Kotaku
As we approach the launch of Grand Theft Auto IV, we've learned more and more about the game, but the incremental updates have made it tougher and tougher to piece the whole thing together. So we've created a GTA IV compendium to get you up to speed on the game before its release. Because the last thing you want to be caught saying to the cashier is, "Wait, so this game has multiplayer??"
Story
You play Niko Bellic, an Eastern European who has been lured to the US by his cousin Roman who claimed to be wildly successful here. Roman lied. He just runs a small taxi company and needs tough guy Niko to help him in his fight against debt collectors and people who he's generally rubbed the wrong way.
City
Liberty City, modeled after New York, is actually smaller than San Andreas from GTA III. Broken into 4 districts, players will enjoy pseudo-areas Broker (Brooklyn), Dukes (Queens), Bohan (Bronx) , Algonquin (Manhattan), and Alderney (New Jersey).
Single Player
You can change Niko's clothes, but you can't change Niko. GTA IV will not allow huge character customization in this mode. That's for multiplayer. But it isn't so bad playing Niko. He's a modern man who takes the occasional cab, uses the internet to read more about his targeted hits, and knows to hide in cover during firefights while shooting with far better (over the shoulder) mechanics than his predecessors.
Rockstar has claimed gameplay as long as 100 hours. A play-through by Xbox World 360 was completed in 25 hours without sidequests, and estimated to run an average player around 40 hours for the main campaign and another 25 for sidequests (that's 65 hours total). Every GTA IV day is 48 minutes of real time. That means a 40 hour game will take roughly 133 days of game time, or a little over 4 months.
Multiplayer
Here's all the multiplayer...that we know about. Pull out your trusty cellphone and dial up the fun (but keep that party to 16 people, m'kay?).
Race
•Players race from one point to another with cars, boats and helicopters
•In Free Race mode, it's a start to finish race. In Canonball Run mode, players must hit checkpoints along the way
GTA Race
• It's Race mode with weapons that spawn along the way. Plus you traverse on foot.
• A tutorial mode is included.
Team Deathmatch
• Two to eight teams battle. As opposing teams are taken out, the winning team takes their cash.
Hangman's NOOSE
• Four players attempt to escort crime boss while avoiding SWAT team attack. Online only.
Team Mafiya Work
• Two to eight teams take separate contracts like stealing cars and escorting wanted men. The team who completes the most contracts in a certain time wins. Teams can also attack other teams.
Team Car Jack City
• Two to eight teams steal marked cars that spawn on the map. Whichever team delivers the most to the chop shop (in the best condition, or containing drug bonuses) wins the most cash and wins the game.
Turf War
• Two teams capture control points (or "bases") in a game very similar to Team Fortress 2. Controlling points equals cash. Cash equals winning.
Cops 'n Crooks
• Two teams only. One team are crooks who need to escort their boss safely. One team are cops who must bust the boss.
• All for One mode works as described above. One for All mode ditches the boss, and the crooks must escape with no respawning.
Co-op Campaign
• Our own Brian Crecente described it only as a "short co-op campaign," not a full co-op game ala Crackdown.
Other Interesting Multiplayer Tidbits:
• Characters can level up, peaking at level 10.
• All games are played on same Liberty City map.
• Liberty City map is fully explorable in all game modes.
Rockstar Social Club
Rockstar has announced a website called the Rockstar Social Club, and the first game it supports will be GTA IV. Among plenty of other services, the club will track the first player to complete 100% of the game and the fastest single-player participants over time.
GTA IV Music and Amazon
If you like any of the 200 songs that play in the game and have signed up at the Rockstar Social Club, just text message a special code through your in-game cellphone. Over time, a playlist will be built from the selected tracks which can be purchased DRM-free through Amazon for about $2 a pop.
FAQ
What's the deal with downloadable content?
Extra "episodes" will be exclusive to the Xbox 360. Sony has said that PlayStation 3 owners will get some type of DLC.
What's better about GTA IV?
• No load screens, ever (UPDATE: Stephen Totilo reports that the game indeed has sporadic, brief loads. However, there are no actual loading screens. Word fun.)
• Autosaving
• Liberty City will remember the damage you've caused.
• Euphoria engine brings AI physics to falling, getting hit, etc.
• Every street is named
• GPS support
• Targeting no longer sucks.
What vehicles will the game feature?
Cars, motorcycles, boats and helicopters. No planes.
Will there be storyline co-op?
As we said above, yes, but it won't be nearly the complete game.
