Grand Theft Auto IV

At long last, it’s here: the biggest, boldest game of 2008. But can Grand Theft Auto IV’s voracious cast of crooks satisfy an even bigger hunger — its fans’ ravenous demand for a perfect new Liberty City? Here’s the final word on the game everyone’s been craving.

 Take away the guns, thugs, and hookers, and what are the Grand Theft Auto games really about? Excess, every time. The 3D GTAs have lavished abundance on us with immense open worlds, dripping with sights, sounds, missions, and activities — and the “controversial content” that still turns heads and headlines. With its statewide scope and story, San Andreas felt like an experience we could play forever. And we pretty much did.

So our expectations for GTA IV were enormous. Possibly impossible. Like mob bosses pondering a payoff, we wondered: Would it be enough? Would Rockstar deliver? Would the return to Liberty City — not seen since Grand Theft Auto III — be the blessed homecoming we so desperately wanted?

Now that we’ve finished the game, we can safely say...it is. And we also know we’re not really finished — not by a long shot. To learn why, turn the page.

WITH OPEN ARMS

As the opening credits roll, a cutscene shows your character, Niko Bellic, arriving in Liberty City (a.k.a. New York City) aboard a cargo boat. He’s an Eastern European immigrant who, by his own account, did some “dumb” (read: very bad) things after an unspecified war. He’s here in search of the American Dream, which he hopes to find alongside his cousin Roman, who owns a small taxi service. Before long, however, loan sharks come to collect the money Roman owes them — and your entanglement with local criminals grows from there.

Besides introducing the story and some initial characters, the first few missions serve as a tutorial for several elements new to the series. One is the combat system — a vastly improved design where RB throws you behind cover (Gears of War–style) and the left trigger locks onto an enemy or, if you squeeze it halfway, lets you free-aim. Right trigger fires, and moving the right thumbstick flicks your reticule between various targets. So long, spray-and-pray: The whole setup allows for quick, precise headshots and works particularly well in later gunfights, where you’re often heavily outnumbered.

Early on, you’re also given a cell phone, which is how you interface with the gameworld. Characters can call or text-message you with missions, you can dial contacts to see if they want to do various activities (see “Leisure Time” boxout, next page), and a single button-press lets you replay a failed mission. It’s also your gateway to Xbox Live multiplayer (see “Gang Mentality” sidebar, page 3), and it even features a camera — handy for, say, snapping a pic of a potential target and sending it to a client for confirmation. Your phone is your lifeline, and that contact list fills up pretty quickly...

CITY OF LIGHT

GTA IV’s ensemble cast spans all walks of life: mob boss to biker, junkie to politician, and a slew of family members and flunkies. Some, like corrupt cop Francis MacReary, are compelling foils; others, like love-interest Michelle, you just want to score with...if she’ll invite you into her home. But the main character — the one you can’t take your eyes off — isn’t Niko, Roman, or anyone they talk to. It’s the city itself. This re-imagined Liberty City is an amazing accomplishment, even in a franchise known for its detailed real-world playgrounds.

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