crime you commit..?

I also typed out a part to do with evading the cops, from a scan ;

.... Niko pulls out his piece, casually strolls over to his target and puts three slugs in to the back of his head, grabs the memory stick, and then begins to run. With a three-star wanted rating, say hello to GTA IV's next major innovation.
Instead of sprinting to the first available car, jacking it then hurtling to the nearest Pay N Spray, escaping from cops in GTA IV is a far more organic affair. For starters, any crime you commit will give you a wanted level. Jack a car anywhere and you'll get a star because there are witnesses.

Instead of the cops just screaming to your position though, the star rating you're 'awarded' translates to a visible search area on the radar. If you manage to escape the circular search area, then your wanted level will flash and disappear. If you're spotted though, the centre of the circle changes to your position, and you have to start again. This offers up numerous options.

As the police only operate on their own line of sight, if they can't see you, they can't stop you. Whereas in the past, police chases would involve super high-speed cops ramming into your car and spraying bullets like confetti, now they're a far more realistic outfit. A quick vehicle can comfortably outrun the authorities (unless the chopper is in the air, of course), but a wise criminal will use their head rather than their accelerator foot. In GAT IV, every single street is is named (as opposed to just the districts), and the police use this information to track down criminals.

So if you're spotted on star junction in a Comet, for example, you'll hear it on the police radio. Escape the police's line of sight, however, and the ball's suddenly in your court.

During our time with Niko, escapes the clutches of the law with a clever vehicle switch. After outfoxing a pusuing police car with a hard right turn, Bellic speeds into a nearby car park, neatly obscured by a bridge.Quickly he jumps out of his vehicle, breaks into another and calmly cruises out of the search zone. Of course, had he been spotted commiting this further felony, the search would have changed, and most likely widened. It's a dangerous game of cat and mouse, and far more exciting than ever before. ...

Theres a great description of combat at the end, but I hate typing. You'll just have follow the link to see.

 

[<RJMC>]

there is a internet?

 

[TCfromBN]

You're on it right now.

 

[Cole]

What's an "internet"?

 

[TCfromBN]

It's not a big truck...


It's.... it's a series of tubes.


Shame on you if you didn't see that one coming.

 

[Lucid]

Wow, cop chases should be really fun now.

 

[Qonfused]

Yep. Usually chases ended in me hitting the cheat code.

 

[CptStern]

thanks for typing out the info ...wow sounds like a lot of core changes ..they're definately going more realistic than in the past which leaves me with mixed feelings: some of the innovation is wanted while other changes [might] take out some of the mad mayhem fun that was such a big part of the previous games ..I guess I'll have to wait and see. Sounds like much more of a sandbox which is great as far as I'm cncerned

 

[ricera10]

Yep. Usually chases ended in me hitting the cheat code.

ROCKETMAN, do do do do do doo...

 

[No Limit]

How many kids will now go on shooting rampages because of this game?

J/K

I am so excited for this game. And I'm not even a huge GTA fan, the only one I finished was the 1st one. I will probably buy a 360 for this, hopefully the price will go down at that time too. Thanks for the write up, I can't wait for E3 to see some of this in action (hopefully they will show it).

 

[AmishSlayer]

I'd like clarification on this bit:

- Each criminal offense drives the Wanted level up. As soon as you reach several stars, The other player can locate you on the radar and deliver some serious fireworks on ya.

 

[No Limit]

I'd like clarification on this bit:

Good catch. Seems to imply some deep multiplayer, probably online or lan.

 

[Qonfused]

I'm reading that as a multiplayer component. Maybe 10 people as cops, 10 as fugitives?

 

[Asus]

It's sounding pretty good. I like how they describe you can loose the cops in GTA4. Although I wonder how much more time it will take to get in a car and make that escape (break the window, wire the car). From just playing SA there have been a number of times where the cops just appear and cross your path at very high speeds. They do so when I'm past the corner and I can see them actually spawning. It's pretty blatant, more so than in VC.

 

[Gargantou]

I'm sorta afraid by the witnesses thing, will this mean that everyone will automatically report you? Or lets say I see a car, only one witness, I kill the witness, no others around and steal the car, will I still get two wanted levels?

 

[Asus]

I'm sorta afraid by the witnesses thing, will this mean that everyone will automatically report you? Or lets say I see a car, only one witness, I kill the witness, no others around and steal the car, will I still get two wanted levels?

Good question. But I don't see how you would get another star for taking a car when there is no one around (you killed him). Generally in other GTA's 1 star only meant a cop would come after you if they were in the area. They didn't send anyone your way otherwise.