What's in GTA IV Special Edition?
As explained by Rockstar:
• A customized Grand Theft Auto IV metal safety deposit box with keys.
• The Art of Grand Theft Auto IV. This 68 page book contains never-before-seen production artwork from Grand Theft Auto IV.
• The Music of Grand Theft Auto IV. This CD features select new material from top artists that can only be found on this release.
• An exclusive Rockstar keychain for the safety deposit box keys.
• A limited edition Rockstar duffel bag with vibrant orange lining.
How much will Special Edition cost me?
$89.99
Well I'm not paying no $89.99.
Then you ain't getting no GTA IV Special Edition.
What was that reference from?
Caddyshack.
We'll try to keep this page updated with the latest news, so be sure to bookmark it and come back every now and again.
Be sure to also check out:
GTA4 Hands-On: The World is Yours
GTA IV: Reinventing a World
Sources other than Kotaku: [Official GTA Site] [MTV Multiplayer] [Wikipedia] [GTAIV.net]
Comments
Thanks, this really helps
Awesome round up, Mark. More excited than ever now, I am :D
good post. i remembered most of it, but it's not a bad thing to get a refresher two weeks away.
also, nice ending. cheers to that.
Helpful. But anybody up to date with Reading Kotaku will know this! Or just about any other Video game blog. Or just any GTA Fan.
Nice Compedium &FAQ, though. (Post it on GameFaqs to make people think you're an overly eager fan.)
Do you know if the PS3 version has custom soundtracks?
Thanks. That reference would have bugged me all day. Caddyshack. I'll remember that. Now... What is this grand theft auto game I've been hearing about? Some indie game?
Hmm, I really wanted more area to the game than SA. I can understand the density would be higher, but I kind of liked the city/outlier areas contrast of SA.
I'm still tempted to buy a PS3 for this though, definitely.
Nice roundup of all we know there. Some of it was new to me. Really looking forward to the game now.
Thanks Mark.
I I bookmarked it!!!
2 MORE WEEKS!
I guess I ain't getting no GTAIV Special Edition.
Good rundown. Still not convinced the game will give me anything to be interested in without full Crackdown/Saints Row-style co-op, but maybe I might give it a look eventually. Employee discounts help, I suppose.
Yea, great FAQ. Does anyone know if GTAIV supports DS3 for the PS3?
I really can't wait!! :)
Awesome compilation. Thanks to Kotaku, always there to make the anticipation worst.
Excellent compendium. I don't know that there is really more that can be added to any story about Grand Theft Auto IV in terms of comments except to merely say that being excited about this game and the prospects of playing this with others is an understatement.
All I need to know is, XBox 360 or PS3? (I know about the 360 content - but if the PS3 version looks better or plays better...who knows?)
15 days...
I'm gonna go into a GTA coma when I get this game. I will be dead to the outside world.
I've been dying for a new GTA ever since the greatness that was San Andreas. It's hard to believe it's only a few short weeks away.
@Noks415:
I'm pretty sure it does, yeah, although Rockstar hasn't officially stated it yet.
Meh, I'm so sure that this is going to be worth every penny that I have no interest in reading stuff like this. It's going to be awesome, you know it, I know it. Don't need any more information.
Nice, I sent a bunch of messages to my friends on XBL with info about the Multiplayer.
Even tho it may not be the best MP game ever, it'll still be fun to try.
It's like August 29th is prom Night, and we're all getting our cherries popped.
Oh my god I'm so hyped for this game, and I don't even OWN a PS3, nor a 360. Damit.
I am getting it for PS3 regardless of DLC or custom soundtracks, mainly because I've always played this series on PlayStation, minus the first one which I bought on PC. Call me a fanboy if you will, but it's just legacy really. I just hope that the PS3 version will run as well as the 360 version. *keeps fingers crossed*
Oh, and as for my reasoning on why I'd abandon extra content and features for the system of preference? Well seeing as that I always play GTA like it's a religion, I know that the content already in the retail game will be sufficient enough to keep me going for years. Yes, that's right, I said years. And the custom soundtracks thing would be cool, but I always loved the radio stations in GTA and I don't expect this to be any different. If I do happen to get bored of them, I will just load up music into my computer and do it up that way. I'm one of those cats that's got a Mac with Front Row, and a remote, so if I need to pause it, it's just a button away.
Gonna be really fun, to say the least.
Also to add a little more information, I've read that you can ask a prostitute for three levels of "service".
