Source's close to Rockstar North has said that the first episode of two for Grand Theft Auto IV is still on track for 2008 for the Xbox 360.

It comes a week after a source claimed to Videogaming 24/7 that Episode One would not be released until sometime in 2009.

The extent of what the DLC is unknown at this time as to whatever's it's a new island in Liberty City for new stories to even possibly a bigger expansion as sorts, Vice City and San Andreas.

We do know that Rockstar was apparently paid $50 Million by Microsoft to do two downloadble episodes exclusively to the Xbox 360 verison of Grand Theft Auto IV so hopefully, they will be worthwhile.

GTA IV DLC on Track for November [Eurogamer]

Com efeito, actualmente já existem milhares de pessoas a jogar GTA 4. Contudo a versão para PC ainda não foi oficialmente confirmada, apesar de já se ouvirem rumores de que esta nova peça da saga GTA não demore muito a chegar aos computadores.

Apesar de tudo e apesar deste jogo ser cobiçado por muitos adeptos destes jogos, há também informações que a violência bem explícita no conteúdo do jogo está-se a manifestar da pior maneira e a levantar sérias polémicas. Segundo várias fontes norte americanas, houve já um grupo de adolescentes nos EUA que usando os mesmos métodos de violência do GTA 4 (já saiu para Xbox 360 e para PS 3) assaltou uma loja usando um  carro roubado. O resultado final foram algumas vítimas e a convicção que este tipo de jogos pode causar sérios problemas na juventude.

Mas voltando às coisas boas do jogo, também já se sabe que nos EUA a versão para pc sairá no dia 18 de Novembro e na Europa três dias depois. A aventuras de Niko Bellic (protagonista e imigrante croata que vem em busca do sonho americano) desenrolar-se-ão em Liberty city, como não deveria ser de esperar. As novidades não se resumem a isto. É de referir que o número máximo de jogadores no multiplayer foi expandido para a versão do PC e que a  resolução máxima será de uns fantásticos 2560x1600.

The BitBag seems to have got some very big info on Grand Theft Auto IV: Episode One, the first of two exclusive Downloadable episode's coming to the Xbox 360 verison of Grand Theft Auto IV. Just to clarify, they did not disclose anything like a plot, setting or anything similar to it.

But what they did reveal is after the jump.

Numero Uno - Grand Theft Auto IV: Episode One will be out sometime between Late October - Early November
Numero Dos - Grand Theft Auto IV: Episode One seems to be more like an expansion pack.
Numero Tres - Grand Thet Auto IV: Episode One is set to cost over 1600 MS points (Which if I can calculate right considering 800 MS points is worth £5 and 1200 is £10, it'll be £15 - £20)

And they say that they'll bringing more info on the subject very soon.

Now all we need is footage from Rockstar at least and we're set.

GTAIV DLC Rumored to Be Huge and Cost 1600 MS Points [The BitBag]

No laws were broken during the making of this video.

"The map is not the territory".  How does that statement resonate in today's digitally rich context, in which we visit countless simulacra of territory, reference maps that signify maps, and have deeply fulfilling personal experiences in the non-territories of virtual space? Are there any original territories left, or has literally everything become a signifier for something else, an infinite loop of maps leading to maps eventually leading back to the first -but not necessarily the original - map?

[vodpod id=Groupvideo.1485804&w=425&h=350&fv=clip_id%3D1455312%26server%3Dwww.vimeo.com%26autoplay%3D0%26fullscreen%3D1%26md5%3D%26show_portrait%3D0%26show_title%3D0%26show_byline%3D0%26context%3D%26context_id%3D]

Hoje a Rockstar anunciou que Grand Theft Auto IV será lançado para PC na América do Norte no dia 18 de novembro desse ano. No dia 21 sai a versão européia.

O fundador da Rockstar Sam Houser disse que "o jogo roda lindamente no PC e mal podemos esperar para as pessoas começarem a jogar".

Sempre existiu rumores sobre essa versão para PC desde que as versões para 360 e PS3 foram lançadas, mas a Rockstar nunca confirmou.

Discuta essa postagem no Fórum Omega Geek, clicando aqui.

"Un boludo de 18 años se penso que era Niko Bellic y baleo a un taxista para robarle el auto." Esta es una version de la historia. Otra version posible podria ser: "Un infeliz de 18 años baleo a un taxista porque se peleo con su novia." Pero no, vamos a quedarnos con la primera que es la version que cuenta el... Sinceramente me harte de escuchar a esta gente que alega que un videojuego los hace violentos por ende comenten estos actos sin sentido. ¿No pasaran otras miles de cosas por sus cabezas en el momento de hacer semejantes boludeces?... la verdad me cuesta creer que una persona crea que la vida es un videojuego. y si asi lo piensa que lo metan en un manicomio.

Record in a tiny closet during the Writer's Edge conference in Portland, Oregon, and forget to introduce ourselves.

Discuss the portrayals of war in games in reference to the Call of Duty and Metal Gear Solid franchises.

