Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2648 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: Rockstar Games
• Model: 39242
• Released on: 2008-04-29
• ESRB Rating: Mature
• Platform: Xbox 360
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds

Features

• Carry on the Grand Theft Auto tradition playing through the single player campaign as Niko Bellic
• Get cars and other modes of transportation anyway you can
• Interact with various colorful characters who give you various missions to engage in
• Engage in multiplayer challenges ranging from cover matches to shoot-outs
• Game Rated 'M' due to Intense Violence, Blood, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content, Partial Nudity, Use of Drugs and Alcohol

Amazon.com
What does the American Dream mean today?

For Niko Bellic, fresh off the boat from Europe, it is the hope he can escape his past. For his cousin, Roman, it is the vision that together they can find fortune in Liberty City, gateway to the land of opportunity. As they slip into debt and are dragged into a criminal underworld by a series of shysters, thieves and sociopaths, they discover that the reality is very different from the dream in a city that worships money and status, and is heaven for those who have them and a living nightmare for those who don't.

Beginning with the 1997 release of the original Grand Theft Auto, the GTA series has been one of the most prolific, controversial and down right entertaining franchises in video games history. This pedigree of success guarantees that the highly anticipated eleventh game in the series, Grand Theft Auto IV, will garner at least as much attention if not more.

Game with Special Edition items. View larger.

The dream as Niko expected it. View larger.

There's always a catch. View larger.

But some skills are international. View larger.

The Plot
Grand Theft Auto IV is a brand new adventure in the GTA universe following the experiences of Nikolai "Niko" Bellic, a new immigrant from an undisclosed eastern European country whose troubled past and the persuasion of his cousin Roman have brought him to the fictional Liberty City. Unfortunately, Niko's search for the American Dream and a much needed fresh start, hits an immediate snag when the rags to riches story Roman spun to pique Niko's interest is exposed as not only a complete fabrication, but a ploy to enlist Niko's well-known skills as a tough guy against the ample list of enemies clamoring for Roman's debt-ridden blood.

Because Roman is the only person Niko knows in Liberty City he begrudgingly accepts his role as Roman's protector despite the deception. But as time goes on Niko comes into his own, and his experience on the wrong side of the tracks proves more valuable than he could have ever imagined as he fights for survival and later supremacy on the crime ridden streets of Liberty City.

Game Environments
Based on several of the boroughs of New York City a nd parts of New Jersey, Liberty City, familiar to players of previous games in the series, has been entirely redesigned for GTA IV. Players can expect visible detail down to the weeds growing in the cracks in the sidewalk, cars and buildings of visibly different ages and a much greater level if verticality in the buildings and bridges that they are able to explore as Niko moves through the city streets. In addition, pedestrians in GTA IV are much more realistic. No longer simply moving cardboard cutouts, these NPCs are intelligent, modern, human representations that laugh, cry, eat, drink, use cell phones and ATMs, and talking amongst themselves regardless of Niko's interaction with them.

Gameplay
Historically GTA games have focused heavily on mission-based play, requiring successful completion of fixed tasks in order for players to progress through the game, but this has changed to a great extent in GTA IV. Players will experience an entirely new and exciting emphasis centered on the blending of on-mission and off-mission play, resulting not only in an increased sense of realism, but more interesting and unrestricted gameplay.

Features
Aside from the car jacking and a detailed city environment here are the new features for GTA IV:

• Improved combat system - Now you can use cover and also a target lock system, which allows you to take out targets with greater ease and accuracy. Plus, you can engage in some hand-to-hand combat if you can't get your hands on a piece quick enough.
• Cell phone - Not just for basic phone calls anymore. Use your in-game cell phone to receive missions via SMS, snap photos, and ZiT (tag) songs that can be downloaded exclusively on Amazon.com/mp3.
• Free time - In between missions you can take advantage of "me" time. There are gentleman's clubs, comedy clubs, bowling alleys, and bars, which all house unique activities.
• Take a break from the storyline - A variety of side missions allow you to help run a car service, "borrow" cop cars, assassinate targets, help solve problems for those on the street, or take to the air with stunt jumps that are scattered all over the city.
• Control your own fate - Throughout the game choice moments will arrive causing you to make a decision that will affect relationships and money.

Multiplayer
Give Niko a rest and create your own multiplayer "hero." GTA has added multiplayer modes allowing you to take your creation out to play online in competitive, co-op, and free form modes. Competitive mode has you fighting against the cops, jacking cars, or racing to finish odd jobs. Co-op challenges you and your friends with various tasks including Hangman's NOOSE where you are responsible for escorting a wanted kingpin to a safe extraction point. Freeform lets you and 15 others lose on Liberty City. Use this mode to hit up the bar and play virtual darts versus each other or head out to the streets and set up your own drag races. If you can dream it, you can do it in Freeform mode.

