It is the 9th game in the Grand Theft Auto series but is the first to be released on the XBOX 360 and Playstation 3.

According to www.wikipedia.org, Grand Theft Auto IV was originally scheduled to be released on October 16 of last year but was pushed back in order to boost its financial results for 2008 and avoid competing with the release of other highly anticipated titles.

"Grand Theft Auto IV" centers on Nikolai Bellic, an Eastern European who has come to Liberty City to pursue the "American Dream." Niko was persuaded to move to Liberty City by his cousin Roman, who promised Niko that he was living a fabulous life filled with mansions, women, and sports cars. Once arriving in America, Roman's claims turn out to be lies, and in reality, he only owns a small taxi business.

Rockstar, the game's developer, has released other details of the game that should separate itself as one of of the better titles in the GTA series. One of the biggest changes to the game is the end of load screens. After the initial load sequence, there are no loading sequences during game play.

Changes to the game play itself include Niko being able to climb telephone poles and fire escapes, pushing people who bump into him and calling women for dates. The mobile phone has been drastically changed to make more of an impact on the game and story. In other versions, the player was only able to receive calls, but now the phone can be used outside of vehicles to listen to the radio, take photos, or call the police, paramedics, or the fire station.

The GTA series become a hit after the release of "Grand Theft Auto III," which was the first of the series to be played from a third person point of view. The first four games were shot from an overhead camera. GTA set the bar as far as video games are concerned. Variations of GTA have been made, such as "Saint's Row," "Mafia," and "True Crime: Streets of LA."

But no one has been able to match the level of play that GTA has to offer or has brought as much controversy away from the controller. In "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas," unofficial patches became available on the PC version enabling the player to engage in crudely rendered sexual mini-games. This patch forced suspension of the game's production and an application of an Adults Only rating instead of the Mature rating.

Four trailers have been released for the latest installment of the GTA series. The latest one is scheduled to release today.

The trailer that is scheduled to release today is entitled, "Good Lord, what are you doing?" Other trailers that were released were entitled, "Things will be different," "Looking for the special someone," and "Move Up Ladies."

The latest trailer features Niko driving motorcycles with a helmet. Safety first I suppose.

Like anything else, if a game is given a lot of hype, it can be a huge let down. Here's to hoping that "Grand Theft Auto IV" does not disappoint.

Source: © 2006 The Signal & Urbanite - ASUherald