1P Start

Grand Theft Auto 4, or GTA IV as lazy bastards call it, is rapidly becoming one of the most anticipated games ever made. The wait for Halo 3 last year was quite something to watch, but even that is paling in to insignificance when compared with the amount of excitement surrounding the latest in the GTA series.

It helps that its coming out on two different consoles, as rather than being a PS3 or Xbox 360 exclusive, both sets of fanboys will be able to taste the goodness come the end of April.

Then there are the Rockstar fans who will buy anything the company puts out there, whether it be a GTA game or something like Bully.

There’s also the fact that GTA III: San Andreas on the PS2 was absolutely kick ass, probably one of the best all round, and most involving games I have ever played.

So there’s no wonder the hype is reaching fever pitch already, with 3 months still to go until the game finally gets released on to the very suspecting public.

Rockstar of course, are loving it, and building up the momentum, in the hopes that everyone with a PS3 or Xbox 360 will buy the game on release date. And if their latest claims are to be believed, that is more than likely.

During a taster of the game, in the presence of Jeronimo Barrera, Rockstar Games Vice President of Product Development, gaming website Kotaku managed to get one of the gaming quotes of the year.

“We decided we wanted to go back to the basics and re imagine the world. The results have been incredible.”

“In many ways it’s a bigger leap going from San Andreas to GTA IV than it was going from 2D to 3D.”

“It was about hitting reset and reworking a bunch of things. We reworked everything from locomotion to targeting.”

That is quite a claim, as I played the original set of games on the Playstation, and although great games in their own right, they certainly suffered from being 2D and played top down. When GTA III came out, it was a breath of fresh air, and really showed what the PS2 was going to be capable of.

Barrera then goes on to explain that targeting has been improved massively, so that “it’s now comparable to a shooter,” and that the game now auto saves for you after each mission, because “gamers shouldn’t have to fight against the save system to enjoy a game.”

Last, but definitely not least, he also confirmed that a multiplayer function will be a part of the game this time around, although it won’t be co-operative as many people were hoping for.

All I can say now is “Bring on April!”