Gameplay

According to Alex Ward from developer Criterion Games, this game is a “complete reinvention” of the Burnout series. He also said “To create truly next-generation gameplay, we needed to create a truly next-generation game, from the ground up.” Despite being in an open world, the game still retains the 60 frames-per-second most Burnout games have used. Initially day and night cycles were not included in the game but a software update entitled “Davis” added this element to the game. Records will now be kept on players’ drivers licenses and there will be statistics such as fastest time and biggest crash for every street in the game. Unlike in previous Burnout games, Crash Mode, now called Showtime, can now be started at any time and place in the game; though Showtime mode is rather different from the usual Crash Mode. Also, for races, players may now take any route to get to the destination. Races and other events are simply started by stopping at any of the 120 traffic lights around Paradise City and applying the accelerator and brake at the same time. Multiple settings have been confirmed to be fully customisable such as:

• Boost Rules”, where the player may choose cars that use the boost styles from previous Burnout games.
• Whether or not there is traffic in an online event.
• Start and finish points for online events with up to 16 checkpoints.

The damage system has also been reworked. There are now two different types of crash based on the car’s condition after the crash. If the player’s car manages to retain all four wheels, and not break its chassis, the player may drive out of the crash and continue playing; this is called a “driveaway”. If a player’s car loses any of its wheels, has the engine damaged too much from an impact, or winds up outside of the game’s map, the car is in a “wrecked” state and the player will have to wait until their car is reset. Cars can also be torn into several pieces, be compressed and deform around objects as you crash into them. However, Alex Ward confirmed in the Official Crash FM podcast that cars may not be ripped in half, as concept pictures and early information had stated. There are also other cars which can be obtained by typing in a sponsor code. These only work for certain regions. One of these sponsor code cars is the Steel Wheels version of the Carson GT concept car, which features the car with an armor plate and supercharger. The code for this car could be obtained from pre-ordering the game from certain retailers. When starting the single player mode you are assigned with a learner’s permit and a single car. While playing you race and win events to earn points towards a higher license, from a Learners Permit (E-class), D-class, C-class, B-class, A-class, Burnout Paradise (S-class), Burnout Elite (SS-class) up to Criterion Elite (SSS-class). After earning a new license every event that you complete is reset so you can replay the event again to earn credit towards a new license.

Cars now have manufacturer and model names, which are loosely based on real-world cars but are mostly fictional (some of the cars are even based on those from a previous Burnout game, e.g. the Hunter Manhattan is the Classic from Burnout 2). Cars may not be “tuned up” or customized apart from color changes, which may be done in real-time by driving through the forecourt of a blow shop, which will randomly assign a color to the car, or by selecting the color in the Junkyard where you select your vehicle (after taking the car through an Auto Repair drivethru at least once). Other real-time changes include driving through the forecourt of a gas station to automatically refill your Burnout meter, and driving through the forecourt of a repair shop to automatically repair your car, allowing you to extend a Road Rage or Marked Man event beyond the car’s damage limits.

The online lobby system used by most video games has been replaced by a streamlined system known as “Easy Drive”. While driving, players simply hit right on the D-Pad and the Easy Drive menu pops up on the bottom left hand corner of their screen. From there, players are able to invite another player from their friends list. Once friends have joined the game, the hosting player is then able to pick from a variety of events to play. There are also special Burnout Racing Team cars that you can get.

Car types

Cars in Burnout Paradise can have one of three types of “Boost Standard”, showing what a player will have to do with the car in order to build up their boost bar:

