Grand Theft Auto IV: Kikizo Preview 3

Our third GTA IV preview spectacular reveals exclusive new details for the first time anywhere, and takes a much broader look around Liberty City in a fantastic build of the game that's nearing completion.

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We now go to a new mission called Truck Hustle, a lot later into the game, right towards the very end in fact. This mission introduces us to two new characters. By this stage in the game we're acquainted with a Mafiosi character called Ray, who's taking us to a guy called Bell. We're kind of in league with them, because we're "looking for someone", and these mafia guys are apparently trying to help us find him, Rockstar tells us. In return, we've got to do a few errands. So Bell wants us to do a job that Ray has refused to do.

Rockstar casually changes the setting to nighttime for this mission, using its sneaky USB keyboard tapping right into the debug options in the game. Even this debug option (think of it like a traditional 'cheat' in San Andreas) is smooth; the change to night time actually speeds through the different skies and natural weather that would occur to get from the current point all the way forwards to night time.

Cut to a scene showing a guy sitting in his grimy office. It's time for a lot of heavy Italian American New York accents:

Bell: Did you hear about our friend - the guy with the thing?
Ray: Yeah, you mean Harry the.... guy with that hat.
Bell: No, the guy with the... you know, the badabeep, badaboop.
Ray: Oh, the guy with the... and the... [quick whistle]...
Bell: Yeah, that guy.

Superb. Pretty soon, it's down to business:

Bell: The Triads have this big chunk of brown that they're desperate to get rid of. Talking about it all over town. Need to offload it at any price. They think it's cursed or something! They want me to take it from them. It's loaded into a truck going to Franklyn Street Westbank. Get ahold of it and give me a call.
Niko: Sure. But Mr Bell, it's going to cost you.
Bell: You got it, no problem.

This is proper movie quality, real voice acting - it sounds like a really good mob movie, DeNiro, Pacino, Pesci style, the works. It really adds puyrpose to the missions. In this one, there's a truckload of smack the Triads have got, and they want to shift it. They believe it's cursed. We're about to confirm their suspicions by stealing it from them.

We're now in a more upmarket car, so our GPS is a bit posher and talk us through the streets. We pass through what to my untrained eye looks like Koreatown - the lettering was not Chinese as in the earlier glimpse of what was likely Chinatown; I'm pretty sure it was Korean around this area. Even though we're about to go at it with the Triads. Don't ask me. Now, it's time to fight in a concealed area, sort of an industrial, back-of-restaurant deliveries type location we arrive at.

Before we walk into this, you can use your cellphone to tune into a radio station, so that when you exit the car you can still listen to music, even during a bloody shootout. So you don't need to be in a vehicle to listen to GTA IV's soundtrack - the radio is now on you at any time via your cellphone. We tune into some more lively jazz - fitting for a nice artistic shootout, and indeed, music to steal drugs to...

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