The following article is for players who completed the game. Rockstar Games kept their word in that the game will not end in one specific way, but that there will be varried ways dependant on what you choose to do near the end of the game. As you'd expect, the following article contains spoilers. So don't read on if you didn't complete the game yet.
The two different ways that the game end is not all that different, but they involve different characters and certain people die if you go one way, whereas other die another way. This is not a mission guide, but merely a rundown of the events taking place at the end of the story line of Grand Theft Auto IV.
Near the end of the game, Jimmy Pegorino will call you up and ask that you come see him at a Strip Club. He wants you to partner up with your adversary Dimitri and engage in a drug deal. Things have not gone so well with Dimitri in the past, he is after all the man who burnt down Roman's business and apartment in Broker. So naturally Niko is hesitant on what to do.
You'd think that Roman would still be furious about this, and would encourage Niko to not go ahead with the deal, but he actually wants you to go forward with it. He'll speak with you on the phone telling you that it would be the best option, especially given the money involved. He even sends you a text message telling you that if you do this deal, you can use this money and maybe fly up to Vice City some time.
On the other side, Packie's sister Kate does not want you to go forward with this deal. She says that you don't need the money, and you should remember the negative behavior that Dimitri exhibited towards you in the past.
So from here you have two options to take: the "Deal" option in Alderney - which will start the mission "If the Price is Right", or the "Revenge" option - which will start "A Dish Served Cold". The former of which is what Niko encourages of course, and the latter what Kate does.
The End Story End GTA 4
Grand Theft Auto 4 -GTA4
I wouldn’t mind a little more detail as well. I started a thread over at PC Gamer magazine’s forums about just this very topic–why hadn’t anyone ever pressed Rockstar about the PC version of GTA IV:
http://www.pcgamer.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=38965
I’m not familiar with your site but this looks to me like the first time anybody has gotten this much detail in a quote from Rockstar before. Can you lend us a little more specificity as to the quality of your source?
When I emailed Rockstar about this issue, this was all I got:
Thanks for the email. Unfortunately, since we haven’t announced plans for any possible PC version of Grand Theft Auto IV, I’m afraid I don’t have an answer for you. Stay tuned to the Rockstar Games official website for details on all of our upcoming game announcements.
Cheers,
Rockstar Games
GTA4 - Your Thoughts
It's been about 3 weeks since Grand Theft Auto IV was released, and in that first week almost every single gamer had the same thoughts on their mind: "This game is the greatest piece of video gaming software ever made!", but we want to know how everyone feels now.
A lot of people have completed the story and a fair few have already achieved 100% completion, so we'd like to hear your own personal opinions now that you've spent countless hours with the game.
Does it still make you wet yourself with excitement when you play it? Are you becoming bored of it? Do various things really piss you off? Does the multiplayer just not appeal to you? Is there enough stuff to do once you've finished the main story? Do you wish something else was in the game? Get it off your chest and post in this topic on our forums so we can find out exactly what GTA fans really think of Grand Theft Auto IV.
Game Details
Keeping friends and dates happy means spending time with them and doing things that they enjoy, and all of them have different personalities. Some friends like to join you for minigames such as tenpin bowling, pool, or darts, whereas others prefer to go out for a meal, get drunk, or take in a show. Of course, dates are much fussier than regular friends, and their opinions of you are influenced not only by whether you pick them up on time, where you take them, and whether you try your luck when dropping them at home, but also by a number of much more subtle factors. Dates will comment on stuff like the car you drive, how you drive it, and the clothes you wear. They'll even notice if you wear the same outfit two dates in a row, though not all of them will be bothered by it. The rewards that you get when another character likes you enough vary depending on who it is. Without wishing to give away specifics, befriending a lawyer can prove useful if you're having trouble with the cops, for example, and having a nurse on your friends list can literally be a lifesaver.
