For whatever reason, yesterdays roll out of Rockstar Games' highly anticipated second Grand Theft Auto IV didn’t break the internet the way the first one did back in March.
Guns, car chases and copters. GTA is back, but how good is it?
If you haven't seen it yet, watch it here .
The first GTA IV trailer, titled “Things Will Be Different”, was more an introductory peek into the world of GTA IV, and particularly a jaunt through the new Liberty City (a near duplicate of the Big Apple).
The minute-long trailer was also the first real reveal of main character Nikko Bellic, the game’s Eastern European anti-hero. The overall vibe of the trailer was more stoic than say the trailers for Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (2004), which featured gang bangers with Uzi’s and rocket launchers riding BMX bikes and destroying helicopters, all set to Guns n’ Roses’ “Welcome To The Jungle.” “Things Will Be Different” conversely featured no guns and a contemplative Philip Glass score.
Rest assured, the second trailer, titled “Looking For That Special Someone”, which premiered yesterday, destroys any notions that GTA IV will be a non-violent affair (as if!), although Bellic may be a similar reluctant criminal-type like C.J., San Andreas’ main dude.
The second trailer kicks off with Bellic driving a muscle car across the Broker Bridge (which looks suspiciously like the Brooklyn Bridge) and then quickly becomes a montage of Bellic arguing with an assortment of baddies while trying to find, well, that “special someone”, which, as it turns out, seems to be a man. Throughout the montage we see Bellic roaming Liberty City Tony Monero-style (Google it) and get glimpses of its nods to NYC.
We are also treated to some story insights – there’s an unnamed blond woman begging Bellic for "No more killing," a SWAT team setting up a perimeter, and several chase scenes involving not just cars but hanging from the back of an 18-wheeler Axel Foley-style, and even holding onto a helicopter in mid-air for dear life. While being chased by the po-po we see the first evidence of motorcycles and the aforementioned copter, which gets us excited thinking about more fun with vehicles (but will there be tanks?).
Overall the quality of the trailer looks great, although we had some concersn over what was in-game and what was cut scenes - there are shots of bullets spiderweb-shattering windshields and door frames coming splintering apart when kicked in, but was that the game engine doing it in real time, or was it from a cinematic? Also, the streets seemed oddly empty for a knock-off of New York - sure, there were peds wandering the sidewalks but what about the cars? Shouldn't the streets be packed with cabs and couriers and the like? Perhaps its the case that Rockstar wanted to show off particular elemnts of the game (like hanging from a helicopter) but to do so for the video it would be too hard to render the cars in the background. If so, that's got us worried, especially considering that the game is only 4 months from market.
Grand Theft Auto IV will ship for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in North America on October 16 and in Europe on October 19. Check back for more news as it unfolds.
pop eyeJul 3rd, 2007 - 17:14:42
the rost you ir tyru hguug readiant wis thuyest te lyoboney popey mucho
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