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Grand Theft Auto IV

December 27, 2023

Grand Theft Auto IV is a 2008 action-adventure game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It is the sixth main entry in the Grand Theft Auto series, following 2004's Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, and the eleventh instalment overall. Set in the fictional Liberty City, based on New York City, the single-player story follows Eastern European war veteran Niko Bellic and his attempts to escape his past while under pressure from high-profile criminals. The open world design lets players freely roam Liberty City, consisting of three main islands, and the neighbouring state of Alderney, which is based on New Jersey.

Grand Theft Auto IV
Developer(s)Rockstar North[a]
Publisher(s)Rockstar Games
Producer(s)Leslie Benzies
Programmer(s)
  • Adam Fowler
  • Alexander Roger
  • Obbe Vermeij
Artist(s)Aaron Garbut
Writer(s)
Composer(s)Michael Hunter
SeriesGrand Theft Auto
EngineRAGE
Platform(s)
ReleasePlayStation 3, Xbox 360
  • WW: 29 April 2008
Windows
  • NA: 2 December 2008
  • PAL: 3 December 2008
Genre(s)Action-adventure
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

The game is played from a third-person perspective and its world is navigated on foot and by vehicle. Throughout the single-player mode, players control Niko Bellic. An online multiplayer mode is also included with the game, allowing up to 32 players to engage in both cooperative and competitive gameplay in a recreation of the single-player setting.[b] Two expansion packs were later released for the game, The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony, which both feature new plots that are interconnected with the main Grand Theft Auto IV storyline, and follow new protagonists.

Development of Grand Theft Auto IV began soon after the release of San Andreas and was shared between many of Rockstar's studios worldwide. The game introduced a shift to a more realistic and detailed style and tone for the series. Unlike previous entries, Grand Theft Auto IV lacked a strong cinematic influence, as the team attempted an original approach to the story. As part of their research for the open world, the development team conducted extensive field research in New York, capturing over 100,000 photographs and several hours of video. The developers considered the world to be the most important element of the game; though not the largest map in the series, they considered it comparable in scope due to its verticality and level of detail. The budget climbed to over US$100 million, making it one of the most expensive video games to develop.

Grand Theft Auto IV was released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles in April 2008, and for Windows in December. Upon release, the game received critical acclaim, with praise particularly directed at the narrative and open-world design. Grand Theft Auto IV broke industry sales records and became the fastest-selling entertainment product in history at the time, earning US$310 million in its first day and US$500 million in its first week. Considered one of the most significant titles of the seventh generation of video games, and by many critics as one of the greatest video games of all time, it won year-end accolades, including Game of the Year awards from several gaming publications. It is among the best-selling video games with over 25 million copies sold by 2013. The game generated controversy, with criticism directed at the game's depiction of violence and players' ability to drink-drive. Its successor, Grand Theft Auto V, was released in September 2013.

Gameplay

Grand Theft Auto IV is an action-adventure game played from a third-person perspective.[2] Players complete missions—linear scenarios with set objectives—to progress through the story. It is possible to have several active missions running at one time, as some require players to wait for further instructions or events. Outside of missions, players can freely roam the game's open world and complete optional side missions.[3] Composed of the fictional city of Liberty City, the world is larger in area than most earlier Grand Theft Auto series entries.[4] At the beginning of the game, players can only explore the first island—composed of Dukes and Broker—with all other islands unlocking as the story progresses.[5]

Players use melee attacks, firearms and explosives to fight enemies, and may run, jump, swim or use vehicles to navigate the game's world. There is a first-person perspective option when using vehicles. In combat, auto-aim and a cover system can be used as assistance against enemies. Should players take damage, their health meter can be fully regenerated by consuming food or drinks, using medical kits, or calling for paramedics.[6] If players commit crimes, the game's law enforcement agencies may respond as indicated by a "wanted" meter in the head-up display (HUD). On the meter, the displayed stars indicate the current wanted level (for example, at the maximum six-star level, efforts by law enforcement to incapacitate players become very aggressive). Law enforcement officers will search for players who leave the wanted vicinity. The wanted meter enters a cool-down mode and eventually recedes when players are hidden from the officers' line of sight.[7]

 
Combat in Grand Theft Auto IV was reworked to include a cover system.[6]

The game's cover system allows players to move between cover, to fire blindly, aim freely, and target a specific enemy. Individual body parts can also be targeted.[8] Melee attacks include additional moves, such as dodging, blocking, disarming an opponent and counter-attacking. Body armour can be used to absorb gunshots and explosive damage, but is used up in the process. When health is entirely depleted, gameplay stops, and players respawn at the nearest hospital.[6]

The single-player mode lets players control an Eastern European war veteran, Niko Bellic. During the story, Niko meets and befriends various new characters. They can then perform favours for Niko whenever he asks; for example, his cousin Roman, who owns a taxi service, can send one of his cabs to take Niko to any destination around the city. Cabs are always available during gameplay for quick travel to a destination. Throughout the course of the game, players are also faced with morality choices, which alter the storyline appropriately depending on the player's choice. While free roaming the game world, players may engage in context-specific activities such as bowling or darts. Other available activities include a vigilante mini-game, and in-game television programming.[9][10][11] Niko has a cell phone for contacting friends and starting activities.[12] The cell phone is also used to access the game's online multiplayer mode, and to enter cheat codes.[13] To access the in-game Internet, which allows Niko to send and receive emails and set up prospective dates with potential girlfriends, Niko can use Internet cafés located around the city.[14] The game also features a subway system, allowing players to quickly traverse through the game's world.[15]

The online multiplayer mode for Grand Theft Auto IV allows up to 32 players[b] to freely roam across the map. Players decide which game mode they wish to play, including deathmatches and street races. Both cooperative and competitive game modes are available, split into ranked and unranked matches.[16] For players to level up through ranks, in-game money has to be earned. The game also features a Free Mode, in which players have the entire map open to explore, with no end goal or mission to complete. Hosts of the game can control many variables, such as police presence, traffic, and weapons.[17] The multiplayer mode was discontinued on Windows in 2020.[18]

Synopsis

Setting

Grand Theft Auto IV takes place in 2008, within a redesigned version of Liberty City. The design of the city focuses on a recreation of four of the boroughs of New York City: Broker (based on Brooklyn), Dukes (Queens), Bohan (The Bronx), and Algonquin (Manhattan). The setting also includes the neighbouring state of Alderney (based on New Jersey).[19] Initially, bridges are locked down due to a terrorist threat, and police constantly pursue players if the bridges are crossed. The blockades are lifted as the story progresses, allowing the player to traverse between islands safely.

Grand Theft Auto IV is set in the fictional "HD Universe", which mirrors and parodies the real world. The previous games formed fictional universes of their own,[c] which despite having many similarities with the HD Universe, are considered to be different continuities. Hence, the Liberty City depicted in Grand Theft Auto IV is different from its previous renditions, and the game itself serves as a reboot for the series. The new timeline established by Grand Theft Auto IV would continue with two expansion packs, The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony, and a sequel, Grand Theft Auto V, as well as its online component, Grand Theft Auto Online.[21][22][23] The handheld game Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars is also considered part of the HD Universe, because it features the same map as Grand Theft Auto IV, except for Alderney.[24]

Plot

Niko Bellic, an Eastern European ex-soldier,[25] arrives in Liberty City aboard a cargo ship, the Platypus, to escape his criminal past, pursue the American Dream, and search for the man who betrayed his unit to an ambush during a war ten years prior. Reuniting with his cousin Roman, he discovers that his tales of riches were lies concealing his small dirty apartment, unprofitable taxi company, gambling debts, and disputes with loan sharks. Niko begins assisting Roman with his problems, which leads him to make his first criminal contacts in the city. He befriends Yardies underboss Little Jacob and is forced to work for Vlad Glebov, Roman's Russian loan shark, whom Niko eventually kills upon learning he had slept with Roman's girlfriend, Mallorie.

In retaliation, Niko and Roman are kidnapped by Russian mobsters on orders of their boss Mikhail Faustin and his lieutenant, Dimitri Rascalov. Indifferent to Vlad's murder, Faustin releases them and employs Niko as a hitman, eventually ordering him to kill the son of Russian crime lord Kenny Petrović. When Petrović threatens retaliation, Dimitri convinces Niko to assassinate Faustin. However, he then betrays and brings Niko to his former employer, Ray Bulgarin, who accuses Niko of stealing from him during a botched human trafficking job years earlier. Niko denies the allegation and a firefight ensues, allowing Dimitri and Bulgarin to escape.

Dimitri's men burn down Niko and Roman's apartment and taxi company, forcing them to flee to Bohan. While Niko finds work for several local drug lords, Dimitri kidnaps Roman in a failed attempt to lure Niko into a trap. Later, Niko discovers that his romantic interest Michelle is a government agent, and she entraps him into working for her agency. In exchange for the murders of several known or suspected terrorists, the agency clears Niko's criminal record and assists him in searching for the traitor he seeks. Niko and Roman's fortunes improve when the latter receives a large amount of insurance money from his destroyed business, which he uses to rebuild it and buy an apartment in Algonquin. Roman also proposes to Mallorie, who accepts.

While working for the Irish Mob, Niko befriends gangster Patrick McReary and helps him and his brothers carry out a bank robbery. Niko is later hired by Ray Boccino, a caporegime in the Pegorino crime family, to oversee a diamond deal, which goes awry. Boccino repays Niko by helping him find ex-comrade Florian Cravic, now known as Bernie Crane, who claims that he did not betray their unit. Niko concludes that the traitor was Darko Brevic, the only other survivor. Niko continues working for the Mafia in Liberty City and eventually earns the trust of Don Jimmy Pegorino, who orders Niko to kill Boccino after suspecting him of being a police informant. Niko also helps Patrick kidnap Don Giovanni Ancelotti's daughter to ransom her for the diamonds, but Bulgarin intercepts the exchange, and the diamonds are lost.

Eventually, the government agents find Darko in Romania and bring him to Liberty City for Niko to decide his fate. Afterwards, Niko is summoned by Pegorino for one final favour: to help with a highly lucrative heroin deal in collusion with Dimitri. Niko must either agree to work with Dimitri or exact revenge on him.[26] If Niko goes through with the deal, Dimitri betrays him again and keeps the heroin for himself.[27] At Roman's wedding, an assassin sent by Dimitri to kill Niko accidentally kills Roman with a stray bullet.[28] Aided by Little Jacob, Niko retaliates by murdering Dimitri, who had also killed Pegorino.[29] Later, Mallorie informs Niko that she is pregnant with Roman's child, whom Niko vows to protect. If Niko chooses to exact revenge, he instead finds and kills Dimitri aboard the Platypus.[30] At Roman's wedding, Pegorino, furious at Niko's betrayal, targets him in a drive-by shooting, but accidentally kills Patrick's sister Kate, whom Niko had been dating.[28] Aided by Little Jacob and Roman, Niko tracks down and kills Pegorino.[31] Later, Roman tells Niko that Mallorie is pregnant and that they decided to name the baby after Kate if it is a girl.