You'll keep in touch with your dates, friends, and some of your enemies using another of GTAIV's great new features: a cell phone. It's hard to believe that something as simple as a cell phone could add so much to a game like this, but it's implemented so well that it's hard to imagine leaving any of Niko's safe houses without it. If you've ever used a cell phone in real life, you'll have no problem operating this one and, given that it's controlled using only the D pad and a single button, it's easy to call up acquaintances and take calls even while driving. There's no unwieldy conversation system to deal with; you simply choose which friend you want to call, what you want to talk about (it could be work, a fun activity, or asking for a favor) and then, assuming that he or she answers the phone, the conversation plays out. Incoming calls are even easier, though they occasionally come at inopportune (or amusing) times; hearing your cell-phone's signal interfere with your car radio is the least of your worries when you consider the possibility of a date calling you while you're with a prostitute or embroiled in a gunfight with the Mafia. Incidentally, new ringtones and visual themes for your phone can be purchased via the in-game Internet, which is typical of the incredible attention to detail that you'll come to take for granted as you play.
To give you some idea of just how much thought has clearly gone into the crafting of GTAIV, even the act of stealing a parked car, which is still achieved by pushing a single button, can now result in any number of different things happening. If the door is locked, as is often the case, Niko will smash a window with his elbow or his foot to get inside. Once inside the car, he may need to hot-wire it to get it started; you can speed up the process slightly by using the shoulder buttons on your controller. If the car has an alarm, it'll sound for several seconds and cause the headlights to flash on and off as you drive away--practically begging any nearby cops to come after you. Stealing cars with drivers and/or passengers inside opens up lots more possibilities, the most amusing of which is someone (possibly you) getting an arm caught in a door and dragged along as the vehicle speeds away.
Most of the vehicles in GTAIV, like those in previous games, have very loose handling that makes it easy for you to perform Hollywood-style U-turns, skids around corners, and the like. You can play through most of the missions without ever violating a traffic law if you really want to, but you can get away with (and will have a lot more fun) driving like a lunatic, provided that you don't collide with any police vehicles or mow down too many pedestrians. A neat touch when driving with the default camera view is that the camera, which is positioned a few feet behind the rear bumper of the car, centers on you rather than on the vehicle, effectively offering the vehicular equivalent of an over-the-shoulder view. When you take the control of something sporty, the camera also positions itself much closer to the ground, which adds to the sensation of speed.
The vehicle handling is difficult to fault, regardless of whether you're in a sports car, a garbage truck, a motorcycle, a speedboat, or a helicopter. However, while driving, you might notice one odd quirk that has been a constant ever since GTAIII: When taking the controls of certain vehicles, you'll suddenly notice a lot more of the same vehicle on the roads. It's not a big deal, and it isn't detrimental to the gameplay, but it's a little jarring if you get into one of the more unusual vehicles in the game--for example, the equivalent of either a Ferrari or a pickup truck--and suddenly find that the city is filled with them. That particular quirk is pretty common in some of the multiplayer modes as well, though you'll likely be too busy keeping an eye out for other players to take any notice when you venture online.
Getting online in Grand Theft Auto IV couldn't be easier. You simply select the multiplayer option on your cell phone, choose which type of game you want to host or join, and then enter a lobby and wait for the game to start. You won't be getting bored staring at a list of names while you're waiting, though, because when you enter a lobby you actually enter an online version of Liberty City in which you and up to 15 other players are free to do anything. There are weapons scattered all over the place to ensure that things don't stay too friendly for very long.
There are more than a dozen different multiplayer modes to choose from, and although some of them are variations on similar themes, there's certainly no shortage of variety. As the host of a multiplayer session, you also have the freedom to greatly customize all of the game types with variables such as friendly fire, police presence, weapons sets, traffic levels, radar functionality, and many more. You can choose where you'd like your game to take place as well, considering that many gameplay modes can be played either on a specific Liberty City island or across the entire map.
