Gamespot Gets Guided Tour of GTA 4

Gamespot posted impressions of their first look at Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto 4 just before the weekend.

My summary and regurgitation after the jump...

Aside from some gorgeous new screenshots and concept artwork, the preview lays out some tantalizing tidbits about the plotline, the Russian protagonist and Liberty City. Taking a page out of Crackdown's book, verticality will figure more prominently in GTA 4, with the ability to ascend buildings in a variety of ways as well as pilot a helicopter.

In addition, the player will be able to enter more structures, with seamless transitions between interior and outdoor environments. This is a rather fitting next-gen upgrade, as I always found the cityscapes in previous GTA chapters a bit too superficial and lacking in the player-interaction department.

The article hinted at some multiplayer possibilities in GTA 4 but claimed Rockstar reps were tight-lipped regarding that aspect of play. The encouraging note was that the dev team was committed to making the online multiplayer as substantial as the single-player campaign. I am also relieved that there will be no persistent world with online play. Nice to know Rockstar is aware of what's going on in the market and are leaving the "GTA MMO" to Realtime Worlds and their upcoming APB.

Visually, GTA 4 is still looking very juicy. I'm just holding out for some solid information on gameplay mechanics. This is shaping up to be the most technically advanced GTA yet and I can easily imagine the developers fawning over the graphics and leaving core gameplay largely untouched. I would love to see more sophisticated story missions and a greater sense of open-endedness, perhaps falling just short of completely free-form play found in Crackdown.