• Speed: Driving the car at high speeds through oncoming traffic and/or weaving through traffic (performing a “Near Miss” where the car avoids another by a few inches or less) builds up the boost bar. This is the only type of boost in which the boost is not available until the meter is completely filled. When it is filled, the boost bar becomes inflamed and the player may use it until they crash, let off of the boost, or run out of boost power. However, the depletion of boost power on a Speed Boost can cause a “Burnout” if the player keeps the boost button pressed after their boost bar is depleted, after which the bar refills allowing the player to continue using their boost. As long as the boost is continued to be used and the car is continuing to be driven, the player can create a “Burnout Chain” for as long as the player is able. This is the only standard that allows a Burnout chain.
• Stunt: The player can only build up this boost bar by performing stunts with the car (driving through oncoming traffic counts). However, as long as there is boost power stored, the player is able to use it. The Stunt boost is the longest boost bar initially.
• Aggression: The player can fill up this boost bar by reckless driving, such as performing traffic checks and/or takedowns, knocking over signs, performing stunts, and driving through oncoming traffic. Initially, the boost bar of these cars shows a “x2″ at the end of the bar. If a player performs a takedown, the bar can be extended until the player switches cars (the only boost standard that has this ability), thereby showing a “x3″ at the end of the bar instead. Like the Stunt standard, boost can be used immediately, regardless of if the player has the bar completely filled.

Cars are also rated on three merits when viewed at the Junkyard:

• Speed: How fast a car can go. The higher the rating, the higher the top speed in which a car will be able to reach without using boost.
• Boost: The cars boost power. The higher this rating, the longer the boost power on that car will last before running out.
• Strength: How long a car can go before becoming completely totaled. The higher the rating, the more likely the car will be able to survive a crash or be able to make another car crash instead of them (if a car is stronger than another, it is more likely that it will takedown the other in a collision). This rating also determines how many crashes a car can withstand in a Road Rage or Marked Man event if the car enters when it is in perfect condition.

Event types

Races, Marked Man events and Burning Routes can start in any location around Paradise City, but the destination is always one of eight: the Maplemount Country Club, the Coastguard HQ, the Waterfront Plaza, the Paradise Wildcats Baseball Stadium, the Fort Lawrence Naval Yard, the Lone Stallion Ranch, the Paradise City Wind Farm and the Crystal Summit Observatory. Road Rages and Stunt Runs have no set end destination.

• Race: Races consist of the player and at least one other car (races with just one opponent are known as ‘Duels’). The player is given a location to race to. The player can take any route through the city to the location, with the aid of a flashing road names at the top of the screen when the player is advised to turn. The first to arrive at the destination wins; there are no points or prizes awarded for placing second or third, unlike most racing games. Online races can also include checkpoints that need to be crossed before reaching the finish.

• Road Rage: The player is given a target number of takedowns and a time limit. A Road Rage event is won by meeting or exceeding this target in the given time limit. A variant of this event was made available for online play in the “Cagney” update.

• Marked Man: In this event, the player is given a destination. At least one opponent is trying to stop the player from reaching the destination by scoring takedowns against them. The player must survive from start to finish in order to win (the player can be part of collisions, but loses the event if he totals the car). A variant designed for online gameplay was included in the “Cagney” update.

• Stunt Run: Players are given a target score. They must earn points towards that score by using boosts, jumps, drifts and other such stunt moves. An online version of this event type was added to the game as part of the “Cagney” update.

• Burning Route: Each Burning Route requires the player to use a specific car. Once the player is driving the required car, they race against the clock to a specified location. When a Burning Route is won the player wins an upgraded version of the vehicle they completed it with. The upgraded vehicle can boast extra boost power, more base speed or a stronger body (but usually in exchange for another category being made weaker). This event is unique in that it does not reset when the player earns a new license, because it’s tied to the car used to run it rather than the license level the player is presently at.

After the “Burnout Bikes Update” (formerly called “Davis”), two new events were added that are exclusive to the Motorcycle

• Burning Ride: Same as a Burning Route but for the motorcycles. However, some of these are now timed checkpoint events wherein the rider must ride through a set number of checkpoints before the time limit expires. These checkpoint events also do not have to end at one of the predetermined endpoints in Paradise City (they can terminate at intersections).

• Midnight Ride: Same as a Burning Ride but takes place between the in-game hours of 8PM and 8AM.