Think about the labor issues involved with the recent controversy regarding voice actors in Grand Theft Auto IV.

Look for our GTA Blowout episode soon, and thanks for listening.

Protagonista de la saga Ninja Gaiden que nació en 1988 de manos de la compañía Tecmo. Ryu forma parte del Clan del Dragón, es un luchador de alto linaje, con una personalidad arraigada en las costumbres orientales, es estudioso, culto, educado y muy estricto en el cumplimiento de sus deberes como Shinobi. La extrema dificultad es una de las señas de identidad de todos los Ninja Gaiden. También le vimos haciendo sus pinitos en algún que otro juego como DOA, pero donde realmente se gano el respeto que hoy atesora es en esta exitosa saga Arcade.

Comentar el abandono de Itagaki (su padre) de la compañía Team Ninja momentos después de salir al mdo. Ninja Gaiden II para 360 por problemas contractuales en relación a su salario.

39º Marcus Fenix:

Es el protagonista del que para mi es el mejor juego de Xbox 360, así que no podía falta, su diseño y su personalidad están realmente trabajados. Marcus asciende rangos en el ejército por sus meritos en la guerra del Péndulo, siendo encarcelado en la penitenciaria de Jacinto por desobedecer órdenes intentando salvara su padre. Cuando los Locus invaden el planeta Dominic Santiago (su mejor amigo) le saca para terminar con la amenaza del coronel RAAM, que fue quien mato a Adam Fénix, el padre de Marcus.

No veo el momento de tener entre manos su segunda entrega, va a ser el pelotazo de 2008.

38º Edward Carnby:

Edward Carnby es el protagonista de la saga Alone in the Dark, uno de los primeros survivalms de horror. Es conocido como “el detective de lo sobrenatural” en las primeras entregas era un detective pelirrojo con bigote que siempre lleva pajarita y un traje impecable, pero en sus ultimas incursiones se ha ido modificando su estética (de forma errónea) hacia un tipo mas joven y con apariencia oscura y gótica, no entiendo el por que. Como muchos otros protagonistas clásicos no ha envejecido todo lo bien que debería, pero no deja de ser todo un héroe, especialmente si nos referimos a sus primeros años. Mejor no hablar de su versión del cine…

En su ultimo titulo multiplataforma nos ha sorprendido con un fantástico nuevo sistema de desarrollo en la trama, ofreciéndonos un desarrollo similar al de las muy de moda series americanas (Anterior mente en Alone in the Dark)

37º Kirby:

Personaje creado en 1992 por Mashiro Sakurai, su simplicidad es absoluta, inicialmente tenia el cometido de ser el muñeco que usaran los diseñadores como sustituto de los protagonistas finales de los distintos juegos para ir probando el trabajo que poco a poco iban haciendo. Encaja a la perfección dentro de la estética Nintendo, es un personaje un poco infantil, peor tiene mucho encanto. Es el protagonista mas glotón de la historia de los videojuegos, sus ataques consisten en absorber a sus enemigos para luego lanzarlos como un proyectil, también puede adquirir sus habilidades o inflarse de aire como un globo y volar.

36º Crash Bandicot:

Este marsupial Australiano fue creado por Naughtydog para Sony, lanzándolo en PsX, con la intención de convertirlo en la mascota de la compañía.

Crash esta modificado genéticamente por el malvado Dr. Cortex. Crash lucha contra su creador y contra los intentos de este por dominar el mundo. El Dr. Cortex desecho a Crash para sus malévolos planes al considerarle un poco “corto”, el Dr. Cortex siempre le subestima y siempre sale perdiendo. No hay cosa que mas odie nuestro dingo que la contaminación

Lo tenía todo para ser una gran mascota, pero sin hacerlo mal del todo si que es cierto que no termino de calar.

35º ICO:

El nombre de este protagonista, también es el nombre de una de las compañías más minimalistas y elegantes del mercado de los videojuegos. ICO nace de la cabeza de Fumito Ueda en el 2000 para el soporte Ps2, este juego es casi una rareza dentro del catalogo de Sony. ICO nace con un cuerno en la frente, lo que supone un signo de mal augurio en su pueblo, por lo que es encerrado en un castillo rodeado de agua, donde conoce a una niña, Yorda, y entre los dos intentan escapar. De el se dice que es uno de los ancestros de Wander en el juego Shadow of the Colossus.

34º Pac-Man:

Este juego arcade fue creado por Toru Iwatani para Namco en 1979, supuso un rotundo éxito en su día, no en formato de juego para videoconsolas, si no en formato de maquina recreativa, ayudando a que el publico femenino empezara a interesarse por los juegos. A día de hoy Pac-Man forma parte de la cultura popular, es común ver a cualquier joven con una camiseta suya o ver referencias a este personaje en cualquier contexto, su figura es más que la del protagonista de un videojuego.

