What We Know So Far About GTA IV - In Grand Theft Auto 4 you play as Niko Bellic, an immigrant from Eastern Europe who was persuaded (by his cousin, Roman) to move to Liberty City in order to live the "American Dream." However, it soon becomes apparent that he was misled, and the nice life that Niko was expecting is not there. - Niko can use a mobile phone to receive calls and phone his contacts. He can also use it to call taxis and purchase weapons. The options presented on the phone's LCD are Phone book, Messages, Organizer, and Camera. - More Realism has been added to NPC, Pedestrians smoke cigarettes, read books and newspapers, drop litter, talk on mobile phones, walk in and out of buildings, and generally act like any normal pedestrian would. - It is possible to climb and descend telephone poles, exterior fire escapes and other climbable objects. - There are many different animation sets for breaking into cars. One of these involves Niko smashing the side window with his elbow, climbing into the car, and then hot wiring it. - Niko can manage his funds at ATMs. - GTA IV features multiplayer, but it's "not a MMO," according to Rockstar's creative vice president Dan Houser. No other information has be given about online features. - It is possible to surf the Internet in GTA4 via Internet cafés. You will have over 150 fake websites to view. - The camera angle behind the car is closer than it has been in previous GTAs. This allows you to see more detail on the cars, and more of the vertical of the city. - In GTA IV, you will gain a police wanted level for any crime that you commit, providing there are witnesses present. The police can only chase you if they know where you are, and they need to see you to know where you are. If you escape the search area marked on the radar without being spotted, your wanted level will disappear. - In terms of scale, GTA IV is about the same size as GTA: San Andreas, but the map size is considerably smaller. This is mainly due to the fact there is no desert or countryside in Liberty City. Liberty City in GTA4 is the biggest city R* have ever created. - Every street in Liberty City contains a street sign with a name on it. - It is possible to do more than one mission at a time. For example, some missions take place over several days and may involve waiting for phone calls or attending interviews, and you are free to carry out other business during the waiting period. - The story can be told in a number of different ways. Rockstar are trying to give people greater freedom and sense of control over their destiny. You now have a lot more choice in what you want to do. - The Liberty City map was shown briefly during the demo. Kikizo describe it as containing a large island in the middle (Algonquin) with a similarly sized island to the left (Alderney) and two islands to the right - a small one (Bohan) up north with Broker and Dukes underneath. - Liberty City will contain a subway system, which Niko is able to use. The system covers - at the very least - Broker and Algonquin, but we aren't sure about the other areas yet. - A speedboat journey around (approximately) half of Algonquin lasted 5 real-world minutes. - In terms of camera views, all the traditional views are still there, and there will now also be a dashboard view. - During the demo, they passed a restaurant called "Poop Deck," where they met with Francis McGreary. Other places mentioned are Oneida Avenue, 99 Long Road (Broker), a bar called Perestroika, South Parkway, Franklyn Street Westbank, and Albannay. - Three missions were previewed during the demonstration. The first one was "Search and Delete," followed by "Deconstruction for Beginners" and then "Truck Hustle". A new character called Playboy X is introduced by Elizabeta (a mutual friend) during the second mission. Playboy X lives in a mansion, and eventually provides missions for Niko. A second character called Dwayne Ford is introduced, who just got out of prison. He taught Playboy X "everything he knows," apparently. In the third mission, two characters called Ray and Bell are introduced. They are from the mafia, and are trying to help Niko find someone, but want some favors done in return. - The character Brucie is introduced to Niko by his cousin Roman. Brucie runs a garage just around the corner from Roman's taxi depot in Broker. - Characters often look different each time you see them instead of perpetually wearing the same clothes like in previous GTAs. - The red and blue search radius on the radar is centered around the point where the crime was committed, and your last known whereabouts. - Every police car in Liberty City has an on-board computer, on which you can access the police database files for anybody who's got a criminal record, or any other details that the police are aware of. - You can smash your own car window to enable you to shoot from it; you can free-aim outside of your window using the right analogue. - Liberty City has one airport, based on JFK, called Francis International Airport (yes, it's the same name given to the airport in GTA3). It is located in on the East of the city. - Progress is automatically saved after completing a mission. There are also safe houses dotted around the city, which you can save at any time. - In this demo, the cell network is called Badger, whereas in the last demo it was called Whiz. - Building and maintaining relationships with characters is important. During the preview, Jacob comes to meet you rather than vice versa. This is only possible once your friendship with Jacob has developed to a certain stage. Relationships can be damaged if you (for example) fail to turn up for meetings, or snub the character too many times. Maintaining good relationships with characters provides benefits. - Pool, eating, darts, drinking and bowling are just some of the activities you can do with your friends to maintain relationships. The cellphone is used to access these activities via a menu. If you go for a drink and drink too much, Niko will get drunk. When this happens, the radar reads "You are drunk. Your vision is blurred." and the camera begins to shake, which makes driving difficult. - The game clock is no longer one minute = one hour. It is now two minutes = one hour. So days now last longer. - Niko receives phone calls from people throughout the game. If someone really wants to get in touch with you about an important issue, they will keep on phoning. - The new targeting system was described. There are eight purple segments in the target circle that make up someones health, which you get when you're locked on - during free aiming you don't get the indicator. - Every car will have a GPS system in the car. However the more Upscale cars will contain voices. Their will be many voices for the Upscale cars. Voice you get will depend on where the car was made. They will tell you went to turn left or right. - The cellphone can be used to listen to radio stations, so now you can listen to music at any time - The GTA 4 weather system does not feature seasons, and there is no snow, that we know of. - RockStar has confirmed that their will be more than one way to complete a mission. - The game has now essentially been completed. Rockstar are just polishing the game and dealing with bugs, glitches and minor things. - RockStar Games has confirmed that GTA IV will be released worldwide on both PS3 and Xbox 360 on April 29th, 2008.