The Game: Bradygames Guide: Price: £49.99 Players: 1 plus online Widescreen: Yes 60Hz: Yes Dolby Digital 5.1 Sound: Yes Vote and comment on this game: Grand Theft Auto IV isn't so much the fourth game in the long-running series, since it isn't, but apart from the first two games, each new numeral marks a new generation for it, with Grand Theft Auto III being released in October 2001 and taking the series into a 3D environment for the first time. Sequels in Vice City and San Andreas followed, and both were fantastic even if they still had some of the same glitches as 'III', but the next generation consoles were to be the platform for this version. As regular players are well used to by now, the GTA series reflects the usual struggle in life of having to start at the bottom and work your way up the ladder. You take the role of Niko Bellic, an Eastern European immigrant, coming over to Liberty City in pursuit of the American dream. Your cousin Roman is already there and your first task is to pick him up and take him to his flat. This is an easy mission, simply because it places you in a 'safehouse' so you can save your position and, if you so desire, take a nap just to push time on by another six hours at the same time. Roman's been spouting off about how wonderful his life is and how far he's made it up the ladder. Niko soon realises that he's barely got off the bottom rung and so it all starts from there. I'll also mention here another major difference which is that there aren't any high-profile celebrities voicing the characters, which is a shame, although the radio DJs include Iggy Pop and Karl Lagerfield, and fans of The Office and Extras will be pleased to learn that Ricky Gervais even puts in an appearance at a comedy club.

Anyone who's ever played a Grand Theft Auto game beforehand, which will be most of you reading this, will just want to get stuck in as soon as possible, so the best way to present much of the info I have to say is by simply listing my observations and differences: Whereas before, hitting a pedestrian would cause them to lie flat and simply rise up into the air in a bizarre 'levitation' exercise, here you get very natural rag-doll physics when running someone over (and doing that repeatedly is always good fun, if a little mean!) This time round, the game will autosave, which does ease you of a great chore, BUT, I found there were times where this came up right in the middle of Niko or another character's sentence, which sort-of concludes afterwards, so that bit wasn't very well thought out as it rather interrupts the flow. It's easier to get from A to B in GTA4. Rather than just relying on a marker to help you find a place, you have a Satnav system that will point out the exact path to take. Yes, you can find cheats on sites like Gamefaqs which have you dialling phone numbers on your mobile to add weapons, reduce the wanted level and even spawn new vehicles. Naturally, these will affect missions and achievements, so they're best not used if you're attempting a proper session on the game rather than a bit of a knockabout. The method used to get cheats this time round is much easier than the complex button movements you used to have to do. Note that missions can also be received by text message now and you can even phone 911 and request fire, police or ambulance... if you just want to nick one of their vehicles ;)

It'll be difficult for any soundtrack to match that of the Vice City entries in the series, purely because they were full of '80s music which is what I grew up with, but this time round, Liberty Rock Radio 97.8 is the closest match. Iggy Pop is the DJ, and the best tracks inlcude Electric Light Orchestra's Evil Woman, The Sisters of Mercy's Dominion, Godley & Creme's Cry and Genesis' Mama (a full list of the tracks can be found here) The car doesn't protect you from dying. Yes, gone are the days when simply entering an apparently bulletproof hunk of metal was the answer to all your problems. I soon learned that after escaping from the cops for the first time, thinking I was safe. Oh, and the cops are a real bastard this time as well, but then they've spent the past 11 years taking my lip, my punches and my bullets and I can quite understand that they're just a little bit hacked off. The driving is more realistic this time in that the cars have more weight to them and you need to learn how to steer them properly. Before long, as you explore further, you'll come across some faster ones but not by legal means. One of the side aspects of the game known as 'Hidden Packages' in previous escapades, is the 'Flying rat', otherwise known as pigeons. Thank God I don't live in Pigeon Street as I'd similarly be going loco with such a proliferation of horrible things just waiting to get bullet and blow them to hell. That's the plan with this. And you need to do it 200 times. For a taste of something bloody amazing, try zooming in with the sniper rifle as people run away. It's so damn realistic! (Well, that's not to say I've ever...)

Occasionally there are a few issues with camera angles when, say, getting into a scrap by a wall, but these still don't detract from the enjoyment. Given just how much this title does actually do, and how the sandbox environment pretty much allows you to go anywhere and do anything, it's hard to see how these could really be avoided, so you can forgive the odd minor slip. You don't lose your weapons and ammo when you die and end up in hospital. It's a different matter if you get caught by the police, of course. Fail a mission? There's no need to drive around for ages to get back to where you were. You'll get a text message to select that allows you to retry it. As with previous games in the series, you can hail a taxi to take you to the start of a mission to redo it, but this time round you actually get to travel properly as a passenger! Of course, you can skip it, but you can look around while in the cab or change your destination. Naturally, you'll pay for the journey, but it's not much. You can watch TV in your apartment but there's not a lot on to watch. It's a once or twice novelty like CJ's games console in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Fighting has improved, in that you can now block your opponent to stop taking a complete beating, and it's now also possible to target them during hand-to-hand combat which certainly helps as in this release they won't simply just let you pummel them to death as they have previously.

