Sign on Options
Theme: [Light Selected] To Dark»

Grand Theft Auto IV trailer debuts

Next installment in legendary series appears to feature immigrant protagonist--but is it set in New York or Liberty City? Downloadable trailer and first screens inside.

After weeks of anticipation, the trailer for Grand Theft Auto IV has premiered on the game's official Web site. The preview, which can also be downloaded below, offers millions their first glimpse of the eagerly awaited game--and some clues about its setting and characters.

At first glance, the trailer, titled "Things Will Be Different," shows what appears to be New York City. Landmarks like the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, and the Brooklyn Bridge are all clearly shown in vivid detail, thanks to the new RAGE graphics engine, which was previously used in Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis.

However, the devil is in the details, and a closer look at the trailer appears to indicate that it is set in a totally revamped version of Liberty City. A ship registered to Liberty City is shown docked at a wharf. A derelict "Liberty Ferry" is shown, as is a skyscraper with the logo "Liberteen" in front of it. During a shot of a Times Square-like plaza, a sign for the Liberty Tree newspaper can be seen, as can a small banner that appears to say "Welcome to Liberty City."

When questioned by GameSpot, a Rockstar rep played coy. "We would like to let the trailer speak for itself," he said. "However, we can confirm that all footage in the trailer 'Things Will Be Different' was captured directly from 720p gameplay running real time in our RAGE engine on a next-gen gaming console." The latter comments make it unclear if the trailer is for the PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 version of the game.

One thing that is clearly present in "Things Will Be Different" is the series' traditional wicked humor. Re-creations of various landmarks had parody names, including the MetLife Building, which sports a giant "GetaLife" logo. The Times Square replica contains a movie poster for the fictional film I Slept With Your Mom and a billboard for Top Hooker, an apparent parody of reality show America's Next Top Model. The trailer also shows that several faux brands from San Andreas will return, including Sprunk, Cluckin' Bell Chicken, and BurgerShot.

The trailer closes by introducing what could be Grand Theft Auto IV's protagonist. A swarthy man with short black hair and a beard is shown in close-up looking around. "Life is complicated," a voice-over says with a pronounced accent, possibly Eastern European. "I've killed people, smuggled people, sold people," the voice continues, "perhaps, here things will be different." Given the series' signature violence, that prospect appears unlikely.

Grand Theft Auto IV ships in the US on October 16 and in Europe on October 19, and has not yet been rated.

Post comment as twitter logo facebook logo
Sort: Newest | Oldest
vs_world 5 pts

when they are lunching pc version...waiting

jlwarwick 5 pts

xbox 360s taking the piss getting 2 epic down loads y cant the ps3 get them 2 ?

jlwarwick 5 pts

xbox 360s taking the piss getting 2 epic eposods down loads y cant the ps3 get them 2 ?

Hameyadea 5 pts

getahey: GTA was (and still is) a PC property... If you're meaning that 8-months-exclusivity thing then you are wrong. Sony bought the exclusive rights from Rockstar to promote the PS2 at the time... If that was up to Rockstar, then they probably have made the series a PC exclusive, because the console versions to the first games were low. Extremely low. The series has been saved thanks to the PC versions.

geteahay 5 pts

Seriously 'imwatchinu' it's commonly know that the graphics engine on the PS3 is far more powerful then the 360, so whatcha u thinking. Seriously all you fan boys of 360 I do think it's a good console, and if I had no other option I would buy it . But I'm just going to some it up 'you won the battle, but you lost the war.' Give PS3 a year and people will see the full potential of it and developers will just go full out, to give PS3 owners the better experience. So see sense now and buy a PS3 and don't be a Bill Gates bum boy. GTA was originally Playstation property so we have its true spirit, you have its evil twin. p.s. GTA will own on PS3

darren05r 5 pts

do you think the dirty little jeb end that is 'imwatchinu' is a microsoft fanboy??? who are you??? bill gates' son????? can you not accept the fact that the 360 has some good competition it has a year of sales over the ps3 and still it doesnt look any better than ps3 games?? or the fact that bluray is outselling hddvd and that microsoft have chosen to support the wrong product? get a life u absolutely useless son of a biatch.

