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"Grand Theft Auto IV" (also known as GTA IV or GTA 4) is the upcoming eleventh instalment, and first in the fourth generation, of the Grand Theft Auto video game franchise, announced for release by Rockstar Games within February-April of 2008 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The game is set in a redesigned Liberty City, based heavily on New York City. GTA IV runs on the RAGE game engine, which also powered Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis. The game is being written by Rockstar co-founder Dan Houser. It will include online play, but will not be an MMOG. GTA IV has been nominated for a 2006 Golden Joystick Award in the One To Watch For 2007 category.
According to Janco Partners analyst Mike Mickey, a financial consultant for Take-Two Interactive Software, around 150 game developers are working on Grand Theft Auto IV. He also remarked that Rockstar Games is "fully capable of ushering in an entertainment experience categorically superior to the prior cycle’s GTA product".
Rockstar Games initially appeared to be committed to the October 16, 2007 release date. However, Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter suggested that Take-Two may choose to delay the release of GTA IV in order to boost its financial results for 2008 and to avoid competing with the release of another highly anticipated title, Halo 3. Rockstar responded by saying that GTA IV was still on track for release in "late October".
On August 2, 2007, Take-Two announced that Grand Theft Auto IV would miss its original release date of October 16, 2007 after all, and would be pushed back to their fiscal second quarter (February - April) of 2008. Their stated reason for the date change was "...due to additional development time required to complete the title." In a later conference call with investors, Take-Two's Strauss Zelnick attributed the delay to "almost strictly technological problems... not problems, but challenges."
According to a Rockstar spokesperson, development originally began on the Xbox 360 because earlier development access was available, but it has also been stressed that "there is no target console" and both versions will be technically very similar.
GTA4 Gameplay
Titles in the GTA series have traditionally been heavily mission based (fixed missions must be completed to progress through each game), but the freedom to explore and play outside of the set missions in GTA IV will now be more relevant to progress through the game, according to comments by a Rockstar spokesperson: "We're really trying to blur the line between on-[mission] and off-mission. So storyline, and what you do outside [it], and how those two things influence each other."
An Xbox 360 demo of Grand Theft Auto IV published in the May 2007 issue of Game Informer reveals that the storyline begins with Bellic standing inside the taxi depot (which Roman operates in the borough of Broker in a converted industrial garage), working at a cluttered desk in a shabby environment. Bellic walks to a brownstone house in Broker, where he pushes open the door and pulls out his pistol—the living room, however, is not occupied. He then moves onto the kitchen, which he also finds to be empty.
He pushes his way through the back door and smashes the window of a red four-door car using his elbow. The broken glass falls onto the street and the seat of the car, as Bellic unlocks it from the inside. He hot-wires the car and sets off to his next destination. The camera angle behind the car is closer to the vehicle than in previous GTA titles, which enables more detail on the car to be seen. After selecting a radio station, Bellic navigates to a section of the BOABO arriving at a dockside. Pigeons can be heard in the sky, and waves can be heard.
Bellic then pulls out his phone, which has options for phone book, messages, organiser and camera on its LCD screen. He selects phone book, and he is then presented with another set of options: City Contact, Docks Friend, and Cab Contact. After a brief conversation, he informs the receiver to meet him at the docks. Wikipedia |
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