Titles in the GTA series have traditionally been heavily mission based (fixed missions must be completed to progress through each game), but the freedom to explore and play outside of the set missions in GTA IV will now be more relevant to progress through the game, according to comments by a Rockstar spokesperson: "We’re really trying to blur the line between on-[mission] and off-mission. So storyline, and what you do outside it, and how those two things influence each other."
An Xbox 360 preview of Grand Theft Auto IV published in the May 2007 issue of Game Informer reveals that the storyline begins with Bellic standing inside the taxi depot (which Roman operates in the borough of Broker in a converted industrial garage), working at a cluttered desk in a shabby environment. Bellic walks to a brownstone house in Broker, where he pushes open the door and pulls out his pistol—the living room, however, is not occupied.
He pushes his way through the back door and smashes the window of a red four-door car using his elbow. The broken glass falls onto the street and the seat of the car, as Bellic unlocks it from the inside. He hot-wires the car and sets off to his next destination. The camera angle behind the car is closer to the vehicle than in previous GTA titles, which enables more detail on the car to be seen. After selecting a radio station, Bellic navigates to a section of the BOABO arriving at a dockside. Pigeons and waves can be heard in the distance.
Bellic then pulls out his phone, which has options for phone book, messages, organiser and camera on its LCD screen. He selects phone book, and he is then presented with another set of options: City Contact, Docks Friend, and Cab Contact. After a brief conversation, he informs the receiver to meet him at the docks.
There is a mission previewed called "To Live and Die in Alderney", which is the second part of "Truck Hustle". The second mission is called "Jamaican Heat", and acts as a tutorial for the new cover/targeting system. The third mission is called "Jacob’s Ladder", and the fourth mission is called "Harbouring a Grudge". This mission introduces an Irish character called Patrick McReary, who is related to Francis.
Locations and setting
Niko outside Roman’s taxi depot in Broker. Main article: Liberty City (Grand Theft Auto)Grand Theft Auto IV takes place in a redesigned Liberty City consisting of five boroughs; four of the boroughs of New York City and New Jersey. Broker is the equivalent of Brooklyn, Queens is Dukes, the Bronx is Bohan, Manhattan is Algonquin, and New Jersey is Alderney (after the Channel Island of the same name). A Staten Island-esque area will not be featured in the game for the reason that Rockstar Games believes it would not be fun to play there. Dan Houser states that there would not be any "dead spots" or "irrelevant space" within Liberty City such as the wide open deserts in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
The total area of the map is smaller than Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, but the new rendition of Liberty City will be far more detailed and is the largest individual city in the Grand Theft Auto series. According to the Official PlayStation 2 Magazine (UK edition), "to get from one side of the new and improved Liberty City to the other will take you at least an hour." Rockstar Games has stated that it is the biggest single city in a Grand Theft Auto game yet, and although smaller than "San Andreas", it is comparable to it in terms of scope when "the level of verticality of the city, the number of buildings you can go into, and the level of detail in those buildings" are taken into account. Furthermore, developers are still deciding whether bridges will be used to cordon off certain areas, by way of blocking access to cross them.Eventually, the player will be able to lead Niko to cross the Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Williamsburg bridges and explore.
Screenshots reveal that the Brighton Beach area is renamed as "Hove Beach" from Brighton and Hove, the English city from which the area gets its name; Coney Island is renamed as "Carney Island"; Central Park is renamed "Middle Park". The "Statue of Happiness" is the game’s equivalent of the Statue of Liberty; "Star Junction" is Times Square; "BOABO" (Beneath the Offramp of the Algonquin Bridge Overpass) is DUMBO; the "Thornton Building" is the Flatiron Building; and "Twitchins" is Brooklyn’s Domino Sugar Factory; the "GetaLife" building is the MetLife Building; the "Booth Tunnel" is the Lincoln Tunnel. Other structures include the Coney Island Cyclone, the Chrysler Building, and the Empire State Building.
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