Development

 
Rockstar North's former studio in Edinburgh, Scotland, where Grand Theft Auto IV's development was overseen

Preliminary work on Grand Theft Auto IV began in November 2004,[32] a month after the release of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.[33] Rockstar president Sam Houser felt that following up San Andreas was "a nightmare".[34] Rockstar North, the core 220-person team behind the game, co-opted studios owned by parent company Rockstar Games to facilitate development between a full team of over 1,000,[35] including 50 employees at Rockstar NYC, 40 at Rockstar Lincoln, 10 at Rockstar San Diego, and around 600–700 working part-time internally and externally.[36] Some key members of the development team worked 12-hour days during production, often without holidays.[35] The team decided to continue the numbering scheme absent from the previous two main games to represent the same leap in production as Grand Theft Auto 2 (1999) to Grand Theft Auto III (2001).[33] Development of Grand Theft Auto IV ceased by 21 April 2008 when the game was submitted for manufacturing.[37] Producer Leslie Benzies estimated that the budget of the development efforts exceeded US$100 million, making Grand Theft Auto IV one of the most expensive video games ever made.[35]

Research and open world design

The game's setting, Liberty City, is based on New York City. The team did not look at the previous renditions of Liberty City as inspiration, wanting it to retain the "general feel" but nothing else.[38] The map is roughly three times the size of Grand Theft Auto III's.[38] The developers originally considered using the entire state of New York, before restricting it to Manhattan, and then expanding it out again. They considered including more suburbs with woods, and would regularly vote on which areas to include.[39] Art director Aaron Garbut said that the team chose the setting because of the detail and variety it provided, describing New York as "an amazing, diverse, vibrant, cinematic city".[40] Writer Dan Houser added that the team "wanted to be somewhere where we had a foothold" due to the amount of research required for the world; Rockstar Games's main headquarters are located in New York.[41] The team consciously avoided a precise recreation of New York City to allow for more enjoyable game design,[32] selecting the areas that they felt "characterised it the best".[40] Garbut wanted to capture a caricature of the city as he felt that most people were familiar with "the highlights" from film or literature but did not need to know the areas precisely.[40] The city was not built with specific missions in mind; the area was created first, and missions implemented later.[42]

To achieve a realistic environment, 60–70 employees from Rockstar North travelled to New York for research: first at the beginning of the project in March or April 2005 for a week and a half,[39] and a smaller trip in 2007.[38] Police officers who previously worked the beat drove the team around Washington Heights.[39] A full-time research team based in New York handled further requests for information, such as the ethnic minority of a neighbourhood or videos of traffic patterns. Videos shot in New York were played on televisions at the Rockstar North offices "so while they worked they could look up and there was New York".[39] Benzies claimed that the team took over 100,000 photographs on location in New York,[35] though Garbut estimates that they took around 250,000.[38] They also studied architectural plans for apartments, used satellite images to determine city block layout, researched sales figures for models of cars, and read books that detailed the city's infrastructure, including its subways, sewers, and garbage disposal.[43] Hove Beach is based on Brighton Beach, which Sam Houser found "pretty incredible" and unusual; the name is based on the English city Brighton and Hove, made up of the former neighbouring towns Brighton and Hove.[44] Houser appreciated that Brighton Beach was home to several Eastern Europeans due to the nature of the game's characters.[44]

Dan Houser described Liberty City as "the biggest character" of the game.[40] The Grand Theft Auto IV rendition of Liberty City is more detailed and larger in size than most earlier entries in the series; although smaller than San Andreas, the setting of the previous main game, the developers considered it comparable in scope due to city's verticality, number of buildings, and level of detail.[45] The team wanted less dead spots and irrelevant spaces, such as the wide open deserts in San Andreas.[32] They wanted the game to be "a more focused experience" than San Andreas, and Dan Houser felt that the limited activities of New York allowed this.[33] The team felt that the addition of Niko's mobile phone added to the immersion of the world and represented society's shifted focus on phones.[33] The in-game brands and products are designed over several years; the billboards were implemented in the game around six months prior to release.[38]

Story and character development

See also: Niko Bellic
 
Leslie Benzies
 
Dan Houser
 
Sam Houser
Benzies produced the game. Dan Houser co-wrote the story,[35] while his brother Sam executive-produced the game.[34]

The game's script, written by Dan Houser and Rupert Humphries, is about 1,000 pages.[35] Approximately 660 actors provided voices for the game over 80,000 lines of dialogue.[39] After conceiving the character and setting, Dan Houser spoke with his brother Sam Houser and Leslie Benzies to bounce story ideas before writing a rough synopsis, a six-paged, detailed document. Once the synopsis was reworked, the designers broke it into missions, represented by a large flow document demonstrating each section. The writers then work on the introductions to the missions; the gameplay dialogue comes much later.[41] Unlike previous Grand Theft Auto games, Grand Theft Auto IV does not have cinematic influences. "We were consciously trying to go, well, if video games are going to develop into the next stage, then the thing isn't to try and do a loving tribute or reference other stuff," said Dan Houser.[41] He said that the writers wanted something "fresh and new and not something that was obviously derived from [a] movie".[41] Dan Houser felt that the quality of the writing had to improve alongside the advancements in graphics and technology. He noted that the improvements in facial animation allowed for slower-paced cutscenes.[40] The unique dialogue that plays when a mission is retried was to ensure that the gameplay felt "less canned and less like Groundhog Day".[40]

Dan Houser described Niko Bellic as "a more rounded character" than those in previous games.[40] He felt that his dual personality—often saving innocent people, while also being a "cold-hearted killer"—made him more relatable.[40] He also felt that Niko's unfamiliarity with Liberty City allowed for the player to relate to him more, only driven by his vague past and relationship with Roman. When deciding on Niko's background, the writers felt that being an immigrant could lead to more dangerous situations, and therefore more enjoyable missions; after discussions with criminal experts, Dan Houser found that "the real scary characters are not born in America anymore".[40] He felt that Niko's outsider view of American culture was "fun".[40] The team wanted Niko to be "more of an anti hero than a hero, capable of making positive actions within his criminal world".[46] They wanted his demeanour to reflect the weight of his past and choices.[46]

Niko's design underwent a few changes, but was finalised early in development.[47] His outfit underwent several changes based on Eastern Europeans, particularly photographs of men fighting in winter wars in Yugoslavia and Chechnya. The primary motivation for the design was a face to convey the appropriate emotions and a body that could move nicely with the new animations.[40] The in-game purchasable outfits were also designed to fit with the character.[33] The team ensured that the gameplay choices presented to the player were not too extensive, as they still had to make sense to the character, who is driven by the people around him. Dan Houser felt that the missions in San Andreas had become too linear, and wanted to present choices to the player in Grand Theft Auto IV.[40]

The writers found that Niko needed a motivation to come to America, so they created his cousin, Roman. Dan Houser felt that the two could not be brothers as there would be a deeper level of familiarity than necessary. He described the two as a double act, with Roman's fantasist charm playing off Niko's tough cynicism. The team gave other non-playable characters (NPCs) more definable behaviours and dialogue to make them feel more alive. The writers initially considered having a smaller group of characters, but found that the story became boring and that players were less likely to explore the world. The stranger characters found in the game world were based on the "crazy people" that populate New York, according to Dan Houser, which in previous games were only able to be captured through radio stations or mild pedestrian behaviours.[38] The team based the ethnicities, clothing, and behaviours of the NPCs on the photographs and videos that they captured around New York, divided into different areas;[40] they created mood boards for each location.[38] The NPCs also converse in different languages.[39]

Art design

Grand Theft Auto IV sees a shift in the series to a more realistic and detailed style and tone, partly a result of the transition to consoles which offered high-definition graphics and the new and improved capabilities of such consoles. The development team worked to represent the upgrade in quality across all design aspects while maintaining the coherence of the previous games.[32] The team took the game's development as an opportunity to "strip things back and start again", refining the art style without losing the style of the series;[40] they distanced the game from the "cartoon-like style" of its predecessors while creating a new style that was consistent across all aspects of the game.[48] Garbut found the increased demand of detail brought on by the advanced technology daunting.[49] A technique used to make the visuals look real was to avoid harsh edges, instead blending surfaces together to make the world look dirty and lived-in.[50] The props department created multiple variations of different objects to make the world more interesting and unique.[40] Grand Theft Auto IV was the first contemporary game in the series since 2001's Grand Theft Auto III; the team felt that enough time had passed to avoid feeling repetitive.[33] The types of in-game vehicles were decided upon early in development, after which the vehicles department begin creating the designs. The vehicles are not based on specific real-life counterparts, but take elements from several, with some original ideas by the developers.[51]

Technical and gameplay design

 
The process that Grand Theft Auto IV's animation underwent: (top) actors performing on stage, raw motion capture data, (bottom) in-game characters, and the final scene in the game.[52]

The proprietary Rockstar Advanced Game Engine (RAGE) was used for the game.[53] Garbut found Grand Theft Auto IV's technical design similar to Grand Theft Auto III's, with both games being the first in the series to be released on their respective platforms. He claimed that an operable game engine was not finalised until late in development, at which point "there's still plenty of guesswork" until optimisation near release.[42] The character's physical performances were recorded using motion capture. Up to eight actors could perform on the motion capture stage at one time, each dressed in a full suit.[52] The camera used to capture the performance included a teleprompter for the actors to read their scripts.[54] Over a hundred moves would be captured in each day of production. The final product was taken from different performances by different actors to make them appear seamless and appropriate.[52] The voice work by one actor could be composited over a different actor's physical performance for a specific outcome.[55] The in-game animations were crafted similarly, using a combination of different motion capture performances.[56]

For the gameplay and animations, the team redid a lot of the work from previous games, wanting Grand Theft Auto IV to "feel next-generation".[40] The role-playing elements from San Andreas were removed fairly early in development, partly due to the animation work it would have required, and because consistently needing to visit the gym felt antithetical to Niko's motivations.[33] The game's targeting system was one of the first focuses of development due to the advanced technology; the team wanted it to feel realistic without being too technical. The cover system was a "natural addition" to the targeting.[33] Benzies described the multiplayer as the hardest part of the game's development.[36] The team wanted the multiplayer to feel like an extension of the cinematic single-player experience. Dan Houser described it as "a section of a film rather than the whole narrative".[33] The developers considered adding co-operative multiplayer to the main story campaign, but decided it worked better as a single-player experience.[33]

When Sam Houser first showed interest in using the Euphoria software in the game, he was told that it would be impossible or only limited to cutscenes, but some members of the team were able to make it work. Engineers from NaturalMotion worked on-site at Rockstar North for several months at a time to incorporate Euphoria software into the game.[34] Rockstar also worked with Image Metrics for the game's facial animations. The facial rigs had around 100 joints, with a total of 300 minutes of facial animation. The scale of the project caused some issues for the animators, forcing them to have rigs completed before animation began. They also faced difficulty in the direction of the actor's head—either straight on when looking at the teleprompter, or down when looking at a script. Image Metrics head of production David Barton noted that "having realistic eyes is 90 percent of the battle", as it allows the player to believe the character.[54] A head camera was used when recording to capture facial movements.[54] SpeedTree was used for in-game environment rendering.[57]

Music production

When selecting music for the in-game radio stations, music supervisor Ivan Pavlovich said "[we had] to pick the songs that make New York today what it is, but make sure they won't feel dated by the time the game comes out."[58] The developers contacted over 2,000 people in order to obtain recording and publishing rights;[59] they hired a private investigator to locate the relatives of late Skatt Bros. member Sean Delaney to license the band's song, "Walk the Night".[60] Billboard reported that Rockstar paid as much as $5,000 per composition and another $5,000 per master recording per track.[61] Developers originally considered letting players purchase music in an in-game record shop and for Niko to have an MP3 player, but both ideas were cut.[59] DJ Green Lantern produced tracks exclusively for the game's hip-hop radio station The Beat 102.7.[61] Record label owner and record producer Bobby Konders, who hosts the in-game radio station Massive B Soundsystem 96.9, flew to Jamaica to get dancehall artists to re-record tracks to make references to the boroughs of Liberty City.[61] The Housers's father, jazz musician Walter Houser, provided several classical music tracks for the game.[34]