 

[Tagaziel]

I just want to know when DMA ports it to PC.

 

[Bad^Hat]

Sounds cool. Better combat + more solid feel to driving = awesome already in my books. As long as they nail these two things and get some awesome missions (and distractions) in there, I'll be sold.

 

[Stigmata]

With this and Assassin's Creed, who needs other games?

 

[Ren.182]

Sounds awesome! Love how we can evade the cops now if we feel like it, much more realistic than pay n' spray
I doubt it will take away from the fun mayhem of GTA either, because if you want loads of cops chasing you and whatever you'd just keep commiting crimes and stuff within that area and i'd assume the area would get bigger and bigger.

REALLY hyped for this now. Cannot wait. This fall/holiday season is going to be awesome for gaming!

 

[SAJ]

More, this on combat and a final word ;

...Unsuprisingly,the office security and police aren't just going to let Niko walk out onto the street. He's going to have to fight. Immediately Niko is confronted by an overweight, pistol-wielding security guard. Bellic then slams into coverbehind a wall, eagerly blind firing his weapon to pin his opponent down. He then pops out, takes aim and puts two bullets in the security guards heart, and games-tm feels a pang of guilt as the tubby worker staggers backward before keeling over in the throes of death.
This is violence neither censored nor glorified, it is simply presented as fact.

As Niko continues his brutal firefight to escape the offices of GLS, its apparent that Rockstar has spent some serious time on the combat.
Niko speeds toward the front deskas bullets rain down from the newly arrived police, slamming into cover and bilndly firing Uzi fire into the distance. The closest resemblance is Gears of War. The atmosphere and noise of the firefight is scarily reminiscent of Epic's mastepiece and that's as huge a compliment as can be paid; Gears contains the finest third-person combat on the planet.

So, in a hail of blood and bullets, Niko takes down the first wave of police onslaught, his three-star wanted level proving a far greater obstacle than ever before. As Bellic carries his now battered frame outside into the cold Liberty City air, the ominous noise of a police chopper rattles overhead. The sound is incredible -loud, overbearing and overpowering, dragging you into the reality of conflict like only the best of shooters can. But this isn't a shooter, this is simply one ingredient in an enormous recipe of crime, violence, choice and freedom.

Sadly Bellic didn't last much longer. His lifeless corpse lies prone on the tarmac, as our 'day in the life' fades into black. But it's obvious what we're dealing with here.
The gun battle in Michael Mann's film 'Heat' is often referenced as the Holy Grail for videogame combat, and Grand Theft Auto IV may have cracked it. The mechanics of the firefights are now rock solid, as opposed to the auto-targeted mediocrity of the past, but it's the atmosphere that the audiovisual fidelity lends to proceedings that really takes GTA IV to the next level.

Rockstar is determined to make the next Grand Theft Auto 'the defining next-generation action adventure' and from current evidence it's not going to have to struggle to achieve that goal. Just as with GTA III before, GTA IV feels a cut above the rest, raising the bar established by the series in the first place. The seamlessness of Liberty City is a mammoth achievement on its own, but that GTA IV manages to not only maintain the geography and landmarks of the world's most famous city but also its tangible atmosphere elevates it to a genuinely artistic plane. The imposing steel corridors of Manhattan(Algonquin, in GTA land) bleed light from their origins; the draw distance is unreal. Rockstar has created a world that is fun to simply inhabit.

Even with the considerable volume of features on show, there's still so much more to GTA IV. It feels like we've only seen a fraction of what's going to be available, but as mentioned in last month's preview, Rockstar doesn't want to promote its game as a features list. This is an experience. One with a depth and believability sorely lacking from almost everything else out there.
With the multiplayer still a complete mystery (but almost certainly a triumph - all the component parts are in place for an online tour de force), the story still secret and the variety of the missions only hinted at, the true scale and magnitude of Grand Theft Auto will reveal itself in the coming morths.
But know one thing: 19 October is the day the world of videogames and modern media culture change forever.

You know, I think they liked it.

 

[Warbie]

So much of that quote was awesome. It sounds like everything that I wanted improving about GTA has been

Gaming is good at the moment :cheers:

 

[Unfocused]

I hope we won't see the close-range spawning both on cars and police. It would be nice if they actually had to drive out of police stations and get to you. And cars (any cars) shouldn't spawn 10 meters behind me when I'm looking the other way.

 

[-Psy-]

I just want to know when DMA ports it to PC.

DMA lolz...DMA = Rockstar North = GTA Creators.

 

[DeusExMachina]

They've been analyzing the sugar out of the screenshots and trailers over at gtagaming. They found a Department of Homeland Security Car just today.