If you're a fan of the Grand Theft Auto series (and, unless you're Jack Thompson, why aren't you?) yesterday was pretty much like Christmas. Well, perhaps that night before Christmas when you wake your dad in the middle of the night, asking him if it's time to open presents yet but being told, through one blood-shot eye, to go back to your room and shut up until 6 a.m. After a year of teasing us with one official trailer and a few screenshots released shamelessly at a rate that would make Chinese Democracy fans blush, Rockstar pulled back the curtain on the next installment in their blockbuster franchise to giddy journalists at Game Informer.
You can read the entirety of their article, if you're a subscriber, using an app for Apple or Android devices, or online at their website. Additionally, IGN (and many other outlets) simply poached the information and posted it under their own mastheads. Without going into too much detail on this subject, I can't really blame them. At last count, it was generating about hundreds of pageviews a minute. As a journalist myself, and someone who values game journalism (the good stuff, like the investigative piece on working conditions at Team Bondi by freelancer Andrew McMillen [@NiteShok] last summer), I have some issues with the practice. But that's not the point of this article.
Count me among those bowled over by GTAIV. At the time, I wrote GTAIV "was a fantastic technical achievement with regard to the usage of the RAGE engine in creating a living, breathing city." I stand by that today. While I disagreed with some of the decisions Rockstar made in their presentation and execution of GTAIV, I remember being completely overwhelmed the first time I got behind the wheel to drive Roman home at the outset of GTAIV. And this is coming from a guy who remembers the exact second he put each previous generation GTA game disc into his PS2 for the first time.
Which brings us to yesterday, when Rockstar made, once again, some lofty claims about moving forward with their series. I'll admit, I read the entirety of the 17-page Game Informer article with giddiness of that teenager who plopped down in front of a massive Magnavox 11 years ago and hit the power button for the first time on GTA3. Here's what I'm most excited about from the piece:
1. The narrative possibilities of multiple protagonists. Rockstar broached this subject a bit, but in the Game Informer piece the emphasis was on "skipping the boring parts" of the game by shifting perspectives as the title progressed. But the more interesting thing, given Rockstar's approach in the high definition GTA era to storytelling, is how this will influence the way the story unfolds. We know the protagonists will meet on certain missions. And we definitely got a sense of how this might work in the DLC chapters released by Rockstar for GTAIV. But the shifting focus will allow for storytelling we haven't really seen in a game with the level of polish Rockstar is known for yet.
Sure, we had Master Chief and the Arbiter in Halo 2/3. And Rockstar has toyed with changing perspectives in games recently with Red Dead Redemption and as far back as The Warriors and Red Dead Revolver. But this is concurrent, seamless (and unbounded by narrative) transition from one character to another. We're talking Pulp Fiction-like narrative possibilities here. I hope (and I know) Rockstar won't waste it.
2. Finally, a fully dynamic mission structure (?). Yesterday's announcement had me combing through preview articles for GTA3, to see just what folks were saying before that groundbreaking game came out. Here's a doozie from IGN's preview on Oct. 18, 2001:
"For example, if you steal a taxi and you pick up a guy, he'll talk to you, or perhaps even offer you a task. "
When the game came out, like many of the other mentions of the game's features before it was altered following the Sept. 11 attacks, these dynamic occurrences were nowhere to be found. Again, Game Informer promised us yesterday that we would have dynamic experiences that occur in-game as your character is driving from point-to-point, like the stick-up situations in Red Dead Redemption. One of the more interesting scenarios was stumbling upon dead bodies strewn about int the desert, No Country for Old Men style. Imagine the possibilities! No one plays the same game twice! Actual choice, instead of those branching mission paths that were clunkily implemented toward the end of GTAIV.
3. Better driving mechanics. Let's face it - the cars in GTAIV handled awfully. Thank God everyone drove so horribly, or otherwise I'd be getting shut down by the cops in chases and losing all of Brucie's road races. Dan Houser says the cars will grip the road a lot better this time round, and the time is looking toward producing an experience that rivals top-tier racing games. To me, the driving in GTA has always sort of played second fiddle. But in GTAIV's Liberty City, driving actually meant something, getting from one point to another. Sure, we had the taxi service (which I used to pick up weapons and get to places during a mission easily), but if you're going to produce a city of that scale (and Los Santos is going to be bigger), you have to make it fun to navigate. I'm very excited about the new feel of the cars in GTAIV (and not having to turn on that handy "better handling" cheat, which I used so frequently in GTA3 and other games in the series).
That's it for now. I'll have some impressions when the second official trailer drops next Thursday. Back to Halo 4...
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