Kotaku
I posted a rather lengthy (too lengthy) write-up of my impressions of Grand Theft Auto IV's multiplayer gaming earlier today. If you're not up for reading through the whole thing, and getting some samples of what the play was like and whether I liked it, you can just hit the jump and read the fact sheet for the modes I played through. Think of it as a GTA multiplayer crib sheet.
If you are up for long reads check out all of our impressions of GTA IV so far:
Hands on With GTA Multiplayer: City of Chaos
GTA4 Hands-On: The World is Yours
Rockstar Experimenting with Episodic Content
GTA IV: Reinventing a World
Grand Theft Auto IV
Grand Theft Auto IV Multiplayer Fact Sheet
Supports up to 16 players in all adversarial modes except co-op, which is a maximum of 4
Players are ranked from 0-10, picking up money in multiplayer increases rank
Options in each mode are dictated by the host - among the options they can change are location of the matches (can be entire city, one borough at a time, or even small sections within the borough), types of weapons available, time of day, weather, use of auto-aim, police presence, NPC presence, and tons more.
GTA Race sees the host choosing the class of automobile, each player can choose a car within that class. Races can include helicopter and boat races as well.
Multiplayer Modes:
Team Deathmatch
Classic deathmatch done Grand Theft Auto style. Go anywhere, do anything: the whole city is yours. 16 players max, teams can be made in any configuration. Weapons on the ground can be configured by the host. Capitalism rules here: the team with the most money in the end is the winner.
GTA Race
Rockstar North's twist on the concept of a race. Host selects vehicle type (each racer selects his or her specific vehicle after that), race, number of laps, and time limit. Despite ordered checkpoints, players can go anywhere in the city at any time. Do you want a straightforward race from start to finish or do you want to create a roadblock and shoot rockets at your fellow racers? The choice is yours - each player does it slightly differently. 16 players max.
Cops N Crooks
2 teams, 2 vastly different goals. The cops can see the crooks on their radar but the the crooks can only see the escape point making this the ultimate cat and mouse situation. For the first time, players can get a chance to be on the other side of the law in a Grand Theft Auto with Cops n' Crooks. A team of "crooks" need to get their boss to safety, as the team of "cops" pulls out every trick in the book to try and stop this from happening. Again, 16 players max.
Hangman's NOOSE
Co-op in Grand theft Auto IV is a 4 person affair. Each mode is a short, story-based mission you must complete with your friends. In Hangman's NOOSE you must get crime boss to an extraction point alive. First, several of Liberty City's finest need to be dealt with and then transport must be secured. Will you take Kenny to safety in an armored car? How about a motorcycle or attack chopper? The choice is all yours.
Comments
I'm so pumped for April 29 (or whenever my copy from Amazon comes in) after reading those previews.
sounds pretty meaty...is this just for the 360 cause i heard theyre cutting back on the mulitplayer for ps3
Todays is April 8, what happened to Flynn's txting mysteries?
nice summary, but your lengthy version was quite nice too =)
I simply cannot wait for this game. If it was even as good as San Andreas, I'd be thrilled. But this is going to be so much much much better.
@lucky_7s: I think both consoles will have the same multiplayer modes, but I'm going 360 with this because Live is much better online than what the PS3 offers and Live will have exclusive episodic downloadable content.
Can't wait!!
@lucky_7s: I don't see why they would...
This just might consume my life. I can't wait for cop n crooks.
WE CAN HAZ SPLITZCREAN?
@lucky_7s: They're not.
*goes to GTA shrine in closet and waits for PC version to be announced while he cries quietly*
@lucky_7s: That really doesn't sound plausible.
Multiplayer was never what sold me on the GTA series, but it's good to hear a strong offering from Rock Star, and co-op perks my interest, the idea of me and a few friends could drop in and blaze away, though the absence of a co-op campaign is a little jarring.
@djbrandon: Second.
Brian, what about the communication? Do we have to push a button ala halo to communicate with our teammates? How does that system work?