Even conventional 16-player modes such as Deathmatch and Race feel quite different than anything that you've played before. And in addition to those, there are objective-based games in which you're tasked with completing missions similar to those in the single-player game: a team-based Cops 'n Crooks mode, a Turf War mode in which teams compete for control of territories, a carjacking mode, three cooperative missions that support up to four players, and more. With the right group of people, there's no reason why you can't have a lot of fun with every single mode that's available. We experienced a few frame-rate issues and lag that caused other players and their vehicles to jump around the screen at times, but for the most part GTAIV's online play is a real treat. One especially neat touch is that, as a passenger in a vehicle being driven by another player, you can mark waypoints on the GPS system for your driver using a map that tracks the locations of other players and objectives.
If you're wondering about differences between the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of Grand Theft Auto IV, the truth is that there aren't many. The PS3 version can only be played after a mandatory install that takes around 10 minutes, and its load times are a little shorter and less frequent as a result. The visuals, which don't always hold up to close scrutiny but are impressive during typical gameplay, are comparable and feature the same quirks (shadows that flicker, for example) on both consoles. Likewise, the audio, which can take a lot of the credit for why Liberty City feels so alive, is exceptional regardless of which console you have and how many speakers it's hooked up to. True to form, GTAIV's soundtrack has plenty of great licensed songs and, unlike other games we could mention, it doesn't force the artist and track information down your throat with pop-up windows that detract from gameplay. However, if you want that information, you can simply dial up a song-recognition service on your cell phone and, after a few seconds, receive it in a text message. Genius.
In case you haven't guessed already, Grand Theft Auto IV is a game that you simply have to play. The single-player game, which you can still play long after you complete the story, is the series' best by far, and the multiplayer features are good enough that you'll likely have no problem finding people to play with for many months to come. The minor flaws that you'll experience are no more difficult to overlook than those in previous GTA games, and they're greatly outnumbered by the features that will impress and surprise you anytime you think you've already seen everything that the game has to offer. There's lots to see in Liberty City, so you'd best get started.
Grand Theft Auto IV Multiplayer
Ever since Grand Theft Auto 3 was released to the world, gamers have been scrambling to jump into Rockstar's virtual reality of violence and corruption. While a handful of modifications have done a superb job of bringing online crime to the masses, there's always been a lacking presence of multiplayer in the official games themselves.
Until now.
With Grand Theft Auto IV, Rockstar has finally delivered a fully fleshed-out multiplayer experience. This is what we know so far:
Total of 15 game modes, each supporting different numbers of teams/players. The maximum number of players is 16.
Configuration of each mode can be adjusted by the host. Vehicles types, volume of traffic, number of pedestrians, police presence, weapons and weather can all be controlled.
Characters are completely customisable. You can essentially create your own unique online character by adjusting their hair, sex, race, clothing etc.
A Living, Breathing, Wretched Metropolis
Liberty City's resemblance to New York, N.Y. isn't limited to geographical locations, however. Many of the landmarks that exist in New York are mirrored in GTA IV's Liberty City. The MetLife building - a major part of the Manhattan skyline - has been recreated as the GetaLife building. The DUMBO neighbourhood (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass) exists in Liberty City as BOABO (Beneath the Offramp of the Algonquin Bridge Overpass). The Statue of Liberty - which wasn't present at all in GTA III - finally makes an appearance as the Statue of Happiness. Other notable landmarks of the New York skyline have been duplicated in GTA IV, including the Empire State building, Chrysler building, Flatiron, Roosevelt Island, Brooklyn Bridge, and many more.
In an attempt to fully embrace the culture and atmosphere of New York, Rockstar North has also made sure that the citizens of Liberty City echo those of New York City. The eccentric vagrants of Liberty City coexist with the smarmy executive-types. Foreigners try to find their way as tourists stumble through crowded intersections. Crooked businessmen strike deals with ruthless opportunists. Organized crime thrives as the trafficking of drugs coincides with the smuggling of firearms. All of this is interwoven, giving Liberty City the authenticity of a modern-day New York City.
BROKER - "Churches, hipsters and housing projects."
The region of Broker is rich in American history, and equally rich in Eastern European immigrants. As of late, the district has also taken to "sprucing up" its ragged image through the restoration of older, run-down neighbourhoods. Don't let Carney Island fool you, though; Broker is just as rough-and-tumble as any other Liberty City district.
