Grand Theft Auto IV [PS3]

The next mission we saw, "Deconstruction for Beginners", was more in line with a classic GTA mission of old, though it served as a great example of how firefights now play out. For this job, Niko has been tasked by Playboy X to take out a group of union leaders who have halted work at a downtown construction site. Of course, no one in Liberty City does anything unarmed, so convincing them to allow the work to begin again means talking with bullets.

The site is watched over by a handful of men with sniper rifles situated on cranes, so Niko and Playboy X head to a nearby skyscraper and use a window cleaners' lift to get to the roof. We're told that the lift is not limited to this mission, and that you'll be able to make use of a number of them throughout the game to scale buildings without having to head inside. Once on the roof, picking these guys off is as easy as switching to a sniper rifle and steadily taking them out. One cool thing here is that after a missed shot, the enemies don't automatically realize where the shots are coming from and so begin firing off into the air at random spots. When you do take them out, you're treated to a nice camera view of them flailing to their deaths below, with one guy smashing onto an SUV in the parking lot below him. Like jumping out of a car, these falls aren't pre-canned, so you'll see something different every time.

Once the snipers are clear, Playboy X says that following you into the construction yard would make things too confusing and that he'll stay put to keep a watch over things. Leaving the coward behind, we get a really good look at the improved combat mechanics down below.

The cover system that we had seen briefly before was now highlighted in full, with Niko deftly moving between hiding spots. Once under cover, you're able to move while crouched against an object to keep to safety, as well as blindly fire over or around objects. You'll be safe from fire, but you'll also have a hard time hitting your target until you lean out. However, grenades don't require dead-on accuracy and can be useful when tossed blindly. Some of the cover in the game is destructible, allowing you (or the enemy) to chip away or destroy your hiding spot to get a clear shot at you.

While the cover system is obviously new, so is the aiming mechanic. The targeting button is mapped to a trigger, allowing you two modes of aiming. Pressing the trigger half-way enacts a free-aim option, allowing you to point your gun wherever you so please. It's not the fastest way to aim from target to target, but will surely be useful in some situations, like when you want to target a vehicle's tires, for instance.

Pressing the trigger all the way toggles a full lock-on, but much has changed since the GTA games of old. You can now use the right analog stick to hone your shots and aim for specific body parts, allowing for targeted headshots or bullets to the legs, which will send a victim immediately to the ground. Headshots are now one-shot kills, making the use of the right analog stick all the more important. All of these changes may sound like they enhance the play mechanics, but they also look to change the feel of firefights. Instead of shootouts being somewhat chaotic exchanges of bullets to the closest targeted enemy, they now look to be much more methodic and, perhaps, even deadlier.