"Grand Theft Auto IV" preview

Last Friday, Rockstar Games was in L.A. giving journalists an in-depth peek at “Grand Theft Auto IV,” along with a look at the improvements in “Bully: Scholarship Edition,” the 360/Wii version of 2006’s awesome “GTA at prep school.”

Demo’s were done at the Chateau Marmont hotel (but of course… where else would Rockstar do demo’s but Chateau Marmont?). I can’t deny that I was a little distracted the whole time wondering how many times Lindsay Lohan or Britney Spears ever collapsed (from exhaustion, of course) in the very room I was sitting in. But once I got past that, I was just as impressed as I hoped to be by “GTA IV.”

Rockstar’s VP of development Jeronimo Barrera (who led me through the demo) wasn’t shy about how much of an advance his team thinks the game is. “’Grand Theft Auto 3’ changed the industry tremendously, but in many ways this is a bigger leap,” he boasted. (Sure, it’s kind of a canned line. But he sure seemed to believe it.)

Let’s start with the way he’s not right: Fundamentally, “GTA IV” is the same game we’re used to – the basic structure created in 2001’s “GTA III.” It’s a third person action title about a newcomer to Liberty City who meets lots of people, goes on missions both to earn money and fulfill a personal goal, and is capable of wreaking total havoc along the way.

We’ve also got the series’ trademark character types, from thugs to funny small-time gangsters to a stoic lead. Protagonist Niko is an Eastern European immigrant who is aptly described by one guy he meets as “a badass mofo who ain’t afraid to take cats down.”

But how is Jeronimo right? Graphically, “GTA IV” is really a cut above. Not so much in the minutiae, but the depth. As we’ve come to expect from “GTA,” there are no loading times, but the number of people and vehicles, the variety of settings, and the believable actions of them all are tremendous. Seeing the
Manhattan skyline from Brooklyn (or Liberty city’s versions of them) is just plain awesome.

Ditto the dynamic character and vehicle actions. Shoot a guy in the knee and he hobbles. Blow out a car’s right wheel and it veers in that direction. Pull a gun on a civilian and she’ll beg for her life. Liberty City feels alive and responsive. Even though  it’s not as big in area as San Andreas, there’s more richness and depth along the way, which I consider a very welcome tradeoff.

Finally, “GTA IV” attempts to seriously integrate modern day technology in a realistic way. Niko has a cell phone that he can use for any number of purposes. We’re used to cell phones that occasionally ring with player instructions, as in “No More Heroes,” but Niko can place calls on his and get responses. In the example I saw, he called 9-1-1 so he could –- you guessed it -– jack a police car. I also saw Niko use the police car’s computer to look up a criminal’s address. And I’m told “GTA IV” features in-game Internet access as well. I didn’t get to poke and prod those applications, so I have no idea how deep they go, but the idea of a character who can proactively and dynamically use modern communication tools is a qualitative leap forward in gameplay if it works.

There are some other less impressive but still welcome advancements, like a weapons system that works perfectly well –- nothing amazing, but finally “GTA” is on par with other action games. In-game music looks like it’s going to once again be ultra-deep and will probably feature some new on-demand twists we haven’t seen before. Personally, though I was kind of enjoying the right-wing talk station. It just felt right on a respite in the car between shooting sh*t up.

Not as much to say about “Bully: Scholarship Edition.” If you never played the original “Bully,” I highly recommend it. On PS2 it was my second favorite game of 2006 (only behind “Okami") and really wowed me with its solid gameplay and satirical eye. “Scholarship Edition” amps up the graphics, adds a few amusing missions and classroom activities, and includes some offline multi-player mini-games. Perhaps enough to make those who missed out on “Bully” first time around to feel like they got something for the wait, but not exactly a tricked out "director's cut" for those who have played it before.

(For a full gallery of new "Grand Theft Auto IV" screenshots, click here.)