Two weeks ago, we reported that the Official PlayStation Magazine will feature an exclusive GTA IV preview with new shots and info in their upcoming issue.
Today that issue has reached the homes of a few lucky subscribers in the UK, who were kind enough to share with us the contents of the preview, containing an interview with Dan Houser and a few new screenshots. For your convenience, we have summarized it in an easy-to-read bulleted-list:
- The main character, Niko Bellic, is in his mid-thirties “on the run from a dark past”. He’s not customizable as it was possible in GTA: San Andreas, but you’ll be able to style him with different outfits. The reason for this is that after they got Niko’s physics and look “dead right”, it was difficult implementing features that will allow the customization of his body.
- The borough, Staten Island, was not added to the game because the team decided that it would not be a fun location to play in.
- Missions are more realistic, longer, varied, and will have multiple possible outcomes.
- R* is still deciding whether bridges will be used to cordon off certain areas. Dan states that it’s not a block for block recreation.
- This time round they’re trying to make Liberty City feel more fluid, and there not being any “dead spots” or “irrelevant space” as you drive through it.
- There’s no more loading screens when crossing islands or entering interiors; certain interiors are see-thru and you can move through them seamlessly.
- The mob will be featured in GTA IV, just not as lead characters.
- “Virtually none” of the characters from the previous games are returning, and a lot of them are dead anyway according to Dan.
- More side-activities are promised, and pedestrians and traffic flow is different depending on the time of day.
- Pedestrians are a lot more intelligent, realistic and diverse, using mobile phones, cash machines, eating snacks, reading news papers and interacting with each other through laughter, threatening remarks etc.
- Your mobile phone can be used to set up deals or arranging ambushes – you can call the shots. More on this promised later.
- Driving and shooting is more organic, fluid, and precise.
- Despite earlier rumors, the game isn’t trying to be photorealistic, but things such as artificial intelligence and the behaviors of pedestrians reacting to things such as a weapon being pulled out in front of them has been worked on a lot.
- As stated before, there isn’t any planes, but players will be able to pilot helicopters. The reason being that there is not enough room for flying, and crossing the map will be too fast this way. One airport is confirmed to be in the game.
- The goal of GTA IV is to make the city look more populated than anything else people have seen before in a game like this.
- Houser states that no-one has attempted to recreate a location of this size, and with so much detail, ever before.
- The use of Sony’s SIXAXIS controller for the PlayStation 3 has not yet been decided on.
- As expected, there’s no more pop-ups of buildings and trees as we’ve seen in the past.
- Work on the game started right after the release of GTA: San Andreas in November 2004.
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