Grand Theft Auto IV [PS3]

The last main mission that we got a glimpse at was "Truck Hustle". Here, Niko is tasked by a man named Bell to steal a truck from the Triads and deliver its contents to Bell's son-in-law. It sounds like an easy job, except that the truck is heavily guarded by a standing watch.

Creeping up to the scene, Niko can implement a bit of stealth and try to deftly steal the truck. But, given that our demo presenter cheated himself into a full suite of weapons, he decided to toss a few grenades and rockets into the crowd. Cover was again made use of here nicely, both by Niko and the enemy safeguarding the truck. It was especially evident in this scene, filled with thugs to the brim, that the AI has really been turned up a notch since the last-gen GTA titles. Instead of standing out in the open and popping off shots, they took cover behind whatever was near them, and whenever they'd change positions, they'd duck and run to the nearest safe area.

Once they were disposed of, the truck seemed an easy target, but one last Triad hopped in the cab and took off. Niko had little option except to grab onto the back and get dragged through the streets on his chest until he was able to lift himself to the back. Climbing to the roof, he inched forward, rolling from side to side as the truck took quick turns. Once at the cab, a cutscene took over where Niko slid in, capped the driver and kicked him out of the door. All that was left to do was ditch any nearby cops and carefully drive the truck to its target.

Though it wasn't a complete mission, we did get a glimpse at one of the game's friend activities where Niko and his cousin Roman go drinking for a bit. Well, a bit may be an understatement as they come falling out of the bar, drunk as skunks. The Natural Motion tech takes over once again, with you having to carefully control Niko while his legs seem to have their own agendas. If you change direction too quickly and cross up your legs, you'll fall over. After one of these many spills, we saw Niko use the side of a parked car to help him get up, which was rather impressive. Once back in the car, the controls don't look to get any more lenient. The camera swings from side to side and we're told the controls work against you to an extent, making something as simple as staying on the road a bit of a challenge at this level of intoxication.

To end the demo, Rockstar found a pontoon boat and cruised Niko around the waterways for a while. The water looks fantastic, as evidenced in the existing trailers, and the boat hopped and skipped over the waves as they beat down upon its sides. This mostly served as a quick tour of the seaside, but one last use of the rocket launcher sent another boater diving off his ride and into the water before his vessel exploded. Again, Rockstar's use of the Natural Motion engine in the game has paid off extremely well from what we've seen.

Grand Theft Auto IV is looking fantastic at this point. The framerate has been solidified (on the 360 at least - PS3 demos are coming soon) and the gameplay looks to be wholly intact. There's no official release date yet, though we should be hearing about that sooner than later, and we fully expect Rockstar to keep with its previous fiscal Q2 timeframe (which means by the end of April). We, for one, can't wait for its release.

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