Release

 
Midnight launch of Grand Theft Auto IV at GameStop in Las Vegas

At E3 2006, Peter Moore, Corporate Vice President of Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment Business division, formally announced Grand Theft Auto IV by rolling up his sleeve to reveal a Grand Theft Auto IV temporary tattoo.[62] The game became widely anticipated.[63] Rockstar Games initially appeared to be committed to the original 16 October 2007 release date. However, Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter suggested that Take-Two may choose to delay the release of the game in order to boost its financial results for 2008 and to avoid competing with the release of other highly anticipated titles, such as Halo 3;[64] Rockstar responded by saying that Grand Theft Auto IV was still on track for release in "late October".[65] However, Take-Two announced in August 2007 that Grand Theft Auto IV would miss its original release date, and would be delayed to their second fiscal quarter (February–April) of 2008, attributing this to technical challenges.[66] In particular, the delay was caused by technical difficulties with the PlayStation 3 version and storage problems with the Xbox 360 version.[67] IGN predicted that other publishers would benefit from Grand Theft Auto IV's delay, particularly Activision with Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.[68] On 24 January 2008, the company announced the game's release date of 29 April 2008.[69] Some gameplay features were censored for the Australian and New Zealand versions of the game, though these censors were subsequently removed.[70][71]

In August 2008, Rockstar announced that the game would be coming to Windows on 18 November 2008 in North America and 21 November in Europe,[72] with additional development work by Rockstar Toronto.[73] Microsoft partnered with Rockstar in a US$50 million deal to bring two episodic downloadable content packs to the Xbox 360:[74] Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned on 17 February 2009,[75] and Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony on 29 October 2009.[76] Dan Houser wanted the episodes to show "a different side of Liberty City".[77] In January 2010, Rockstar announced that the DLC would be bundled as Episodes from Liberty City, released for PlayStation 3 and Windows on 13 April 2010 in North America and 16 April in Europe.[78] Episodes from Liberty City was also bundled with the main game in The Complete Edition, released on 26 October 2010 in North America and 29 October in Europe.[79] The Xbox 360 version of the game and its DLC were made backwards compatible with the Xbox One on 9 February 2017.[80]

Promotion

 
The game was promoted through posters and murals on billboards and buildings, including Chinatown, New York City.

Industry analysts found Grand Theft Auto IV's marketing much more subtle than Microsoft's marketing of Halo 3 (2007), identifying Rockstar's interest in controlling the output at all times.[81] The game was marketed through video trailers and press demonstrations. On 29 March 2007, the debut trailer was released. It was narrated by protagonist Niko, and depicts the open world accompanied by the song "Pruit-Igoe" by Philip Glass, originally composed for Godfrey Reggio's 1982 documentary film Koyaanisqatsi.[82][83] The trailer is credited for starting the Rickrolling meme; after the higher viewership crashed Rockstar's website, several users re-posted the trailer, but some misleadingly played the music video for Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up".[84][85] The second trailer was released on 28 June 2007, showcasing the game's physics engine and featuring the song "Arm in Arm (Shy Child Remix)" by The Boggs.[86] Dan Houser noted that the game was "still rough" when the first trailer was released, but that cutscenes were "coming on board" by the second trailer's release.[40]

To unveil the game's cover art, Rockstar contracted artists to paint a mural on a wall at a secluded warehouse location, showcasing the art in a video on 28 November 2007.[87] A third trailer was released on 6 December 2007, introducing some of the game's characters, such as Roman and Michelle. The trailer features the song "King Ring" by Russian rap artist Seryoga, which Rockstar felt captured the "melting pot mentality" of Liberty City.[88] Dan Houser wanted the third trailer to capture the "visceral qualities" of the game, but focus less on the story, as the first two trailers had done.[40] On 8 February 2008, five teaser trailers for the game were released, each showcasing a particular character or service within the game.[89] Similar teaser trailers were later released in pairs on 21 February,[90] 7 March,[91] and 11 April.[92] Another trailer, released on 27 March 2008, showcases some scenes from the game, such as a bank robbery and police chase.[93] A television commercial from GameStop debuted on 1 April, focusing on the activities in Liberty City.[94]

Viral marketing strategies were used to promote the game. Wanted posters were placed around New York City promoting the game's characters and website;[95][96] billboard versions were also posted throughout the city.[97] Murals and posters advertising the game were placed on buildings and public transport.[98][99] The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) removed advertisements promoting the game from their property in April 2008;[99] Take-Two filed a lawsuit in response, claiming that the CTA had violated a contract.[100] Visitors to the website of WKTT Talk Radio—a fictional radio station within the game—were offered a chance to leave a voice mail message stating their problems. Prior to leaving the message, callers were asked to read the terms and conditions, which revealed that some of the voice mail message would be selected for use in the game.[101]

In the month prior to launch, Rockstar and GameStop held a competition offering up to US$10,000 and a trip to New York City for the game's launch event.[102] Microsoft held a similar sweepstakes competition, offering consoles, games, Microsoft Points, a baseball bat, and an invitation to the launch event as rewards.[103] The official Grand Theft Auto IV website was redesigned on 8 February 2008 to show a preview of activities and locales within the game's world.[104] To encourage pre-order sales, Rockstar collaborated with several retail outlets to provide a special edition version of the game. It includes a metal safe deposit box, an art book, and the soundtrack CD.[105] The publisher also collaborated with Sony to release a 40 GB PlayStation 3 console with a copy of the game.[106] GameStop hosted midnight launch events at over 3,500 of its American stores, with contests and giveaways.[107]

Reception

Critical response

Grand Theft Auto IV received "universal acclaim" from critics, according to review aggregator Metacritic.[108] It is the second-highest-rated game on the site,[116] and the highest-rated PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 game.[117][118] Reviewers praised the narrative,[109][112][115][119] open world design[109][110][115] and combat system.[110][12][113][114] Hilary Goldstein of IGN felt that the game "sets a new benchmark for open-world games",[115] and Andrew Reiner of Game Informer wrote that the game "completely changes the landscape of gaming".[112]

Reviewers lauded the open world design, some further complimenting the freedom that it allows the player. Seth Schiesel of The New York Times named the city the "real star" of the game.[15] Official Xbox Magazine's Hicks was impressed by the city, attributing this to the game's artificial intelligence.[119] Robinson of Computer and Video Games considered the environment believable, and felt that the world was "utterly unmatched".[110] Goldstein of IGN felt that, although Liberty City is inspired by New York, it is not beholden to it. He wrote that the city "exists in its own universe and rightfully so".[115] Crispin Boyer of 1UP.com directed praise at the city's "breathtaking vistas, incredibly varied scenery, and lived-in look."[109] Conversely, Jesse Costantino of GameRevolution felt that the game lacked important features common in other open world games.[120]

Reviewers praised the narrative. IGN's Goldstein accepted that the darker tones to the story were a break from series tradition.[115] Jon Hicks of Official Xbox Magazine felt surprised by the amount of depth to the story.[119] Reiner of Game Informer wrote that the level of freedom in the game contributed to his enjoyment of the story.[112] The morality choices faced by players throughout the narrative were also welcomed. 1UP.com's Boyer felt that they gave the game an element of "replayability".[109] Eurogamer's Tom Bramwell considered the morality choices a fair substitute over "bosses with large health bars".[12]

 
The game's protagonist, Niko Bellic, with the main antagonist, Dimitri Rascalov. Reviewers praised the story and characters, commending the morality choices faced by players.[12][109]

The game's characters—particularly Niko—received positive reactions from critics.[12] Hicks of Official Xbox Magazine and Andy Robinson of Computer and Video Games both called Niko "charismatic" and "likeable", stating that they prefer him over previous protagonists of the series.[110][119] George Walter of GamesRadar praised the depth of the character, and IGN's Goldstein felt that the character of Niko feels relatable when faced with difficult decisions.[113] Jeff Gerstmann of Giant Bomb felt that Niko was "the only thing that mattered to [him]" as he progressed through the story, with the character becoming one of his favourite features of the game.[121] Schiesel of The New York Times named Niko one of the most realised video game characters attributing this to the game's script,[15] while 1UP.com's Boyer commended the use of character bonding during missions.[109]

Many reviewers found the combat system was more responsive than in previous games, particularly praising the addition of the cover system.[109][110][12] Justin Calvert of GameSpot wrote that the cover system makes the game's combat a "huge improvement" over previous games.[114] Reiner of Game Informer agreed, writing that the targeting system makes players feel responsible for all deaths.[112] IGN's Goldstein praised the fluidity of the cover system, and felt that the auto aim mechanic is a "great help in larger battles".[115] GamesRadar's Walter wrote that the cover system has "paved the way to a new style of mission".[113] David McComb of Empire called the combat "sharp and instinctive",[122] and Hicks of Official Xbox Magazine felt that the cover system allows players to execute an attack plan.[119] In addition to the combat system, most reviewers noted the vehicle handling was more realistic than in previous games.[112][113][119] Robinson of Computer and Video Games felt that the vehicle handling echoed realism, while Hicks of Official Xbox Magazine called the vehicle selection "excellent".[110] Costantino of GameRevolution praised the improvement of the game's mechanics, particularly the physics engine's advanced vehicle and character animations.[120]

Reviewers praised the sound design. Goldstein of IGN praised the actors' performances and the use of licensed music. GameSpot's Calvert and GamesRadar's Walter also commended the licensed music, the latter admiring the humour of the radio's talk stations.[113][114] Michael Pinson of The Pro Audio Files praised the separate features of the sound design—including the city's ambiance, licensed music, character dialogue, and vehicle and weapon sound effects—applauding the developer's use of uniting the features together.[123] Carolyn Gudmundson of GamesRadar also retroactively praised the soundtrack, commending its suitability to the setting.[124]

The online multiplayer mode received positive reactions from critics.[12][114] Reiner of Game Informer praised the character customisation available in the multiplayer mode, and noted that it runs "just as smoothly" as the single-player game.[112] 1UP.com's Boyer called the multiplayer modes "excellent",[109] and IGN's Goldstein named it one of the best.[115] Official Xbox Magazine's Hicks dubbed the multiplayer as "hugely entertaining",[119] while Walter of GamesRadar praised the "seamless" process of entering a multiplayer match.[113] Giant Bomb's Gerstmann and GameRevolution's Costantino felt divided about the multiplayer, the latter naming it a "fantastic idea", but feeling as though connectivity problems resulted in a "broken" experience.[120][121]

Windows version

The Windows version received "universal acclaim", according to Metacritic.[108] Reviewers liked the enhanced visuals[126][130][131] and the additional features,[1][125][129][131] but criticised the port for its inferiority over the console versions.[125][127][129]

