New GTA IV Details, Off The Record

The tasty bits of info about Grand Theft Auto IV we got to taste last week were just the beginning. In fact, it now looks like some of the things announced in Game Informer's preview may not have been entirely true, and that Rockstar could be playing with our over-hyped heads. Although the sources are no longer official, this time around, a user from the GameFAQs forums claims to have leared straight from within Rockstar all sorts of interesting things, which he didn't shy away from sharing with the rest of the world.

Assuming the information is correct, some of the things revealed could be considered as spoilers, so we'll only take a small part of what he had to say about the game's story:

"- The main character is NOT Nikko Bellic, and there ARE aircraft in the game!

- Nikko Bellic is being used as a Mcguffin device to keep the real Main Character out of the spotlight, The real main character is Roman Petronov, Nikkos cousin who invites him to live in Liberty after Nikko has a HUGE falling out with a paramilitary/Mafioso hybrid wing back in ESTONIA.
- You WILL play the prologue missions as Nikko, to give you a hint of the new controllers (...)

- Regarding the aicraft, there are THREE helicopters in the game, all respawn, One police cruiser, one for the Liberty Tree News paper which also became WILC, a news CHANNEL, and one thats owned by a person youl be working with for most of the game.

- Bikes are OUT, but SIX motorcycle types are in.

- C-11 will be a HUGE enemy in the game.

- The Russian and Italian Mafias are at war and youl get to do missions for both.

- Maibatsu has become a major player in Liberty City, and Monstrositys are the norm in upper-middle class areas.

- And finally, You WILL be mugged/Jacked/Jumped/Begged for money/held-up/car jacked AND possibly ignitiated into THREE different gangs, where you will be able to climb the ranks, through their own set of missions.

In a later post, the same guy returns with even more (technical) details about the game, which should give you a better taste of the game, if you're still drooling for more.

(N.B. Archive text, links removed)