This year's Leipzig Games Convention has already held a number of awesome surprises for the gaming community, and this is no exception. Rockstar Games has been showing off the PC version of Grand Theft Auto IV to a number of stunned onlookers.
Higher resolution textures, more players in the multiplayer, further draw distances, better explosions, a replay mode, and exporting your favorite clips to your Social Club area?! Somebody pinch me, I think I'm about to pick up a second copy of Grand Theft Auto IV!
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Running at a maximum resolution of 2560x1600, the game's PC port offers all sorts of visual enhancements over its console counterparts, from a further draw distance to higher-res textures.
The Games Convention demo featured the mission "Three Leaf Clover," which begins in Meadows Park. Everything in the already great-looking GTA4 looks cleaner and sharper -- character faces are convincing, and the framerate is smoother. Every moment of the drive over the Broker Bridge and through the Times Square-inspired Triangle looks more epic. By the time we reached the mission's bank heist, entering into firefights in the streets and running from a helicopter in a chase framed by sweeping camera movements, I was convinced this PC upgrade is worthy of everyone's attention. The explosions are especially impressive; they look sharper, brighter, and generally more impressive than before. The demo wasn't without its share of glitches here or there, but Rockstar was quick to point out that it still has three more months to polish the game before its release.
Beyond the visual enhancements, GTA4 also offers an impressive replay mode. The game always records the last 30 seconds of whatever you do, and at any moment you can tap a button on the keyboard to capture a video clip. You're then able to edit together these clips in a montage editor and export your own home videos to Rockstar's Social Club website.
And while Rockstar wasn't able to give many additional details, it yet again teased that the game's multiplayer mode will see some significant improvements. The console versions are limited to 16 players, but the PC version will support more -- though precisely how many more we don't yet know. Rockstar mentioned that GTA4 on PC will also offer improved searching and filtering to find the type of multiplayer games you're most interested in joining.
The Games Convention demo featured the mission "Three Leaf Clover," which begins in Meadows Park. Everything in the already great-looking GTA4 looks cleaner and sharper -- character faces are convincing, and the framerate is smoother. Every moment of the drive over the Broker Bridge and through the Times Square-inspired Triangle looks more epic. By the time we reached the mission's bank heist, entering into firefights in the streets and running from a helicopter in a chase framed by sweeping camera movements, I was convinced this PC upgrade is worthy of everyone's attention. The explosions are especially impressive; they look sharper, brighter, and generally more impressive than before. The demo wasn't without its share of glitches here or there, but Rockstar was quick to point out that it still has three more months to polish the game before its release.
Beyond the visual enhancements, GTA4 also offers an impressive replay mode. The game always records the last 30 seconds of whatever you do, and at any moment you can tap a button on the keyboard to capture a video clip. You're then able to edit together these clips in a montage editor and export your own home videos to Rockstar's Social Club website.
And while Rockstar wasn't able to give many additional details, it yet again teased that the game's multiplayer mode will see some significant improvements. The console versions are limited to 16 players, but the PC version will support more -- though precisely how many more we don't yet know. Rockstar mentioned that GTA4 on PC will also offer improved searching and filtering to find the type of multiplayer games you're most interested in joining.
Higher resolution textures, more players in the multiplayer, further draw distances, better explosions, a replay mode, and exporting your favorite clips to your Social Club area?! Somebody pinch me, I think I'm about to pick up a second copy of Grand Theft Auto IV!
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