HYPER hands on GTA IV preview

[Alkali64]

Australian HYPER previews GTA IV

HYPER, an Australian Games Magazine has previewed Grand Theft Auto IV for their April issue. We should have posted this new information a week ago as we were able to put our hands on a copy on March 9th, however I have been in Canberra for the past week and a bit, thus unable to post this.

The issue has some new information as well as details on 3 missions which they were able to play in their demo of the game. There were also 8 new screenshots, well we say new but in actually fact they were released today with the official website update, however they were new at time of the articles writing so we’re going to include them below anyway. There not high-resolution shots but small screens. For high-resolution versions check the official website update.

* Cop Cars contain an accessible Police Database which can be of use for location targets, finding contacts, gathering rumors and “facts” the police know.

* All weapons can be used from your vehicle, unlike in San Andreas where you could only use particular weapons from your car window. Just remember to wind down the window before dropping grenades.

* Friendships are difficult to maintain. It’s important to keep in-contact with your friends. If you have a meeting planned and you can’t make it, call them and cancel rather than just not showing up as that would anger your friend.

* Similar to the benefits for having girlfriends (such as keeping your weapons when busted) in San Andreas in GTA IV keeping your friends may have some benefits as well.

* Brucie offers Niko helicopter rides for his friendship.

* Little Jacob on the other hand will sell weapons to Niko when you’re his friend.

* Roman runs a taxi service and will pick Niko up when contacted. This is where the taxi pickup’s after failed missions; being busted or wasted as mentioned in other previews comes from. Roman can also be contacted via your phone and asked to pick Niko up.

* HYPER played the Xbox 360 version of the game and completed 3 missions in their demo of it.

* ‘Jamaican Heat’, a mission near the beginning of the game serves as a tutorial mission to the gunplay mechanics/controls in GTA IV. Roman introduces Niko to Jacob who requires a body guard for some deals he is making. The deals go bad and you end up in a shoot-out in a back alley.

* Jacob is said to have a very think Jamaican accent. Consequently neither the reviewer, nor the Rockstar guys themselves could pick-up on more than half the things Jacob said. Voice dialog appears to be terrific in GTA IV, lots of emphasis has been put on making everyone sound like they should.

* The second mission played, entitled ‘Jacobs Ladder’, was in another alley way. This time Jacob needed a quick getaway in case this deal went wrong, which is does. The mission included combat and a chance to use the new ‘cover’ system.

* Once you’re on a ‘cover’ you can aim at another place to take cover and click the right bumper (Xbox 360) to move there. He moves in realistic, creative ways that ensure while moving you are still protected from fire to some degree.

* While on a ‘cover’ Niko can aim normally or ‘blind-fire’ which is less accurate but naturally, more safe for Niko.

* Niko can ‘vault’ over low covers by pressing X (Xbox 360).

* The last mission played called ‘Harboring a Grudge’ involved Niko heading down to the docks to intercept a shipment of meds and take them to a drop-off point. The state of the mission involved using the jumping, climbing and shimmering controls to get to a warehouse roof. It ended with a car chase, cars full of guys attempting to stop you from reaching your destination point with the truck full of meds. The ability of dropping grenades from your car would no doubt of been useful here.

* Rockstar refused to give information out on the multiplayer, however HYPER believes the phone may be used as a contact holder for friends online. Meaning when you wish to play a multiplayer game you “call” your friend or friends and start the game from there. Very similar to Instant Messaging or Gametags. This is just an idea however, not official.

Source - Rockstar Watch

Edited March 21, 2008 by Alkaline_64

[azn]

Nice find Alkaline. Seems as more light is shedding on the early stage missions as we near the 29th. Using the phone could possibly send FR's and invites to others when in multiplayer, maybe.

[Red_91]

Good info, the duck cover seems to be really good. Having to keep friends happy is going to be important to be successful in the game. Should be good.

[azn]

The friends and socializing actually make GTAIV sound like a Sim-like game. Everyone has their own personality and Niko can interrupt it at any time.

[fatalgamer]

awsome, I abviously cant wait.

[Artur]

The variety of missions sounds awesome. Not the same old thing every mission. The cover system sounds amazing and seems like you'll have to do a lot more work for certain missions (clues in the police database, etc.). Nice find Alkaline.

[-=Mike=-]

Nice =] I like the sound of being able to fire ANY weapon out of the car, i just thought it was uzi's, pistols and grenades. Nice find.