Gta 4 Quiz

GTA4 har en så pass detaljrik stad att du kan promenera runt och bara njuta av atmosfären och utforska miljöerna, inlevelsen är helt oslagbar. Tycker även bilkontrollerna och skjutandet är på topp, GTA5 är gjort av plast och de tidiga 3D-spelen är lite för primitivaÄr du medlem eller annonsör och har tips på kommersiella produkter eller kampanjer som kan tillföra FZ-communityt något bra och som uppskattas? Spana då in statistik och kontaktvägar här under. GTA4 kan vara det bästa GTAt, men det är svårt. Det enda jag vet är att GTA5 INTE är det bästa Gta… GTA4 är bara bättre på allt jag gillar i alla fall. 9/10, missade hur lång tid releasen tog mellan konsoll och PC för att det fan kändes som åratal när det begav sig, haha. Helt klart mitt favoritspel i GTA-serien som jag körde igenom igen senast för bara något år sedan. Fantastisk stämning och värld som man verkligen kom in i, med expansionerna därtill så fick man ju verkligen grotta ner sig i stan. 5an kändes ytligt och plastigt i jämförelse även om heist-uppdragen där var otroligt spännande.Vi använder kakor för personligt innehåll och annonser samt för analys av vår trafik. Vi delar information om din användning av tjänsten med våra partners inom sociala medier, annonsering och trafikanalys. Våra partners kan kombinera denna data med information som du delat med dem.

Game-Game uses analytical, marketing and other cookies. These files are necessary to ensure smooth operation of all Game-Game services, they help us remember you and your personal settings. For details, please read our Cookie Policy.Var inte flera av dessa kända citat som bara återanvändes i spelet och inte skapade av karaktären själv? Tänker på in the land of the blind som jag inte vet vart det kommer ifrån men hört massvis med gånger.

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| ASUS ROG Crosshari VIII Dark Hero | AMD Ryzen 5950X | Noctua D15 Chromax | G.Skill TridentZ Royal Gold 32GB DDR4 @ 3600Mhz CL14 | Palit GeForce RTX 2080 Ti 11GB GamingPro OC | 2x WD SN850 1TB @RAID 0 + 2x Samsung 860 EVO 1TB @RAID 0 | Corsair HX 1000W | Corsair Obsidian 1000D | LG 34” 34GN850 |Observera att samma trivselregler gäller i kommentarstrådarna som i övriga forumet och att brott mot dessa leder till avstängning. Kontakta redaktionen om du vill uppmärksamma fel i artikeln eller framföra andra synpunkter.AMD Ryzen 5(Zen3) @4891|Asus Prime|Corsair 2×16 RGB PRO 3200C16 @3800C18|Intel Arc LE @2740MHz|Seasonic Focus| Thermaltake mATX kub|Arctic freezer II| NVMe SSD PCIE 3.0×2 Kingston A1000 1500/1000 + 2,5″ HDD Toshiba 1TB & Samsung 1TB i RAID 0.Ryzen 5 5600X | Asus RX 6800 XT TUF OC | Kingston 16GB DDR4 | Lian Li PC-TU150 | LG 42C2 | Logitech Pro X Wireless | Keychron K2 | Logitech G Pro X Superlight | SweClockers Hexagon XXL

Chassi: Cooler Master HAF X | Moderkort: ASUS P8P67 WS Revolution B3 | CPU: i7 2600K @ 4.5GHz | CPU-kylare: Noctua NH-D14 | RAM-minnen: G.Skill Sniper 8GB (2x4GB) PC3-14900 1866MHz | GPU: ASUS GeForce GTX 1070 8GB ROG STRIX OC | Nätagg: Corsair AX 1200W 80+ GOLD | HDD: Samsung 840 Pro, OCZ Vertex3 120GB MAX IOPS + Western Digital 1TB | Kringutrustning Windows 7 (64-bit), Fläktkontroll Scythe Kaze Master, Warthog Hotas, Razer Mamba, TrackIR5.Flera städer och länder i samband med en ”icke open world” tolkar jag som att man inte kan köra mellan två städer utan att någon form av laddning kommer ske, typ åk till flygplatsen, ta ett flyg till Sydamerika (kort videosekvens) du landar i Sydamerika. typ som i GTAV och episoden i North Yankton.