@DaPress: cheers for the reply...well im gonna stick with the ps3 as most of my mates getting it, have ps3s...the episodic content for me isn't really a bother, the core contents gonna be enough for me and come june got mgs4 pre-ordered :D
@K-Squad! (Badass Edition):
Probably will take a from 8 to 12 months, till we see it on PC.
Shit, gta 4?? when did that happen?
/pretends he doenst know about it, makes next three weeks easier.
Anyone know if you can do 4 player multi on a LAN? I'm thinking more and more that this game deserves a multiplayer party at my place for launch... but as my skate. launch party showed, not having a LAN option means the party consists of a bunch of people sitting around watching TV while the host swears and throws controllers at the wall because the XboxLive servers are completely borked.
@z0mbi: Agreed. I want LAN support cause nothing beat a LAN party.
Hopefully they'll add a custom game type creator a la Halo 3 in future patches.
Player Customization? Please say yes.
@ibelli: Yeah, four heads, four torsos and four leg sets, if I understand correctly.
Seems like this game will be awesome with or without friends, can't beat that!
@ibelli: Kinda sorta. Looks to sound like a add a head, legs, torso and voila kinda deal.
I wasnt pumped until I remembered that GTA IV will have multiplayer. I mean this is what i have pined for since i first played Vice City. i can see it now: Arranging a makeshift fort of cars and vans in front of an intersection in preparation of an onslaught of enemy players.
APB & Saints Row 2 FTW
crecente, is there free roam? or anything like it?
The hype for GTA IV is crazy. You post a summary of a previous post and it's going to get another 5000+ views, after, what 20000ish for the first?
That's insane.
Of course I have read them both. ;)
Between this an Ninja Gaiden II I'm going to break down and buy a 360. Rockstar cost me £200!
Need. Now.
I have good news! I just snatched the PSN ID "BrianOTooL". I have been on the edge about it for days, reading the uh, write-up pushed me over.
@lucky_7s: no its not only for xbox its for PS3 too..
@Naif: Are you seriously asking that question? Have you been trapped inside that russian doomsday cult cave the last months? To answer your question: of course there is a free roam. And with 16 players as well.
@Krondonian: no buy a PS3!!! xbox is shit!!!
I preordered today because of the lengthy write-up. Would much rather see words with impressions behind them than bullet points.
@Maxilicious: nice knowing ya. on-topic: i honestly can't wait for GTA4.. and i thought San Andreas was perfect (besides the gfx)
I can't wait till that Brown UPS truck shows up!! Cops N' Crooks hell yes!
@Maxilicious:
Congrats, you're ignorant!
This game is shaping up to be incredible. I'm glad I pre-order months ago.
@lucky_7s:
FUD. Pure and simple FUD.
With all this pact to punch- i hope that lag is good enough to play without interruption.
Oh, I can't wait until finals are over and I can come home to some sweet Cops and Crooks action.
@PapaBear434: You in?
I pray this game is filled with lag, poor framerates and/or poor controls.
It'll be the only hope I have of ever leaving my house this summer.
@k!dman: nice knowing ya.
Oh, you're a moderator now too? I thought only the writers and Witzbold held that power, and yet at least five people per story act like they're calling the shots.
Unless you're carrying the hammer or piloting the bomber, stop acting like it.
Or I'll ban you.
my best buy copy better come in on day 1
@Hubert Humphrey Methadone: Just the PS3 version, as reported in an early hands on. But at least 360 gets LIVE =/
Cops and Crooks may make APB obsolete before it is even released.
@DocHolidayVT: That's too bad that it is so limited. Creating your own personal character/miscreant would be a great feature.
Is there split screen? This I need to know.
@Lotharian:
Like I said, apparently just on the PS3 version.
Helicopter races yyyyyyeeeeesssssss.
I really hope they bring back the dual analog helicopter controls from Vice City. I didn't care for the SA button-based scheme, even if you could rotate the camera.
Has Crecente mentioned in any of his hands-on sessions how often the game slows down or gets choppy? I'm 100% a fan of the series and not here to bash at all but one still has to wonder why in so many of the Rockstar released videos we see that happen.
Still placed my special edition pre-order today. I can't wait.
@z0mbi:
wow a lame excuse to be lazy