33º Squall Leonhart:

Squall como todos los héroes de la saga FF tiene un patrón muy bien definido, es introvertido y misterioso, pero detrás de ese caparazón se muestra a un héroe indeciso. Su arma es una de las mejores de todos los tiempos, es una “Gunblade” (pistola-espada). Es un protagonista valiente como pocos, en su apellido se ve un juego de palabras como “Corazón de León” para enfatizar la personalidad del héroe de Square-Enix. A este protagonista se le colgó inmerecidamente un San Benito por un incidente de un desequilibrado, su familia… y una katana (mejor no acordarse).

32º Carl Johnson “C.J.” – Niko Bellic:

Este puesto 32 esta compartido por dos matones:

(C.J.)

Este pandillero de Rock* domino las calles de GTA San Andreas a golpe de pistola, ametralladora, lanzamisiles y lo que hiciera falta. El personaje para nada es una mala persona, pero tiene la mala suerte de haber crecido en un mal barrio y de haberse rodeado de malas compañías. CJ defiende a sus amigos y a su familia a toda costa, intentando devolver la paz a su barrio Cantom, limpiándolo de las drogas que lo están destrozando, pero luego su empresa va mucho más allá. Todo un héroe acorde con todo un lanzamiento.

(Niko)

Niko viaja a estados unidos escuchando las promesas de su primo Roman. Niko pretende salir de la pobreza de posguerra en los Balcanes, intenta prosperar, pero lo único que sabe hacer es matar, como muy bien dice el en el comienzo del juego “vendí a gente, trafiqué con gente, maté a gente”, Niko es practico hace lo que tiene que hacer cuando lo tiene que hacer, siempre y cuando le paguen bien por ello, no tiene problemas en “solucionar” los problemas de cualquiera que este dispuesto a pagar.

31º Lemmings:

Estos simpáticos personajes fueron creados en 1990 por DMA Design, la actual Rock*. En el momento de su lanzamiento alcanzo las puntuaciones mas altas por parte de la prensa especializada, y su acogida por arte del público no fue menos. La dinámica del juego consistía en salvar a estos simpáticos y diminutos personajes a lo largo de complicadísimos niveles en los que teníamos que poner en practica las distintas habilidades (algunas de ellas suicidas) de nuestro grupo de Lemmings.

1º ENTREGA TOP 50 DE LOS GRANDES HÉROES DE LOS VIDEOJUEGOS

::Fran Viejo::

::Mentes-Inquietas::

this person was spotted registering his car at the local Tasjeel office. No comments.

This BearBrick is Beautiful... and sold at soldout but already soldout... Only 150 pieces but it's a 400% for only 640 euros... from highsnobiety by the way!

And this Custom Munny is ugly but so cool! Put it next to you when you sleep and nobody will bother you! The Munny GTA4 Niko Bellic!

more pics and full story on Gamesradar.com

"If you kill Derrick, you will be able to call Frank for a one-time offer to get rid of a Wanted Level. Your choice affects whose funeral you will be attending in the upcoming mission, "Undertaker," but nothing else."

Wauw. Hoe ontnuchterend! Ik had gedacht dat er veel meer op het spel stond. Oké Frankie, here you go. Ik vond hem toch maar een onuitstaanbaar onderkruipsel en voor die Wanted Level's heb ik toch een cheatcode. I'm such a cheat, ain't I?

Kus,
Lauren Leigh

Pra quem ainda não teve o prazer de ver o primeiro post sobre o blog Pixeloo e seu trabalho que é loucura, ai vai o link com os três primeiros trabalhos dele. Porém, o cara não para e já tem duas novas criações: o bebezinho de QI elevado Stewie da série animada Family Guy e, que na minha opinião foi o mais genial e perfeito de todos os trabalhos, Niko Bellic, o "astro" do super game (que a propósito, não joguei ainda!) GTA IV.

Vale a pena "investir" alguns minutinhos apreciando essas verdadeiras obras de arte digital.

What is the American dream? For some, it's having a loving family, for others it's having their hobby as a career, for some it's having money, for some, it's having women, for me, it's playing Grand Theft Auto IV.

Now, that GTA series has always been at the top of the sandbox action genre, but looking upon GTA IV as the best sandbox action title, is actually underestimating its excellence. Grand Theft Auto IV not only meets the expectations tied to it, but it separates itself from that line by a fare margin.

The immense level of detail is a big effort by the developer. This generation of consoles has given them the opportunity to do amazing things, and it definitely shows heavily right when you put the disc in. You'll automatically notice the huge increase in the game's visual quality. Character models are heavily detailed, and they have recognizable faces, unlike characters from past installments (cough Carl Johnson cough). Facial animations are impressive, with very well done lip syncing and full body animations. In fact, Liberty City is home to thousands, if not millions of individuals. And I mean individuals, not character models. In a group of 200 people, you'd be hard pressed to find two people that look alike. Something like this has never been seen in any game before. Assassin's Creed is the only other game with this many people that I can think of, but there was maybe 20 character models in the game. Every street in the huge city has its own name, and even after you've beaten the game, you'll still have to rely on the navigation system every car has, just to get around. Liberty City is absolutely huge. It's about the same size as the entire state of San Andreas, only with more congestion, and it's a much more dynamic, 3 dimensional area with tons more people. Every building, back alley, and street is just as detailed as the last, and even though there are plenty of jagged edges, it's nothing to complain about. If the jaggies bother you, just drive a boat at night, and drop a grenade. You'll die, but it's the most beautfiul thing ever seen in a game. The game runs smooth, and pop in is kept to a minimum. It's not the best looking game this generation, but it is the deepest and most detailed. Nice weather effects, too.