More Information

• Developer(s)  Criterion Games
• Publisher(s)  Electronic Arts
• Designer(s)  Alex Ward (Creative director)
• Series  Burnout
• Platform(s)  PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows
• Release date(s)  Retail, PS3, Xbox 360, NA January 22, 2008, EU January 25, 2008, Download, NA September 25, 2008, EU September 25, 2008, Ultimate Box, February 2009
• Genre(s)  Racing, Sandbox
• Mode(s)  Single-player, Multiplayer

Links

• Official developer web site
• Official publisher website
• Wiki on this subject at Burnout Wiki

The game is set in a redesigned rendition of Liberty City, a fictional city based heavily on modern day New York City. It follows Niko Bellic, a war veteran from an unspecified country in Eastern Europe, who comes to the United States in search of the American Dream, but quickly becomes entangled in a seedy underworld of gangs, crime, and corruption. Like other games in the series, GTA IV is composed of elements from driving games and third-person shooters, and features “open-world” gameplay that gives players more control over their playing experience. GTA IV is the first console game in the series to feature an online multiplayer mode, which contains fifteen game types.

A major commercial and critical success, Grand Theft Auto IV broke industry records with sales of around 3.6 million units on its first day of release and grossing more than $500 million in revenue in the first week, from an estimated 6 million units sold worldwide. As of 16 August 2008, the game has sold over 10 million copies. Grand Theft Auto IV received overwhelmingly positive reviews, becoming one of the highest-rated games of all-time on the aggregated review websites MobyGames and TopTenReviews.

Gameplay

Grand Theft Auto IV is structured similarly to previous games in the series. The core gameplay consists of elements of a third-person shooter and a driving game, giving the player a large, open environment in which to move around. On foot, the player’s character is capable of walking, running, swimming, climbing and jumping, as well as using weapons and basic hand-to-hand combat. Players can steal and drive a variety of vehicles, including automobiles, boats, helicopters, and motorcycles. Grand Theft Auto IV takes advantage of Natural Motion’s Euphoria engine, which combines artificial intelligence, bio mechanics and physics to make NPC behaviour and movement adaptive and more realistic.

The open, non-linear environment allows players to explore and choose how they wish to play the game. Although storyline missions are necessary to progress through the game and unlock certain parts of the map and content, they are not required, as players can complete them at their own leisure. When not taking on a storyline mission, players can free-roam. However, creating havoc can attract unwanted and potentially fatal attention from the authorities. Niko can pick up prostitutes and pay for three different levels of sexual service, and request a private erotic dance whilst visiting lap dancing clubs. The game gives an un-detailed portrayal of sexual acts with prostitutes and there is no sexual nudity.

It is possible to have multiple active missions, due to the fact that some missions will run over the course of several days and will require the player to wait for further instructions, etc. The player can also partake in a variety of optional side missions. For the first time in the series, Grand Theft Auto IV features “morality choices” at several points throughout the game, in which the player is forced to choose between killing a character or sparing their life or killing one of two characters. The game has two different endings, which are determined by deciding which of the two missions to complete. The player can choose between a revenge mission or a deal mission, each leads to a different ending.

Combat and police response
Combat in Grand Theft Auto IV has been reworked to include a cover system.

The gunfight combat system has been reworked to a third-person scheme.[28] The player can slide to cover, blindfire, and free aim. When locked on, the target’s health is indicated by eight segments inside the target circle (which is white), these segments can be green (if the target is a civilian/non-attacking or non-aggressive target) or red (authorities/hostile targets or assassination targets), additionally, if the target’s wearing body armour there will be an additional smaller, blue armour circle inside the health circle, showing the target’s armour status. Niko can also perform “cinematic executions”, only possible with a pistol to certain characters/situations when the target circle blinks red. Players can target individual body parts using a revamped targeting system.[29] Niko’s health is represented by a green semicircle on the left side of the mini-map, while a blue semicircle on the right represents armour.

