Kotaku
You may have already played your first multiplayer game in Grand Theft Auto IV now that the game is widely available. But if you haven't, choosing to spend your "sick day" or all-nighter grinding away at the single player campaign, you might feel overwhelmed by the variety of multiplayer options that await you. Even if you've only dabbled in Deathmatch, you may want to check out our impressions, based on many, many hours of online hands-on time to see what you should play next and what you should skip.
Remember, GTA IV multi is all about making the most money, not necessarily the most kills. If you're going it alone, wasting your peers in Deathmatch may be all you need. But if you've got a reliable crew, you're going to want to know which mode suits you best.
With fifteen multiplayer game types, three of which are for co-op freaks, there's a lot to absorb. If you're looking to grab some cash to deck out your online avatar, check out our impressions of GTA IV multiplayer after the jump.
DEATHMATCH (2-16 Players)
Description: Kill the other players as many times as you can. The player with the most cash when the game ends wins. Remember to graciously loot the cash dropped by dead players.
Impressions: GTA IV's meat and potatoes deathmatch mode is probably your best introduction to the online component. It's fairly stock stuff, but the allure of carjacking an SUV, then crumpling some chump in Nebraska with the front end is hard to resist. Having the option to feature select weapons—say rocket launchers only—or limit them to classes adds welcome variety. We'd highly recommend setting your Deathmatch games to have "blips" turned off for a better experience. Also, turn your headset off, as this is the mode that seems to be packed with the most potty-mouthed douchebags.
Best For: Noobs. And those looking to make money out of making corpses out of noobs. Play it first!
MAFIYA WORK (2-16 Players)
Description: Doing the Mafiya's orders is a cut-throat business. Complete contracts before the competition does and get the rewards. The player with the most cash at the end wins.
Impressions: Probably the mode that's most "true" to the GTA single player experience, as you'll be competing against the clock and other players to get the job done. This is frantic stuff, as you'll race to checkpoints to deliver contraband or take out roving biker gangs to please the Mafiya. Tense!
Best For: Short attention spans and multitaskers.
CAR JACK CITY (4-16 Players)
Description: Steal whatever car the boss wants. Pay will depend on the condition of the car, unless it's stuffed with drugs. Whoever makes the most money wins. It's America, for beginners. Vehicles are represented by blue markers on the radar and the drop off points as yellow markers.
Impressions: A more focused version of Mafiya Work with a twist, as you'll have to strategically plan your car thievery. Is it worth it to hoof it to the "safe" car heist that everyone else is ignoring or take down whomever is going for the car with the drugs? Driving skills help, as you'll score more cash for cars in better condition.
Best For: Fast drivers who know the streets of Liberty City.
RACE (2-16 Players)
Description: Race to the finish, passing through each checkpoint in order. Hold Y to respawn your vehicle on the last checkpoint passed.
Impressions: Choose from super cars, muscle cars, vans, service, trucks, helicopters and more as you race through a set track on one of Liberty City's islands. We stand by our claim in our GTA IV review, in that the game's racing engine stands on its own. However, we definitely think you'll have more fun playing GTA Race, in which weapons are a factor. Helicopter and boat races add welcome variety, but they're not the main draw here—super cars are!
Best For: Improving your driving skills.
GTA RACE (2-16 Players)
Description: Race and fight your way through the checkpoints in order and then hit the finish. You can only hold one drive-by weapon at a time, hold X to drop your currently selected weapon when in a vehicle.
Impressions: Sexy vehicular combat that's even fun if you're in last place. Why? Just get to a rocket launcher, get out of your car and grief the other players. Muahahaha! Rockstar's take on Mario Kart and WipeOut, the very reason why guns plus cars is such a good idea.
Best For: A quick, get in, get out adrenaline rush. Also good for professional pains in the ass.
TEAM DEATHMATCH (3-16 Players)
Description: Take the other crew down. The crew with the most cash at the end wins. Remember to loot the cash dropped by deceased players. That's the way to get ahead.
Impressions: Not as frenzied (or fun) as lone wolf Deathmatch. Still, if you're looking for a quick way to cash up and have some trusted Team Deathmatch buddies, you can't really go wrong here.
Best For: Power leveling your pals and perfecting your head shots.
TEAM MAFIYA WORK (3-16 Players)
Description: You're a member of a crew doing contract work for the Mafiya. Complete contracts before the competition does and get the rewards. The crew with the most cash at the end wins.