You play as Niko Bellic, a man who's trying to achieve the American dream. The mansion his cousin tells him he'll be living in is actually a hellhole roach infested apartment, and very soon, they get into debt, and people want them dead. There's plenty of uncertainty, betrayal, and killing. This is the best story not only in a GTA game, but it's the best story so far this year. It's a gritty, dark look at the criminal underworld, and the horrible souls that are connected to it. The game has you make certain decisions, that have a big effect on the overall outcome of the story. The story is just as detailed as the city, and it's incredible. As a movie, it's good enough to get at least a nomination. As a game, it's just pure action drama, and that's incredible.

Shooting has been vastly improved from the past. The controls have been changed for the better, and the game feels much more like a third person shooter than it ever has. Holding down the left trigger sends you into aiming mode, the right analog aims your reticle, and the right trigger shoots the bad guys. It works very well, although it can get a bit clunky at times. Although it isn't yet perfected, it's actually enjoyable for the first time in the series. There's a new cover system, that is often vital to your survival during firefights. R1 or RB places you against any object, whether a car, or a wall, or anything else. It does work well, although sometimes the controls aren't responsive enough, and you'll feel like the least agile person on the planet. It's more of a tactical thing, other than a run n gun thing, and if you look at it like that, it works well. Enemy AI isn't the best, but at least it exists (cough Ballas cough). Enemies take cover, just like you, and they won't randomly pop up and down, or run across the open as long as you're there. Shooting is a much more enjoyable experience.

Hand to hand combat is improved, in some ways. There are more buttons for different moves, such as a kick to the skull, but the controls are unresponsive and clunky, and once you get your first gun, you'll undoubtedly avoid it. At least it shows off the cool physics system.

Speaking of the physics system, it's really good. You'll have countless hours of fun running over people, and watching them react to every piece of geometry in the city. They'll bounce off your windshield, get thrown around under your car, it's awesome. Everything just reacts so excellently to the world, it really gives the game a much needed gritty sense of realism.

Driving mechanics are one of the best parts of the game. The cars aren't exactly realistic, but it's as close as its ever been. Tires wear down, cars don't turn when they brake. It really just feels like nothing you've driven before. Car models are all well detailed, with excellent reflections, and impressive damage modelling. Grand Theft Auto is called that for a reason, and the reason is one to be proud of.

The script is very well written and clever. Every character's voice suits them perfectly. The lines are funny when they need to be, and serious when crap starts up. Radio stations aren't the best in terms of talk shows (cough K Chat cough), but soundtrack is by far the best. My favorite station for songs was Radio Broker, but I wouldn't decline if forced to listen to another station. The city's ambient noise is incredible, just like a real city. Citizens talk on their phones, with each other, order food at vendors, talk to themselves, etc. You just need to play the game for 5 minutes to see it all.

The game takes about 30 hours to complete, with huge replay value, considering the branching story. When you feel done with it, there is 16 player MP. There are several game modes, like Cops n Crooks, Hangman's Noose, Races, or just Free Mode. This is like 2 player in San Andreas, only with 16 people with headsets. You could spend 50 hours without getting bored. All of Liberty City is the map. It is very functional, especially with the very shooter oriented controls.

Grand Theft Auto IV is the first game to ever have a realistic city, filled with detail, and still be a functional, sublime action game with near great physics, a gripping tale, and the best value you'll find for $60. It's the first game I've ever given a 10 out of 10. I don't expect to give out any for a long time, but you never know. What I do know now, is that if you don't already have GTA IV, you should pick it up. You shouldn't have even read this review, you wasted your time. Grand Theft Auto IV is the best game I have played in years. It's an obvious nominee for GOTY. The guys at Rockstar are ingenious.

Every Grand Theft Auto starts with a sense that you’re just a tiny part of a huge sprawling world, in hindsight we know that GTAIII and Vice City were relatively small but the feeling remained. Perhaps in years to come we’ll think of GTAIV in the same way. Anyway when you first feast your eyes on Liberty City it’s a wonder to behold, it’s a real city, more so than anything we’ve seen in games before. Taking a taxi through the city, the sights are wondrous; a woman laughing on a payphone, a fight erupting, a cop chasing someone and none of it was started by the player. It’s a living city and that only aids in the aforementioned feeling of a small fish in a big pond.

