Grand Theft Auto 4 Trailer (sort of)

The official site for Grand Theft Auto 4 went live today and features a number 4 in gigantic Roman numerals. There is no trailer as of yet, merely a minimalism-is-too-cool countdown clock, beating down the seconds until the trailer will be released. That day is set for March 29th.

I am... not very excited for this game, surprisingly. I do look forward to the day it comes out (sometime in October '07) but the giddyness I would normally be feeling for an A-list title is just not there. I never played much of GTA 3 but I loved the hell out of Vice City and was reasonably impressed with San Andreas. Both games sit by my computer, unfinished, and that fact always brings me back to the flaws that I really hope are vanquished in the upcoming installment of the series.

Chief among my misgivings is the "railroading" of your progress that the game's stories force you through. As a sandbox game, I never felt that I was really doing much of anything if I wasn't engaged in a side quest or completing the missions crucial to advancing the main storyline. So what happens is a supposedly free-form play experience becomes a linear sequence of errands and mini games. And some of these mini games, while featuring unique game mechanics, are often devilishly difficult. I need only remind readers of the RC helicopter mission in Vice City or the prop plane missions in San Andreas. The sort of challenges were game-stopping and flow-breaking and I hold a grudge against them for preventing me from enjoying an otherwise nice sandbox environment.

What's interesting is, with the release of Crackdown, how the expectations of players will influence the impact made by GTA 4. If Rockstar's masterpiece does not include excellent play control and "leveling skills", will fans be disappointed? If they fail to incorporate a freely open co-op play mode, will it matter? Can the game pull off the visual wizardly that is showcased in Crackdown every time I scale a skyscraper or set off a chain explosion on the freeway? Ironically, while Crackdown has been unfairly compared to the GTA 3 series of titles, so in turn GTA 4 will potentially get a lot of flack if it does not outshine Crackdown in any significant way.

I for one hope GTA 4 nails a few things right when it finally comes out:

1. Modern, now-gen visuals (sadly for them, Crackdown has set the bar for draw distances and giant, vertical environments)
2. Flexible mission/story progression - don't force me to struggle with clumsy controls in order to successfuly navigate a toy plane with limited fuel.
3. Stretch the genre - Vice City and San Andreas were essentially "engine sequels"; aside from a few tweaks they played just like GTA 3. I hope they do something that really pushes the sandbox/action genre into uncharted territory.
   

What are you most looking forward to for GTA 4?