Game play

GTA overview

Grand Theft Auto IV is set-up similar to previous games in the series. The core game-play consists of elements of a third-person shooter and a driving game, giving the player a large, open environment in which to move around. On foot, the player's character is capable of walking, running, swimming, climbing and jumping, as well as utilising weapons and basic hand to hand combat. Players can steal and drive a variety of vehicles, including cars, boats, helicopters, and motorcycles.

Grand Theft Auto IV's Liberty City has an open, non-linear environment allowing players to explore and choose how they wish to play the game. Although storyline missions are necessary to progress through the game and unlock certain parts of the map and content, they are not required, as players can complete them at their own leisure. When not taking on a storyline mission, players can free-roam. However, creating havoc can attract unwanted and potentially fatal attention from the authorities. The more chaos caused, the stronger the response: police will handle "minor" infractions (attacking people, pointing guns at people, stealing cars, killing a few people, etc.), whereas SWAT teams, the FBI, and the military respond to higher wanted levels.

While previous titles in the GTA series have traditionally been heavily mission-based, the freedom to explore and play outside of the set missions in GTA IV will now be more relevant to progress through the game, according to comments by a Rockstar spokesperson: "We're really trying to blur the line between on-mission and off-mission. So storyline, and what you do outside, and how those two things influence each other." It is possible to have multiple active missions, due to the fact that some missions will run over the course of several days and will require the player to wait for further instructions, etc. The player can also partake in a variety of optional side missions, as well as make a variety of decisions over the fate of certain characters, with the player's choices affecting the game's plot.

A spokesperson for Rockstar claimed, "you can basically play the game from beginning to end without a single load screen. “However, load times are present in the final product. There is also an auto-save that activates after completing a mission

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