The in-game features added in the port were well received.[129][131] The addition of the Video Editor was met with positive reactions; GameSpot's Calvert called it "a great way to get creative",[1] while Kieron Gillen of Eurogamer criticised the unpredictability in its timing.[127] Critics also praised the addition of the customisable radio station, which allows players to listen to their own choice of music; Tom Chick of 1UP.com named it the best feature of the port,[125] and Steven Hopper of GameZone called it a "great touch".[131] The port's upgrade to 32 concurrent players in the online multiplayer mode, as opposed to the console version's 16 players, was also met with positive feedback; Eurogamer's Gillen said that the "possibility for mayhem... increases",[127] while Will Tuttle of GameSpy felt that the player increase "changes the action significantly".[128]

The port's enhanced visuals were commended by many reviewers. GameZone's Hopper considered the visuals an improvement over the original versions.[131] Andy Robinson of Computer and Video Games called the visuals "impressive",[126] while Tom Orry of VideoGamer.com called them "superb".[130] Conversely, the port's system requirements, considered difficult to run with advanced settings,[1] received criticism.[129][130] Eurogamer's Gillen said that, though the Windows version is "the most attractive version", it's "annoyingly fiddly to get there".[127] GameSpy's Tuttle was able to overlook the demanding system requirements in exchange for the game's other features.[128]

Awards

 
Michael Hollick won at the Spike Video Game Awards for his role as Niko Bellic.[132]

Grand Theft Auto IV earned awards from several critics and publications. It received Game of the Year awards from Digital Spy,[133] the Entertainment Merchants Association,[134] GameTrailers,[135] Giant Bomb,[136] IGN Australia,[137] Kotaku,[138] The Los Angeles Times,[139] The New York Times,[140] and Time.[141] The game led the nominees at the 2008 Spike Video Game Awards with eight nominations;[142] it led the winners (tying with Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots) with three awards: Game of the Year, Best Action Adventure Game, and Best Performance by a Human Male for Michael Hollick's role as Niko.[132] The following year, The Ballad of Gay Tony won Best DLC.[143]

Grand Theft Auto IV was nominated for three awards at the 9th Game Developers Choice Awards including Game of the Year,[144] four at the 12th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards including Overall Game of the Year,[145] and seven at the 5th British Academy Games Awards, tying with Modern Warfare for the most nominations at the latter.[146] At IGN's Best of 2008, it won eleven awards, including Best Voice Acting across all three platforms and overall,[147][148][149][150] and Best Story for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.[151][152] It was nominated for Choice Video Game at the 2009 Teen Choice Awards.[153]

Award Date Category Recipient(s) and nominee(s) Result Ref(s).
British Academy Games Awards 10 March 2009 Best Game Grand Theft Auto IV Nominated [146]
Action and Adventure Grand Theft Auto IV Nominated
Story and Character Dan Houser, Rupert Humphries Nominated
Technical Achievement Grand Theft Auto IV Nominated
Gameplay Grand Theft Auto IV Nominated
Use of Audio Grand Theft Auto IV Nominated
GAME Award of 2008 Grand Theft Auto IV Nominated
Game Developers Choice Awards 26 March 2009 Game of the Year Grand Theft Auto IV Nominated [144]
Best Technology Grand Theft Auto IV Nominated
Best Writing Grand Theft Auto IV Nominated
Interactive Achievement Awards 19 February 2009 Overall Game of the Year Grand Theft Auto IV Nominated [145]
Console Game of the Year Grand Theft Auto IV Nominated
Action Game of the Year Grand Theft Auto IV Nominated
Outstanding Achievement in Original Story Grand Theft Auto IV Nominated
Spike Video Game Awards 14 December 2008 Game of the Year Grand Theft Auto IV Won [132]
Best Action Adventure Game Grand Theft Auto IV Won
Best Male Voice Michael Hollick as Niko Bellic Won
Jason Zumwalt as Roman Bellic Nominated [142]
Studio of the Year Rockstar North Nominated
Best Soundtrack Grand Theft Auto IV Nominated
Best Xbox 360 Game Grand Theft Auto IV Nominated
Best PS3 Game Grand Theft Auto IV Nominated
Big Name in the Game Male Ricky Gervais as himself Nominated
12 December 2009 Best DLC Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony Won [143]
Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned Nominated
Teen Choice Awards 9 August 2009 Choice Video Game Grand Theft Auto IV Nominated [153]

Sales

Within twenty-four hours of its release, Grand Theft Auto IV sold over 3.6 million copies, equating to approximately $310 million in revenue.[154] Within a week, it generated more than $500 million in worldwide revenue, equating to approximately 6 million copies sold for Take Two.[155][d] The numbers surpassed analysts' expectations for the title.[157][158][159] After one month of availability, the game had sold over 8.5 million copies.[160] It broke three Guinness World Records on 13 May 2008: highest grossing video game in 24 hours, highest revenue generated by an entertainment product in 24 hours, and fastest-selling video game in 24 hours.[161][e] On 11 March 2011, Take-Two announced that the game had sold over 20 million copies, with the Grand Theft Auto series surpassing a collective total of 100 million copies.[163] As of July 2013, the game has sold over 25 million copies, making it one of the best-selling video games, and one of the best-selling games on both PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.[164] All sales records broken by Grand Theft Auto IV were beaten by its successor, Grand Theft Auto V.[165]

In the United Kingdom, the game became the fastest-selling game of all time, selling over 631,000 copies in twenty-four hours.[166] This broke the record set by Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas at 501,000 copies over the same period.[167] During the first five days of availability, the game sold over 927,000 copies in the United Kingdom.[168][169] In the United States, Grand Theft Auto IV sold 2.85 million units in its first five days.[170] By the end of 2008, the game had sold over 5.18 million copies in the US.[171] In its first four days of availability in Japan, it sold 133,000 copies on the PlayStation 3 and 34,000 on the Xbox 360, according to Media Create.[172]

In the first week of availability, the Windows version of Grand Theft Auto IV debuted at seventh place on the weekly charts;[173] by the second week, it had left the top-ten.[174] Based on unique user counts, the game was the most played Games for Windows – Live game in 2009 and 2012,[175][176] and the second-most played in 2011.[177]

Controversies

Pre-release

 
Former attorney Jack Thompson, known for campaigning against titles from Rockstar Games, heavily criticised Grand Theft Auto IV prior to its release.[178][179][180]

In 2007, then-Florida lawyer Jack Thompson, known for his campaigns against the series, stated he would take measures to prevent the sale of Grand Theft Auto IV to minors.[178] On 14 March, Take-Two filed a lawsuit against Thompson to preemptively restrict his attempts to ban the game from sale.[181] Thompson responded by filing a countersuit accusing Take-Two of violating federal RICO statutes, committing perjury and obstruction of justice, and conspiring to deprive him of his civil rights.[182] On 20 April, both parties reached a settlement agreeing to drop their lawsuits:[183] Thompson was barred from suing to ban the sale or distribution of Take-Two's games but able to act as counsel in lawsuits by other parties, while Take-Two agreed to drop the contempt of court lawsuit against Thompson regarding alleged improper conduct during the court hearings for Rockstar's game Bully (2006).[179]

On 18 September 2007, Thompson filed a document with a federal court in Florida, claiming the assassination target of a mission in Grand Theft Auto IV is a lawyer character based upon himself. He threatened to "take necessary and proper means to stop release of the game" if the similarities were not removed.[184] In April 2008, Thompson wrote a letter directed to the mother of Take-Two chairman Strauss Zelnick, in which he labelled Grand Theft Auto a "murder simulator" and criticised Zelnick's upbringing, comparing his Boy Scouts experience to Hitler Youth.[180][185] Thompson subsequently claimed he sent the letter to Zelnick's lawyer, formulating it as a parody to induce "shame" in Zelnick.[180]

Following the release of the first trailer in March 2007, New York City officials criticised the choice of their city as inspiration for Liberty City; Peter Vallone Jr., chairman of the council's public safety committee, compared it to "setting Halo in Disneyland", and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly called it "despicable to glamorize violence in games like these".[186] A spokesman for mayor Michael Bloomberg said "the mayor does not support any video game where you earn points for injuring or killing police officers".[186] Jason Della Rocca, executive director of the International Game Developers Association, accused city officials of double standards for criticising video games but avoiding the argument for books, films, and television series set in the city.[187]

Post-release

 
The ability to drink-drive in Grand Theft Auto IV was criticised by Mothers Against Drunk Driving, who requested the rating be changed.[188]

In April 2008, non-profit organisation Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) criticised the ability to drink-drive in the game. MADD requested the Entertainment Software Rating Board change the rating of the game to "Adults Only", effectively removing it from sale.[188] They asked Take-Two and Rockstar to consider halting distribution out of a sense of social responsibility and respect for victims of driving under the influence.[188] Rockstar said it respected MADD's work but felt the game's audience "is more than sophisticated enough to understand the game's content", adding "you can't judge Grand Theft Auto IV by a small aspect of the game".[189]

On his program in May 2008, conservative American radio host Glenn Beck used the game as an example of violence in video games "training our kids to be killers", erroneously stating the player can attack police officers with a chainsaw;[190][191] Kombo's David Oxford rebutted that the game is not targeted at children.[191] Beck said games like Grand Theft Auto IV were being used to make militaries more violent; Destructoid's Jim Sterling countered that violent wars occurred prior to the creation of video games.[190] Computer and Video Games's Robinson compared Beck's "rant" to the game's satirical radio shows.[192]

There is nothing in the game you would not see in a TV show, or a movie a hundred times over ... We set out to make games that felt like they could culturally exist alongside the movies we were watching and the books we were reading

— Dan Houser, writer, May 2008[39]

In June 2008, six teenagers who were arrested for robbery in New Hyde Park, New York, claimed they were inspired by Grand Theft Auto IV, according to the Nassau County Police Department.[193] In August, an 18-year-old student was arrested in Bangkok for the murder of a taxi driver after attempting to hijack the vehicle; according to the police captain, the student "wanted to find out if it was as easy in real life to rob a taxi as it was in the game".[194] The game was subsequently banned in Thailand.[194] In August 2013, 87-year-old Marie Smothers was killed in Slaughter, Louisiana, when her eight-year-old grandson shot her in the head with a handgun after playing Grand Theft Auto IV; under state law, the boy could not be charged for her death due to his age.[195]

Notes

  1. ^ Ported to Windows by Rockstar Toronto
  2. ^ a b The online multiplayer mode for the Windows version of the game allowed up to 32 players until its discontinuation in 2020, while the console versions allow up to 16 players.[1]
  3. ^ The original Grand Theft Auto (1997), its expansion packs, and Grand Theft Auto 2 (1999) are set in the "2D Universe", while Grand Theft Auto III (2001), Vice City (2002), Advance (2004), San Andreas (2004), Liberty City Stories (2005), and Vice City Stories (2006) form the "3D Universe".[20]
  4. ^ The game's first-week sales record beat the previous record of $320 million set by Halo 3.[156]
  5. ^ The three Guinness World Records that Grand Theft Auto IV broke were later broken by its successor Grand Theft Auto V.[162]

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Bibliography

  • Garbut, Aaron (April 2008), The Art of Grand Theft Auto IV, Rockstar Games

External links

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Grand Theft Auto IV.
 