m4gicm4rty 5 pts

a fictional setting for the new GTA would be far more desirable. it wouldnt recieve as much bad press (from media killjoys, no names {cough}-jack thompson!). also, it feels that the story would progress in the history and future of the game if it was set for example in Liberty city. oh yeah, and ps3 probably will be the best version (my oppinion).

imwatchinu 5 pts

are u sure this game aint set in hull?

xxdeedee 5 pts

i get board of these kak kinda games i would rava play halo or sumink u can get good at

xxdeedee 5 pts

they shld of made a grand theft auto in london wouldv beemuch better

imwatchinu 5 pts

cant wait to see this game on XBOX360 and PC as they will both be miles better than the PS3 version as we all know the PS3 has a NVIDIA G70 graphics chip inside it and the XBOX360 has an ATI R520 graphics chip inside it the R520 is a miles better GPU infact so much so that NVIDIA needed to strap 2 of them onto a single pcb to compete against it --and still couldnt beat it AND AS FOR THE PC VERSION IT WILL ROCK U SEE U LITTLE PS3 FANBOYS ACTUALLY BELIEVE THAT THE GTA FRANCHISE IS A PLAYSTATION THING -----GET REAL---WE WERE PLAYING IT ON PC YEARS BEFORE IT EVER CAME OUT ON PS1--OUR VERSIONS HAVE ALWAYS AND WILL ALWAYS BE BIGGER AND BETTER THAN THE PS3s

imwatchinu 5 pts

HIDEOUS KOJIMA also hinted that the huge processing power of the CELL(which has been designed around gods brain) will be used to HYPNOTIZE PEOPLE into believeing that they r playing in a real world with THE CELLS RAW POWER WE WILL BE ABLE TO CONTROL PEOPLES BRAINS AND MAKE THEM THINK THEY CAN REALLY FEEL THE POWER OF A BULLET WHIZZING PAST THERE HEAD,OR THINK THAT THEY REALLY CAN FEEL THE SENSASTION OF SPEED WHILST DRIVING A FORMULA 1 CAR-------HIDEOUS KOJIMA ALSO STATED THAT THE TECHNOLOGY INSIDE THE PS3 IS FROM THE FUTURE AND HAD BIN GIVEN TO SONY BY A RACE OF TIME TRAVELLING ALIENS CALLED THE ZYSTATRONS---HE SAID THEY DID THIS BECAUSE IN THE FUTRE THEY UPGRADED THERE ONSHIP SYSTEMS TO WINDOWS VISTATRON 3007 AND HAVE HAD NOTHING BUT STABILITY PROBLEMS EVERSINCE----THEN IN A FLASH OF BLUE AND AMBER LIGHT HIDEOUS KOJIMA SIMPLY VANISHED AND REAPPEARD IN 598 PLACES AT THE SAME TIME

imwatchinu 5 pts

and let us not forget the PS2 WITH ITS EMOTION ENGINE the only games that really shined on that console were the ones the developers could afford to put through sonys optimizer(SONY DEVELOPED THE OPTIMIZER FOR CODERS WHO REALLY DIDNT KNOW HOW TO SQUEEZE EVRYLAST DROP OF POWER OUT OF THE CONSOLE)why? because just like now they have developed an overly technical piece of machinery which really doesnt and shouldnt have blu ray in it---AT THE END OF THE DAY PEOPLE NEED TO ASK THEMSELVES 1 QUESTION ---WHY WOULD A COMPANY LIKE SONY,SELL AT A LOSS TO THE WORLD THE MOST HI TECH NEXTGEN(not to us pc fanmen consolers idea of nextgen is our oldgen) CONSOLE MANKIND HAS EVER SEEN(apparently) ANSWER IS EASY REALLY --TO PUSH BLU RAY THROUGH AS THE NEW DVD FORMAT