If Niko gets injured, he can recover health by using the services of a prostitute, eating, drinking soda, sleeping, using medical kits or using his mobile phone to call for paramedics; also, one girlfriend has the special ability of healing Niko by calling her with the mobile phone. Health is generally reduced by physical injuries such as getting hit by vehicles when walking, going through the windscreen of a vehicle when crashing, and gunfire or explosions. Body armour is gradually damaged by gunshots, explosions and stab wounds.[30] If Niko’s health level reaches zero he appears at the nearest hospital, but loses 10% of his total wealth (up to $10,000). Niko is able to retain his weapons after re-spawning at a hospital, unlike previous GTA games (besides Vice City Stories and San Andreas), where this ability and the same but after being arrested had to be unlocked. However, weapons are still confiscated if he is arrested and taken to a police station.

Wanted levels operate differently from previous GTA games. When the police are in pursuit of Niko, a search radius appears on the map in which the police will be looking for him. The size of this radius increases with the player’s wanted level and re-centres itself on Niko’s location if he is spotted by the police. The player can evade the police by escaping the search radius and temporarily keeping a low profile by not committing further offences. The wanted levels can be lost by Niko either driving into a “Pay ‘N’ Spray” (unless seen entering by police) as in previous games or by disguising himself by clandestinely changing vehicles in empty areas such as parking garages. The player has the option to attempt escaping arrest before he is handcuffed, at the cost of increasing his wanted level by one star.[29] Additionally, pedestrians with cellphones can report crimes they witness in the surrounding environment.[31][32]

The type of police response also differs slightly from previous GTA games; however, creating more chaos still leads to a stronger response. “Minor” crimes, such as assault, public firearm discharge, grand theft auto and homicide, continue to be handled by police patrols. Higher wanted levels still activate police helicopter and water craft support teams and FBI-like agents, known as FIB (Federal Investigation Bureau) in GTA IV. Police SWAT and the military have been replaced by an elite counter-terrorism team known as N.O.O.S.E. (National Office Of Security Enforcement), an amalgamation of SWAT and the Department of Homeland Security.

Vehicles

Stealing a parked car shows Niko smashing the glass (if it is locked) and then hotwiring it, as opposed to previous games where the player simply entered the driver’s seat or cannot enter if it’s locked. The player can focus the camera on the target during chases, by holding the cinematic camera button. Every vehicle in the game uses the in-game minimap as a GPS device, and additional voice directions are provided in luxury cars. “Waypoints” can be placed on destinations on the map, outlining the fastest legal route between Niko and the destination on the minimap. The ability to hail a taxi cab allows the player to travel to destinations without having to drive, and the entire journey may be skipped, allowing them to arrive at their destination instantly. The player cannot pilot fixed-wing aircraft, as was possible in previous games, but can still pilot helicopters, including the police “Annihilator”, which has mounted machine guns.

When major collisions on motorbikes occur, Niko will most likely fly off in any direction, depending on realistic physics. The physics engine will turn Niko into a rag doll after a bike crash, instead of using a predefined animation. Niko can lose health or die if he crashes or smashes through the windscreen of cars during high speed collisions. Vehicles will not explode if they are flipped over, or shot in any place other than the engine block or fuel tank, however they may catch fire and eventually explode if the engine is repeatedly damaged via collisions. Explosions can sometimes render nearby vehicles unusable, or cause them to catch fire. Car engines can also break down, rendering them unable to start. When driving or riding in a car, Niko is able to smash the window, free-aim, and fire out of the vehicle with several different one-handed weapons. The player may also drop grenades or Molotov cocktails.

Communication

The use of the mobile phone has been expanded to perform multiple actions. When selecting the mobile phone, a zoomed-in version of the phone interface pops up in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen. The phone allows the player to view text messages and appointments, as well as arrange to meet friends for activities. Retrying a failed mission can be done by accessing the menu and responding positively to a certain text message. The player can take photos with the mobile phone and upload them to the police computer during certain missions. Niko can dial 911 to call emergency services, who promptly arrive to his location and will respond to a situation, or lack thereof, occurring there. The police will arrest felons, and paramedics are able to restore Niko’s health. The phone also allows access to the game’s multiplayer mode.

