IGN: Having just seen the trailer, is there any more insight you can provide on the story of GTA IV?

Rockstar Games: Obviously this story has a heavy focus on Niko and his relationship to his cousin, Roman. Without giving away too many details, it's the dynamics of that relationship and the motivations and mistakes, past and present, that each keep hidden from the other, that drive the narrative for most of the game. Their story is about the immigrant experience of two different personality types - those looking to the future and those running away from the past. We don't like to give away too many details because we want people to experience the story the way it was intended - by playing the game and getting sucked into the game world.


IGN: Is there anything in the trailer that people might overlook?

Rockstar: The level of detail - look at the wheels of the motor bikes, the details in the faces and light reflected in the river. This same level of details exists throughout the game - not just in terms of art, but also mission design, animation, physics, narrative, audio, AI and world atmosphere. Creating a detailed but still consistent and believable game world has always been one of our aims with any Grand Theft Auto, and for Grand Theft Auto IV it has led to an amazing amount of life and detail in every aspect of the production.

IGN: About midway through the trailer something has Roman scared. Any hints you can give about what has Roman so shook up?

Rockstar: Roman is more of a lover than a fighter and he's made some very nasty people very angry. He's right to be frightened. We have tried to give all of the characters their own motivations, ambitions and needs, so that the narrative develops naturalistically as a result of the interplay of its characters.

IGN: Is the extended hand-to-hand combat sequence a sign of things to come?

Rockstar: We have worked incredibly hard to develop the hand to hand combat - as we have all of the key mechanics of the game - so the fighting in the game feels very powerful. Certainly in the first section of the game when Niko is a dirt poor immigrant scrabbling around to pay off debts, he has to use his fists a lot. Luckily, he's pretty adept at it.