Preview: Massive Grand Theft Auto IV Blowout! (Page 2 of 2)
The GTA Combat You've Always Wanted
Often criticized for its awkward performance in past games, GTA IV makes some serious strides in its combat interface. Taking subtle cues from games like Gears of War and Rainbow Six Vegas, Niko has a versatile cover system at his disposal. It's a remarkably fluid way to hide behind low walls, couches, and boxes, and Niko will dramatically slide into position if you have a running start. A quick button-tap latches Niko onto a nearby wall. Peering out to the left, you can lock onto an enemy and pull the left trigger to pop out, zoom in a bit further with a click of the right analog stick, and unloaded a burst of Uzi fire. The effect is surprisingly dramatic, with the roaring sound of gunfire given the shooting mechanic a meatier, more substantial feel. There's still one thug left standing, so I took him out with a new blind-fire option. Unlike Gears and Vegas, GTA IV's blind fire mode is actually helpful-the bullet spread is loose, but it's usually enough to safely drop a target.
We played it! Epic action seems to follow Niko everywhere in Liberty City. We're already hopelessly hooked.
GTA IV's combat is far more versatile and realistic than before, lending some of the firefights an almost epic quality. Take the next mission, where I led Niko to a high-rise building to get a bird's-eye view of a construction area. Using the sniper rifle, I made quick work of a few "workers," then headed down to street level to finish off the rest of the crew. The sniping controls will seem familiar to GTA: San Andreas players, but what happened next was far more impressive. On the ground, under fire from the crooked construction workers, I dashed nimbly from cover to cover, cooking grenades, popping foes with shotgun shells, and even taking down a hovering chopper with the newly redesigned rocket launcher. Once the carnage was over, the ground was littered with glowing, color-coded items representing cash, health, and ammo.
Taking it All In
There's nothing like a stroll through Liberty City, and even a quick hour and a half of rummaging through the city was more than enough time to get hooked. There's so much more to the game than I could possibly even attempt to describe here, but rest assured that everything is as you might expect it to be in the evolution of GTA. Next month, you'll see for yourself exactly what we're talking about.
GAMEPRO'S PREDICTION:
Grand Theft Auto IV will be the biggest game of 2008.
1. Huge multiplayer focus. Details are locked up in camp Rockstar, but we suspect multiplayer will be bigger and better than the tacked-on modes found in the PSP games.
2. Downloadable content is already under way. Rockstar's promised DLC for the Xbox 360 will help the game grow through 2008 and beyond. No word on PS3 DLC yet, but we're betting on it.
Like it's predecessors, GTA IV includes a whole host of weapons you can swap out at any time. We played with multiple SMGs, shotguns, and assault rifles, and they each had their own unique weight and feel.
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