Rockstar Games talks about GTA4's new look and details

**A7MAD** · 12-07-2007

In an interview with IGN, Rockstar Games talks about some of the new things GTA4 will be packing, as well as how the new story will play itself out compared with the past GTA games.

Rockstar unveils the latest look and dishes up some new information.
by IGN Staff

US, December 6, 2007 - The year is almost out, which means it's the season for giving (and receiving). Rockstar Games has decided to let us unwrap its present to the world a little early with the release of the third full trailer for Grand Theft Auto IV. To coincide with its release, we fired off a number of questions to the publisher/developer to get a little more insight on the trailer. Here's what we've learned:

IGN: Having just seen the trailer, is there any more insight you can provide on the story of GTA IV?

Rockstar Games: Obviously this story has a heavy focus on Niko and his relationship to his cousin, Roman. Without giving away too many details, it's the dynamics of that relationship and the motivations and mistakes, past and present, that each keep hidden from the other, that drive the narrative for most of the game. Their story is about the immigrant experience of two different personality types - those looking to the future and those running away from the past. We don't like to give away too many details because we want people to experience the story the way it was intended - by playing the game and getting sucked into the game world.

IGN: Is there anything in the trailer that people might overlook?

Rockstar: The level of detail - look at the wheels of the motor bikes, the details in the faces and light reflected in the river. This same level of details exists throughout the game - not just in terms of art, but also mission design, animation, physics, narrative, audio, AI and world atmosphere. Creating a detailed but still consistent and believable game world has always been one of our aims with any Grand Theft Auto, and for Grand Theft Auto IV it has led to an amazing amount of life and detail in every aspect of the production.

IGN: The stories in the past three GTA games all had their own feel (and were inspired by different eras). What is the vibe of the new story? Is it comparable to a popular movie or era?

Rockstar: The game is set today, so we wanted a story, world and set of characters that felt very contemporary. We don't feel the story is comparable to any particular movie. For one thing it is obviously much broader in scope than a movie script, as the game is far longer than any movie, and for another, we felt that the power of the new hardware gave us the freedom to tell stories in a more detailed and engaging way, so we no longer need to take prompts from movies and instead could take inspiration from the world itself. The game is very much inspired by the realities of living in New York in particular, and the world in general, right now. The story is long, more like a TV series or epic novel than one movie and has several major twists and turns in it.

IGN: Is there anything you can tell us about any of the locations in the trailer? I've noticed we see quite a bit of the interiors, are we going to be able to explore those?

Rockstar: Yes, the Liberty City that Niko will experience has a lot of interiors, and yes you can explore them in lots of different ways... Obviously, it depends on the location as to what happens there and what you can do or enjoy there.

IGN: About midway through the trailer something has Roman scared. Any hints you can give about what has Roman so shook up?

Rockstar: Roman is more of a lover than a fighter and he's made some very nasty people very angry. He's right to be frightened. We have tried to give all of the characters their own motivations, ambitions and needs, so that the narrative develops naturalistically as a result of the interplay of its characters.

IGN: Is the extended hand-to-hand combat sequence a sign of things to come?

Rockstar: We have worked incredibly hard to develop the hand to hand combat - as we have all of the key mechanics of the game - so the fighting in the game feels very powerful. Certainly in the first section of the game when Niko is a dirt poor immigrant scrabbling around to pay off debts, he has to use his fists a lot. Luckily, he's pretty adept at it.

IGN: You guys have gone with another obscure track for this trailer. Is there a reason for this? What is the song in the trailer?

Rockstar: The track is called King Ring by Serjoga. He's the most popular rap artist in Russia by far, and we chose it partly because we felt it captured the spirit of the game - Russian dance rap maybe epitomizes the melting pot mentality of Liberty City - but mostly because we felt the track gave the trailer a unique feeling and energy. The soundtrack (and the radio it is played on) has been expanded and developed for Grand Theft Auto's high-definition debut.

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