GTA IV. Now we know more

Mike Bantick
Thursday, 12 April 2007 04:57

Opinion and Analysis

More details have been leaked; the next Grand Theft Auto will be set in a twisted version of New York City

Game Informer magazine has the scoop on firming up some of the GTA IV details first alluded to in the recently released trailer.

And in news that will make New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg even more irritated it would seem that Liberty City – home of GTA IV – will be modelled on four New York City Boroughs.  Brooklyn becomes Broker in Liberty City, whilst many of the cities iconic locations also get a name change, the worst being the Statue of Happiness.

GTA IV will be set in the present day, which is a shame, as some of the best moments of games like Vice City were its throwbacks to a time past.  Players will take the role of Niko Belic newly arrived in the US and thrust immediately into Liberty City’s underworld crime scene.

Developer Rockstar will be employing a lot of technical jiggery-pokery learned over the years, such as the improved physics and the use of the RAGE engine to improve character animation,  Rockstar has also licensed NaturalMotion’s Euphoria technology to create extensive NPC interaction.

GTA IV is due in mid October coming to Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3