Wikiquote has quotations related to Grand Theft Auto IV.
  • Official website  

December 27, 2023
grand, theft, auto, 2008, action, adventure, game, developed, rockstar, north, published, rockstar, games, sixth, main, entry, grand, theft, auto, series, following, 2004, grand, theft, auto, andreas, eleventh, instalment, overall, fictional, liberty, city, ba. Grand Theft Auto IV is a 2008 action adventure game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games It is the sixth main entry in the Grand Theft Auto series following 2004 s Grand Theft Auto San Andreas and the eleventh instalment overall Set in the fictional Liberty City based on New York City the single player story follows Eastern European war veteran Niko Bellic and his attempts to escape his past while under pressure from high profile criminals The open world design lets players freely roam Liberty City consisting of three main islands and the neighbouring state of Alderney which is based on New Jersey Grand Theft Auto IVDeveloper s Rockstar North a Publisher s Rockstar GamesProducer s Leslie BenziesProgrammer s Adam FowlerAlexander RogerObbe VermeijArtist s Aaron GarbutWriter s Dan HouserRupert HumphriesComposer s Michael HunterSeriesGrand Theft AutoEngineRAGEPlatform s PlayStation 3Xbox 360WindowsReleasePlayStation 3 Xbox 360WW 29 April 2008WindowsNA 2 December 2008PAL 3 December 2008Genre s Action adventureMode s Single player multiplayerThe game is played from a third person perspective and its world is navigated on foot and by vehicle Throughout the single player mode players control Niko Bellic An online multiplayer mode is also included with the game allowing up to 32 players to engage in both cooperative and competitive gameplay in a recreation of the single player setting b Two expansion packs were later released for the game The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony which both feature new plots that are interconnected with the main Grand Theft Auto IV storyline and follow new protagonists Development of Grand Theft Auto IV began soon after the release of San Andreas and was shared between many of Rockstar s studios worldwide The game introduced a shift to a more realistic and detailed style and tone for the series Unlike previous entries Grand Theft Auto IV lacked a strong cinematic influence as the team attempted an original approach to the story As part of their research for the open world the development team conducted extensive field research in New York capturing over 100 000 photographs and several hours of video The developers considered the world to be the most important element of the game though not the largest map in the series they considered it comparable in scope due to its verticality and level of detail The budget climbed to over US 100 million making it one of the most expensive video games to develop Grand Theft Auto IV was released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles in April 2008 and for Windows in December Upon release the game received critical acclaim with praise particularly directed at the narrative and open world design Grand Theft Auto IV broke industry sales records and became the fastest selling entertainment product in history at the time earning US 310 million in its first day and US 500 million in its first week Considered one of the most significant titles of the seventh generation of video games and by many critics as one of the greatest video games of all time it won year end accolades including Game of the Year awards from several gaming publications It is among the best selling video games with over 25 million copies sold by 2013 The game generated controversy with criticism directed at the game s depiction of violence and players ability to drink drive Its successor Grand Theft Auto V was released in September 2013 Contents 1 Gameplay 2 Synopsis 2 1 Setting 2 2 Plot 3 Development 3 1 Research and open world design 3 2 Story and character development 3 3 Art design 3 4 Technical and gameplay design 3 5 Music production 4 Release 4 1 Promotion 5 Reception 5 1 Critical response 5 1 1 Windows version 5 2 Awards 6 Sales 7 Controversies 7 1 Pre release 7 2 Post release 8 Notes 9 References 10 Bibliography 11 External linksGameplayGrand Theft Auto IV is an action adventure game played from a third person perspective 2 Players complete missions linear scenarios with set objectives to progress through the story It is possible to have several active missions running at one time as some require players to wait for further instructions or events Outside of missions players can freely roam the game s open world and complete optional side missions 3 Composed of the fictional city of Liberty City the world is larger in area than most earlier Grand Theft Auto series entries 4 At the beginning of the game players can only explore the first island composed of Dukes and Broker with all other islands unlocking as the story progresses 5 Players use melee attacks firearms and explosives to fight enemies and may run jump swim or use vehicles to navigate the game s world There is a first person perspective option when using vehicles In combat auto aim and a cover system can be used as assistance against enemies Should players take damage their health meter can be fully regenerated by consuming food or drinks using medical kits or calling for paramedics 6 If players commit crimes the game s law enforcement agencies may respond as indicated by a wanted meter in the head up display HUD On the meter the displayed stars indicate the current wanted level for example at the maximum six star level efforts by law enforcement to incapacitate players become very aggressive Law enforcement officers will search for players who leave the wanted vicinity The wanted meter enters a cool down mode and eventually recedes when players are hidden from the officers line of sight 7 nbsp Combat in Grand Theft Auto IV was reworked to include a cover system 6 The game s cover system allows players to move between cover to fire blindly aim freely and target a specific enemy Individual body parts can also be targeted 8 Melee attacks include additional moves such as dodging blocking disarming an opponent and counter attacking Body armour can be used to absorb gunshots and explosive damage but is used up in the process When health is entirely depleted gameplay stops and players respawn at the nearest hospital 6 The single player mode lets players control an Eastern European war veteran Niko Bellic During the story Niko meets and befriends various new characters They can then perform favours for Niko whenever he asks for example his cousin Roman who owns a taxi service can send one of his cabs to take Niko to any destination around the city Cabs are always available during gameplay for quick travel to a destination Throughout the course of the game players are also faced with morality choices which alter the storyline appropriately depending on the player s choice While free roaming the game world players may engage in context specific activities such as bowling or darts Other available activities include a vigilante mini game and in game television programming 9 10 11 Niko has a cell phone for contacting friends and starting activities 12 The cell phone is also used to access the game s online multiplayer mode and to enter cheat codes 13 To access the in game Internet which allows Niko to send and receive emails and set up prospective dates with potential girlfriends Niko can use Internet cafes located around the city 14 The game also features a subway system allowing players to quickly traverse through the game s world 15 The online multiplayer mode for Grand Theft Auto IV allows up to 32 players b to freely roam across the map Players decide which game mode they wish to play including deathmatches and street races Both cooperative and competitive game modes are available split into ranked and unranked matches 16 For players to level up through ranks in game money has to be earned The game also features a Free Mode in which players have the entire map open to explore with no end goal or mission to complete Hosts of the game can control many variables such as police presence traffic and weapons 17 The multiplayer mode was discontinued on Windows in 2020 18 SynopsisSetting Grand Theft Auto IV takes place in 2008 within a redesigned version of Liberty City The design of the city focuses on a recreation of four of the boroughs of New York City Broker based on Brooklyn Dukes Queens Bohan The Bronx and Algonquin Manhattan The setting also includes the neighbouring state of Alderney based on New Jersey 19 Initially bridges are locked down due to a terrorist threat and police constantly pursue players if the bridges are crossed The blockades are lifted as the story progresses allowing the player to traverse between islands safely Grand Theft Auto IV is set in the fictional HD Universe which mirrors and parodies the real world The previous games formed fictional universes of their own c which despite having many similarities with the HD Universe are considered to be different continuities Hence the Liberty City depicted in Grand Theft Auto IV is different from its previous renditions and the game itself serves as a reboot for the series The new timeline established by Grand Theft Auto IV would continue with two expansion packs The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony and a sequel Grand Theft Auto V as well as its online component Grand Theft Auto Online 21 22 23 The handheld game Grand Theft Auto Chinatown Wars is also considered part of the HD Universe because it features the same map as Grand Theft Auto IV except for Alderney 24 Plot Niko Bellic an Eastern European ex soldier 25 arrives in Liberty City aboard a cargo ship the Platypus to escape his criminal past pursue the American Dream and search for the man who betrayed his unit to an ambush during a war ten years prior Reuniting with his cousin Roman he discovers that his tales of riches were lies concealing his small dirty apartment unprofitable taxi company gambling debts and disputes with loan sharks Niko begins assisting Roman with his problems which leads him to make his first criminal contacts in the city He befriends Yardies underboss Little Jacob and is forced to work for Vlad Glebov Roman s Russian loan shark whom Niko eventually kills upon learning he had slept with Roman s girlfriend Mallorie In retaliation Niko and Roman are kidnapped by Russian mobsters on orders of their boss Mikhail Faustin and his lieutenant Dimitri Rascalov Indifferent to Vlad s murder Faustin releases them and employs Niko as a hitman eventually ordering him to kill the son of Russian crime lord Kenny Petrovic When Petrovic threatens retaliation Dimitri convinces Niko to assassinate Faustin However he then betrays and brings Niko to his former employer Ray Bulgarin who accuses Niko of stealing from him during a botched human trafficking job years earlier Niko denies the allegation and a firefight ensues allowing Dimitri and Bulgarin to escape Dimitri s men burn down Niko and Roman s apartment and taxi company forcing them to flee to Bohan While Niko finds work for several local drug lords Dimitri kidnaps Roman in a failed attempt to lure Niko into a trap Later Niko discovers that his romantic interest Michelle is a government agent and she entraps him into working for her agency In exchange for the murders of several known or suspected terrorists the agency clears Niko s criminal record and assists him in searching for the traitor he seeks Niko and Roman s fortunes improve when the latter receives a large amount of insurance money from his destroyed business which he uses to rebuild it and buy an apartment in Algonquin Roman also proposes to Mallorie who accepts While working for the Irish Mob Niko befriends gangster Patrick McReary and helps him and his brothers carry out a bank robbery Niko is later hired by Ray Boccino a caporegime in the Pegorino crime family to oversee a diamond deal which goes awry Boccino repays Niko by helping him find ex comrade Florian Cravic now known as Bernie Crane who claims that he did not betray their unit Niko concludes that the traitor was Darko Brevic the only other survivor Niko continues working for the Mafia in Liberty City and eventually earns the trust of Don Jimmy Pegorino who orders Niko to kill Boccino after suspecting him of being a police informant Niko also helps Patrick kidnap Don Giovanni Ancelotti s daughter to ransom her for the diamonds but Bulgarin intercepts the exchange and the diamonds are lost Eventually the government agents find Darko in Romania and bring him to Liberty City for Niko to decide his fate Afterwards Niko is summoned by Pegorino for one final favour to help with a highly lucrative heroin deal in collusion with Dimitri Niko must either agree to work with Dimitri or exact revenge on him 26 If Niko goes through with the deal Dimitri betrays him again and keeps the heroin for himself 27 At Roman s wedding an assassin sent by Dimitri to kill Niko accidentally kills Roman with a stray bullet 28 Aided by Little Jacob Niko retaliates by murdering Dimitri who had also killed Pegorino 29 Later Mallorie informs Niko that she is pregnant with Roman s child whom Niko vows to protect If Niko chooses to exact revenge he instead finds and kills Dimitri aboard the Platypus 30 At Roman s wedding Pegorino furious at Niko s betrayal targets him in a drive by shooting but accidentally kills Patrick s sister Kate whom Niko had been dating 28 Aided by Little Jacob and Roman Niko tracks down and kills Pegorino 31 Later Roman tells Niko that Mallorie is pregnant and that they decided to name the baby after Kate if it is a girl Development nbsp Rockstar North s former studio in Edinburgh Scotland where Grand Theft Auto IV s development was overseenPreliminary work on Grand Theft Auto IV began in November 2004 32 a month after the release of Grand Theft Auto San Andreas 33 Rockstar president Sam Houser felt that following up San Andreas was a nightmare 34 Rockstar North the