The small fish in question being Niko Bellic, a troubled man of eastern European origin, just don’t say he’s Russian. Niko is the best lead character in the series, superbly voice acted by Michael Hollick who manages both serious and funny, sometimes within the same car journey. Then there’s the memorable supporting cast; Little Jacob will be there until the very end (as he is) and Brucie is just flat out hilarious but the most important is Roman. The womaniser who reaches for the stars is Niko’s cousin and despite his flaws, he is Niko’s best friend. Then you have Bernie, sorry, Florian and the McReary borthers amongst numerous others. The story that drives the game is fairly diluted; it doesn’t have the man against the world nature of GTA III, the obvious Scarface rip-off in Vice City or the underdog story of San Andreas. It’s just a little too cliché even compared to those but that’s not to say it doesn’t have its moments. These moments mainly involve....

Choices! We love them, and so do developers who think of them as clever and apparently necessary inclusions. It’s also a necessity to force it upon the player as well apparently. Perhaps a tad harsh; whilst they don’t have the punch of Mass Effect’s “moral choices” they aren’t exactly shrugged off, the last one in particular posed a fair bit of thought. There’s the stand out missions as well, Three Leaf Clover is the central point of the game and the biggest set piece. In true Heat style, all hell breaks loose and it’s the best level Rockstar have ever produced. There are numerous others as well and of course those comic missions such as setting up a Gay date over the internet for an assassination.

The majority of missions may be the same running, gunning and driving of the old games but criticising the game for this is absolutely laughable. It’s what Grand Theft Auto is and with the new, fantastic control scheme it’s a lot easier to play. Despite the great fun had with the past three titles, the controls for the most part were bad to average; GTA IV rectifies this with more realistic car handling and another necessity of this generation, the good ol’ cover system. Some difficulty getting to grips with them are soon gone and the result is a great means of control.

Animation is fantastic, the movement of all characters and crunching crash animations are astounding. Watching the bodies fly and contort as you hit them is almost enough to put you off mowing people down for the hell of it. Almost. Car damage is amazing, bullet holes turn the car to Swiss cheese, glass smashes, doors fall off and the car crumples. In the midst of a police chase the car is going to take a battering and not just at the higher wanted levels, even at three stars the police are vicious in their attack. The AI here is acceptable given the sheer number of NPCs littering the city, the police will try and box you in with their cars and helicopters are relentless in their pursuit, dangerous, weaving driving is the only way to escape them. Sheer speed will do little here. They are a little too vicious though, they will kill you no matter what, stand still and accept arrest and they will shoot, heck they even continue to shoot once you’re dead. This is essentially meant to be New York though.

The first, internet-breaking trailer had many people worrying about this being a serious GTA with less of the silliness which was perfect in the first two but over the top in San Andreas. Whilst it is a more serious game in some respects, namely the darker story, it certainly retains the trademark Rockstar humour. The characters are hilarious, Brucie as mentioned and the Little Jacob/Badman pairing brining most the laughs. The radio stations aren’t quite to the Vice City standard but a good enough, Liberty Rock Radio is great with Queen’s One Vision bringing a smile to the face of whoever stumbles upon it in the middle of a car chase. The best station is WKKT or We Know the Truth which has two versions of each show, the patriotic Richard Bastion show, the brilliant show “Fizz” ripping on celebrity culture and finally the superb Just or Unjust, a courtroom show with a difference. It’s easily one of the best stations they’ve ever produced, and that’s saying something.

There is one underlaying problem, a thought in the back of the mind niggling and taking something away from each of the game’s best moments. When you play the game, you know what to expect, not from a narrative perspective but from a gameplay perspective. Someone called it GTA III HD which isn’t entirely true but it does describe the very core of the game. GTA IV does so much near perfectly but its areas of improvement do very little to enhance the core gameplay. The mobile phone makes things easier but is not so different from the pager of past games. The ability to go out with your friends may unlock special abilities which are, again, easier and more convenient but the core gameplay isn’t changed. It’s still a fantastic achievement for Rockstar and almost perfect, but everyone knows they can do better. Perhaps Grand Theft Auto IV is a far greater representation of modern life than initially thought; it’s a scarier and easier place but it’s still essentially the same.

9/10

Opriman en la imagen para verla en tamaño completo.

Pixeloo, el mismo que se encargó de crea un escalofriante Mario de la vida real, ha creado una replica exacta de Niko Bellic, para la revista oficial de PlayStation en el Reino Unido.

[Jkrincon Out]

In short the subsequent flurry of action in the Cabaret Club would be the finale to a great game, in Grand Theft Auto 4 executing this target is merely a prelude. In fact with Seventy story missions still in front of me I've barely completed a fifth of the game and still have yet to open up two of the three islands that makes up Liberty City. But this moment in the rain, on a rooftop with a man's life in my hands is what defines Grand Theft Auto 4, a moment of melancholic reflection before the bitter end. That is an early defining point of the game for me, the moment in which I realised that Grand Theft Auto 4 was as great as the hype had led us to believe. The first few minutes in Liberty City were always going to be a cold shower of sorts, a harsh wall of reality to the preconceived expectations that had been built.

