It’s the rare game that can get us riled-up with just a trailer, but Grand Theft Auto IV has done it three times now. With today’s debut of Trailer 3 — “Move Up, Ladies” — we’re itching to embrace the saga of Niko, the Eastern European immigrant with a dangerous past. What crazy adventures will he face in Liberty City? Will he lay down the law, or spend much of the game fleeing from it?

We’ve busted out our best guesses for your amusement and edification. Watch the trailer below, and then scroll down for our comments and observations on the events therein…

CONFIRMING THE OLD

This new trailer shows us several events we already knew about (and revealed in OXM’s September 2007 cover story). We see the game’s main character, Niko, arriving in America and being greeted by his cousin Roman. Roman shows Niko his “mansion” —which, in reality, is a small, messy apartment with paint peeling from the walls, posters of bikini’d beauties, and unidentified sticky stuff on the floor. “This is the mansion?” Niko asks. “The mansion is coming, cousin,” Roman replies. “That’s the dream…We’re going to the top, Niko. Soon, even you will forget about the Old Country.”

We then watch a suit-clad Niko going to a club and shooting pool (which, as we learned previously, will be a playable mini-game in GTA IV). This calm soon segues into crime-land grittiness, however: Roman is clearly in trouble with some crooked characters, to the point where he’s hiding in a garbage can! (“I’m freaking out, man. I’m being followed. I saw them.”) A man tells someone, “So you’re the guy who got jumped for a coupla million.” Could that “someone” be Roman, or a person employed at Roman’s taxi stand?

SUGGESTING THE NEW

Characters we already know about (but aren’t shown here…we think) include McCreary — the crooked cop who blackmails Niko — and Little Jacob (the firearms dealer who boosts your arsenal). But, as the trailer shows us, Niko seems to have at least a few more partners/friends/allies: he seems pretty chummy with the man who greets him in the club (“What’s up, money?”) and with the shirtless guy who cheerily spouts “Bling, check. Bodies, check. Paper, check. That’s how we roll!”

Roman’s gang problems appear to be 10-out-of-10 harsh, as we see he and Niko tied-up and being interrogated by a scar-faced hoodlum holding what looks like a bloody saw. (Yeesh!) In another scene, Roman tells Niko: “I don’t want to die, man. Not like this!” Over a series of sequences displaying hand-to-hand combat — i.e., Niko punching and kicking enemies in the face — Niko responds: “We must fight these people. It’s them or us!”

A few other plot elements seem to be at work here. One is romance — at the beginning of the trailer, a woman asks Niko, “Where are you taking me?” Another woman kisses him on the cheek. Our hero, it seems, imported some smooth moves from Eastern Europe.

Also, judging from the events of Trailer 3, several factions — gangs? — seem to be operating in the underbelly of Liberty City. One, we’d guess, is the group threatening Roman. Another, it seems, is the bunch led by the guy who shouts “Leave my people alone!” right before Niko has a gunfight with (what we think is) some of them. And the guy who shouts “Let him know — might is right!” may be representing another group entirely.

Finally — and pardon us while we break out even more major guesswork (i.e., possible B.S.) here — we see what may suggest an answer to the game’s second trailer — “Looking for That Special Someone.” In that movie, Niko said: “For 10 years, I’ve been searching. I did this for you…I was guaranteed that you would find this man.” We’ve been wondering ever since who “this man” is. Could it be the older gentleman we see a glimpse of in Trailer 3 — the man who says “Get out of my sight, or I’ll kill you”? His appearance, and that of the people in the pictures on his walls, suggest he shares Niko’s Eastern European heritage. Could he be a relative or former partner? Hmmm…

RANDOM OBSERVATIONS

* The game world looks impressively detailed and vibrant — moreso than when we saw the game a few months ago. Water ripples realistically, buildings are full of signage, and, as Rockstar has suggested, the city seems very vertical, with high-up billboards and towering skyscrapers. We can’t wait to roam the bustling streets of Liberty City.

* There are lots of vehicles — not that GTA fans would settle for anything less. We spotted at least three kinds of motorcycles here (ranging from a racing bike to more of a cruiser); plenty of cars; a semi truck; taxis; a firetruck; a few boats; and helicopters galore. In the new trailer, when we see a chopper hovering near Niko and then he dives away from an explosion, is the copter shooting missiles at him? We hope so.

* The police are out in force. In this trailer alone, two police boats chase Niko (who’s in a boat of his own); he’s pursued by a cop car (while on a motorcycle); and a semi truck smashes through a couple of cop cars. The question is, Who’s driving the semi?

* We see a very Bada-Bing–ish strip club twice in this trailer — once as a woman dances, and again as Niko and another man are there (you can tell by the “Touchy Tuesdays” sign in the background), and the man tells Niko: “I ain’t askin’ ya, I’m tellin’ ya — do this!” Could that Sopranos allusion pay off — i.e., will we see more references to HBO’s Jersey Mafia?

* Fighting could be a lot more fun than in previous GTAs. When Niko is doing some scrapping, it looks so much more realistic than in the earlier games — and the spurting blood isn’t cartooney in the slightest. We’re sure the politicos will love the added authenticity!

* There’s a conspicuous lack of release date at the end of the trailer. Don’t leave us hanging, Rockstar! Is it still Q2 2008 (i.e., February to April)? We guess so.

Whew. That’s all we’ve got, and all we’re gonna get, from our dozen-odd viewings. See anything we missed, or have some thoughts of your own? Post ’em below!