core 220 person team behind the game co opted studios owned by parent company Rockstar Games to facilitate development between a full team of over 1 000 35 including 50 employees at Rockstar NYC 40 at Rockstar Lincoln 10 at Rockstar San Diego and around 600 700 working part time internally and externally 36 Some key members of the development team worked 12 hour days during production often without holidays 35 The team decided to continue the numbering scheme absent from the previous two main games to represent the same leap in production as Grand Theft Auto 2 1999 to Grand Theft Auto III 2001 33 Development of Grand Theft Auto IV ceased by 21 April 2008 when the game was submitted for manufacturing 37 Producer Leslie Benzies estimated that the budget of the development efforts exceeded US 100 million making Grand Theft Auto IV one of the most expensive video games ever made 35 Research and open world design The game s setting Liberty City is based on New York City The team did not look at the previous renditions of Liberty City as inspiration wanting it to retain the general feel but nothing else 38 The map is roughly three times the size of Grand Theft Auto III s 38 The developers originally considered using the entire state of New York before restricting it to Manhattan and then expanding it out again They considered including more suburbs with woods and would regularly vote on which areas to include 39 Art director Aaron Garbut said that the team chose the setting because of the detail and variety it provided describing New York as an amazing diverse vibrant cinematic city 40 Writer Dan Houser added that the team wanted to be somewhere where we had a foothold due to the amount of research required for the world Rockstar Games s main headquarters are located in New York 41 The team consciously avoided a precise recreation of New York City to allow for more enjoyable game design 32 selecting the areas that they felt characterised it the best 40 Garbut wanted to capture a caricature of the city as he felt that most people were familiar with the highlights from film or literature but did not need to know the areas precisely 40 The city was not built with specific missions in mind the area was created first and missions implemented later 42 To achieve a realistic environment 60 70 employees from Rockstar North travelled to New York for research first at the beginning of the project in March or April 2005 for a week and a half 39 and a smaller trip in 2007 38 Police officers who previously worked the beat drove the team around Washington Heights 39 A full time research team based in New York handled further requests for information such as the ethnic minority of a neighbourhood or videos of traffic patterns Videos shot in New York were played on televisions at the Rockstar North offices so while they worked they could look up and there was New York 39 Benzies claimed that the team took over 100 000 photographs on location in New York 35 though Garbut estimates that they took around 250 000 38 They also studied architectural plans for apartments used satellite images to determine city block layout researched sales figures for models of cars and read books that detailed the city s infrastructure including its subways sewers and garbage disposal 43 Hove Beach is based on Brighton Beach which Sam Houser found pretty incredible and unusual the name is based on the English city Brighton and Hove made up of the former neighbouring towns Brighton and Hove 44 Houser appreciated that Brighton Beach was home to several Eastern Europeans due to the nature of the game s characters 44 Dan Houser described Liberty City as the biggest character of the game 40 The Grand Theft Auto IV rendition of Liberty City is more detailed and larger in size than most earlier entries in the series although smaller than San Andreas the setting of the previous main game the developers considered it comparable in scope due to city s verticality number of buildings and level of detail 45 The team wanted less dead spots and irrelevant spaces such as the wide open deserts in San Andreas 32 They wanted the game to be a more focused experience than San Andreas and Dan Houser felt that the limited activities of New York allowed this 33 The team felt that the addition of Niko s mobile phone added to the immersion of the world and represented society s shifted focus on phones 33 The in game brands and products are designed over several years the billboards were implemented in the game around six months prior to release 38 Story and character development See also Niko Bellic nbsp Leslie Benzies nbsp Dan Houser nbsp Sam HouserBenzies produced the game Dan Houser co wrote the story 35 while his brother Sam executive produced the game 34 The game s script written by Dan Houser and Rupert Humphries is about 1 000 pages 35 Approximately 660 actors provided voices for the game over 80 000 lines of dialogue 39 After conceiving the character and setting Dan Houser spoke with his brother Sam Houser and Leslie Benzies to bounce story ideas before writing a rough synopsis a six paged detailed document Once the synopsis was reworked the designers broke it into missions represented by a large flow document demonstrating each section The writers then work on the introductions to the missions the gameplay dialogue comes much later 41 Unlike previous Grand Theft Auto games Grand Theft Auto IV does not have cinematic influences We were consciously trying to go well if video games are going to develop into the next stage then the thing isn t to try and do a loving tribute or reference other stuff said Dan Houser 41 He said that the writers wanted something fresh and new and not something that was obviously derived from a movie 41 Dan Houser felt that the quality of the writing had to improve alongside the advancements in graphics and technology He noted that the improvements in facial animation allowed for slower paced cutscenes 40 The unique dialogue that plays when a mission is retried was to ensure that the gameplay felt less canned and less like Groundhog Day 40 Dan Houser described Niko Bellic as a more rounded character than those in previous games 40 He felt that his dual personality often saving innocent people while also being a cold hearted killer made him more relatable 40 He also felt that Niko s unfamiliarity with Liberty City allowed for the player to relate to him more only driven by his vague past and relationship with Roman When deciding on Niko s background the writers felt that being an immigrant could lead to more dangerous situations and therefore more enjoyable missions after discussions with criminal experts Dan Houser found that the real scary characters are not born in America anymore 40 He felt that Niko s outsider view of American culture was fun 40 The team wanted Niko to be more of an anti hero than a hero capable of making positive actions within his criminal world 46 They wanted his demeanour to reflect the weight of his past and choices 46 Niko s design underwent a few changes but was finalised early in development 47 His outfit underwent several changes based on Eastern Europeans particularly photographs of men fighting in winter wars in Yugoslavia and Chechnya The primary motivation for the design was a face to convey the appropriate emotions and a body that could move nicely with the new animations 40 The in game purchasable outfits were also designed to fit with the character 33 The team ensured that the gameplay choices presented to the player were not too extensive as they still had to make sense to the character who is driven by the people around him Dan Houser felt that the missions in San Andreas had become too linear and wanted to present choices to the player in Grand Theft Auto IV 40 The writers found that Niko needed a motivation to come to America so they created his cousin Roman Dan Houser felt that the two could not be brothers as there would be a deeper level of familiarity than necessary He described the two as a double act with Roman s fantasist charm playing off Niko s tough cynicism The team gave other non playable characters NPCs more definable behaviours and dialogue to make them feel more alive The writers initially considered having a smaller group of characters but found that the story became boring and that players were less likely to explore the world The stranger characters found in the game world were based on the crazy people that populate New York according to Dan Houser which in previous games were only able to be captured through radio stations or mild pedestrian behaviours 38 The team based the ethnicities clothing and behaviours of the NPCs on the photographs and videos that they captured around New York divided into different areas 40 they created mood boards for each location 38 The NPCs also converse in different languages 39 Art design Grand Theft Auto IV sees a shift in the series to a more realistic and detailed style and tone partly a result of the transition to consoles which offered high definition graphics and the new and improved capabilities of such consoles The development team worked to represent the upgrade in quality across all design aspects while maintaining the coherence of the previous games 32 The team took the game s development as an opportunity to strip things back and start again refining the art style without losing the style of the series 40 they distanced the game from the cartoon like style of its predecessors while creating a new style that was consistent across all aspects of the game 48 Garbut found the increased demand of detail brought on by the advanced technology daunting 49 A technique used to make the visuals look real was to avoid harsh edges instead blending surfaces together to make the world look dirty and lived in 50 The props department created multiple variations of different objects to make the world more interesting and unique 40 Grand Theft Auto IV was the first contemporary game in the series since 2001 s Grand Theft Auto III the team felt that enough time had passed to avoid feeling repetitive 33 The types of in game vehicles were decided upon early in development after which the vehicles department begin creating the designs The vehicles are not based on specific real life counterparts but take elements from several with some original ideas by the developers 51 Technical and gameplay design nbsp The process that Grand Theft Auto IV s animation underwent top actors performing on stage raw motion capture data bottom in game characters and the final scene in the game 52 The proprietary Rockstar Advanced Game Engine RAGE was used for the game 53 Garbut found Grand Theft Auto IV s technical design similar to Grand Theft Auto III s with both games being the first in the series to be released on their respective platforms He claimed that an operable game engine was not finalised until late in development at which point there s still plenty of guesswork until optimisation near release 42 The character s physical performances were recorded using motion capture Up to eight actors could perform on the motion capture stage at one time each dressed in a full suit 52 The camera used to capture the performance included a teleprompter for the actors to read their scripts 54 Over a hundred moves would be captured in each day of production The final product was taken from different performances by different actors to make them appear seamless and appropriate 52 The voice work by one actor could be composited over a different actor s physical performance for a specific outcome 55 The in game animations were crafted similarly using a combination of different motion capture performances 56 For the gameplay and animations the team redid a lot of the work from previous games wanting Grand Theft Auto IV to feel next generation 40 The role playing elements from San Andreas were removed fairly early in development partly due to the animation work it would have required and because consistently needing to visit the gym felt antithetical to Niko s motivations 33 The game s targeting system was one of the first focuses of development due to the advanced technology the team wanted it to feel realistic without being too technical The cover system was a natural addition to the targeting 33 Benzies described the multiplayer as the hardest part of the game s development 36 The team wanted the multiplayer to feel like an extension of the cinematic single player experience Dan Houser described it as a section of a film rather than the whole narrative 33 The developers considered adding co operative multiplayer to the main story campaign but decided it worked better as a single player experience 33 When Sam Houser first showed interest in using the Euphoria software in the game he was told that it would be impossible or only limited to cutscenes but some members of the team were able to make it work Engineers from NaturalMotion worked on site at Rockstar North for several months at a time to incorporate Euphoria software into the game 34 Rockstar also worked with Image Metrics for the game s facial animations The facial rigs had around 100 joints with a total of 300 minutes of facial animation The scale of the project caused some issues for the animators forcing them to have rigs completed before animation began They also faced difficulty in the direction of the actor s head either straight on when looking at the teleprompter or down when looking at a script Image Metrics head of production David Barton noted that having realistic eyes is 90 percent of the battle as it allows the player to believe the character 54 A head camera was used when recording to capture facial movements 54 SpeedTree was used for in game environment rendering 57 Music production When selecting music for the in game radio stations music supervisor Ivan Pavlovich said we had to pick the songs that make New York today what it is but make sure they won t feel dated by the time the game comes out 58 The developers contacted over 2 000 people in order to obtain recording and publishing