I will admit to being briefly disappointed by the way main character Niko Bellic lurched around the screen, and the way that objects in the distance popped in and out of reality, the heavy handling of the cars and the plodding pace of the initial missions. Every GTA game would start with its basic tutorial missions, but with such Grand Theft Auto 4's depth of content the numerous tutorials and options threatened to choke the first few hours of the game. Certainly running errands for your cousin, buying some glasses to impress a date and beating up some wannabe hoodlums wasn't what I expected of the game, but even San Andreas was cursed with a cumbersome start.

In looking at what makes GTA4 work it is probably wise to reflect on its predecessor San Andreas. San Andreas would represent the natural evolution of the GTA3 series, Rockstar confident enough with their engine to create a sprawling and immense game. Everything about San Andreas was huge, from the county wide play area to the cinematic scope of the missions. Naturally the move to the Next Generation would mean that San Andreas's follow up would be a slighter game, but whereas other developers would have panicked at this proposition Rockstar made it GTA4's greatest virtue.

The dichotomy of the game is that Niko is a character far more willing to resort to crime but also a far more human protagonist than San Andreas's Carl Johnson. CJ would represent a burgeoning humanity within the series, a central character who looked after his own and questioned the crimes he was forced to commit for his own survival. Unlike Vice City's psychotic Tommy Vercetti, CJ was noticeably troubled by his actions and actually represented a man trying to keep above the mire he found himself in. Niko Bellic has this same kind of characterisation, he is a man haunted by his past and stuck in a mindset where he accepts what must be done. His interactions with his cousin, his friends and his employers all help to flesh out a truly human character and Niko becomes at once both likeable and sympathetic. However he also embraces his nature as a hired gun, working for anyone who can afford his services and it creates a character constantly at odds with himself.

Niko Bellic is a Serbian immigrant who has travelled to Liberty City to live with his rich and successful cousin Roman Bellic. Fleeing a life of violence for purported comfort Niko instead finds Roman living a ramshackle life and finds himself having to delve into the murky underworld to keep his heavily indebted cousin alive. Through conversations with Roman we learn that Niko is a veteran of the Bosnian War and later dialogue reveal the horrors he witnessed during his service. If nothing else Grand Theft Auto 4 is a pinnacle in videogame characterisation, the story and dialogue helping to craft a character who is perhaps one of the first truly sympathetic protagonists in videogames and certainly one of the most fully formed. This is largely down to Michael Hollick who provides Niko's voice and much of the characters motion capture. Niko is undeniably an anti-hero, charismatic but also unpleasant. Hollick seems to understand this perfectly and consequently there is a genuine humanity to Niko which gives a real sense of weight to the serpentine plot.

The core of the game is the friendships that Niko fosters during his time in Liberty City. Niko is given a mobile phone at the start of the game and every character he meets adds their details to his phonebook. Certain characters even strike up friendships with Niko and will call up to ask to hang out. These friends will regularly call you up to suggest hanging out, you can either choose to fob them off or pick them up and hit the town. There is a pleasing range of activities to choose from, certainly you are never stuck for something to do be it bowling, playing darts, going to a comedy club, playing pool, frequenting a strip club, grabbing some fast food or just getting hilariously drunk, but more than anything it is the conversations on the way to these activities which makes the endeavour worthwhile. Your friends and associates have hundreds of lines of dialogue and are so well crafted that it is easy to get attached to them.

In gameplay terms the friend system represents an evolution of the property ownership segments of Vice City: Stories. In that game you could raid other businesses, turn them into your own real estate and then play minigames to ensure a constant supply of money. In GTA 4 catering to your friends needs does not supply you with money, but instead gives you access to individual perks. Getting your cousin to like you is simplicity itself and nets you the free use of taxi cabs around the city whilst another friend will provide his services as a mobile arms dealer. The perks themselves are always helpful but they are just additional to how much story and character is formed through these impromptu activities. As stated earlier each character seems to have hundreds of lines of dialogue and they're almost always interesting and usually hilarious. It is ridiculously easy to get attached to these characters and you almost feel guilty after a particular nasty crash or incident sends one of them to the hospital.

Realism is a buzzword being used to describe Grand Theft Auto 4 and to be honest I can see where people are coming from but the idea of a realistic Grand Theft Auto is patently ridiculous. Certainly in comparison to San Andreas (with its city wide gang wars, alien artefacts, casino robberies, airfields, and government funded missions) Grand Theft Auto 4 has a more realistic take, but it still has moments of sheer video gaming joy. Whilst realism is a misnomer it is safe to say that Grand Theft Auto 4 is a more grounded experience than either Vice City of San Andreas. Whilst Vice City, San Andreas and the two PSP spinoffs all told a rags to riches tale, GTA 4 is content with moving its protagonist from squalor to comfort. There are no mansions in GTA4, you can't buy businesses in the game, you will barely make a million dollars and Niko Bellic will rarely rise beyond his station as a hired gun. What this grounding does is ensure that each mission is important. The brutish gunplay, more realistic handling of vehicles and strength of characters makes even a simple escort and kill mission kind of exciting.

