Grand Theft Auto IV: Difference between revisions
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'''''Grand Theft Auto IV''''' (also known as '''''GTA IV''''' and '''''GTA 4''''') is an upcoming [[Sandbox (video games)|sandbox-style]] [[action-adventure game|action-adventure]] [[video game]] developed by [[Rockstar North]].<ref>"''Grand Theft Auto IV'': ''GamePro'' is the first to play the biggest game of 2008," ''GamePro'' 235 (April 2008): 50-51.</ref> It will be the ninth title in the [[Grand Theft Auto (series)|''Grand Theft Auto'' series]] and the first in its fourth generation. ''Grand Theft Auto IV'' will be released worldwide on [[29 April]] [[2008]] for both [[PlayStation 3]] and [[Xbox 360]]. Exclusive<ref name="F07B" /> Xbox 360 episodic packs are due for release in August via Xbox Live. <ref name="ReleaseDate">{{cite web| title = Rockstar Games Announces Release Date for Grand Theft Auto IV| date = 2008-01-24| url = http://ir.take2games.com/ReleaseDetail.cfm?ReleaseID=289342| accessdate =2008-01-24 }}</ref> |
'''''Grand Theft Auto IV''''' (also known as '''''GTA IV''''' and '''''GTA 4''''') is an upcoming [[Sandbox (video games)|sandbox-style]] [[action-adventure game|action-adventure]] [[video game]] developed by [[Rockstar North]].<ref>"''Grand Theft Auto IV'': ''GamePro'' is the first to play the biggest game of 2008," ''GamePro'' 235 (April 2008): 50-51.</ref> It will be the ninth title in the [[Grand Theft Auto (series)|''Grand Theft Auto'' series]] and the first in its fourth generation. ''Grand Theft Auto IV'' will be released worldwide on [[29 April]] [[2008]] for both [[PlayStation 3]] and [[Xbox 360]]. A copy of the [[Xbox 360]] version was leaked onto the internet on [[23 April]] [[2008]]. Exclusive<ref name="F07B" /> Xbox 360 episodic packs are due for release in August via Xbox Live. <ref name="ReleaseDate">{{cite web| title = Rockstar Games Announces Release Date for Grand Theft Auto IV| date = 2008-01-24| url = http://ir.take2games.com/ReleaseDetail.cfm?ReleaseID=289342| accessdate =2008-01-24 }}</ref> |
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The game will be set in a re-imagined ''GTA'' universe, with little-to-no continuity with previous games. The setting is a redesigned [[Liberty City (Grand Theft Auto)|Liberty City]], based heavily on [[New York City]], as well as [[New Jersey]]. The game will follow [[Niko Bellic]], an Eastern European who comes to the United States in search of the "[[American Dream]]," only to find his cousin has lied to him about the wealth that would be waiting for him. |
The game will be set in a re-imagined ''GTA'' universe, with little-to-no continuity with previous games. The setting is a redesigned [[Liberty City (Grand Theft Auto)|Liberty City]], based heavily on [[New York City]], as well as [[New Jersey]]. The game will follow [[Niko Bellic]], an Eastern European who comes to the United States in search of the "[[American Dream]]," only to find his cousin has lied to him about the wealth that would be waiting for him. |
Revision as of 09:48, 24 April 2008
Grand Theft Auto IV | |
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File:GTAIV Logo.jpg Grand Theft Auto IV box art | |
Developer(s) | Rockstar North |
Publisher(s) | Rockstar Games |
Series | Grand Theft Auto |
Engine | RAGE[1] |
Platform(s) | PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 |
Genre(s) | Action |
Mode(s) | Single player, Multiplayer |
Grand Theft Auto IV (also known as GTA IV and GTA 4) is an upcoming sandbox-style action-adventure video game developed by Rockstar North.[9] It will be the ninth title in the Grand Theft Auto series and the first in its fourth generation. Grand Theft Auto IV will be released worldwide on 29 April 2008 for both PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. A copy of the Xbox 360 version was leaked onto the internet on 23 April 2008. Exclusive[10] Xbox 360 episodic packs are due for release in August via Xbox Live. [11]
The game will be set in a re-imagined GTA universe, with little-to-no continuity with previous games. The setting is a redesigned Liberty City, based heavily on New York City, as well as New Jersey. The game will follow Niko Bellic, an Eastern European who comes to the United States in search of the "American Dream," only to find his cousin has lied to him about the wealth that would be waiting for him.
