Brand new GTA IV info emerges

We've got a lot of questions about Rockstar's next-gen Grand Theft Auto and luckily some guy from Game Informer magazine has got the answers. And he's giving them on the internet.

Andrew Reiner spills the beans on what he saw behind the dark, iron walls of Rockstar's New York fortress to GTAnet.com.

Apparently, despite the absence of planes, helicopters are still in the game, AI has been improved and you can still get yourself a virtual girlfriend. According to Reiner, he also didn't see one single second of loading in his short demo - which for a game as big as GTA is certainly impressive.

"In terms of scale, it definitely feels more like a realistic city. It feels you are traversing New York City. As you've seen in the trailer, there are a number of ways to traverse this massive area," he says.

"The visuals are tremendous and easily some of the best I have seen. What's scary about this statement is that Rockstar North is still improving upon the visuals," Reiner continues.

"There's little question that it will be one of the best looking games come this holiday. As for the draw distance, I didn't see one building, car, streetlamp, or pedestrian pop up. The framerate was also incredibly smooth and the lighting really couldn't have been much better."

As for driving, the Game Informer man says that the camera setup is more like Rockstar's own racer Midnight Club, giving a closer, more detailed view of your motor.

"From what I was shown, the only new element was breaking the window of the car to get in. The animation for this was awesome, and something I wish I had seen more than once. The car I saw was newer in make - which was evidenced in both the beautiful crimson sheen and suspension that handled pot holes and variances in the road with ease."

"Now, I only saw one car, but it really did have that new car look to it. It'll be interesting to see how Rockstar handles the shocks and struts for other vehicles in the game."

April 24, 2007