The OAO Grand Theft Auto IV Thread

[abundant]

Someone has the game! He's probably a tester for Rockstar, but at least this confirms that the achievement list that was leaked is true.

Edited April 14, 2008 by abundant

[Fitzy]

What achievement list?

[LL!]

Looks like it might be kind of fake. The proper list doesn't list it as Grand Theft Auto IV, but GTA IV.

[abundant]

The latest issue of the UK's Official Xbox Magazine has reached subscribers today and it includes the world's first review of Grand Theft Auto IV. The impression given by the magazine is overwhelmingly positive, with a perfect 10/10 score.

"It says something that even at the end of a three-day session, with every island and a substantial chunk of the sidequests unlocked, I was still ploughing on because I wanted to see how the story ended. And I was still finding new stuff: the way a police klaxon goes strangled and gargley if you dent the light bar, the pedestrian who had the original GTA theme as their phone ringtone, the way that headshot drivers can fall on the horn and accelerator so you're run over by a dead man...This sets the standard for what you should expect from a truly next-gen game. You owe it to yourself to play it."

New information disclosed in this article:

* Skipping a trip in a taxi costs more than simply sitting back and enjoying the view of the driver's head

* The Statue of Happiness is clutching a coffee cup rather than the torch her real life counterpart has

* Some celebrity voice actors play themselves in the game, a first for the series

* Like Crackdown's Orbs, the collectable (hidden packages?) in GTA IV make a soft sound as you get close to them, aiding you in finding them all

* Your in-game email account will get the odd piece of spam

* Driving through flames will set a car's tires on fire, causing them to burst after a while

* One mission involves traveling across town with two bodies in the trunk - if you hit a bump and it opens, you'll have to scramble to close it again before any passers-by notice

* The mobile phone you receive at the start of the game is an old, second hand model capable only of calling and texting. You'll need to wait for an upgrade later in the story to unlock the full functionality that people get from more modern models.

*In some missions you have to decide who lives and dies. 'more time agonising over one particularly tough choice than we did over harvesting Bioshock's little sisters'

*Headshot drivers who fall on the horn and the accelerator.

*In one screenshot, I count 21 cars at a set of traffic lights, and I can't see behind.

[9 to 5]

Some celebrity voice actors play themselves in the game, a first for the series

I must have imagined saving Phil Collins in VCS then.

[Fanku Kaibutsu]

I'm hoping spike strips make a comeback in this game. They were the best part of police chases in Vice City, it's a shame they were taken out of San Andreas.

[Ruki]

*In some missions you have to decide who lives and dies. 'more time agonising over one particularly tough choice than we did over harvesting Bioshock's little sisters'

This makes me happy.

Also, getting killed by a deadman, sounds awesome.

[abundant]

Here are the new screenshots from the review: http://www.gtagaming.com/gtaiv/screenshots

[apsham]

the way that headshot drivers can fall on the horn and accelerator so you're run over by a dead man

You see, it's the little things like this that get me excited the most... little touches like that are things that I have always hoped for, and with the new engine for the game... so... fucking... awesome.

[abundant]

Pre-registration for the Rockstar Social Club begins this Thursday, not tomorrow.

[Guest Kou]

The way they are killing lag in multi player is that anything 50ms in all directions is slightly blurred out, like it's raining vegetable oil.

Or men.

And the agonizing decision over if someone lives or dies? You always choose the talking pie.

[LL!]

If I had to choose I'd kill Kou at the time. All the time.

[Krone]

I am so pumped for this game it isn't even funny. Counting down the days til this comes out. Already have it pre-ordered too, so I just need to make sure I don't spend the rest of my money so I can get it (I only put $5 down. Cheap bastard me...)

[abundant]

And this is why no other sandbox game will ever come close to surpassing GTA. From AICN

But perhaps the coolest thing I saw while he was playing was when he stopped touching the controller. Niko stood still while Steve was occupied with something and right there, a taxi got rear-ended by another car. What followed was pure magic.

The cabbie and the guy who hit the taxi jumped out of their cars and approached each other. Once they got in to each others' face the fists started flying. Meanwhile, cars are honking for the two vehicles to get out of the way. The two keep slugging away and a cop pulls up. He jumps out with his pistol drawn and both men throw their hands to the sky, surrendering. The cop then drags the cabbie away (he punched first), puts him in the backseat of the cop car and drives off. The other driver returns to his car, gets in and pulls away.

Holy shit.

[Baddar]

And this is why no other sandbox game will ever come close to surpassing GTA. From AICN

But perhaps the coolest thing I saw while he was playing was when he stopped touching the controller. Niko stood still while Steve was occupied with something and right there, a taxi got rear-ended by another car. What followed was pure magic.

The cabbie and the guy who hit the taxi jumped out of their cars and approached each other. Once they got in to each others' face the fists started flying. Meanwhile, cars are honking for the two vehicles to get out of the way. The two keep slugging away and a cop pulls up. He jumps out with his pistol drawn and both men throw their hands to the sky, surrendering. The cop then drags the cabbie away (he punched first), puts him in the backseat of the cop car and drives off. The other driver returns to his car, gets in and pulls away.

Holy shit.

How many days now?

[Ruki]

Two weeks, exact.

Also...

The way they are killing lag in multi player is that anything 50ms in all directions is slightly blurred out, like it's raining vegetable oil.

Huh? Someone explain plz. I've heard not of this.

[Baddar]

Two weeks, exact.

Also...

The way they are killing lag in multi player is that anything 50ms in all directions is slightly blurred out, like it's raining vegetable oil.

Huh? Someone explain plz. I've heard not of this.

It was a rhetorical question, but still, I'm more intrigued by this multi-player thing...

[King Ellis]

Two weeks, exact.

It's 13 days, 7 hours, 32 minutes and 45 seconds actually.

Edited April 15, 2008 by Ellis Misses Benji

[abundant]

Kou's talking about the filter Rockstar put on the multiplayer. It allows them to run it as smoothly as possible, with only a slight graphical downgrade.

[Ruki]

Pics of how the graphical downgrade looks?

Also...Lazlo....what station is he going to be on (if any)? I loved him on Chatterbox (only station I listened to in 3), on the Rock Station in VC, and he needed more air time on SA.