The story of Grand Theft Auto IV was written by Rockstar co-founder Dan Houser. The game will be the first in the series to use the new RAGE game engine, which also powered Rockstar Games presents Table Tennis.[12]
Development
According to Janco Partners analyst Mike Hickey, a financial consultant for Take-Two Interactive Software, around 150 game developers worked on Grand Theft Auto IV. He also remarked that Rockstar Games is "fully capable of ushering in an entertainment experience categorically superior to the prior cycle's GTA product."[13]
Rockstar Games initially appeared to be committed to the original 16 October 2007 release date. However, Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter suggested that Take-Two may choose to delay the release of the game in order to boost its financial results for 2008 and to avoid competing with the release of other highly anticipated titles.[14] Rockstar responded by saying that Grand Theft Auto IV was still on track for release in "late October".[15] On 2 August 2007, Take-Two announced that Grand Theft Auto IV would miss its original release date of 16 October 2007 contrary to their previous statements, and would be delayed to their second fiscal quarter (February–April) of 2008. Their stated reason for the date change was "due to additional development time required to complete the title."[16] In a later conference call with investors, Take-Two's Strauss Zelnick attributed the delay to "almost strictly technological problems... not problems, but challenges."[17] It was revealed that technical difficulties with the PlayStation 3 version of the game contributed to the delay.[18] On 24 January 2008, Take-Two announced that Grand Theft Auto IV would be released on 29 April 2008.[11]
The game uses Rockstar's own RAGE game engine in combination with the Euphoria game animation engine.[19] Instead of pre-written animations, Euphoria controls the way the player moves, enabling character movements to be more realistic.[20] The Euphoria engine also enables NPCs to react in a realistic way to the player's actions. In one preview, a player knocked an NPC out a window and the character grabbed onto a ledge to stop himself from falling.[21] The game also uses middleware from Image Metrics to facilitate intricate facial expressions and ease the process of incorporating lip-synching.[22] On 18 April, GTA IV has been announced "gone gold". [23]
Gameplay
This file may be deleted at any time.
GTA IV is structured similarly to previous games in the series. The core gameplay consists of elements of a third-person shooter and a driving game, affording the player a large, open environment in which to move around. On foot, the player's character is capable of walking, running, swimming, climbing and jumping, as well as utilizing weapons and basic hand to hand combat. Players can steal and drive a variety of vehicles, including automobiles, boats, helicopters, and motorcycles.
The open, non-linear environment allows players to explore and choose how they wish to play the game. Although storyline missions are necessary to progress through the game and unlock certain parts of the map and content, they are not required, as players can complete them at their own leisure. When not taking on a storyline mission, players can free-roam. However, creating havoc can attract unwanted and potentially fatal attention from the authorities. The more chaos caused, the stronger the response: police will handle "minor" infractions (attacking people, pointing guns at people, stealing cars, killing a few people, etc.), whereas SWAT teams, the FBI, and the military respond to higher wanted levels.
The player can also partake in a variety of optional side missions.
Synopsis
Plot
Niko Bellic is Eastern European, between 28 and 32 years of age and has come to Liberty City to pursue the "American Dream". Niko was persuaded to move to Liberty City by his cousin Roman, who claimed in multiple e-mails to Niko that he was living a fabulous life, with a mansion, women, hot tubs and sports cars. Roman's claims turn out to be lies to hide his own failures, however, and in reality he only owns a small taxi business, which he wants Niko to work for.
Roman is the only person Niko knows in Liberty City to begin with, and is one of his major connections in the first part of the game. Niko is a tough character, whereas Roman is friendly. Roman is heavily in debt and a lot of people are after him. He desperately needs Niko's support, hence the reason he deceived Niko into travelling to Liberty City. They are constantly bickering. It is later revealed that one of the reasons Niko, as an ex-soldier, goes to Liberty City, is to track down the man who betrayed his old army unit.
