Xboxist

GTA IV Progress

There is no doubt that Grand Theft Auto IV is one of the most anticipated games of this year, even the most wanted game of the current generation. Its predecessors have always been the must have game and each new GTA has always added to the series. On the other hand, while Vice City and San Andreas improved the franchise, there was always something biting the back of my mind, which was that the gameplay of the series was slowly starting to slowly stagnate.

The whole aim of Rockstar for GTA IV seems to be one of realism and purpose. It cannot be argued that the trailer and the subsequent screenshots (new screens can be seen below) released definitely show that Grand Theft Auto IV is looking like a true, beautiful next generation game. The game seems to ooze visual quality and seems to really convey Liberty City (Modelled on New York) as a living, breathing city. In the Screenshots that have been released, it seems that all the people walking around the city are no longer aimless in their actions. They all looking like they have somewhere to go, something to do and it really brings the city and game to life. Animations of movement have more weight and seem to convey a more human feel to the character. For example, the main character (Bellic) walks up to a car and instead of finding it mysteriously unlocked like in previous renditions of GTA, elbows the window, breaking it and then hotwires the engine.

Finally, the game has no loading times at all. None entering buildings or moving around the world and it's possible (if you have a ludicrous amount of free time) to complete the game without seeing a loading screen. With its release date slowly approaching (October 2007), it's good to see and to read about the progress that is being made, and not just having to make do with the trailer.

Further previews can be found over at IGN.