Grand Theft Auto IV is an upcoming sandbox-style action-adventure video game. It will be the ninth title (and the first in the fourth generation) in the Grand Theft Auto video game franchise. It will be released worldwide on Tuesday, April 29, 2008 for both PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The game will be set in a redesigned Liberty City, based heavily on New York City and New Jersey.

It will be the first game in the series to use the new RAGE game engine, which also powered Rockstar Games presents Table Tennis. It is being written by Rockstar co-founder Dan Houser.

Main Features

• Niko will be able to perform a variety of new actions such as climbing telephone poles and fire escapes, pushing people who bump into him, calling women for dates, playing darts and bowling. Niko may become intoxicated by which the character stumbles and the blurry camera bounces about.
• The player will not be able to fly any airplanes, except helicopters, which will be flyable. Francis International Airport (from Grand Theft Auto III) is confirmed to be in the game.
• It is possible to have multiple active missions, due to the fact that some missions will run over the course of several days and will require the player to wait for further instructions, etc.
• The use of the mobile phone has been expanded to perform multiple actions. When selecting the mobile phone, a zoomed-in version of the phone pops up in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen and a list of several commands are made available to the player, such as "meet me here," etc. Retrying a failed mission can be performed by accessing the menu. The phone can be used outside of vehicles to listen to one of the 18 radio stations. The player can take photos with the mobile phone and upload them to the police computer. Niko can dial 911 to call the police for them to arrest an enemy/pedestrian that is fighting/shooting at him, or just to trick them into wasting resources on a false alarm. He can also contact the paramedics and the fire station.
• Stealing a parked car can no longer be done simply by opening the door and driving off. Now, it involves Niko approaching the car, breaking the glass, and hotwiring it; only then can he use it. The way Niko enters the car would look different each time depending on where and how he is in relation to the car. There will be several animation variations to sneaking up to a car and breaking its window. Because of the Euphoria engine, the way the character will approach the car will be completely random.
• Players will be able to choose from five different camera views while in a car, including a dashboard view, two outside views near and far from the car, a road view, and a cinematic view.
• All cars feature a standard GPS device while more expensive vehicles have voice-navigation GPS. Car damage physics have been greatly improved. When major collisions on motorbikes occur, the player's helmet is likely to fall off. Niko can lose health if he crashes. Vehicles will not explode if they are flipped over.
• When driving in a car the player will be able to smash the window with his elbow, free-aim, and fire out of the broken window with any weapon in Niko's arsenal.
• The gunfight system has been reworked to feel natural by using a cover system similar to that of Gears of War and Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, the reason being that the combat system in previous games was awkward and cumbersome. The player can slide to cover, blind fire, and free aim. When locked on, the target's health is indicated by eight purple segments on the target circle. Players can now target individual body parts using a revamped targeting system. Niko's health is represented by a green semi-circle on the left side of the radar, and a right semi-circle represents armour. If Niko gets injured, he can recover health by eating, sleeping or using medical kits. Body armour and actual health will play different roles. Health is more likely to be reduced by falls and going through the windscreen of a car when crashing, Body armour will be damaged more by gunshots and stab wounds.
• Notable weapons in this game other than melee fighting with fists and knives include pistols, Uzis, assault rifles, sniper rifle, rocket launchers, and molotov cocktails.

Multiplayer

Multiplayer modes:

• Hangmans NOOSE
• Car Jack City
• Bomb da Base
• Bomb da Base II
• Mafia Work
• Team Mafia Work
• Deathmatch
• Team Deathmatch
• Turf War
• Cops N Crooks
• Race
• GTA Race
• Deal Breaker
• Free Roam

Technology

• After the initial load sequence, there are no loading sequences during gameplay. A Rockstar spokesperson claimed, "you can basically play the game from beginning to end without a single load screen."
• Variations in the terrain affect the way that characters walk. The way the player moves is controlled by Euphoria, instead of pre-written animations, therefore enabling character movements to be more realistic. Rockstar Games announced that Euphoria would be used in future Rockstar titles. The Euphoria engine enables NPCs to react in a realistic way to the player's actions. In one preview, a player knocked an NPC out a window and the character grabbed onto a ledge to stop himself from falling.
• Due to the new Rockstar Advanced Game Engine, the graphics have been greatly improved. There are fewer straight edges on characters and motions seem much more fluid. It has been noted that GTA IV's characters lack the series' signature hand design, which many of them described as the "deformed lobster claw."

Other Details/Features

Here's the full list of all the radio stations in GTA IV:

• WKTT - We Know The Truth (right wing talk radio)
• San Juan Sounds (latin)
• Integrity 2.0 (speech, hosted by Lazlow)
• Liberty City Hardcore (punk/hardcore)
• Liberty Rock Radio 97.8 (classic rock)
• The Vibe 98.8 (soul/R'n'B)
• PLR - Public Liberty Radio (call-in speech)
• The Classics 104.1 (old-skool hip-hop)
• Jazz Nation Radio 108.5 (jazz)
• Vladivostok FM (eastern european)
• Radio Broker (alt rock)
• Tuff Gong Radio (reggae/dub)
• Electro Choc (dance)
• Massive B Soundsystem 96.9 (dance hall)
• IF99 - International Funk (funk)
• The Beat 102.7 (contemporary hip-hop)
• K109 The Studio (disco)
• Fusion FM
• The Journey (ambient/chillout)