Setting
Grand Theft Auto IV takes place in a redesigned Liberty City consisting of five boroughs, based on four of the boroughs of New York City and New Jersey. Broker is the equivalent of Brooklyn, Queens is Dukes, the Bronx is Bohan and Manhattan is Algonquin, and New Jersey is Alderney (after the Channel Island of the same name). A Staten Island-esque area will not be featured in the game for the reason that Rockstar Games believes it would not be fun to play there. Dan Houser states that there would not be any "dead spots" or "irrelevant space" within Liberty City, such as the wide open deserts in San Andreas.
The total area of the map is smaller than San Andreas, but the new rendition of Liberty City will be far more detailed and is the largest individual city in the Grand Theft Auto series.[24] According to the Official PlayStation 2 Magazine (UK edition), "to get from one side of the new and improved Liberty City to the other will take you at least an hour." Rockstar Games has stated that it is the biggest single city in a Grand Theft Auto game yet, and although smaller than "San Andreas", it is comparable to it in terms of scope when "the level of verticality of the city, the number of buildings you can go into, and the level of detail in those buildings" are taken into account.[25] Eventually, the player will be able to lead Niko to cross the Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Williamsburg bridges and explore.
Screenshots reveal that the Brighton Beach area is renamed as "Hove Beach" from Brighton and Hove, the English city from which the area gets its name; Coney Island is renamed as "Firefly Island"; Central Park is renamed "Middle Park". The "Statue of Happiness" is the game's equivalent of the Statue of Liberty; "Star Junction" is Times Square; "BOABO" (Beneath the Offramp of the Algonquin Bridge Overpass) is DUMBO; the "Thornton Building" is the Flatiron Building; and "Twitchins" is Brooklyn's Domino Sugar Factory; the "GetaLife" building is the MetLife Building; the "Booth Tunnel" is the Lincoln Tunnel (named after Abraham Lincoln's assassin, John Wilkes Booth). Other structures include the Coney Island Cyclone, the Chrysler Building, and the Empire State Building.
Characters
A number of recurring characters appear in Grand Theft Auto IV.
Marketing
As the release date approaches, Rockstar has been marketing the game heavily. Rockstar's marketing has come in many forms, including television ads, Internet video, viral marketing and a redesigned website.
Differences from previous Grand Theft Auto games
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Gameplay
- After the initial load sequence, there are no loading sequences during gameplay. A Rockstar spokesperson claimed, "you can basically play the game from beginning to end without a single load screen."[25]
- Titles in the GTA series have traditionally been heavily mission based (fixed missions must be completed to progress through each game), but the freedom to explore and play outside of the set missions in GTA IV will now be more relevant to progress through the game, according to comments by a Rockstar spokesperson: "We're really trying to blur the line between on-[mission] and off-mission. So storyline, and what you do outside [it], and how those two things influence each other."[25]
- Niko will be able to perform a variety of new actions such as climbing telephone poles and fire escapes, pushing people who bump into him, calling women for dates,[26] playing darts and bowling. Niko may become intoxicated, causing him to stumble and the camera to blur and bounce about.
- The player will not be able to fly any fixed-wing aircraft.[27] However, helicopters will be flyable. Francis International Airport (from Grand Theft Auto III) is confirmed to be in the game.
- It is possible to have multiple active missions, due to the fact that some missions will run over the course of several days and will require the player to wait for further instructions, etc.[28]
- The use of the mobile phone has been expanded to perform multiple actions. When selecting the mobile phone, a zoomed-in version of the phone pops up in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen and a list of several commands are made available to the player, such as "meet me here," etc. Retrying a failed mission can be performed by accessing the menu. The player can take photos with the mobile phone and upload them to the police computer. Niko can dial 911 to call the police for them to arrest an enemy/pedestrian that is fighting/shooting at him, or just to trick them into wasting resources on a false alarm. He can also contact the paramedics and the fire station.[29]
- Stealing a parked car can no longer be done simply by opening the door and driving off. Now, it involves Niko approaching the car, breaking the glass, and hotwiring it; only then can he use it. The way Niko enters the car would look different each time depending on where and how he is in relation to the car. There will be several animation variations to sneaking up to a car and breaking its window. Because of the Euphoria engine, the way the character will approach the car will be completely random.
