
If you’re like most people who’ve played any GTA game, you’re more than likely to have been mixed up in an in-game car chase with law enforcement. Maybe you’ve botched a mission and caught the attention of the authorities, and your two-star wanted level has them sending an aggressive pack of squad cars after you. Or (and this is more likely), maybe you were feeling particularly twisted, and you decided to go on a virtual killing spree, taking out pedestrians and police with no regard for their digital lives. Now, with a six-star wanted level, you’ve got choppers, armored cars, and the proverbial kitchen sink trying to take you down.
In previous games, you’ve had a few options. The first would be to high-tail it out of the area, laying low where police can’t see you, and minding your Ps and Qs; eventually the authorities will give up their search. Another alternative would be to find “bribes,” floating star icons hidden throughout the city, or even have your vehicle repainted at a “Pay N’ Spray” -- both options will immediately absolve you of your sins. Your final option? You try to keep up a suicidal rampage until it takes you to your death.
Those are all great options (except for that death thing, which is kind of a bitch), but things work a little differently in GTA IV’s Liberty City. To start, while you haven’t (and likely won’t see) a HUD in any of the screenshots or video of the game that Rockstar has provided, it’s there. It should be noted that the HUD in GTA IV is much more minimal that in the previous games; gone are the larger, cartoon-like icons that littered the screen in prior GTAs. The wanted levels are back, and appear (along with your current cash holdings and selected weapon) in the upper right-hand corner of screen as a sleek display. This portion of the HUD is small and understated, appearing only as white with a black outline.
The lower left hand corner is home to the map and radar system, which plays a significant role in how police chases go down in GTA IV. For starters, any crime you commit will cause you to receive a wanted level. Because this new version of Liberty City feels and acts as a living, breathing world, pedestrians who see you commit a felony will alert the authorities. Gone are the days when you can pull open any parked car door and drive off into the sunset -- that’s not going to cut it in GTA IV. That said, this doesn’t apply to traffic laws; feel free to break them as you see fit, but don’t be surprised to see a cop flash his or her lights at you if they see you doing so, if only to remind you that you’re there.
But if breaking traffic laws doesn’t scratch that criminal itch -- you want to steal cars, kill pedestrians, or just be a general nuisance -- you’ll need to become familiar with just how to flee from the law. When police are in search of you in GTA IV, you’ll see a red flashing circle appear on the map; the nastier your crimes, the more stars you’ll receive, and the bigger the radius of the circle will get. The objective here is to escape the radius, at which point there will be a cool down period, and you’ll have to lay low while your wanted level flashes and will eventually disappear. Catching the attention of the authorities, or even committing another crime, will cause the radius to re-center and this chase will start all over again.
Truthfully, this feels like a new game in itself, and unquestionably gives you a better sense of objective during these cat and mouse moments that have become a signature of the series. Having recently spent time with the previous games, escaping the police sometimes felt like a chore, particularly because you’re given no clear destination or goal that would lead to a “win.” While chases with a larger radius could have you aimlessly tearing ass all over the city to escape a radius, it looks like this new system will give these sequences a much tighter feel.
But that doesn’t mean that the chases are going to be any less intense. The police that populate Liberty City are more aggressive and intelligent than ever, and we got ourselves into more than a few precarious situations during our hands-on session. As police chased our car through the streets of Algonquin (Liberty City’s version of Manhattan), we were able to tap a single button to let us smash out a window with an elbow, allowing us to hang from the car and aim a firearm at our pursuers. But we had to be careful, because depending on where we were aiming, the camera would shift in such a way that made it difficult to see where we were driving.
Not surprisingly, we crashed our vehicle, which we immediately abandoned, and attempted to surrender to the police. By pressing the “B” button, our character Niko Bellic put his hands up in a show of defeat. As the police approached to put on the cuffs, we pulled out a gun and started to begin the chase again, giving us an upper hand and a better likelihood at an escape.
You didn’t think we were going to give up that easily, did you?
--
This is part three of our five-day Grand Theft Auto IV spectacular fun fest-a-thon! Check back tomorrow at 1pm EDT for part four, and in the meantime, don't miss:
Day one: "GTA IV Week: Shooting and cover, Grand Theft Auto IV has them"
Day two: "GTA IV Week: Multiplayer, Grand Theft Auto IV has it (hands-on, details)"
Euphoriaaaaaaaaa! :D
That last paragraph has me all in a twitter... the option to pretend to give up and then blow all the cops away sounds so epic
goddammit this game sounds more and more awesome with every article.