Okay, so that's really something not that important, but hey, they sure upgraded that to a fair degree.
Yeah, and some DualShock 3 info would be nice....
@Spoony Bard: From what I have read both versions are Identical. The only real difference is the DLC. The multiplayer is becoming a major selling point for me so I guess whichever system has most of your friends on it, that should do it.
I see that Hangman's Noose is listed as "online only". Are there restrictions on any other multiplayer mode? I'm mostly interested in making sure that the co-op campaign mode will be available online and not just local.
yes, the ps3 version will get GTA DLC gamer pictures...
nice.
i on the other hand, AM paying for the Special Edition.
i wanted the art book especially..
Any word on if there will be cheat codes like there was in San Andreas? After beating SA it was fun to have god mode, weapon packs, etc. Sure would be nice to have them in IV.
I have to agree with most everyone here. The coverage of this game has been fantastic. I probably wasn't even going to rent this game, but now I am actually going to buy this game now.
hype for this game building...
My mind = blown
"40 hours for the main campaign and another 25 for sidequests (that's 64 hours total)" Do we lose an hour for Daylight savings?
@joelface: Gotta get the special edition! I mainly want the lockbox for storing...things.....
I haven't seen this much hype on kotaku since Halo 3.. At least I think this hype will be well deserved.
@PokeSmot: Yeah, thats the only worry for me too.
@Cruithne:
August? dont know 'bout you but im gettin mine popped in April
Man, you guys are killing me with all these GTA articles. The anticipation is killing me.
I'd make an awesome column and put under it: Lazlow is in the game.
@jesp3r: haha, I hear ya man. I'll probably (or hopefully) be playing it at a friends house if all goes well
now all i need to do is figure out how I can justify not going to work that whole week.
@PokeSmot: I don't think there's anything local/offline. I'm pretty sure everything multiplayer is online-based.
But about GTAIV, yeah, I've never been that huge on GTA. I definitely liked them enough, and thought they were really fun games, but they've never really been "OMG AMAZING!" to me.
GTAIV is, for far too many reasons to list.
Correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't GTA4 originally a PS3 exclusive? Which would mean it was primarily developed on the PS3 right? That would mean that there's as good as chance as any that the two versions of the game run at the same quality no?
However, I do recall reading that the reason it was originally pushed back was because the PS3 version wasn't up to snuff so... let's just hope those extra six months or so have sorted out whatever problems there may have been originally.
Anyway, I'm pretty excited about this now. San Andreas left a bad taste in my mouth (the Boyz n the Hood theme was too obvious/overused these days and I didn't like the RPG mechanics nor the city it was set in) but this looks like a true return to form (ie Liberty City).
I hope that the next version they bring the game back to London. I loved GTA London and would love to see it in the GTA4 engine.
@Cruithne: so long as we're on Caddyshack:
"Great news everyone, we're all gonna get laid!"
schweeet
@PlayingKarrde: Not developed first for PS3, but GTA was always a PS2 game, and I'm sure the PS3 version will be identical to the 360 version. And that both will be utterly spectacular.
That's a nice way to round up all the info. I can't explain how excited I am for this game.
Obvious question of the decade: is there cheats in IV? I've read alot of info on it & that's the one thing I've yet to see any refrence of (either yes or no)...
I'm probably going to skip the special edition, seeing as I have too much junk lying around anyway. That said, I can never say no to free pre-order schwag if stores are offering! :)
I've never spent more than 100 hours on a single playthrough of any game, and I don't think GTA IV will change that. But with so much content packed in, I might come close.
R* has said the versions will be identical expect for some slight graphical stuff and the 360's dlc.
I still would like to see in-game footage before the game comes out.
Epic!
Also if you buy the Special Edition from Amazin.com you get a sweet ass Vanity Liberty City Lisence Plate!!! Word!
Nice compilation to keep us up to date and my only compliant would be the lack of a section for the radio stations since a lot of people seem to like them. Also anyone know if the sound track included with the special edition will be DRM free to since I don't remember hearing anything.
Along with what Mr.sithNinja said not only do we seem to lose an hour in the math for total game play time, but from what i can tell a 40 hour game will be 50 in game days...not quite 133 but w,e.
Other than that though great article I haven't been able to keep up with the flood of info coming in for GTA IV so this was the perfect read to catch up
Can't wait to play, but I probably won't pick it up til after the MGO beta ends
sweet. im still getting the ps3 version but even without DLC this game will rock