- Players will be able to choose from five different camera views while in a car, including a dashboard view, two outside views near and far from the car, a road view, and a cinematic view.[citation needed] The new chase cam will follow the player but focus the camera direction on a target vehicle.[30]
- All cars feature a standard GPS device while more expensive vehicles have voice-navigation GPS. Car damage physics have been greatly improved.[citation needed] When major collisions on motorbikes occur, the player's helmet is likely to fall off. Niko can lose health if he crashes. Vehicles will not explode if they are flipped over.
- When driving in a car the player will be able to smash the window with his elbow, free-aim, and fire out of the broken window with any weapon in Niko's arsenal.[31]
- The gunfight system has been reworked to feel natural by using a cover system similar to that of Gears of War and Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, as the combat system in previous games was awkward and cumbersome.[32] The player can slide to cover, blindfire, and free aim. When locked on, the target's health is indicated by eight purple segments on the target circle. Players can now target individual body parts using a revamped targeting system.[33] Niko's health is represented by a green semi-circle on the left side of the radar, and a right semi-circle represents armour. If Niko gets injured, he can recover health by eating, sleeping or using medical kits. Body armour and actual health will play different roles. Health is more likely to be reduced by falls and going through the windscreen of a car when crashing, Body armour will be damaged more by gunshots and stab wounds.[34]
- Notable weapons in this game other than melee fighting with fists and knives include pistols, submachine guns, assault rifles, sniper rifles, rocket launchers, and molotov cocktails.[35]
- Niko will be able to visit comedy clubs and cabarets in the game.[36]
- There will be no jet-packs, bicycles, parachutes or tanks[37]
- There is now an autosave that activates after completing a mission.[38]
- Every street in Liberty City contains a physical sign with a name on it.[citation needed]
- The vehicle GPS systems in Grand Theft Auto IV can be used to display the best route to take on a mission which requires you to travel to a different place. This route is marked on the map.[citation needed]
NPC behaviour
- According to Dan Houser, "virtually none of the characters from the previous games are returning, as a lot of them are dead anyway."[39]
- Police and wanted levels will now operate differently. When the police are in search of Niko, the player will now have to avoid a certain radius marked on the map in which the police will be looking for him. The size of this radius will increase with the player's wanted level (the more stars, the bigger the radius) and re-centres itself on Niko's location if he is spotted by the police. Instead of utilizing the "Pay 'N' Spray" as in previous games, Niko has to realistically disguise himself by clandestinely changing vehicles in empty areas such as parking garages, a feature seen in the video game Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven. When on foot, police will not shoot at Niko unless he has committed a serious offence. If they catch up to Niko, he will put his hands up and the player will have the option to attempt to escape before the handcuffs are slapped on.[33] Additionally, pedestrians with cellphones can now report crimes.[40][41]
- Interpersonal relationships are now dynamic; ignoring cell phone calls or refusing help will change the attitude of specific characters towards Niko.[33]
- Pedestrians are much more intelligent, realistic, and diverse, using mobile phones, cash machines, eating snacks, drinking soda, reading newspapers, scratching their noses, coughing, smoking, and interacting with each other through laughter and remarks. Homeless people will be seen in alleys rubbing their hands over a flaming barrel, sitting against walls, asking for spare change, and other expected actions.[citation needed] The flow of pedestrians and traffic will be different depending on the time of day. Pedestrians and motorists will often act as good Samaritans and aid characters that Niko is attacking or carjacking.[33]
Environment
- Niko's outfit can be changed throughout the game. However, it will not be possible to customise his physique or hairstyle as in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, as Dan Houser explained: "We want this installment to focus more on interacting with other in-game people other than yourself."
- When Niko goes to the hospital, he has to pay $100 and he will keep his weapons. When Niko gets arrested, he has to pay more than $100 and he will lose his weapons.
- In a police vehicle, Niko can use an in-car computer to access the criminal database and discover information about various criminals in Liberty City, possibly including himself.[42]
- The player can hail a cab in order to travel to any address in the city. When riding, the player has the option of viewing the journey from the inside, or skipping it to arrive at the destination immediately.[citation needed] The player will be able to ask the driver to change the radio station by pressing D-pad left or right.