Impressions: One of the more strategic online game types and one that requires a solid posse with reliable wheelmen. Having a dedicated driver, a couple sharpshooters and one player working to set up and maintain waypoints, as well as analyzing the Liberty City map, will do wonders for you.
Best For: Experienced players looking for a post-100% game completion thrill. Play it for forever!
TEAM CAR JACK CITY (4-16 Players)
Description: Your crew has to get hold of whatever cars the boss wants. Pay will depend on the condition of the car, unless it's stuffed with drugs. Whichever crew makes the most money wins. Simple. Vehicles are represented by blue markers on the radar and the drop off points as yellow markers.
Impressions: Like Team Mafiya Work, a good crew can make Team Car Jack City, just as a bad one can break it. Strategy is key here, with accomplished car thieves complemented well by a couple buddies hounding your opponents while they're en route to their own pick ups.
Best For: Experienced drivers and folks who don't mind riding in the backseat.
COPS 'N' CROOKS (4-16 Players)
Description: The crooks need to look out for each other while they escape. The cops have got to take the crew down. There are no second chances, so make your first one count.
Impressions: Almost two modes in one, as All For One follows the assassination game type, in which one player is the target and One For All makes it every man for himself. You'll switch sides after the first round is over, so be ready to hunt or be hunted.
Best For: Sharpshooters looking for some rapid fire variety.
TURF WAR (4-16 Players)
Description: Turf generates cash for a crew while they have control of it. So get control of it. Take some turf by occupying it for a period. The more members of your crew on that patch of turf, the quicker you will gain control. If the rival gang is near a patch of turf, you can't take control.
Impressions: Capture point style gameplay meats Team Deathmatch as you fight for control of one of the boroughs. Turf War can bog down if you're on guard dog duty, but when a full complement of Russians come after the Jamaican safehouse you're watching over, you'll know what pain is. Constant communication is key.
Best For: Those looking for a more low-key team based mode.
DEAL BREAKER (2-4 Players)
Description: A major deal is going down. Head over there with your crew and rip both parties off. Get hold of the merchandise and get out of there. No one can know that Kenny Petrovic was behind this, so get rid of all witnesses.
Impressions: An oddly set up co-op mission in which you must climb to the top of a multi-story structure, recover some drugs, then beat feet downtown after the leftover scum. Some randomness will probably add to the replay value, but after running through Deal Breaker on hard and not working up much of a sweat, you may never play it again. Still, the money's good.
Best For: Grabbin' loot.
BOMB DA BASE II (2-4 Players)
Description: A rival export business has a ship sitting in the docks waiting to be loaded. You must steal the explosives gain access to the ship and plant two bombs, one on the bridge, the other in the hold. Make sure you're not on the ship when she blows. Those are Mr. Petrovic's orders.
Impressions: Like Deal Breaker, it's GTA IV doing four-player co-op. You'll play on a level that you might not see in the single-player campaign, depending on your ending, so be warned that it's potentially spoiler-esque. You may only feel the need to play through it twice, despite its thrilling carjacking, helicopter piloting and heavy gun play.
Best For: Showing off your 'copter and sniper rifle skills. Play it last!
HANGMAN'S NOOSE (2-4 Players)
Description: The authorities have surrounded Francis International to take down Kenny Petrovic. Escape with him and the rest of your crew before the NOOSE tightens. You'll need to get some transport first.
Impressions: Fight your way through a sea of SWAT... err, NOOSE officers. You only have a handful of lives and the NOOSE won't stop, so you better have a handle on gunplay and you better find cover. Think Cops 'n' Crooks but with much higher stakes.
Best For: Four damn good cop-killers.
FREE MODE (2-16 Players)
Description: Kick back. Liberty City is your playground, only your playmates ain't so nice. Have fun out there.
Impressions: If you just want to mess around, make your own rules—Make a six-star wanted level a group effort! Group stunt jumps!—this is the mode for you. If you're really in the mood for some GTA improv, Free Mode (and maxed out private slots) can keep you busy for hours. Makes you pray for a saved film feature.
Best For: Anyone and everyone. Play it for forever! And beyond!
For more hands on impressions of GTA IV's multiplayer, check out Crecente's in-depth hands-on. Be warned, some spoilers abound.
Comments
Nice. Just finished my first round of Team Deathmatch.
Fun stuff. :)
I convinced my roommate to get a second copy for his 360 last night. Gonna just screw around in free mode when we get off work. Would have been better with splitscreen though :p
I'd love to play online, but unfortunately all I've been getting so far is 'Cannot connect to game provider, please try again later.' (PS3)
Anyone else getting this?