As the series evolves, there's more personal interaction and one of the new things you get to try out here is enhancing your love life, starting with taking out Liberty City resident Michelle. It's weird taking her out on a date because in order to get somewhere on foot you've always got to walk ahead of her like some domineering husband with a subservient wife, and you can't just walk alongside each other. That said, you'll do good if you take her playing darts or bowling, for example, or to somewhere to eat. Note that these options are also available to go out for an evening with Roman, although I doubt Michelle will want to visit a strip club, private dance or not! Driving like a maniac, though, will put her off so don't do it too much, and when you get to have sex with Michelle, your controller vibrates! This also activates the "Warm Coffee" achievement, which is reminiscent of GTA San Andreas' "Hot Coffee" mode on the PC, for those who hacked it (which was reported in the media at the time. Sadly, I was on sex-free PS2). Oh, and taking Michelle for a drink and then trying to drive afterwards is very amusing :) There's also an option to invite her for a game of pool. This is a bit of fun, but your choice of camera is limited - either straight ahead or overhead, but then this isn't a pool sim. However, I did try to take her to a Cabaret Club but we were interrupted by the police due to my earlier actions and I copped for a bullet in the head. People remember stuff even after you reincarnate (unless you reload your game) so give it a couple of days and she'll be fine.

Because, literally, anything can happen, there's no definitive solution to each task other than to do it the best way possible without getting killed and/or arrested, although there are certainly tips that can speed up the process of completing the task, such as the old favourite of using a "Pay N Spray" to change your car's colour so you can give the cops the slip, although it's more fun just trying to out run them! GTA4 was meant to be released six months earlier than the time it eventually came out reportedly because of delays in getting the online content right. As such, I didn't expect it to come out for a further six months - which was the fate that befell Half Life 2. For that one, some of the game code had apparently been stolen, but whether or not that was true, it seemed natural that it eventually came out in time for the lucrative Christmas market, rather than on the verge of summer... then again, as we reach the summer, the weather's about to turn bad, no-one can afford to fly abroad any more and there's nothing on TV but repeats or Big Brother so... by that token, it would mean the time is perfect for GTA4! For Xbox 360 owners, there will be exclusive downloadable content to come in the form of two "epic episodic packs" rather than just extra cars or characters, adding "hours of entirely new gameplay", according to a press release, but as often happens in gaming, there is another delay, and as I type it could be as late as January 2009 before the first one arrives. Note that I would've included some game clips in this review, particularly to show just how outstanding the improvement in the graphics is since it's impossible to put solely into words - rest assured, especially in HD, they're everything you ever wanted it to be like on the Xbox 360. However, it appears that Take 2 Games are randomly having such clips taken down from Youtube. I could understand this happening prior to the game's release, as some copies were distributed early from shops, but not now. However, until that's settled, it's still pics only showing here. I've got some clips ready to go when this whole thing's cleared up, though.

Overall, I've not even scratched the surface here, as the near-300 page Bradygames guide (right) proves. It's a gorgeous work of art that retails for £12.99 and begins by listing the basics such as how to get about in Liberty City, info on health and body armour, a full list of weaponry, what to expect from the police wanted levels as well as a full list of the Xbox 360 achievements. The bulk of the tome, understandably and running to almost 250 pages, comes in the form of the Main Story Walkthrough. I won't divulge any of that here because it's for you to find out as you play the game and I'd recommend using this just for occasional hints and tips at first, unless you want to spoil things before you learn them. Then comes the Liberty City Maps. Weapons, Health and Armour locations are detailed in full, including precisely how to find them in case they're not overly obvious. A list of locations for the Flying Rats and Unique Stunt Jumps are also pointed out on the map, as well as showing pictures of each of these so you can see exactly what you're aiming for. Be careful regarding the pigeons, though, since cops are never far away and they'll be after you if they hear your gun going off. One would think they've never been woken early in the morning by those evil bastard things! I'll give 'em "Coo! Cooo!" I'm usually just one for the single life, but fans of Multiplayer will also be in this book's debt with, as well as a list of general features, there's details of the various games available to get stuck into such as the obligatory Deathmatch, and one for racing, there's Car Jack City, Bomb Da Base II and a Free Mode where you can hang out with friends, explore together or make up your own games.

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Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 2008.