imwatchinu 5 pts

1080p isn't a solution yet and is only native on a VERY few select television systems, most of which are still not capable of receiving 1080p signals digitally. Even less are capable of displaying @ 60 FPS. 1080p is not a broadcast standard yet which is a major factor in why manufactures have not felt the need yet to develop the technology a bit more. You just have to be realstic - PS3 in HD (despite its ridiculous 1080p wild claims, which it makes many and often) will be transmitting 1080i. My guess is that they MAY make the PS3 capable of transmitting @ 1080p@24ps for movies (which is a MUCH more realstic solution) and are blurring the concept over to the gaming end to HYPE up the PS3 (Sony has a history of tactics like that.) Those familiar with HD understand what interlaced compression is how it affects picture quality. 1080i is displaying frames at a perceived resolution of 1920x1080, but in reality is displaying @ just about half that. The common method in calculating an interlaced resolution's true resolution is to multiply its perceived res by 0.6. 1080i comes out to about 1152x648 which is, in fact, WORSE than its HD standard counterpart 720p (1280x720) in terms of picture quality. Because console gaming (even now with HD) has taken place on an inferior resolution standard - their video cards are much less robust than the $500+ dollar video cards (over 100$ more than a complete 360 premium system) us computer gamers pay for the best possible gaming experience. Therefore, you just simply cannot compare the video card in a console to those high-end cards that are being installed in gaming PCs.

lewisstarwars 5 pts

it looks gd but it wood b better in london

birdmandaddi 5 pts

its easy ppl it has Liberty city ritten all over it but it looks like NYC and on the side it says i luv Liberty city insted of NYC

moneymaker4149 5 pts

i wonder what other missions they gonna have us doin

Hakkzpets 5 pts

It's not GTA 5... It's GTA 4 FFS!

magicfrog0 5 pts

Why cant they come up with a new more (fun) city like texas or Louisiana

vecha 5 pts

"GTA5 will exceed by far on the Ps3 rather then on the xbox 360. We all know that Ps3 has better frame rate and smother graphics then the xbox 360. This game will make everyone grab the Ps3, that and some other great hits, exemple Suntman and killzone : ) By the way the guy is russian or turkish not afgani unno, best game ever ever" no we don't know if the ps3 is better. We do know they are about the same. you fanboys should shut up

Sparky2002 5 pts

2 things they should have done with this game 1. world of warcraft & place there world online have pvp & pve could u image gangs doing driveby RAID in GTA or Missions. & last charactristic changable character Now That would be OMEGA GTA AWESOMENESS Woot

rossenndop 5 pts

GTA5 will exceed by far on the Ps3 rather then on the xbox 360. We all know that Ps3 has better frame rate and smother graphics then the xbox 360. This game will make everyone grab the Ps3, that and some other great hits, exemple Suntman and killzone : ) By the way the guy is russian or turkish not afgani unno, best game ever ever

crsx 5 pts

HEY FAUIJI STFU, AND L2SPELL

Fauij 5 pts

[This message was deleted at the request of a moderator or administrator]

jackfatal 5 pts

from his look he looks arab!! but ! but i think he will be somewhere near middle europe or turkish

tylert20 5 pts

I wish you could create your own main character in GTA: IV. I can't wait to see what creativeness they put into the Xbox 360 acheivements!

boobush 5 pts

If it's based in NYC, maybe they wanna bomb True Crime. God, I hated that game.

hitman1988 5 pts

The trailer look nice, can't wait to see some proper game play...do we know 100% sure that the guy in the trailer is the main character?

nonoyawns 5 pts

i would rather have an england based gang game.... (SNATCH = amazing movie)

Zigmond1 5 pts

he looks like someone off of Timesplitters

scruffybawls 5 pts

i know its better for the story but i would rather create my own character or play a guy in the irish mob, after seein the departed, set in boston.

jakjbt 5 pts

Looks amasing. But when i think of New York ...I think of Driver parallel lines...witch is good but nowere near the standered of GTA. The cars look better,they look less "square". also Rockstar look like they are still kepping their sense of humor did anyone seee the buliding saying "get a life"

clayton12345 5 pts

in one of the screen shots where it has the people and the advertisements there is a billboard next to a make up advert possibly advertising a car you can find in gta iv it looks a lot like an audi tt which could mean they have more real car designs

macedon23q 5 pts

which russian is dark in colour and has a arab face??!! his albanian

Sparky2002 5 pts

Has Anyone heard anymore news yet about the Game & the Expansion // Exclusive Downloadable Contents?????

key584 5 pts

i think that this will be the best grand theft auto so far, i'm am ready for it to come out.