I was always the perfect game for MP and it was sad that R* gave up on it after GTA". Had some fun times with Multi Thef Auto on the PC and its great to see this well realized on GTAIV. The best is yet to come, tough... im hoping for a 32 or 64* MP version for the PC a few months into the future...
*oh, let me dream: 128 players!
@Tyber_Zann:
No, we're on LIVE :P
@Tyber_Zann: I haven't tried myself but i hear a lot of people are getting this error. They better jump on it because this being such a big title, a little fuck up like this can be pretty bad and the they're the trolls who jump on this like rat on cheese.
@Tyber_Zann: I am also, it was working fine last night.
@Tyber_Zann: GTA online is down on PSN right now. It's all over the US Playstation boards.
Also, I need to fill up my friends list to get in on some of this FREE MODE stuff once it's back up.
@Tyber_Zann: I attecipated such a thing, Tyber. Don't worry, it's (sadly) quite common among PS3 players. The PSN structure for bandwith loads is much inferior to Live! and even Live! had to be upgraded to prevent another xmas like outage. You will need to be patient, I guess... ill just stay away from the game as a whole, for now...
There are just too many modes, and it just seems saturated.
Also, I've never been the host, but in ranked games; you can change the limit on money/time/rounds yes?.
I want to get some 30 minute session per round instead of loading every 8-10 minutes. I don't know why the hosts would never max the limits in multiplayer setting.
Need to convince my cousin to get the game so we can play Free Mode.
@Tyber_Zann: I can't comment as to the validity of this article (I don't have the PS3 version), but it says all of GTA4 multiplayer on the PS3 is down:
[www.joystiq.com]
@Tyber_Zann: yup, i got that after I got my phone in the game. Before that it worked.
GTAIV really crept up on me... it's release day and just now I'm feel like I'm getting the full brunt of the hype. These modes sound too kick-ass to be true.
Too bad baby RRODed last week. Fucker...
@Shiryu: Damn, oh well. Dare I say it, but this is one of those rare occasions that I'd rather have a 360 and pay for its online service.
The single player is keeping me quite occupied, though. That Euphoria engine never ceases to amaze me when poor pedestrians roll over my car (or hang onto the car door for dear life)!
Wait, there's different endings? I really hope there's a spoiler-free guide on how to get them... *gulp*
*is an ending-collection whore*
@Tyber_Zann: Wow your making me jealous I cant even play till I'm off work. Does Euphoria actually work that well? I'm such a whore for dynamic animation, it's definitely the future.
I played some single player Deathmatch last night. The rockets are freaking awesome! Remember kids, always aim at their feet!
I found the lack of a true lobby in multiplayer to be a major, MAJOR pain in the ass. I seriously cannot believe they didn't put a lobby similar to Halo into the interface.
A question for my fellow Kotakuites: Is there a way to force even teams when setting up a game? Because last night the world was full of pricks and most games were 12 on 4.
@Tyber_Zann:Well, I don't have the game, but I bet things will clear up soon on PSN soon, so your doing the right thing. Single player for the time being;)
@liquid_kore: Sure does. I mean, to truly nitpick, it could always be better, but for a groundbreaking new tech feature, it works amazingly well.
I'm usually a cold-hearted killer in most games, but with Euphoria, I sometimes feel sick when I actually hit a person with the car or shoot them. It definitely adds realism, that's for sure.
Also, try bailing out of a fast vehicle, and make sure you land into oncoming traffic. Hilarity ensues. I love to make Euphoria work in overdrive :D
@Shiryu: Technically this isn't the fault of the PSN as GTAIV on the PS3 is using gamefly servers, however, Sony has yet to provide a unified matchmaking service ala Live, so vicariously I guess this is the PSN's fault, so forget I said anything at all. 360 version here so no worries.
@liquid_kore: I can definately say Euphoria is pretty damn slick. I played the game briefly after I picked it up this morning. Most memorable animation experience is this:
I tried carjacking some dude with a nice Stallion. He got aggro and then drug me out of the car. After getting beat down for a bit (I'm still rusty with hand-to-hand) I jumped back in his car and took off. Well, he was still chasing me and tried to grab the door as I sped off. He was holding onto the door handle for a good half a block, as I drug his ass all over the street. I finally pulled a handbrake U-turn and watched him go flying and wrap around an expressway support. Very awesome.
On topic: I can't wait to try out the multiplayer. I hope I can meet some people I can play against regularly, as most of the modes don't sound appealing to me as pick-up games.