The gunplay in GTA 4 is a definite highlight, taking the usual GTA mechanics and adding a Gears of War style cover engine and a Crackdown derived auto aim system. It is still not perfect, having free aim be activated by the same trigger as auto aim can lead to the player wrestling to pull off headshots, but it is a massive improvement over previous games in the series. In particular the cover mechanic adds a new dimension to the games usual run and gun style. Niko is far more susceptible to fire than his counterparts and as such the only way to ensure survival is by adequate use of cover. Of course this cover mechanic isn't perfect, you can sometimes get stuck on the wrong side of a wall, but it is a great addition to the game. What really makes the gunplay in GTA 4 work is the sound work. Sure shooting from cover is cool as it the way that gunfire will realistically damage cars and walls but what ties it all together is the booming sound of gunfire. Even the pistol in the game has power to it and later missions can sound like something from a Michael Mann films as M-14 fire echoes around city streets. This sound work is just one of the things that makes Liberty City feel far more alive than previous environments, even little things like the way your phone ring will echo if you're under a tunnel help to create a true sense of immersion.

Immersion is a key word with GTA 4; it is a game that almost demands that you become invested in its world and its characters. I've already touched upon the characters and story that help to create such a robust and vibrant world but it is the little touches which really bring Liberty City to life. The internet in the game is a great example, you have to use it now and then but mostly it is just for sending and receiving emails. If you start to explore GTA4's internet you'll come across a wealth of viewable sites. Most of them are straight parodies of existing sites, but the depth of content on each page is enough to make it seem almost real. What's great is that as you complete missions the internet constantly updates with news sites offering reports on your crimes and internet blogs updating (sometime with information about Niko if you date the right girl). What the internet does is give context to your actions, plotlines are setup and resolved through the news sites and often news stories you've read will be worked into a mission later on in the game.

Liberty City is given even more life by its inhabitants, a diverse bunch who will quite happily go about their daily routine whilst Niko does his murdering. Just watching the crowds can reveal how much care and attention was put into the game. People interact with each other, mobile phones go off prompting conversations and the emergency services are constantly operating around you. Pick any Ambulance in the city and you'll be able to follow it to someone who has been hurt, watch a street fight long enough and you'll see police break it up and drive the felons off for processing. Even the city itself is given its own personality with different districts having distinct visual styles and residents. Liberty City is an obvious facsimile of New York and its design goes a long way to establishing that New York. It is at once both cosmopolitan and utterly dangerous and Rockstar seem at home both in the squalor of the projects and the decadence of Times Square. Whilst it doesn't offer a diverse environment as San Andreas it creates a singular environment which is utterly cohesive and at times is quite staggeringly beautiful. Certainly driving across to the central island as the sun rises over a phalanx of skyscrapers is kind of awe inspiring.

Of course the problem is that without these little touches the game can become very sparse to the unobservant. Being brutally honest the missions do often devolve to a simple formula of going to a location, scaring a guy, pursuing him, waiting for his car to stop being invincible, and then shooting the holy hell out of his vehicle until he's dead. There are some apparent little touches (often in chases a stray bullet will score a headshot and your quarry's car will just swerve off the road as its dead driver lies slumped on the horn) but if you choose to ignore the news reports, and the internet, and the friend activities the game can become almost alienating. There are moments of inspired mission work (an epic bank heist is one of the best missions in the entire series and another mission where you're chasing a helicopter through times square, you're passenger launching rockets with reckless abandon, is kind of awe inspiring if the weathers right) but unless you've truly connected with the characters there's nothing here that we haven't done before. Similarly those just wanting to go on a kill crazy rampage might find their efforts thwarted by Niko's apparent lack of health and some overly diligent cops. Firefights in the open generally don't end well and even vehicles don't offer much protection from bullets. As such unless you're constantly on the move your rampages will likely not last all that long.

GTA4 is far more concerned with telling its story and its later missions whilst not offering new game play options have thrust and weight due to the narrative. Those expecting a next generation version of Vice City are going to be undoubtedly left wanting as GTA4 even eschews that games use of music. GTA: Vice City was a revelation to many due to its use of licensed music (GTA3 had a smattering of music, but aside from its opera selection it was all rather obscure). Playing a game with Gary Numan, Blondie, Ozzy Osbourne, and Jan Hammer on the radio was something a bit new. Whereas Vice City went for easily recognisable hits of the 1980s GTA 4 took a different view on its radio stations.

As such a lot of the songs you hear on the radios are not what you would consider well known, the classic rock and hip hop station have perhaps the most recognisable songs, but fit the game perfectly. Each radio station is just expertly put together and truly suits the game. Everything from African Jazz to Hardcore Punk is represented and the track listing for each station has very few duds. Driving around in the rain to Philip Glass is fantastically evocative, whilst the indie rock beats of Radio Broker provide a suitably tense score for some of the pursuit missions. It is a testament to the design and structure of each station that barring the Hardcore Punk station I listen to and enjoy each station in the game. As well as suiting the game world completely the game also manages to create its own iconic songs. Certainly its use of Arm and Arm and Get Innocuous! has given new context to those songs, whilst taking off in a Helicopter on a stormy night as Queen's One Vision kicks in is as iconic as anything in Vice City.