Max-Th3-Noid 5 pts

[This message was deleted at the request of a moderator or administrator]

L710_SCOPE 5 pts

[This message was deleted at the request of a moderator or administrator]

rainerj2006 5 pts

I just love how they made it look and sound like a Naqoykatsi / Phillip Glass movie....although loved the entire series (katsi) this is tooo much of a rip off....

rusty_13 5 pts

[This message was deleted at the request of a moderator or administrator]

Nightcreeper 5 pts

I'm glad they moved away from the whole hip-hop-theme. Because of that whole hood-thing I didn't buy the last game. As it seems they are taking a different approach now. - GREAT!

camusigma 5 pts

This game also msg 4 is a great reason why I prefer ps3

djsundowner 5 pts

Liberty City is NOT New York City... based on NYC, yes, but the thing about the GTA3 "series" (III, VC & SA) is that they were in imaginary cities. Moving to a real city is a good move.

Xuco 5 pts

Now, I have high hopes for this game. I certainly think it has potential to be great fun. But this trailer shows virtually nothing as far as actual gameplay goes. Why so excited?

ginyahead 5 pts

THIS GAMES GONE BE SICK........EVEN SICKER CUZ I LIVE IN NEW YORK = )

ElHypno 5 pts

How about this, I just buy a Ps3 and a 360 and throw them against one another until one is victourous. Will that then solve all the PS3 and 360 confllict?

BrideInDream 5 pts

i want this game so baddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd

Conversation powered by Livefyre

Hot Stories

Newsmakers

Featured Stories

  • Tomb Raider delayed to 2013

    Tomb Raider delayed to 2013 Thumbnail

    Lara Croft origin story pushed back to allow Crystal Dynamics to "fully deliver the very highest quality game"; new screenshot teasing upcoming E3 content. Full Story

    • Posted May 14, 2012 3:47 pm AEST
  • Blizzard undecided on Diablo III for consoles

    Blizzard undecided on Diablo III for consoles Thumbnail

    Blizzard project director says developer not working on dungeon crawler for consoles; PC game has been in "polish mode" for two years. Full Story

    • Posted May 15, 2012 5:36 am AEST
  • The Witcher dev hiring for two new RPGs

    The Witcher dev hiring for two new RPGs Thumbnail

    Polish studio CD Projekt Red seeking staffers for a brand-new intellectual property that may include guns, and a separate project in "mature dark-fantasy world." Full Story

    • Posted May 15, 2012 1:53 am AEST
  • Resident Evil 6 to sell 7 million

    Resident Evil 6 to sell 7 million Thumbnail

    Capcom projecting next survival horror game to become the best seller in company history, topping the Super Nintendo version of Street Fighter II; DMC to sell 2 million. Full Story

    • Posted May 12, 2012 1:55 am AEST
  • Sony shares tank to 31-year low

    Sony shares tank to 31-year low Thumbnail

    Following record annual loss, company's shares tumbled on Tokyo Stock Exchange; firm facing "a lot of difficulties" in time ahead, says analyst. Full Story

    • Posted May 12, 2012 1:05 am AEST

Submit News

Got tips? Send them in!

Related Game

Grand Theft Auto IV

Grand Theft Auto IV Boxshot
Follow:
  1. Not Following
    Xbox 360: Follow
  2. Not Following
    PC: Follow
  3. Not Following
    PlayStation 3: Follow

Follow for the latest news, videos, & tips from experts & insiders

GameSpot Fuse
    Platforms:

    Recent News