- Niko will make use of the Internet as a means of communication. Although the exact details of the role of the Internet in the game are being kept secret, it has been revealed that Niko can access the internet from various cyber cafés, one of which is called "TW@" (twat) in order to upload a resume for prospective employers.[40] There are over 100 accessible, fictitious websites within the game. Although TW@ was seen early in Grand Theft Auto III, it did not give the player the option to "surf the internet".[43]
- Every street in the game will have a name; some missions will require the player to go to a specific address.[44]
- A day in Liberty City is forty-eight minutes long (one game hour lasts two minutes in real time), instead of twenty-four minutes as in previous Grand Theft Auto titles.[45]
- Some meetings in the game will take place high in the buildings of skyscrapers, which will subsequently allow Niko to throw people off the buildings. However, Niko will not be able to access all the buildings in the game.[citation needed]
Downloadable content
Xbox 360
During Microsoft's 2006 E3 press conference on 9 May, it was announced that Rockstar Games will offer exclusive episodic content via Xbox Live for the Xbox 360 version of the game.[46] Peter Moore, the then head of Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment Business division announced that Rockstar Games is working on two GTA IV downloadable packs exclusively for the Xbox 360, which will be released after the full game.
Moore described downloadable content as "epic episode packs", and not just extra cars or characters. A press release during the conference said that the packs would add "hours of entirely new gameplay" to the game.[47] The official Xbox website states that these episodes will last a minimum of 10 hours.[48] The Episodes are compared to Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas in scope[10], CVG reports "the downloadable content (DLC) coming for the Xbox 360 version of GTA IV has repositioned those games in just this way. DLC so far has meant the odd new car, jumper of bit of horse armour, but GTA IV is set to completely redefine the idea with expansions that are to GTA IV what Vice City or San Andreas were GTA III. Yes, Rockstar is clearly hinting at new downloadable cities"[49]
Jeronimo Barrera, Vice President of Product Development for Rockstar Games, has said that the episodes are an experiment because they are not sure that there are enough users with access to online content on the Xbox 360.[50] Details on the pricing of these downloads have not yet been revealed, though it would almost certainly not be released for free, as Take-Two Interactive's former CEO, Paul Eibeler, has said numerous times that these downloads would provide "additional revenue streams" to the company[citation needed], but Microsoft has said that it will be up to Rockstar on whether or not they will charge for it.[10] Take-Two Interactive's Chief Financial Officer, Lainie Goldstein revealed that Microsoft was paying a total of US $50 million for the two episodes.[51] On 20 February 2008, it was announced that the extra content will be introduced starting August 2008.[52]
PlayStation 3
Downloadable content for the PlayStation 3 was reportedly said to be "likely" by Jeronimo Barrera, in the May edition of PlayStation World Magazine.[53] The form that the content will take was not stated.
Community and online features
Multiplayer
GTA IV will be the first game in the GTA series to include online multiplayer on a console[54] with goals of supporting up to 16 players and has been confirmed that multiplayer will be open-ended gameplay that allows players to explore the whole city.[55] Later revealed in an issue of PSM, GTA IV will have 15 modes of play and support up to 16 players,[56] with the player using a customisable character to play as, with a choice of gender, race and clothing. The modes of play include several varieties of deathmatch and racing, with a cooperative single player mission and free mode. Other multiplayer modes include Mafia, in which players try to complete an objective before their opponents, and Cops 'N' Crooks, in which one team of police officers must stop the other team of criminals from escaping. The map used in multiplayer will be the same as the single player map and the host of the games can control many variables like traffic, police reaction and laps in races. Rockstar has left one game type unknown and not explained some.
During a hands on preview with major review sites several new details were revealed. Gameplay in multiplayer is identical to the single player; players will be free to roam the map during multiplayer games, although weapons and spawn points will only appear within a pre-defined area. The host of the game has a great degree of control over the game and can specify where, when, and what weapons may be used, police presence and more. Voice chat is supported and the player may chat with individual players by calling them on the mobile phone.[57][58]
The online games are split into two types, ranked and unranked. The reward for the ranked gameplay will be cash. The amount of cash a player has will determine their rank.[59]. The game does not feature any split-screen or LAN multiplayer modes[60].
Social Club
Rockstar Games Social Club is a web site that will display the gameplay statistics of registered users and feature competitions and awards based on player activity within the game.[61] The Social Club web site was announced on 27 March 2008 and launched on 17 April 2008 at http://socialclub.rockstargames.com.
