Grand Theft Auto IV: Kikizo Preview 2
Kikizo's second massive first-hand preview of GTA IV is so detailed that we're a bit worried about our own mental health. Get your FULL update on the game of the year fresh from our extensive meeting with Rockstar.
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"The web café takes credit cards... with the technically advanced world of 2007 emphasised, cyber crime is likely to put a new spin on things."
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The TW@ café advertises that you can get online for just a dollar, is "totally wireless", and also takes credit cards (might we see some sort of credit card fraud activity later in the game? With the technically advanced world of 2007 now emphasised, cyber crime is very likely to put a new spin on things, though this is just our speculation).
Rockstar is putting Internets in the game because it is an integral part of modern day life, and it should offer a good opportunity to channel gameplay elements. Liberty City is also a massive place that has its 'own Internet', and Rockstar promises that in true GTA fashion there's going to be lots of fun things to do and explore on it. "We're not going into this any further today," our rep says, but we still get a brief look at how it works. It also acts as a discovery tool and an information aggregator; Niko has his own account that can be accessed from any computer in the city, so there's always a way for him to find stuff out.
Inside, terminals are all neatly laid out and it's basically a pretty standard looking independent Internet café. Pressing LB sits us down, and once sat at the terminal, the screen is displayed, as you would see it on your monitor. You control the pointer with the analogue stick - certainly the first time Xbox 360 users will feel like they're browsing the web a 360 controller. There are plenty of easy-to-find visual links, so it's not hard to navigate around the web. Rockstar asked us not to write about some of the web addresses that appear while browsing GTA's quirky version of the web, "because it's still stuff that's being worked on at the moment"; interestingly we checked out some of the domain names we noted down on WHOIS and none are registered by Take 2 yet, so we best keep quiet and not register them ourselves if we want to go back for a third preview.
Anyway, Niko navigates to the Goldberg Ligner & Shyster website so he can submit his resume. A fake one, obviously, that says his objective is to (and we quote), "rise to the top of my profession in Liberty City" - he claims to have experience in criminal law with cases such as manslaughter under his belt, claims that he deals with emerging markets in the West Indies (particularly 'Jamaica and Puerto Rico'), claims to have been associate attorney at Mediterranean Shipping Enterprise, and even an intern at a police force - but best, it says he was educated at 'Walford University', UK with an MA in international relations and a first class degree to boot. First class bullshitter, more like?
"According to his resume, Niko excels in people management, athletic ability, shooting, boxing, running, and swimming 'to a professional level'."
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According to the resume, he reckons his skills are people management, coping with cultural differences, athletic ability, shooting, boxing, running, and swimming "to a professional level", while his interests are world affairs, importing and exporting goods, and free market competition. There's perhaps more truth to some of his claims that others, as we're sure to find out during the full game. He submits the CV, and if his plan works, the address he'll need to go to according to the website, is 44 Emerty Street, The Exchange, Algonquin. They also had a phone number listed (area code 669), which didn't work when we tried to call it in the name of investigative journalism.
P L E A S E V I S I T O U R S P O N S O R :
With that submitted, he's now going to make a few phone calls. First he's going to call officer McReary to let him know that he's submitted his resume. "Call when you hear about the interview," advises McReary. Niko's phone rings after the call. And, as part of our plan to tell you everything we saw - and then some - we present the proper first dialogue we've encountered in GTA IV in full (and we're going to do the same with every conversation, even the bits that had no voices in yet and just had subtitles).
Caller: "This is Karen from Goldberg, we'd like to arrange an interview at your earliest convenience. Come into our offices at noon tomorrow, is that alright?"
Niko: "I can free that period up in my schedule."
Karen: "Super, your interview will be with Mr Goldberg. Identify yourself to security and they will show you up. Have a nice day."
As we mentioned before, this specially built demo of the game is sped up, and so phone calls and appointments won't all occur this quickly in the finished title. Indeed, our eventual appointment with Mr Goldberg would be just a bit later today in game-time, rather than "noon tomorrow" as scheduled by Karen.
Finally, he calls McReary back (he's on speed dial, judging by the dialing sound) to let him know that he's organised his appointment for the interview. "Perfect," says McReary, "the smug bastard ain't gonna know what's coming at him. Teach him for sticking his nose in other people's business - and get the files."
(Continued...)
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