Niko Bellic is the main character.
Multi-player will be included, but no details yet. It will not be MMO.
The game has been in development since early 2004.
Variations in the terrain cause the walking animation to change. The physics have also improved and character movements are more realistic.
Liberty City is the only location in the game and it takes place in 2007.
The Xbox 360 version was the version shown to the magazine editors.
There were no planes in the skies of the demo that the magazine editors saw, and it seems that there will not be airplanes in the game. Other forms of air travel should not be ruled out.
The MetLife building now bears the name Getalife, the Statue of Liberty is now the Statue of Happiness, and DUMBO (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass) is called BOABO (Beneath the Offramp of the Algonquin Bridge Overpass).
Dan Houser of Rockstar Games said that 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."
Within Grand Theft Auto IV, Rockstar North has recreated four of the five boroughs that make up New York City, as well as a section of New Jersey. In the GTA universe, Brooklyn has been transformed to Broker, Manhattan has mutated into Algonquin, Queens is now Dukes, The Bronx is Bohan, and New Jersey has become Alderney.
It's a smaller geographical mass than San Andreas, but not an inch of this world is wasted or dedicated to vast stretches of country or desert. It's a tightly packed metropolis that captures the eye with its decades of world-class architecture, sun-blocking towers, and extraordinary walks of life.
The city is brought to life with an amazing level of realism. Sunlight glistens beautifully off of glasswork, illuminates the intricate detailing of century old brick, and even reveals just how realistic an ordinary bag of trash can look. As the sun begins to set, the city takes on a whole different appearance. Buildings that were once eye-popping attractions slowly become ominous obelisks. As any New Yorker will tell you, there's a big difference between New York during the day and New York at night. Liberty City will perfectly capture that quality.
Niko Bellic's home is in Eastern Europe, and he likely may never have traveled to Liberty City if it wasn't for his cousin Roman. With life not working out in the homeland, "Bellic turns up in Liberty City because he's been receiving e-mails from his cousin Roman, that read like: 'I live this amazing life, it's the American Dream come true. I have two women. I have four hot tubs. I have fifteen sports cars," Houser elaborates. "And [Bellic] believes it." His bid to flee his past for what he thought would be the greener pastures of America couldn't be any further from the truth. Roman has been lying to him. He isn't rich. He isn't popular. And he's actually in a load of trouble. He lied to his cousin to hide his own failures in life.
Roman, Niko's cousin, is the only person that he knows in America. He 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.
Niko is a "tough character" while Roman is a "friendly buffoon."
The story unfolds in a number of different ways. R* is giving people more freedom, more choice and more sense of control over their destiny - the structure of the storyline is quite different to previous games.
The targeting system details have not been released.