Clans Domain

ADMIN writes "Rockstar Games are bringing Grand Theft Auto IV to Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on April 29, 2008.

Main GTA IV Info
Here is a short list of information tidbits regarding the game:
Main Character: Niko Bellic
Single Player: Yes
Multi-player: Yes, 15 modes including Hangman's NOOSE, Team Car Jack City, Bomb da Base, Bomb da Base II, Mafia Work, Team Mafiya Work, Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Turf War, Cops n' Crooks, Race, GTA Race, Deal Breaker, Free Mode and one more unknown mode.
Episodic Content: Two pieces of content for Xbox 360 in 2008/2009, possibly PS3 later on
Graphics: Uses Rockstar Advanced Graphics Engine (RAGE)
Physics: Uses NaturalMotion euphoria
Location: Liberty City, broken up into five areas:
Brooklyn is Broker
Manhattan is Algonquin
Queens is Dukes
The Bronx is Bohan
New Jersey is Alderney
Sea/Air: Helicopters and boats but no planes
The Story
What does the American dream mean today? For Niko Bellic fresh off the boat from Europe, it is the hope he can escape his past. For his cousin, Roman, it is the vision that together they find fortune in Liberty City, gateway to the land of opportunity. As they slip into debt and get dragged into a criminal underworld by a series of shysters, thieves and sociopaths, they discover that the reality is very different from the dream in a city that worships money and status, and is heaven for those who have them and a living nightmare for those who don't.

The Character: Niko Bellic
Niko Bellic is the main character and is described by Rockstar as "tough." His home was in Eastern Europe, and he likely may never have traveled to Liberty City if it wasn't for his cousin Roman who is described as a "friendly buffoon" by Rockstar. Life wasn't going well, and Bellic turns up in Liberty City because he's been receiving e-mails from Roman that are full of lies about how great he is doing in America. Roman is actually in trouble.

However, Niko knows that Roman is the only person he knows in America. Roman serves as one of his main friends, motivations, and connections at the start of the game. Unlike San Andreas, players won't get a chance to see Bellic in his homeland. You will see his life unfold from the moment he steps into Liberty City.

Why Go Back To Liberty City?
Dan Houser, the creative vice president of Rockstar Games had the following answer when asked why Liberty City was chosen for GTA IV:
"[New York City] is an environment we felt had never been done to the level we were envisioning it in a video game. From looking at all of the locations, this was the one that really stood out to us, and really had that impact. It has all of these iconic things that you couldn't put into a game before."
In another magazine article, Houser explained again with this:
"We've always wanted to do New York properly. With GTA III, we were dealing with so many technical issues and design issues about making a game like that, that we didn't really think that trying to make somewhere like a real place was important at the time and then we discovered later that that gave an added element of content to the place.

We've got a full time team of researchers and photographers in the office in New York who get emails from the artists in Scotland saying, "Hey can you find out what this building's like, or what the traffic flow's like around here?" or the designers want to find out how the law systems work. We wouldn't be as confident doing a next-gen game the way we wanted, somewhere we didn't have a base."
Source: PlanetGTA
"