The Social club will initially consist of five parts, including the LCPD Police Blotter, The Story Gang, The 100% Club, The Hall Of Fame, The Liberty City Marathon and The Zit
Music downloads
Following a partnership between Rockstar Games and Amazon.com, players will be able to purchase real world MP3s through GTA IV's in-game mobile phone[62]. Players will be able to 'mark' radio songs that they like by dialing ZIT-555-0100 on Niko's phone. They will then receive a text message providing the name of the song and the artist. If a player is registered on Rockstar's 'Social Club' website he or she will also receive a real world e-mail with a link to an Amazon.com playlist where all of the player's marked songs will be listed and available to purchase.
Initially, this service will only be available in the US.
PlayStation Home
In an interview with Playstation World Magazine, Rockstar mentioned that they will "heavily support" Sony's Playstation Home, a community-based service for the PlayStation Network. Rockstar also mentioned that visitors to their Playstation Home apartment would receive 'goodies' such as clothing for their avatar and items and decorations for their own Playstation Home apartment. In addition to this, users can earn PlayStation Home trophies for their home space (similar to the achievements that Xbox 360 users enjoy).[63]
Soundtrack
Dan Houser has said that Rockstar is "certainly evolving the way the radio works". According to Official Xbox Magazine, one of the radio stations includes an "Eastern European-sounding" dancing theme. Other music announced as a placeholder for the press includes Russian and East Coast hip hop. [64] The range of music in GTA IV will span different decades and genres, the first track shown to the media was "Sorrow Tears and Blood" by Fela Kuti, and while there is no official word on whether it will be in the final release of the gameCite error: A <ref>
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Grand Theft Auto IV: Special Edition
Grand Theft Auto IV: Special Edition was announced[65] on 21 May 2007 for both the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions. It will contain the following:
- A customized metal safe deposit box.
- A Rockstar keychain for the safe deposit box keys.
- A limited edition Rockstar duffel bag.
- Production artwork in the Grand Theft Auto IV Art Book.
- Selected soundtrack CD from Grand Theft Auto IV.
- A specially packaged version of the game.
Controversy
Jack Thompson
In 2007, Jack Thompson, a Florida lawyer who had previously campaigned against other Grand Theft Auto games, stated he would take various measures to prevent the sale of the game by Rockstar to minors.[66] On 14 March 2007, Rockstar's parent company, Take-Two Interactive, filed a lawsuit[67] against Thompson in Florida in an attempt to pre-emptively block him from trying to declare its games a public nuisance. It would be a crime to sell games declared to be a public nuisance, effectively banning such games, which they believe would be a violation of First Amendment rights.[68] Thompson responded by filing a countersuit,[69] accusing Take-Two of violating federal RICO statutes (the charge was later dropped), committing perjury, obstruction of justice, and conspiring against him with third parties to deprive him of his civil rights.[70][71]
On 20 April 2007, both parties reached a settlement[72] and agreed to drop their respective lawsuits. Under the terms of the settlement Thompson is barred from suing to block the sale or distribution of any future games published by Take-Two or any of its subsidiaries. He will be restricted to communicating through Take-Two's attorneys on any future matters. Thompson will still be able to maintain his outspoken stance against the publisher's titles, as well as still being allowed to act as counsel in lawsuits brought against Take-Two by other parties. For their part, Take-Two agreed to drop its contempt of court lawsuit against Thompson regarding alleged improper conduct during the Bully court hearings in Florida,[73][74] which, if found to be in contempt, would have resulted in Thompson seeing jail time.[75][76][77]
On 18 September 2007, Jack Thompson filed a document[78] with a federal court in Florida that claims that the assassination target of a mission in GTA IV is a lawyer character based upon himself. When the main protagonist enters his office and pulls a gun on him, the lawyer yells "Guns don't kill people! Video games do!" Thompson has threatened that unless the similarities to himself are removed from the game he will "take necessary and proper means to stop release of the game".[79]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cc/Mural_ad_GTA_IV_NYC.jpg/220px-Mural_ad_GTA_IV_NYC.jpg)