To the Five Boroughs
Things will be different. Rockstar North has wiped the slate clean, shutting the book on the Grand Theft Auto III trilogy and choosing to start anew. Gone are the days of zombie-like pedestrians, robotic law enforcement and stale surroundings. Liberty City has returned as the setting for Grand Theft Auto IV, but this isn't the Liberty City that we have embraced for over half a decade.
Bigger, grittier, and more brutal than ever, Liberty City is back with a vengeance in Grand Theft Auto IV. Four of the five boroughs of New York -- plus a portion of New Jersey -- have been recreated from the bottom up in an attempt to finally nail the atmosphere of New York City. Brooklyn has become Broker. Queens has become Dukes. Manhattan has become Algonquin. The Bronx has become Bohan. And New Jersey has become Alderney. (Although Staten Island has no counterpart in GTA IV, the reasoning from Rockstar is justifiable - it just wouldn't be any fun to play.)
Grand Theft Auto IV Setting
When it comes to establishing a solid atmosphere for a Grand Theft Auto title, location is everything. It's not enough to simply throw players into a splotchy suburb of some anonymous metropolis - the city needs to be alive, teaming with civilians and traffic. It needs to have an identity, a social structure, some evidence of reality buried beneath the layers of cynicism and dry humour. Through the years, Rockstar has excelled at maintaining this illusion. The missions and storylines that play out through the duration of the game tie into the cities themselves, along with the characters (and innocent bystanders) that populate it. Although the concept of "free roam" gameplay is nothing new, the Grand Theft Auto franchise, through its use of vast cityscapes that mirror and mock major American locations, push the envelope on exactly what gamers consider to be true immersion.
The Unveiling of GTA IV
Grand Theft Auto IV was announced on May 9, 2006 at Microsoft's E3 press conference. Peter Moore (who was Corporate Vice-President of Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment Business division at the time of the announcement) rolled up the left sleeve of his t-shirt to reveal a GTA4 tattoo on his arm. He announced that GTA 4 would be available on Xbox 360 in 2007, and revealed that Microsoft and Rockstar Games had formed a strategic alliance in order to provide exclusive episodic content for Xbox Live, giving the community ever-expanding gameplay experiences.
The contents of the Grand Theft Auto IV special edition. Take2 Interactive then issued a press release which announced that GTA IV would be released simultaneously for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in October 2007. However, the game was delayed on August 2, 2007, because some elements of the development were proving to be more time-intensive than originally expected. On January 24, 2008, a worldwide release date of April 29, 2008 was announced by Rockstar Games.
It was announced on May 21, 2007, that GTA 4 would be available as a special edition on the same day as the regular edition. It is presented in a customised Grand Theft Auto metal safety deposit box, and includes the game, a limited edition duffel bag, an exclusive keychain, a selected soundtrack CD, and a Grand Theft Auto IV Art Book, featuring never-before-seen production artwork from GTA4.
More Reviews
Kotaku, EuroGamer, TeamXbox, CVG and 1UP have all posted reviews of Grand Theft Auto IV. Each review was extremely positive, with very few bad things to say about the game.
There's also a bunch of new screenshots and videos over at IGN for you to check out, which appear to have been captured by themselves rather than R*.
UPDATE: Game Informer's verdict has just come in: another perfect score for Grand Theft Auto IV.
GTA IV - Now Available!
Grand Theft Auto IV. GTA IV. GTA4. Whatever you want to call it, the facts remain the same: Rockstar's latest entry into the Grand Theft Auto family is a total success, walking away with perfect (and slightly-below-perfect) scores across the board. And if you don't believe the scores, guess what? You can now play the game! Folks in the UK, Europe and Australia can now rush out and pick up Grand Theft Auto IV from their local retailers, and North American residents will be able to do the same in a few hours from now. (This means, of course, that you can finally stop picking through all of the little preview details and enjoy the Grand Theft Auto IV experience for yourself.)
