Grand Theft Auto 4 is released today to the frantic pawing of gamers, ringing tills of retailers and fevered brows of the moral majority. The fourth in the critically acclaimed and commercially monstrous crime ‘em-up returns players to Liberty City, the location of the mould-breaking GTA3. That game single-handedly showed us the potential of an open-world sandbox environment. This game takes that initial premise and runs with it, making all previous iterations and pretenders to its throne (Saints Row? Don’t make me laugh) look positively anaemic by comparison.

Always a target for those individuals looking to blame games for the destruction of society and the corruption of innocent children, GTA4 is sure to be no exception to that ill-thought out and well worn path of ‘logic’. The 18 certified game puts you in the shoes of Nico Bellic, a Russian immigrant to the shores of Liberty City (a thinly disguised street for street recreation of New York) – come to seek the American dream, by any means necessary.

It really is a truly astonishing environment that Rockstar have created in Liberty City. The streets fairly crackle with life, more so than any other game in the series. The first time you step out of your apartment and look around, the sheer scale of your surroundings will simultaneously take your breath away and plaster a grin all over your face.

The ‘Euphoria’ physics engine, used to create realistic animations in everything around you (ie. Things and people will react within context to their environment rather than to pre-scripted animation routines) is astonishing to behold in action. Just running up a flight of stairs produced different animations each time - never mind what happens when you punch a Cop down them or drive at speed through crowd of people in an MPV with it’s tyres on fire and bullet holes peppering its body!

As if the dozens of hours of single-player content wasn’t enough, a clutch of online multi-player modes will have you battling it out with your friends (or random internet nutters) across the entire open city world. The highlight for us at The Score will surely be the ‘Cops and Criminals’ game type with teams of up to 8 on each side going for it in Michael Mann ‘Heat’ style heist-offs.

This is surely what ‘next-generation’ gaming is all about.

Greg M

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