Welcome to Grand Theft Auto IV

And we're looking at Algonquin from just one small corner of Broker - there's a lot more of the game to see in the different boroughs. On a borough-by-borough basis, Brown explains, things will pretty much mirror the real New York: "So in Algonquin, we'll have Harlem at one end with some pretty shady areas, we'll have Downtown and the industrial district, and Midtown that's fairly affluent with the Soho type of areas. And then Brooklyn, so fairly sort of Bohemian. We have part of New Jersey, called Alderney. The only thing we're not doing is Staten Island, just because it was too similar to some of the other areas, so it didn't really bring anything to the mix that was new and fresh. And it's not going to be mirrored to the point where the exact number of blocks represents a neighbourhood, because that would be utterly tedious."

Whenever we're in New York, we're fascinated at how the real city changes into something new every few blocks - a completely new place around every corner - and it looks like this could well be captured in the essence of 2007 Liberty City. Here in Broker, the view across to Algonquin is just one awesome view, the likes of which we can imagine ourselves staring at for hours during gameplay with a warm feeling of next gen wow inside us.

"The great graphics are just a great foundation for the guys to build upon," says Brown. "The ultimate goal here is to create the defining next-generation action adventure and to try and set the standard for gameplay, player immersion, and the size and scale that shows what a next-generation game can actually be."

Niko needs to contemplate his next move, and at this moment of the demo seems like he could be wondering what life as an immigrant is going to be like in Liberty City as he stares across at the skyline from the grimy edge of Broker. It's not going to be about extreme wealth and real estate - more like survival and existence. And he's sure to encounter some personal struggles and battles along the way. He pulls out a cellphone (subsequently appearing in the bottom right of the screen) to find out what his next move should be - but we'll have to wait a month or so to find out what happens next.

Some three years into development now, is it looking like GTA will make its release date in October? Basically, yes. "We've been pretty much on the money," Brown assures us. "We've never been off longer than a week or two I think." But, when Rockstar first showed San Andreas back at E3 2004, half of Los Santos was still wire-frame, just a few months from release - so how pressing is the schedule now? "So much of the development gets done in the last few months. I think people would be quite shocked... how most of the time is spent mapping everything and getting everything done... fleshing it out and putting textures in is actually one of the last things!"

We can't wait to see more of Liberty City, so join us for the next preview as we take a closer look at GTA IV's gameplay...

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Video Coverage (Latest Videos & Video FAQ)
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Description	Dur.	Size	Details
Grand Theft Auto IV Trailer 1 HD 720p (High quality version - Download WMV)	1:02	42MB	HD, 16:9 1280x720/30p 8Mbps
Grand Theft Auto IV Trailer 1 SD (Stream)	1:02	8MB	SD, 16:9 640x360/30p 2Mbps
Sam Houser on GTA IV Developer comments on PS3 including Rockstar president Sam Houser, who is clearly discussing GTA IV.	4.22m	72MB	DF, SD, 30 640x480 2.5Mbps