The little things that are put into the game are some of the same things that keep you loving the game, as you can focus on the core elements of the game.  There is even a drunk driving mini-game, that is activated upon taking one of your contacts out for a few drinks.  While it might be incredibly fun enjoying the drinks, once it’s time to head home and to your car, it’s an entirely different story.  Driving while intoxicated will be incredibly difficult, with an array of techno themed colors scattered across the screen and some incredibly sickening shifts of the camera.  On top of that, there are billboards and ads scattered across the city making fun of popular TV shows and people, and we’re sure that Jack Thompson and Hillary Clinton will both have something to say about the aforementioned features.

Visually, Grand Theft Auto IV is quite the spectacle.  Though the game may not have the incredible polish of Gears of War or Oblivion, it is rather remarkable the detail of the buildings, cars, and people in this incredibly large city.  One of the things that we’re incredibly happy to see, even though it’s a rather small addition, would be the fact that characters actually have fingers now and not a paw like object from the previous versions.  Entering into the heart of Liberty City is one of most amazing features of any game we’ve yet to see, as the amount of things going on is almost spot on compared to entering New York City.

In previous versions of Grand Theft Auto, getting busted by the police meant a ride to jail house.  Rockstar has added a rather nice feature of being able to tap the A button when the cops close in, so that you can make a run for it again.  If you do happen to break free, you’ll be looking at an extra star added to your wanted meter, and a few trigger happy police officers.

While this version of Grand Theft Auto is physically as massive in land size, the experience you get out of the game is incredibly larger.  Executive producer of GTA IV had this to say, "How could we increase the gravity of everything, the weight of every action, the intensity of everything, if we just go further and further out?  We wanted every single thing you do, whether it’s walking down the streeet, going into a pawn shop, using the guns, driving a car or bike or a boat or a helicopter or whatever -- just general basic interaction -- to feel reengineered and reengaged so it feels new for people" (OXM).

While Niko isn’t exactly Altair from Assassin’s Creed, he’s quite the crafty fellow in the game.  Niko has the ability to climb on top of various objects such as trucks or other low-lying structures.  While some art skeptical at this feature, Rockstar has promised that he isn’t possessing amazing free roam abilities that will land him on the next cover of Assassin’s Creed or in a Nike free run commercial.

As we published in a previous article, there are 15 multiplayer modes for Grand Theft Auto IV.  The ability to drive multiple people around in your car will be included in the game, and free roam is also a confirmed game mode as well.

Grand Theft Auto is shaping up to potentially be not only one of the biggest games in the past decade, but to eclipse every sales record that we could possibly fathom.  Grand Theft Auto IV is poised to sell over six million copies in its first week, and upwards of nine million in its first year of existence.  We’re excited for GTA IV to drop and be in our hands just like the rest of you are, stay tuned for our full-length review in the coming weeks!