Oh wow...
I might not wait for the MGS4 PS3 bundle and get one earlier...
"By pressing the “B” button"
ZOMG MS fanboy!
Sounds awesome although tbh I've never found GTA police very intelligent, but I assume thats more to do with the sandbox layout of the game.
Very nice write up and good information here. But, wasn't the clear destination or "goal" during police chases in the old games to get to the Pay n' Spray?
Face: Nick played it on the X360. Don't mind the PS3 graphics on the articles, it's a tagging issue.
dronkmunk: It was never a goal per say, but it was an option to get rid of your wanted level. You could always just drive around to pick up the police bribes and not spend the $100 on the pay and spray.
This game will be so epic.
Even without Samuel L Jackson.
I guess this will tide me over till Saint's Row 2.
This exact same escape mechanic was present in the Scarface game that came out a couple years ago and I always felt it was a better way of handling it.
I think there's a typo at the end of the first paragraph
"Unfortunately, they wouldn't let me take it home, despite"....
Anyway every one of these GTA posts is getting me even more excited for the game. This new escape mechanic sounds like a much needed revamp as I found running from the Cops in previous GTAs simply annoying after a while
My pre-order has been sitting on my bookshelf for a week or so now. I can't wait for this game. I have a feeling I will lose days and days to it, and all in the name of good fun.
goty next to spore? i think so
Just pre-ordered about an hour ago. All is well with the world.
Sounds better every day.
Ugh that's it, I'm fucking freezing myself till this game comes out
It's all good. I can't wait for this to come out, is anyone else getting that epic limited edition pack with the duffle and all?
There's no "roll down the window" button?
Instead of those Pay n Sprays, maybe they could have like wig shops or costume stores.
zomg, amazing.
the escape feature is identical to the game franchise "driver."
This game will be the greatest fucking game ever. Sadly, though, it will ruin many many lives. Sorta like WoW.
I become giddy with excitement everytime I read about this game. Simply cannot wait.
NEED
It has police chases? YOU'RE KIDDING!
Sounds awesome. I don't understand the part of the write up that talks about in the old games getting out of sight of the police. The cops in GTA never cared about if they could see you or not. No matter where you are cops will spawn nearby if you have a wanted level. In Saint's Row it seemed like that formula was tweaked such that getting out of their site would make them lose you.
Anyway, this new cop radius makes an awful lot of sense and it's going to make playing this GTA so much more challenging and fun.
are we there yet?
This feature was used in Scareface if i recall correctly. I also agree it does add a good element to the gameplay that requires some skill and patients.
i can't wait to listen to the radio stations, most hilarious dj's ever.
Should be entertaining!
@digitaldemigod
I was just about to post that same thing.. in all of the other GTA games it was impossible to lose wanted level by "getting away" only by pay n spray's and those icons. I think Nick Chester is just too excited about IV that he forgot lol
I agree that this new scarface-style of wanted level will be an improvement. Glad to hear there's not a "you're fucked" scenario if you can't make it out of the circle. i always thought that was fucking ridiculous. and the circle radius? it took up damn near the entire island so escape was always going to be hard.
It's great that if you get yanked out of a car in GTA IV you don't necessarily will get busted, it's cool that you have an opportunity to get away.
I have to say, I thought 'more of the same' when I heard about GTA IV, but you're making it sound absolutely epic. They seem to have focused on the stale areas and really made them better.
I am looking forward to this release.
This, Spore, Left 4 Dead, Fallout 3... So many epic games coming out this year.
@Woverine
I think he meant the feature where as time goes by your wanted level will slowly decrease, so running from the cops will eventually get them to leave you alone.
@digitaldemigod and Woverine
I was thinking the same thing but you can get away with a atar wanted level of 2 or lower but any thing higher you had to use th pay n' spray etc. so everyone wins YAY!!!!!
^star*
Escaping the cops sounds like actual fun in this one. I just loved shooting down the police and FBI copters. BOOM!
I like the sound of the new system. Hopefully it will take over Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit's title as my favorite in-game police chases.
never been this excited for a game.
Damn, now I'm actually getting excited about this game.
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