So what we have is a witty and engaging update of the Grand Theft Auto ideal, a game where morality is given centre stage and the decision to kill is actually given dramatic weight. It is surprisingly complex for a videogame and some of the decisions you take later on actually transcend the usual gamer think (i.e. What is of most benefit to me as a player? What allows me to get an achievement) and actually force you to think emotionally about what you are doing. Of course if you buy Grand Theft Auto to have sex with hookers and go on rampages you may find yourself disappointed, unless you go online.

The drop in online multiplayer of GTA is perhaps one of the biggest revelations in the game, by bringing up your in-game mobile phone you can access a variety of online modes and drop right into the action. There are a variety of game modes from a free roam mode which drops you and up to fifteen other people in Liberty City to standard death matches and races. There are some well designed co-op missions and even a King of the Hill variant. However the three game modes that seem to get the most play are Cops n Crooks, Mafiya Work and Car Jack City. Cops n Crooks splits players into two teams, one team are crooks and have to get their boss to a designated extraction point, one team are the cops and have to kill the boss before he escapes. Despite some fundamental design problems (the lack of rounds means that most games end in draws or are won by the smallest possible margin).

Car Jack City has teams of players scouring Liberty City for designated cars to take back to a lock up for Cash, whilst Mafiya Work has teams working for a powerful mob boss who is constantly phoning in missions. Mafiya Work is probably my favourite mode for two reasons, for one it forces the two teams to converge on singular goals and as such it ss almost always incredibly hectic and often the jobs you are undertaking are ridiculously hilarious. One task has your mob boss explaining how his ex-girlfriend wants to be an actress, he promptly asks you to pick up his laptop to take to somebody so some pictures of her can be distributed to ruin her career. As such the game type becomes a mix of sheer slapstick lampoonery with an undercurrent of black GTA humour.

Of course the problem is that your opponents are often not interested in having fun. In fact the GTA online community is perhaps one of the most hostile communities around, with all of the worst players from Halo and Call of Duty migrating over. In the month that I have been playing the game online I have not come across a single other team who did not embody the very worst that Xbox Live has to offer. From people team killing in co-op games to sheer hostility in pre and post match lobbies ("If this was real life, we'd murder all of you" is ridiculously common expression at the moment) it is almost intolerable. Worst still are the gamers, who are intent on taking off the auto aim function of the game. If GTA was a straight shooter I would probably agree with turning auto aim off to and have more skilful games but GTA isn't a straight shooter and all that having auto aim off does is slow a hectic game down to a crawl. Games with auto aim tend to be all kinds of chaotic, with explosions and vehicular homicide abound, games without auto aim tend to devolve into teams slinking across the ground and trying to merge into the background. It takes a game that was a little unique and turns it into a poor COD4 clone, but that is the nature of Xbox Live and online gaming in general.

Still if you are playing with friends and hosting your own games GTA's multiplayer can be an absolute blast. Even just driving around Liberty City in Free Mode can be hilarious when you throw some like minded individuals into the mix.

GTA is not a perfect game but it is also a game deserving of a 10/10. It represents a will to change by Rockstar and whilst the nuts and bolts of the game are largely the same, there is enough evolution to make GTA 4 feel completely fresh. There are some fundamental flaws in the game, not least the way the game handles money forcing you to nickel and dime at the start and then giving you hundreds of thousands of dollars with nothing to spend it on, but the positive outweighs the negative in nearly every instance.

Spike Marshall

While I'm not usually a fun of machinima, mainly because it's always done poorly, a new GTA4 parody of The Naked Gun intro sequence has caught my attention. Take a look for yourself. A higher quality version can be found here.

If it has been a while since you've seen The Naked Gun, or have never seen it at all (shame on you) here is the original intro.

While I'm posting YouTube videos of The Naked Gun intro I may as well post the Family Guy version of it. It goes to some interesting places, such as Doom and Hoth. Too bad the quality sucks but what can you do, it's free.

]]> http://beaucheff.wordpress.com/?p=34 Thu, 05 Jun 2008 21:09:28 +0000 Sojiroh http://beaucheff.da.wordpress.com/2008/06/05/first-gta-iv-episodic-dlc-to-come-to-xbox-360-in-q1-09/ The first installment of downloadable content for Grand Theft Auto IV on Xbox 360 will be a full extra "episode," and is set to hit in the first quarter of 2009, Take-Two CEO Ben Feder revealed on the company's call to investors today. Take-Two's fiscal year starts in November.

Feder declined to provide any further details, but now we know the DLC is forthcoming for Xbox 360. No mention was made of PS3 DLC.

"The 2009 release of this highly anticipated episode will provide better balance among top titles," said Feder. When questioned by an analyst, Feder said, "The reason we moved it is more about portfolio balance than anything else... the delay is not about development issues."