Grand Theft Auto IV

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Grand Theft Auto IV (4)
Grand Theft Auto IV cover artwork
Developer(s)	Rockstar North
Publisher(s)	Rockstar Games Edinburgh JP Capcom
Distributor(s)	Take-Two Interactive
Series	Grand Theft Auto
Engine	Rockstar Advanced Game Engine (RAGE) Euphoria (Motion Engine)
Native resolution	640p (PS3) 720p (Xbox 360)
Version	1.01 (PS3) 1.00 (Xbox 360)
Release date	29 April 2008 (360, PS3), Nov 18 (PC)
Genre(s)	Third-person shooter, Action, Action-Adventure
Mode(s)	Single player, Multiplayer over Internet (16 players)
Ratings(s)	BBFC: 18 CER: Z ESR: M OFLC: MA15+ OFLC: R18 PEGI: 18+ USK: 18
Media	Blu-Ray Disc, DVD-DL
Input methods	Gamepad

Grand Theft Auto IV (abbreviated to GTA IV and GTA 4) is a sandbox-style action-adventure video game developed by Rockstar North.

1 Background
2 Gameplay
3 Features
4 International Release Dates
5 Network links
6 External links

[edit] Background

What does the American Dream mean today? For Niko Bellic fresh off the boat from Europe, it is the hope he can escape his past. For his cousin, Roman, it is the vision that together they can find fortune in Liberty City, gateway to the land of opportunity. As they slip into debt and get dragged into a criminal underworld by a series of shysters, thieves and sociopaths, they discover that the reality is very different from the dream in a city that worships money and status, and is heaven for those who have them and a living nightmare for those who don’t.

[edit] Gameplay

By using Euphoria, Endorphin and RAGE together, Grand Theft Auto IV is set to put a whole new meaning on next-gen.

The game uses a ragdoll physics engine Endorphin to create dynamic new cutscenes and in game action by allowing characters and objects to move as they would in real life as opposed to the simple animations seen in previous GTA games.
We also see the use of an engine called Euphoria, which puts a life-like intelligence into characters, including normal pedestrians. This will allow people in the game to detect danger and to do what they can to get themselves out of it, for example if they were falling from a cliff they would try to grab onto an object to stop them from falling rather than simply letting themselves plunge.
RAGE is the Rockstar Advanced Game Engine which allows them to add skins to the world of GTA and this is what we see make the graphics what they are. RAGE is set to give GTA IV a similar quality graphics-wise as we saw in Rockstar's Table Tennis game. These three working together creates a combination which we can see in action on the two trailers and which we will see on the final game, putting a highly life-like edge on the game.

[edit] Features

The usual mission structure will return, expanded, allowing the player to start and take care of missions at any time within the allowed time, meaning the game's time system should be more structured than before. Grab a car and wreak havoc like all GTA fans love to. Take to the skies of Liberty in a chopper and utilise the new over-the-shoulder aiming feature to accurately take out your opponents.

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One of the main features added since SA is the Mobile Phone. The Mobile phone is Nikos way of communicating with his friends, receiving texts from dates and getting sidemissions. With a simple press of the up directional button Niko takes out his phone and the phone display appears onscreen giving you a list of options. In the Phonebook you will find all the contacts that have been added. These include vital characters as well as girlfriends, friends and job contacts. Some contacts may have additional options other then just calling them. With friends you can pick from a list of activities to do on a date such as Bowling, Darts, Drinking, Stripclub, Restaraunt, Pool and Caberet. With girlfriends you can arrange a date or you can dump them in the same manner by picking the 'Dump Girlfriend' option.

The Phone has other options too aside from just contacts. You can view your received texts. These can be anything from a saucy image from your girlfriend to vital information about a certain side quest. Unfortunatly you can only send text when it's required for a mission.

In the Phones Options menu you can change the wallpaper and ringtone. There's not a great selection of either to begin with but later in the game you can purchase Themes and Ringtones from the ingame internet.

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