While everyone else is taking a break from the daily grind to prep themselves for GTA IV, we here at the GTA Network are going into overdrive. We're going to jump right into post-launch mode as soon as we get our own grubby little fingers on the game, ensuring that we continue to deliver the best quality of Grand Theft Auto IV content that you can find. (We're also hard at work on wrapping up our GTA4.NET redesign, so you have that to look forward to as well.)
While we understand that you may want to keep yourself away from the sites and forums for a while -- spoilers are no fun, after all -- don't forget to check back in with us for in-depth Grand Theft Auto IV coverage in the weeks, and months, to come. The game may be out, but we're just getting started!
So, on behalf of all of the staff of the GTA Network, I'd like to offer our sincerest thanks to all of you for checking in with us on a (very) regular basis. Thanks to Rockstar Games, as well, for raising the bar (yet again!) when it comes to the complete gaming experience.
With all of that said and done -- we'll see you in Liberty City. Cheers!
UPDATE: Residents of North America are starting to swarm to their nearest gaming retailer to pick up their copies of Grand Theft Auto IV. I hit up the local Future Shop here in Kingston, Ontario at approximately 10:00pm -- a solid two hours before the midnight release -- to ensure that I had a spot in line. To my great surprise, not only was I the first one in line, but I was joined by some friends from college as well as a few individuals who had discovered GTA4.NET earlier in the day. A big shout to Hammy, as per his request, for recognizing the Rockstar satchel and actually knowing who I was. (Yes, Hammy, I am from Kingston!)
Cheers to everyone, and I hope you enjoy the game. As for me? I'll be preoccupied for the next few hours... or days. See you in game!
Jack Thompson, IGN, and the ladies of Liberty City
Guess who's back? Back again? Jack is back; tell a friend. As expected, Jack Thompson has emerged from the underside of whatever rock he's been hiding under for the past few years, just in time to go after Grand Theft Auto IV for -- guess what? -- excessive sexual content in Grand Theft Auto IV.
As noted in a recent Ars Technica article, Wacky Jacky has an "unlikely" bit of ammo for his case against GTA IV: a video, produced by IGN, highlighting the strip clubs and prostitutes that exist in Grand Theft Auto IV. For some ungodly reason, though, IGN seems to have thought it was a good idea to make a four minute video out of it, showing Niko and his "encouters" followed by him hunting down the ladies shortly thereafter.
From the Ars Technica article:
The embattled Florida attorney has written a letter to the US Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, R. Alexander Acosta, demanding that legal action be taken against Take Two and retailers for selling the game...
Thompson sent a copy of the letter to Ars Technica, and his demands are far-reaching. "Indictments should be returned against Take Two corporately and its Chairman, Strauss Zelnick, along with other Take Two officers. Indictment should also be against Sony and Microsoft which are making this pornographic game available to minors, and openly so, on their PS3 and Xbox systems," Thompson wrote. "Further, indictments should be handed down against Wal-Mart, Best Buy, GameStop, and all other retailers distributing this game to minors at their retail stores, openly, to kids who are only seventeen."
He then compares the game to, of all things, polio. "Grand Theft Auto IV is the gravest assault upon children in this country since polio. We now have vaccines for that virus... The 'vaccine' that must be administered by the United States government to deal with this virtual virus of violence and sexual depravity is criminal prosecutions of those who have conspired to do this. If you doubt me, look at the aforementioned streaming audio/video. It will make you sick."
While I'm certainly no fan of Jack Thompson or his ridiculous antics (and I'd love to argue the point that "innocent 17 year olds" are only a year away from being legally able to engage in such lude acts on camera for money... or in some cases, poorly-made t-shirts), it's hard to blame the man when IGN practically hands him a gift-wrapped video of inevitable controversy. Really... what the hell is IGN thinking by producing a video like this, removing all contextual elements of the game, and having Niko engage prostitutes and then hunt them down?
While it's unlikely that those in a position of authority will do much of anything in response to Jack's complaint, there's no doubt that the controversy will continue as we get further into the summer months. As usual, you can expect us to keep you updated on whatever whimsical nonsense spews forth from the great gooey geyser that is mainstream media.