@liquid_kore: Ya it does the first time i ran over a pedestrian he got up tried to open my door and i had to drag him around and fish tail to get the bastard to let go, when he did he realistically rolled along the pavement, it is pretty sweet i must admit
@rotcepsurt: Gamespy. Now I just feel retarted (retarded).
Oh man nice stuff! Thanks for the rundown, seriously looking foward to some MP mayhem!
I can't help but be compelled to ask this, are there bots?
About the only other question I can muster is, will there be future modes involving escaping from zombies/tripod aliens/Godzilla?
@Tyber_Zann: @PissedPS3Fan: @smuckersisgood: Awesome to hear! I thought it might have just been tacked, but those stories are seriously making me crave this game. Only one hour to go! I should have called in sick but I already did that for the MGS beta ;)
Agreed! Nice run down of the modes.
I have an odd hunch that I am going to end up being the driver in most of the team based games with my friends.
@Tyber_Zann:
same here... it's annoying
@Tyber_Zann: Well, I can't say it's only the PS3 whose online is letting people down. Don't know about anyone else, but it's taking me forever to get onto a game of Halo 3 because of all the lucky bastards who are playing GTA IV right now.
Looks like there is quite a bit of fun to be had.
The online for me so far, for the objective game types have been very disorganized. No one likes to follow what to do and it just gives me a headache.
The first thing i did when i got the game was called up my friend and we got online in free mode and went on a rampage. Pretty awesome.
Live better be up and running still when I get home from work.
A bunch of us Kotakuites have been playing on 360. It is without a doubt, AWESOME.
I can't wait to meet up with more of you in team deathmatch.
How does it compare to Saints Row? Some of the features sound pretty similar..
Whats wrong with Nebraska?
@Tyber_Zann: see what you get for your over priced console with teh bluways?..a cheap network.
Sounds good, i'm more of a driver/pilot on GTAs than a shooter so my typical online role shall be interesting
[www.gamepolitics.com]
OMG...
Really hate the driving everything else is awwesome.
UGH I wish i could connect to Xbox live =( I connect it all correctly but it still doesn't work! single player mode will just have to do
Multiplayer is abit of letdown as far as I can see.
No lobby.
I've only connected to two deatmatchs, and none of the other games types, keeps saying server not found and then puts me back into single player mode only for me to have to go through the loading nonsense all over again. Dumb move, really dumb.
Oh and for some reason in multiplayer mode my pad keeps disconnecting.
Frankly the whole thing is a mess. And this is on the 360.
You get used to a system as smooth as Call of Duty 4 or Halo 3 and then people turn around and say this is awesome? It's pathetic.
In fact for a multiplayer setup it's the worse on the whole machine. Great fun when it works but it rarely does.
On and what's with the tiny "white" dot that you can barely see to aim with in multiplayer. I mean what the hell Rockstar.
Not to mention I can't seem to find any obvious means to track my multiplayer stats either.
Sounds awesome. It makes waiting until the weekend to pick up the game especially hard.
Hmmm, if this game is more deep then previous gta games wich just seamed like sterotype racist heaven i may actualy get it, but if i end up wasting my money agian to hear nigga 5000 times, im going to go postal on rockstar
@D Mitsuki:
Ummm, San Andreas wasn't really all that racist. Thats how black/latino/asian gangsters act and talk. Black kids at my school call eachother niggers all the time.
@Antiflow: The multiplayer stats are on the Rockstar Social Club as far as I'm aware.
Well most Black people aren't in America, people tend to forget that...It's generally them who get most annoyed by it.
@Nosignalinput:
Yeah I've just linked upto it. Unfortunately it says coming soon over the multiplayer stats thingy.
played the multiplayer first for 7 hours last night...no complaints here...game froze once during the seven hour span and has actually frozen 3 or 4 times 2day during a 5 hour span of playin through the single player story...doesnt bother me though...the multiplayer lobby is sweet if you actually have friends...we cant get enough of it...too bad the servers are down at the moment...had to crank up the brightness feature on my tv b/c finding things can be brutal at night...great game though...this should hold me over for quite some time...
I'm just happy my copy works without a hitch. I probably won't be hitting up any multiplayer for a week or two. Plus I'm still very into CoD4 - I know, most people have moved on.
I have to laugh. When Halo 3 came out and broke XBOX LIVE, all of the PS3 fanboys were like "Ha ha, you got ripped off, you should get a PS3 with it's FREE multiplayer", and then the first truly AAA title gets released for both systems, and look what happens. You get what you pay for, too bad multiplayer wasn't part of the $600 price tag!