April 5th, 2008

Rob Taylor from Xbox World, first person to complete GTA IV

Published at 8:22 PM PST

Rob Taylor from Xbox World, remember that name, because he is the first ever person outside of Rockstar Games employees to complete Grand Theft Auto IV. He was given the honor of being not only the first person, but the first games journalist to play the complete story missions of the game and write about the experience/s he had.

GamesRadar had an exclusive interview with the man himself and recived some incite into the game and Taylor's prospective of the game overall. Some snippets are below.

How different is the game from the others?

It's certainly tighter, both in terms of the way Liberty city is structured and the way in which the narrative feels more movie-like than before. Otherwise, everything feels as if it's been given the next-gen treatment; in particular the driving and shooting are light years ahead of past GTAs. Overall, it's a stratospheric leap forward, beyond anything I'd imagined.

Was the game everything you expected? Or are there some surprises?

That's a tricky question. It certainly exceeded my expectations, while there are so many small, chucklesome Easter Egg-style surprises that you're constantly shaking your head at just how savvy a developer Rockstar really is – light years ahead of its contemporaries. Again though, it's hard to be specific without venturing into the spoiler region... sorry!

How many "Woooaah, Jesus that's amazing!" moments did you have?

Without giving away any spoilers; lots! I think, overall though, it'll be three overall things that entrance GTA fans like never before. The City is one, with a lighting engine that has to be seen to be believed, plus the incredible dialogue and characterisation is genuinely Oscar-worthy and Niko Bellic is absolutely the most amazing protagonist in any game I've ever played. Finally, multiplayer of course!

Did you get a chance to play much multiplayer? Did you get your ass kicked by the Rockstar guys?

Yes, Xbox World 360 actually snagged a whole day playing against Rockstar PRs and devs in a exclusive feature a month or so back. Rather than simply go with the whole Deathmatch and Capture the Flag stuff, they've genuinely taken their time creating some amazing new modes that'll do the business online. Mafiya (a chaotic, mission based affair), Cops 'n' Crooks (one team try to capture the other) and Hangman's Noose (players team up to take an army of AI SWAT troops) were our personal faves...

If you had to pick a favourite out of all the games in the series now which one would it be?

GTA IV. By a country mile. It craps on all the others – even the mighty Vice City – from a height equivalent to the Statue of Happiness. Believe me, GTA IV is even better than the hype suggests!

That's just some of the parts we found intreaging, to read the full two page interview and read about how Taylor found the entire day (not just the game), check it out at GamesRadar. Below are three screens included in the interview, ones we've seen before, but a bit of a refresher anyway: