Grand Theft Auto IV: First Look

PIMP MY RIDE

No matter how Rockstar chooses to evolve the series, it simply wouldn’t be GTA without cars. We saw a rather run-of-the-mill complement of rides during our peek at Broker, including twodoor Civic-esque hatchbacks, the ubiquitous four-door boxey sedan, and a graffiti-decorated delivery truck. Their movements were made exponentially more realistic by the sequel’s new physics system. In short, each vehicle’s suspension reacted to the street below, just as it should. Tires bobbed down when beginning a downhill descent and retracted into the wheel well when going over a bump.

We also noted how, when Niko approached a parked sedan from behind in preparation to carjack it, an interface prompt appeared in the upper-left corner of the screen: “Press LB to open boot.” Boot, of course, is the British term for “trunk,” leading us to wonder just what we might be able to stash in the backs of our cars — weapons, bombs, kidnapped people? Or even more interestingly, what might we randomly discover in other people’s boo — er, trunks? For the moment, Rockstar isn’t saying.

Fortunately, we did get to see Niko jack that car, which happened to be locked. In previous GTAs, “locked” meant you simply couldn’t take the vehicle. In GTA IV, however, Niko puts his elbow through the driver’s window, opens the door from the inside, and then hotwires the ride and drives away. (Best we could tell, the gameplay sequence here was a simple single button-press, as opposed to a thumbstick twirl or Splinter Cell–style lockpick jiggle.)

Outside of the car, the aforementioned physics upgrade also enables Niko to stride more realistically, lean as he changes direction, and even climb telephone poles. Frankly, we’re not sure why Rockstar showed us this option, and they were coy about its gameplay possibilities, but they did mention that you could also clamber up fire escapes and jump from building to building — bringing to mind potential movie-esque chases and shootouts that take advantage of the aforementioned verticality.

CHANGE "IV" THE BETTER

By the end of our demo, IV's prospects were looking better and better. Even the smidgen of the new Liberty City we saw was clear evidence that the collective intelligence at Rockstar North has an exact, focused idea of what they want to do, what they need to do, and how to best go about doing it. They’re evolving and reinventing the genre they created, and though they’re sacrificing some of the nonsensical whimsy of the previous trilogy, one look at a billboard for an in-game movie called “I Slept With Your Mom” will make you laugh out loud — a reminder that Grand Theft Auto is still one of gaming’s smartest, funniest franchises…with or without a jetpack.

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