New York City officials
After the release of the first trailer, New York City officials were appalled with the choice of their city as the inspiration for the setting of Grand Theft Auto IV, and said that a game like GTA does not represent the city's crime levels accurately.[80] A spokesperson for Mayor Michael Bloomberg said, "The mayor does not support any video game where you earn points for injuring or killing police officers".[81] As a response, Jason Della Rocca, executive director of the International Game Developers Association, accused New York City officials of double standards, for criticising video games but not other forms of entertainment, such as books, films and television shows, which use New York City as the setting.[82]
Edited version for Australia and New Zealand
Despite confirmation in February 2008 that the Australian version of Grand Theft Auto IV would not be edited in any way,[83] Rockstar has now told The Sydney Morning Herald journalist Jason Hill that the Australian version will be edited.[84]
Grand Theft Auto IV was awarded an MA15+ rating on 11 December 2007. In a post on his blog, Jason Hill stated that a Rockstar spokesperson confirmed to The Sydney Morning Herald's video game section, Screenplay, that the company had produced a special version of Grand Theft Auto IV to comply with the Australian classification system. The spokesperson would not comment on what has been cut from the game.[84]
It was announced on 15 April 2008, and subsequently reported across the Internet, that the New Zealand release will be the edited Australian version.[85]
Reception
Publication | Score |
---|---|
PlayStation Official Magazine – Australia | 10/10 |
PlayStation Official Magazine – UK | 10/10 |
Official Xbox Magazine (UK) | 10/10 |
Official Xbox Magazine (US) | 9.5/10 |
Empire (UK) | 5/5 (Xbox 360) |
Xbox World 360 | 98% |
The May 2008 issue of Official Xbox Magazine (UK) published the first Grand Theft Auto IV review, giving the game the maximum score of 10/10. The magazine also stated that the game has an "amazingly realistic world; stunning action set pieces; genuinely engrossing storyline; hugely entertaining multiplayer;" and that it is "vast in every respect."[86]
The June issue of Official PlayStation Magazine (Australia) gave Grand Theft Auto IV a perfect score of 10/10, explaining in their verdict: "The scope and scale of GTA IV is beyond anything gaming has ever had to offer". Throughout the review they refer to GTA IV as "a living and breathing world where anything is possible".
PlayStation Official Magazine (UK) also gave the game 10/10 in their May 2008 issue. Giving the game it's highest award, the gold award, and describing the game as "A masterpiece that improves on all GTA's best bits."[87]
The British newspaper Daily Star, also gave a positive review, praising: "This could be a console defining title, one that in years to come people will remember as the stand-out of the era.".[88]
The film magazine Empire gave the game a perfect 5 in its game reviews section, calling it "damn-near perfect". [89]
Xbox World 360 gave the game a 98% rating, mentioning: "everything we were entitled to expect, and yet somehow impossibly more." [90]
See also
References
- ^ Boyer, Brandon (2007-06-29). "Product: Grand Theft Auto IV Using NaturalMotion's Euphoria". Gamasutra. Retrieved 2008-04-03.
- ^ "Grand Theft Auto IV Multiplayer Hands-On". GameSpot. 2008-04-08. Retrieved 2008-04-10.
- ^ "GRAND THEFT AUTO IV". BBFC. 2008-04-01. Retrieved 2008-04-04.
- ^ "BBFC removes GTA IV info from site". Eurogamer. 2008-03-31. Retrieved 2008-04-01.
- ^ "GRAND THEFT AUTO IV Game (Multi Platform)". 2007-12-13. Retrieved 2007-12-13.
- ^ "Decisions Database Summary - Grand Theft Auto IV". OFLC (NZ). 2008-02-27. Retrieved 2008-04-15.
- ^ http://www.xbox.com/en-GB/games/g/grandtheftautoiv/
- ^ "USK - Prüdatenbank". Retrieved 2008-03-02.
- ^ "Grand Theft Auto IV: GamePro is the first to play the biggest game of 2008," GamePro 235 (April 2008): 50-51.
- ^ a b c Davis, Torrence (2008-02-21). "Microsoft Blogger Breakfast Bullets". The Bitbag. Retrieved 2008-04-16.
- ^ a b "Rockstar Games Announces Release Date for Grand Theft Auto IV". 2008-01-24. Retrieved 2008-01-24.
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: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)