ZiT: We'll Spot The Song For You
When playing Grand Theft Auto IV, if you hear a song that you are interested in buying as an MP3, all you have to do is dial ZiT-555-0100 on your in-game mobile phone and a text message will be sent to you with the name of the artist and the title of the track. The next time you log in at the Rockstar Games Social Club, you will find 30-second previews of all the songs you have ZiT'ed while playing the game. You can add them to your basket there and click to purchase at Amazon MP3, or you can find them all at www.amazon.com/gtamusic.

What Comes with Grand Theft Auto IV: Special Edition?
Grand Theft Auto IV: Special Edition will be presented in a customized Grand Theft Auto metal safety deposit box. The box will contain:

• Grand Theft Auto IV for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system with special packaging.
• Grand Theft Auto IV Art Book, featuring never-before-seen production artwork from Grand Theft Auto IV.
• Selected soundtrack CD from Grand Theft Auto IV, featuring new material from top artists, only available on this release.
• An exclusive Rockstar key chain for the safety deposit box keys.
• Completing the collection is a limited edition Rockstar duffel bag.

All of the items have been created with the utmost attention to detail to create a unique Grand Theft Auto IV experience for any fan of the series.

Customer Reviews

Great game!
Great game and a lot of fun. A bit too bloody for my taste and definitely not suited for minor players, but for adults it's a lot of fun. I know that officially it is only sold to adults, but come on... we all know this does not really stop our young from getting a hand on it. I am sure that over 70% of the players are underage...

Awesome game, Depth may be too much for non hard core gamers
Great game, had a blast playing the single player which took me around 36 hours to complete. I'm just not experimenting with the online world and it definitely adds some legs. This may be harder for some folks to get into given the huge universe, and the time it takes to gain access to new parts of Liberty City (Mirrored off of NYC)

Highly recommend this title if you own a 360 or PS3 and are happy with mature content.

If you are buying this for a kid under 15 I can't recommend purchasing this title, if you are buying this for a kid under 18 who isn't mature then also do not purchase. Only recommended for kids who have a sense of reality that haven't been coddled their entire life.

Just the Extras...
During a time when most special editions are just crappy DVDs from the B side of the development team's production diaries, Rockstar comes through with some high-class swag. In all, a duffel bag, a lockbox with keys and keychain, an artbook, and a 16-track audio CD.

The duffel bag is surprisingly large; to give you an idea you can probably carry two large bowling balls in it. It has a really nice bright yellow/orange lining with a repeating R* logo pattern. It's perfect to take to a gym or to lug around a cache of semi-automatic weapons and ammunition ala Falling Down.

The safety deposit box is well-made and functions as a nice but less than secure storage unit, it is about the size of a flip-flop shoe box. It comes with two keys, a ¼" thick R* logo keychain. This product shows the Rockstar team's pragmatism, they probably debated between giving us an action figure of some sort (which would have been cool) or something people can actually use, like the lockbox.

The art book is OK, the production notes, while somewhat interesting are less than impressive, it is hardbound with semi-glossy pages but in my opinion too small (it is about 1/3 of the size of a US Letter sheet of paper). A larger booklet (US Letter Size) with more pictures would have definitely made this collector's pack worth another easy 10 bucks. But publishers have to make hard decisions and maybe the focus groups were telling them that a 99.99 price point was too high. It does seem that this was the only item in the bundle that really wasn't thought about in detail. I hope that Rockstar will release a full-size art book for this game in the future.

The soundtrack features a great selection of songs from the game. Vagabond by the Greenskeepers is without a doubt one of the catchiest tracks in the game, and the one used for the television ads. Other songs of note are Nickname by Qadir and Liberty City The Invasion by Seryoga. Overall the 16 tracks on the CD are well chosen and represent some of the best music from the game by lesser known but definitely not lesser talented artists. I wish the packaging for the CD was better, it comes in what is basically a cardboard sleeve, but that is merely nitpicking. Rockstar would be well advised to give GTA IV the San Andreas/Vice City treatment and release a full collection of soundtracks from the game's radio stations.

The whole kit and caboodle comes packaged in large box adorned with art from the game featuring the game's anti-hero (the PS3 version features the lollipop girl instead). Also for those of you that care about such things, the game case does not have that hideous gray box reading "Special Edition" as shown in the product photo on Amazon. It is in fact the very same game case that you get when you buy the regular edition game.

Inside are an owner's manual and a large foldout map with points of interest on one side and subway map on the other. The subway map won't make Massimo Vignelli proud but it will let you know which train to take to your destination within the game. It also comes with a 1 month trial for Xbox Live Gold, which augments your subscription by a month if you already have an active Xbox Live Gold account.