rights 59 they hired a private investigator to locate the relatives of late Skatt Bros member Sean Delaney to license the band s song Walk the Night 60 Billboard reported that Rockstar paid as much as 5 000 per composition and another 5 000 per master recording per track 61 Developers originally considered letting players purchase music in an in game record shop and for Niko to have an MP3 player but both ideas were cut 59 DJ Green Lantern produced tracks exclusively for the game s hip hop radio station The Beat 102 7 61 Record label owner and record producer Bobby Konders who hosts the in game radio station Massive B Soundsystem 96 9 flew to Jamaica to get dancehall artists to re record tracks to make references to the boroughs of Liberty City 61 The Housers s father jazz musician Walter Houser provided several classical music tracks for the game 34 Release nbsp Midnight launch of Grand Theft Auto IV at GameStop in Las VegasAt E3 2006 Peter Moore Corporate Vice President of Microsoft s Interactive Entertainment Business division formally announced Grand Theft Auto IV by rolling up his sleeve to reveal a Grand Theft Auto IV temporary tattoo 62 The game became widely anticipated 63 Rockstar Games initially appeared to be committed to the original 16 October 2007 release date However Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter suggested that Take Two may choose to delay the release of the game in order to boost its financial results for 2008 and to avoid competing with the release of other highly anticipated titles such as Halo 3 64 Rockstar responded by saying that Grand Theft Auto IV was still on track for release in late October 65 However Take Two announced in August 2007 that Grand Theft Auto IV would miss its original release date and would be delayed to their second fiscal quarter February April of 2008 attributing this to technical challenges 66 In particular the delay was caused by technical difficulties with the PlayStation 3 version and storage problems with the Xbox 360 version 67 IGN predicted that other publishers would benefit from Grand Theft Auto IV s delay particularly Activision with Call of Duty 4 Modern Warfare 68 On 24 January 2008 the company announced the game s release date of 29 April 2008 69 Some gameplay features were censored for the Australian and New Zealand versions of the game though these censors were subsequently removed 70 71 In August 2008 Rockstar announced that the game would be coming to Windows on 18 November 2008 in North America and 21 November in Europe 72 with additional development work by Rockstar Toronto 73 Microsoft partnered with Rockstar in a US 50 million deal to bring two episodic downloadable content packs to the Xbox 360 74 Grand Theft Auto IV The Lost and Damned on 17 February 2009 75 and Grand Theft Auto The Ballad of Gay Tony on 29 October 2009 76 Dan Houser wanted the episodes to show a different side of Liberty City 77 In January 2010 Rockstar announced that the DLC would be bundled as Episodes from Liberty City released for PlayStation 3 and Windows on 13 April 2010 in North America and 16 April in Europe 78 Episodes from Liberty City was also bundled with the main game in The Complete Edition released on 26 October 2010 in North America and 29 October in Europe 79 The Xbox 360 version of the game and its DLC were made backwards compatible with the Xbox One on 9 February 2017 80 Promotion nbsp The game was promoted through posters and murals on billboards and buildings including Chinatown New York City Industry analysts found Grand Theft Auto IV s marketing much more subtle than Microsoft s marketing of Halo 3 2007 identifying Rockstar s interest in controlling the output at all times 81 The game was marketed through video trailers and press demonstrations On 29 March 2007 the debut trailer was released It was narrated by protagonist Niko and depicts the open world accompanied by the song Pruit Igoe by Philip Glass originally composed for Godfrey Reggio s 1982 documentary film Koyaanisqatsi 82 83 The trailer is credited for starting the Rickrolling meme after the higher viewership crashed Rockstar s website several users re posted the trailer but some misleadingly played the music video for Rick Astley s Never Gonna Give You Up 84 85 The second trailer was released on 28 June 2007 showcasing the game s physics engine and featuring the song Arm in Arm Shy Child Remix by The Boggs 86 Dan Houser noted that the game was still rough when the first trailer was released but that cutscenes were coming on board by the second trailer s release 40 To unveil the game s cover art Rockstar contracted artists to paint a mural on a wall at a secluded warehouse location showcasing the art in a video on 28 November 2007 87 A third trailer was released on 6 December 2007 introducing some of the game s characters such as Roman and Michelle The trailer features the song King Ring by Russian rap artist Seryoga which Rockstar felt captured the melting pot mentality of Liberty City 88 Dan Houser wanted the third trailer to capture the visceral qualities of the game but focus less on the story as the first two trailers had done 40 On 8 February 2008 five teaser trailers for the game were released each showcasing a particular character or service within the game 89 Similar teaser trailers were later released in pairs on 21 February 90 7 March 91 and 11 April 92 Another trailer released on 27 March 2008 showcases some scenes from the game such as a bank robbery and police chase 93 A television commercial from GameStop debuted on 1 April focusing on the activities in Liberty City 94 Viral marketing strategies were used to promote the game Wanted posters were placed around New York City promoting the game s characters and website 95 96 billboard versions were also posted throughout the city 97 Murals and posters advertising the game were placed on buildings and public transport 98 99 The Chicago Transit Authority CTA removed advertisements promoting the game from their property in April 2008 99 Take Two filed a lawsuit in response claiming that the CTA had violated a contract 100 Visitors to the website of WKTT Talk Radio a fictional radio station within the game were offered a chance to leave a voice mail message stating their problems Prior to leaving the message callers were asked to read the terms and conditions which revealed that some of the voice mail message would be selected for use in the game 101 In the month prior to launch Rockstar and GameStop held a competition offering up to US 10 000 and a trip to New York City for the game s launch event 102 Microsoft held a similar sweepstakes competition offering consoles games Microsoft Points a baseball bat and an invitation to the launch event as rewards 103 The official Grand Theft Auto IV website was redesigned on 8 February 2008 to show a preview of activities and locales within the game s world 104 To encourage pre order sales Rockstar collaborated with several retail outlets to provide a special edition version of the game It includes a metal safe deposit box an art book and the soundtrack CD 105 The publisher also collaborated with Sony to release a 40 GB PlayStation 3 console with a copy of the game 106 GameStop hosted midnight launch events at over 3 500 of its American stores with contests and giveaways 107 ReceptionCritical response Console versions receptionAggregate scoreAggregatorScoreMetacritic98 100 108 Review scoresPublicationScore1Up comA 109 Computer and Video Games9 5 10 110 Edge10 10 111 Eurogamer10 10 12 Game Informer10 10 112 GameSpot10 10 114 GamesRadar nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 113 IGN10 10 115 Grand Theft Auto IV received universal acclaim from critics according to review aggregator Metacritic 108 It is the second highest rated game on the site 116 and the highest rated PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 game 117 118 Reviewers praised the narrative 109 112 115 119 open world design 109 110 115 and combat system 110 12 113 114 Hilary Goldstein of IGN felt that the game sets a new benchmark for open world games 115 and Andrew Reiner of Game Informer wrote that the game completely changes the landscape of gaming 112 Reviewers lauded the open world design some further complimenting the freedom that it allows the player Seth Schiesel of The New York Times named the city the real star of the game 15 Official Xbox Magazine s Hicks was impressed by the city attributing this to the game s artificial intelligence 119 Robinson of Computer and Video Games considered the environment believable and felt that the world was utterly unmatched 110 Goldstein of IGN felt that although Liberty City is inspired by New York it is not beholden to it He wrote that the city exists in its own universe and rightfully so 115 Crispin Boyer of 1UP com directed praise at the city s breathtaking vistas incredibly varied scenery and lived in look 109 Conversely Jesse Costantino of GameRevolution felt that the game lacked important features common in other open world games 120 Reviewers praised the narrative IGN s Goldstein accepted that the darker tones to the story were a break from series tradition 115 Jon Hicks of Official Xbox Magazine felt surprised by the amount of depth to the story 119 Reiner of Game Informer wrote that the level of freedom in the game contributed to his enjoyment of the story 112 The morality choices faced by players throughout the narrative were also welcomed 1UP com s Boyer felt that they gave the game an element of replayability 109 Eurogamer s Tom Bramwell considered the morality choices a fair substitute over bosses with large health bars 12 nbsp The game s protagonist Niko Bellic with the main antagonist Dimitri Rascalov Reviewers praised the story and characters commending the morality choices faced by players 12 109 The game s characters particularly Niko received positive reactions from critics 12 Hicks of Official Xbox Magazine and Andy Robinson of Computer and Video Games both called Niko charismatic and likeable stating that they prefer him over previous protagonists of the series 110 119 George Walter of GamesRadar praised the depth of the character and IGN s Goldstein felt that the character of Niko feels relatable when faced with difficult decisions 113 Jeff Gerstmann of Giant Bomb felt that Niko was the only thing that mattered to him as he progressed through the story with the character becoming one of his favourite features of the game 121 Schiesel of The New York Times named Niko one of the most realised video game characters attributing this to the game s script 15 while 1UP com s Boyer commended the use of character bonding during missions 109 Many reviewers found the combat system was more responsive than in previous games particularly praising the addition of the cover system 109 110 12 Justin Calvert of GameSpot wrote that the cover system makes the game s combat a huge improvement over previous games 114 Reiner of Game Informer agreed writing that the targeting system makes players feel responsible for all deaths 112 IGN s Goldstein praised the fluidity of the cover system and felt that the auto aim mechanic is a great help in larger battles 115 GamesRadar s Walter wrote that the cover system has paved the way to a new style of mission 113 David McComb of Empire called the combat sharp and instinctive 122 and Hicks of Official Xbox Magazine felt that the cover system allows players to execute an attack plan 119 In addition to the combat system most reviewers noted the vehicle handling was more realistic than in previous games 112 113 119 Robinson of Computer and Video Games felt that the vehicle handling echoed realism while Hicks of Official Xbox Magazine called the vehicle selection excellent 110 Costantino of GameRevolution praised the improvement of the game s mechanics particularly the physics engine s advanced vehicle and character animations 120 Reviewers praised the sound design Goldstein of IGN praised the actors performances and the use of licensed music GameSpot s Calvert and GamesRadar s Walter also commended the licensed music the latter admiring the humour of the radio s talk stations 113 114 Michael Pinson of The Pro Audio Files praised the separate features of the sound design including the city s ambiance licensed music character dialogue and vehicle and weapon sound effects applauding the developer s use of uniting the features together 123 Carolyn Gudmundson of GamesRadar also retroactively praised the soundtrack commending its suitability to the setting 124 The online multiplayer mode received positive reactions from critics 12 114 Reiner of Game Informer praised the character customisation available in the multiplayer mode and noted that it runs just as smoothly as the single player game 112 1UP com s Boyer called the multiplayer modes excellent 109 and IGN s Goldstein named it one of the best 115 Official Xbox Magazine s Hicks dubbed the multiplayer as hugely entertaining 119 while Walter of GamesRadar praised the seamless process of entering a multiplayer match 113 Giant Bomb s Gerstmann and GameRevolution s Costantino felt divided about the multiplayer the latter naming it a fantastic idea but feeling as though connectivity problems resulted in a broken experience 120 121 Windows version Windows version receptionAggregate scoreAggregatorScoreMetacritic90 100 108 Review scoresPublicationScore1Up comB 125 Computer and Video Games9 4 10 126 Eurogamer9 10 127 GameSpot9 10 1 GameSpy nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 128 IGN9 2 10 129 VideoGamer com10 10 130 The Windows version received universal acclaim according to Metacritic 108 Reviewers liked the enhanced visuals 126 130 131 and the additional features 1 125 129 131 but criticised the port for its inferiority over the console versions 125 127 129 The in game features added in the port were well received 129 131 The addition of the Video Editor was met with positive reactions GameSpot s Calvert called it a great way to get creative 1 while Kieron Gillen of Eurogamer criticised the