The game also features several different in-game databases that Niko can make use of. An in-game version of the Internet can be used by accessing the Internet café chain, “TW@”, located throughout the city. There are over 100 accessible fictitious websites within the game, and Niko can also send and receive email (including junk mail) and set up prospective dates. Although the Internet café was seen in Grand Theft Auto III, it did not give the player the option to browse. In a police vehicle, Niko can use an in-car computer to access Liberty City’s criminal database, discover information about various criminals in Liberty City and even track them down for a reward. The game also features in-game television programming, with several viewable channels featuring programs and advertisements. The television shows cover a wide variety of genres, including news, talk shows, and sports. There is also a parody of Ric Burns’ New York: A Documentary Film running continuously on one of the game’s television stations, detailing the history of Liberty City in the same style as Burns’ eight-part documentary.

Multiplayer

Grand Theft Auto IV includes online multiplayer, with 15 modes of play available. The multiplayer supports up to 16 players (32 players in the PC version) and allows players to explore the entire city. Players use a customisable character in a majority of the modes, and cash earned during play translates to a level at which more clothing is available for their character, depending on the level. Hosts of the games can control many variables, such as police presence, traffic, and weapons. The online games are split into ranked and unranked matches. The reward for the ranked gameplay is cash, which determines players’ ranks. The game does not feature any split screen or LAN multiplayer modes  on console, but the PC version does have LAN support.

There are several different game modes available. Team based gameplay modes include Team Deathmatch, where 2-8 teams compete to accumulate the most kills in a traditional deathmatch; Team Mafiya Work, in which 2–8 teams compete to complete contract work for the “mafiya”, such as escorting/killing targets or stealing cars; Team Car Jack City where 2–8 teams compete to steal cars and earn money for keeping them undamaged; Cops n’ Crooks, featuring a team of cops who must compete against a team of crooks (which features the “All for One” variation – requiring the cops to kill the crooks’ “Boss” before he is escorted to the extraction point – and the “One for All” variation – requiring the cops to kill all of the crooks before they reach the extraction point); and Turf War, involving two teams who compete to take control of designated areas of the map and control them for as long as possible.

The game also includes a variety of racing and cooperative modes, which include Race, in which players race through checkpoints in a traditional automobile race; a GTA Race variation, where players race through checkpoints in an automobile race, with the ability to combat their opponents; Hangman’s N.O.O.S.E., a co-op mode that requires players to collect a person from the airport and safely escort him to the extraction point before the cops kill him; Deal Breaker, a co-op mission that requires players to assault a construction site captured by enemies, then chase a group of enemies before they escape; and Bomb da Base II, a co-op mission that requires players to clear out a ship, then destroy it with explosives. The game also features a Free Mode, in which players have the entire map open to explore, with no end goal or mission to complete.

There are, however, limitations when playing Free Mode. Certain features from the single player story mode are disabled. The disabled features include the mini-games such as bowling, darts, and pool. Also disabled is other content found in the game, including cheats, clubs and the internet café. These limitations also apply for all other game-types.

Other Information

• Publisher(s)  Rockstar Games, JP Capcom
• Distributor(s)  Take-Two Interactive (retail), Steam (online)
• Designer(s)  Simon Lashley, Keith McLeman
• Series  Grand Theft Auto
• Engine  RAGE
• Euphoria (Motion Engine)
• Version  1.04 (PlayStation 3), 1.01 (Xbox 360), 1.0.1.0 (Windows)
• Platform(s)  PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows
• Release date(s)  PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, 29 April 2008
• Microsoft Windows, NA 2 December 2008, EU 3 December 2008
• Genre(s)  Sandbox, third-person shooter, action-adventure
• Mode(s)  Single-player, multiplayer

Links:

• Grand Theft Auto IV Official website
• Grand Theft Auto IV PC Official website
• Grand Theft Auto IV at Wikia
• Grand Theft Auto IV guide at StrategyWiki