The Grand Theft Auto is a series that is often beloved by the younger generations and despised by the olders, but you can not escape the fact that has become one of the most well-known franchises in video game history over the past decade.  Most of you are aware that the release of Grand Theft Auto IV is just over a month away, and if you don’t, we’re assuming that you own a rather large rock.

New to America, the Eastern European immigrant, Niko Bellic has been coaxed into coming to America by his cousin Roman.  Guilty of such small crimes as killing, smuggling, and selling people, Niko jumps on the opportunity to move to Libert City after Roman tells him he’s living the "American Dream".  Roman is actually in debt with various figures in the city, and isn’t living much of a desirable dream.

One of the most ridiculed areas of areas of the past Grand Theft Autos has been the aiming and combat system.  Rockstar has taken notice of this, and given gamers a substanstial upgrade.  A full pull of the left trigger will lock you on to the nearest target, you can toggle the right analog stick to focus the crosshairs onto the main portions of the body.  A half-pull of the left trigger will give you the free roam form of an aiming system similar to aiming in shooters like the Rainbow Six Vegas series or in Gears of War.  Your enemies are rather smart, as their AI enables them to jump out of the way of bullets, and do everything they possibly can to avoid dying, actually providing somewhat of a challenge at times.

A fan of shooting from your vehicle while you’re driving?  While shooting from the vehicle is much easier than in the previous versions of Grand Theft Auto, don’t expect to have pin-point accuracy or do much more than just scare people unless you practice at becoming skilled at this aspect.  One of the cooler things for the drive-by shootings would be that when you press the left bumper to pull out your weapon, Niko actually smashes out the driver’s side window.  Gone are the days when everyone in the game drives with their windows down, even when it’s raining like a monsoon is upon them.

The depth of the features within the game are almost mindblowing when they are presented to you at first.  Don’t feel like driving or feel that you’re lost?  Flag down a cab, and it’ll take you and whoever may be with you to your destination or mission.