unpredictability in its timing 127 Critics also praised the addition of the customisable radio station which allows players to listen to their own choice of music Tom Chick of 1UP com named it the best feature of the port 125 and Steven Hopper of GameZone called it a great touch 131 The port s upgrade to 32 concurrent players in the online multiplayer mode as opposed to the console version s 16 players was also met with positive feedback Eurogamer s Gillen said that the possibility for mayhem increases 127 while Will Tuttle of GameSpy felt that the player increase changes the action significantly 128 The port s enhanced visuals were commended by many reviewers GameZone s Hopper considered the visuals an improvement over the original versions 131 Andy Robinson of Computer and Video Games called the visuals impressive 126 while Tom Orry of VideoGamer com called them superb 130 Conversely the port s system requirements considered difficult to run with advanced settings 1 received criticism 129 130 Eurogamer s Gillen said that though the Windows version is the most attractive version it s annoyingly fiddly to get there 127 GameSpy s Tuttle was able to overlook the demanding system requirements in exchange for the game s other features 128 Awards nbsp Michael Hollick won at the Spike Video Game Awards for his role as Niko Bellic 132 Grand Theft Auto IV earned awards from several critics and publications It received Game of the Year awards from Digital Spy 133 the Entertainment Merchants Association 134 GameTrailers 135 Giant Bomb 136 IGN Australia 137 Kotaku 138 The Los Angeles Times 139 The New York Times 140 and Time 141 The game led the nominees at the 2008 Spike Video Game Awards with eight nominations 142 it led the winners tying with Metal Gear Solid 4 Guns of the Patriots with three awards Game of the Year Best Action Adventure Game and Best Performance by a Human Male for Michael Hollick s role as Niko 132 The following year The Ballad of Gay Tony won Best DLC 143 Grand Theft Auto IV was nominated for three awards at the 9th Game Developers Choice Awards including Game of the Year 144 four at the 12th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards including Overall Game of the Year 145 and seven at the 5th British Academy Games Awards tying with Modern Warfare for the most nominations at the latter 146 At IGN s Best of 2008 it won eleven awards including Best Voice Acting across all three platforms and overall 147 148 149 150 and Best Story for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 151 152 It was nominated for Choice Video Game at the 2009 Teen Choice Awards 153 Award Date Category Recipient s and nominee s Result Ref s British Academy Games Awards 10 March 2009 Best Game Grand Theft Auto IV Nominated 146 Action and Adventure Grand Theft Auto IV NominatedStory and Character Dan Houser Rupert Humphries NominatedTechnical Achievement Grand Theft Auto IV NominatedGameplay Grand Theft Auto IV NominatedUse of Audio Grand Theft Auto IV NominatedGAME Award of 2008 Grand Theft Auto IV NominatedGame Developers Choice Awards 26 March 2009 Game of the Year Grand Theft Auto IV Nominated 144 Best Technology Grand Theft Auto IV NominatedBest Writing Grand Theft Auto IV NominatedInteractive Achievement Awards 19 February 2009 Overall Game of the Year Grand Theft Auto IV Nominated 145 Console Game of the Year Grand Theft Auto IV NominatedAction Game of the Year Grand Theft Auto IV NominatedOutstanding Achievement in Original Story Grand Theft Auto IV NominatedSpike Video Game Awards 14 December 2008 Game of the Year Grand Theft Auto IV Won 132 Best Action Adventure Game Grand Theft Auto IV WonBest Male Voice Michael Hollick as Niko Bellic WonJason Zumwalt as Roman Bellic Nominated 142 Studio of the Year Rockstar North NominatedBest Soundtrack Grand Theft Auto IV NominatedBest Xbox 360 Game Grand Theft Auto IV NominatedBest PS3 Game Grand Theft Auto IV NominatedBig Name in the Game Male Ricky Gervais as himself Nominated12 December 2009 Best DLC Grand Theft Auto The Ballad of Gay Tony Won 143 Grand Theft Auto IV The Lost and Damned NominatedTeen Choice Awards 9 August 2009 Choice Video Game Grand Theft Auto IV Nominated 153 SalesWithin twenty four hours of its release Grand Theft Auto IV sold over 3 6 million copies equating to approximately 310 million in revenue 154 Within a week it generated more than 500 million in worldwide revenue equating to approximately 6 million copies sold for Take Two 155 d The numbers surpassed analysts expectations for the title 157 158 159 After one month of availability the game had sold over 8 5 million copies 160 It broke three Guinness World Records on 13 May 2008 highest grossing video game in 24 hours highest revenue generated by an entertainment product in 24 hours and fastest selling video game in 24 hours 161 e On 11 March 2011 Take Two announced that the game had sold over 20 million copies with the Grand Theft Auto series surpassing a collective total of 100 million copies 163 As of July 2013 the game has sold over 25 million copies making it one of the best selling video games and one of the best selling games on both PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 164 All sales records broken by Grand Theft Auto IV were beaten by its successor Grand Theft Auto V 165 In the United Kingdom the game became the fastest selling game of all time selling over 631 000 copies in twenty four hours 166 This broke the record set by Grand Theft Auto San Andreas at 501 000 copies over the same period 167 During the first five days of availability the game sold over 927 000 copies in the United Kingdom 168 169 In the United States Grand Theft Auto IV sold 2 85 million units in its first five days 170 By the end of 2008 the game had sold over 5 18 million copies in the US 171 In its first four days of availability in Japan it sold 133 000 copies on the PlayStation 3 and 34 000 on the Xbox 360 according to Media Create 172 In the first week of availability the Windows version of Grand Theft Auto IV debuted at seventh place on the weekly charts 173 by the second week it had left the top ten 174 Based on unique user counts the game was the most played Games for Windows Live game in 2009 and 2012 175 176 and the second most played in 2011 177 ControversiesPre release nbsp Former attorney Jack Thompson known for campaigning against titles from Rockstar Games heavily criticised Grand Theft Auto IV prior to its release 178 179 180 In 2007 then Florida lawyer Jack Thompson known for his campaigns against the series stated he would take measures to prevent the sale of Grand Theft Auto IV to minors 178 On 14 March Take Two filed a lawsuit against Thompson to preemptively restrict his attempts to ban the game from sale 181 Thompson responded by filing a countersuit accusing Take Two of violating federal RICO statutes committing perjury and obstruction of justice and conspiring to deprive him of his civil rights 182 On 20 April both parties reached a settlement agreeing to drop their lawsuits 183 Thompson was barred from suing to ban the sale or distribution of Take Two s games but able to act as counsel in lawsuits by other parties while Take Two agreed to drop the contempt of court lawsuit against Thompson regarding alleged improper conduct during the court hearings for Rockstar s game Bully 2006 179 On 18 September 2007 Thompson filed a document with a federal court in Florida claiming the assassination target of a mission in Grand Theft Auto IV is a lawyer character based upon himself He threatened to take necessary and proper means to stop release of the game if the similarities were not removed 184 In April 2008 Thompson wrote a letter directed to the mother of Take Two chairman Strauss Zelnick in which he labelled Grand Theft Auto a murder simulator and criticised Zelnick s upbringing comparing his Boy Scouts experience to Hitler Youth 180 185 Thompson subsequently claimed he sent the letter to Zelnick s lawyer formulating it as a parody to induce shame in Zelnick 180 Following the release of the first trailer in March 2007 New York City officials criticised the choice of their city as inspiration for Liberty City Peter Vallone Jr chairman of the council s public safety committee compared it to setting Halo in Disneyland and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly called it despicable to glamorize violence in games like these 186 A spokesman for mayor Michael Bloomberg said the mayor does not support any video game where you earn points for injuring or killing police officers 186 Jason Della Rocca executive director of the International Game Developers Association accused city officials of double standards for criticising video games but avoiding the argument for books films and television series set in the city 187 Post release nbsp The ability to drink drive in Grand Theft Auto IV was criticised by Mothers Against Drunk Driving who requested the rating be changed 188 In April 2008 non profit organisation Mothers Against Drunk Driving MADD criticised the ability to drink drive in the game MADD requested the Entertainment Software Rating Board change the rating of the game to Adults Only effectively removing it from sale 188 They asked Take Two and Rockstar to consider halting distribution out of a sense of social responsibility and respect for victims of driving under the influence 188 Rockstar said it respected MADD s work but felt the game s audience is more than sophisticated enough to understand the game s content adding you can t judge Grand Theft Auto IV by a small aspect of the game 189 On his program in May 2008 conservative American radio host Glenn Beck used the game as an example of violence in video games training our kids to be killers erroneously stating the player can attack police officers with a chainsaw 190 191 Kombo s David Oxford rebutted that the game is not targeted at children 191 Beck said games like Grand Theft Auto IV were being used to make militaries more violent Destructoid s Jim Sterling countered that violent wars occurred prior to the creation of video games 190 Computer and Video Games s Robinson compared Beck s rant to the game s satirical radio shows 192 There is nothing in the game you would not see in a TV show or a movie a hundred times over We set out to make games that felt like they could culturally exist alongside the movies we were watching and the books we were reading Dan Houser writer May 2008 39 In June 2008 six teenagers who were arrested for robbery in New Hyde Park New York claimed they were inspired by Grand Theft Auto IV according to the Nassau County Police Department 193 In August an 18 year old student was arrested in Bangkok for the murder of a taxi driver after attempting to hijack the vehicle according to the police captain the student wanted to find out if it was as easy in real life to rob a taxi as it was in the game 194 The game was subsequently banned in Thailand 194 In August 2013 87 year old Marie Smothers was killed in Slaughter Louisiana when her eight year old grandson shot her in the head with a handgun after playing Grand Theft Auto IV under state law the boy could not be charged for her death due to his age 195 Notes Ported to Windows by Rockstar Toronto a b The online multiplayer mode for the Windows version of the game allowed up to 32 players until its discontinuation in 2020 while the console versions allow up to 16 players 1 The original Grand Theft Auto 1997 its expansion packs and Grand Theft Auto 2 1999 are set in the 2D Universe while Grand Theft Auto III 2001 Vice City 2002 Advance 2004 San Andreas 2004 Liberty City Stories 2005 and Vice City Stories 2006 form the 3D Universe 20 The game s first week sales record beat the previous record of 320 million set by Halo 3 156 The three Guinness World Records that Grand Theft Auto IV broke were later broken by its successor Grand Theft Auto V 162 References a b c d e Calvert Justin 8 December 2008 Grand Theft Auto IV 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December 2014 Millard Elizabeth 2 April 2007 New York Balks at Next Grand Theft Auto NewsFactor Archived from the original on 13 December 2014 Retrieved 9 December 2014 a b c Sinclair Brendan 30 April 2008 Mothers against GTAIV s drunk driving GameSpot CBS Interactive Archived from the original on 22 March 2014 Retrieved 9 December 2014 Lang Derrik J 1 May 2008 MADD attacks Grand Theft Auto IV NBC News National Broadcasting Company Archived from the original on 9 July 2015 Retrieved 9 December 2014 a b Sterling Jim 3 May 2008 Gleen Beck rants about GTA IV let s break it down Destructoid ModernMethod Archived from the original on 13 December 2014 Retrieved 21 April 2023 a b Oxford David 2 May 2008 GTA IV Freakout CNN s Glenn Beck Preaches Grand Theft Morality Kombo Advanced Media Network Archived from the original on 19 May 2008 Retrieved 21 April 2023 Robinson Andy 3 May 2008 CNN goes MENTAL over GTA IV Computer and Video Games Future plc Archived from the original on 14 December 2014 Retrieved 21 April 2023 Cochran Lee 27 June 2008 Teens Say Video Game Made Them Do It ABC News American Broadcasting Company Archived from the original on 1 July 2008 Retrieved 21 April 2023 a b Reed Jim 4 August 2008 Thailand bans Grand Theft Auto IV Newsbeat BBC Archived from the original on 5 August 2008 Retrieved 21 April 2023 Campbell Andy 27 August 2013 8 Year Old Who Shot Grandmother Marie Smothers After Playing Grand Theft Auto Won t Face Charges HuffPost BuzzFeed Archived from the original on 18 October 2020 Retrieved 14 May 2022 BibliographyGarbut Aaron April 2008 The Art of Grand Theft Auto IV Rockstar GamesExternal links nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Grand Theft Auto IV nbsp Wikiquote has quotations related to Grand Theft Auto IV Official website nbsp Portals nbsp New York City nbsp Speculative fiction nbsp Video games Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Grand Theft Auto IV amp oldid 1189330410, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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