Har spelat igenom GTA V 4-5 gånger vid det här laget så blev mer spelat där. Men då är fordonsfysiken inte något märkvärdigt där samtidigt. Inte som IV.Har bara 1,395h i GTAV å massa kvar att göra! Har 7 mer eller mindre omöjliga prestationer kvar på steam, sedan att få platinum på alla awards också… Får se när man tar upp det igen, blev ju ett par hundra timmar vid Casino updaten. Håller på med alla RDR2 awardsen nuNej, jag förstår att GTA är inte ett renodlat bilspel eller simulator av något slag, men ur GTA 4 har jag fått ut flera hundra timmar, medans jag lade ner GTA 5 efter några timmar och sålde konsolen istället.

Slutspurten av utvecklingsperioden sägs varit brutal och många anställda rapporteras ha arbetat så mycket som 55–60 timmar per vecka under flera månaders tid.Hoppas de fixar till bilfysiken, för mig som mer är lagd åt bilspel än skjutspel så har jag alltid förknippat GTA med att köra bil. GTA IV hade en mer realistisk och simulatorlik bilfysik vilket gjorde spelet otroligt kul för min del, det var kul att bara cruisa runt. GTA V butchrade allting som har med bilfysik att göra. Fysiken blev super-arkadig och väldigt orealistisk, och gjorde all bilkörning tråkig. Även motorcykelfysiken i GTA 4 var kul, men i GTA 5 är den helt åt skogen

För det första gillar jag inte att det utspelas på 70-80 talet. Modern tid är bättre. Sedan är det ett totalt NEJ från mig om inte GTA VI har öppen värld. Såklart att ett GTA spel skall innehålla öppen värld, det är liksom kännetecknet. Plus bilstölderna.

Går att ändra med trainer. Jag gjorde det då jag håller med dig till 100%. Bilfysiken var otroligt dålig. Efter ändringen dock så blev den mycket bättre än GTA 4.

Det är fullt möjligt att ha ett spel med både svidande samhällskritik och kvinnliga karaktärer. Vet inte om det blir i GTA VI, men det känns troligt att de utökar spelarnas möjligheter att välja vilka karaktärer de vill se och vilka historier som ska berättas. Det brukar ge klirr i kassan när det görs på rätt sätt.Trodde dom hade kommit betydligt längre. 2023 blir fan 10 år efter GTA 5. RDR2 har ju uppenbarligen skjutit upp spelet rejält. Men väntar ju då hellre på ett fullständigt spel även om vi får vänta till 2025.

Efter så här pass lång tid hade jag faktiskt trott att de skulle vara längre på väg vid det här laget. Blir spännande att tids nog få reda på om det blir en återkomst för Vice City och en eventuell förändring i tidsåldern.R* har dragit in så snuskigt mycket pengar på microtransactions att det är högst otroligt att de någonsin kommer sluta med det. Mer troligt är att de kommer testa hur långt de kan gå innan folk blir förbannade.

Vore intressant om storyn skulle utspela sig i typ 70-80 talets Japan, och dess undre värld. Det vore faktiskt mer intressant än detta kan jag tycka. Även fast man lär köpa detta också när det väl kommer.

Chassi: Fractal Design Define R3 Black, Mobo: ASUS Z170 Pro Gaming, CPU: Intel i7 6700K, kylning CM Hyper 212 EVO, RAM: 32 GB Hyper X 3000 mhz, GPU: Nvidia MSI 1080 Gaming X, PSU: XFX Core Edition Pro 750W, Mus: Logitech G700, Tgb: Corsair Raptor K30, OS: Win10 Niko Bellic, an Eastern European ex-soldier, arrives in Liberty City aboard a cargo ship, the Platypus, to escape his criminal past, pursue the American Dream, and search for the man who betrayed his unit to an ambush during a war ten years prior. Reuniting with his cousin Roman, he discovers that his tales of riches were lies concealing his small dirty apartment, unprofitable taxi company, gambling debts, and disputes with loan sharks. Niko begins assisting Roman with his problems, which leads him to make his first criminal contacts in the city. He befriends Yardies underboss Little Jacob and is forced to work for Vlad Glebov, Roman’s Russian loan shark, whom Niko eventually kills upon learning he had slept with Roman’s girlfriend, Mallorie. Reviewers lauded the open world design, some further complimenting the freedom that it allows the player. Seth Schiesel of The New York Times named the city the ”real star” of the game. Official Xbox Magazine’s Hicks was impressed by the city, attributing this to the game’s AI. Robinson of Computer and Video Games considered the environment believable, and felt that the world was ”utterly unmatched”. Goldstein of IGN felt that, although Liberty City is inspired by New York, it is not beholden to it. He wrote that the city ”exists in its own universe and rightfully so”. Crispin Boyer of 1UP.com directed praise at the city’s ”breathtaking vistas, incredibly varied scenery, and lived-in look.” Conversely, Jesse Costantino of GameRevolution felt that the game lacked important features common in other open world games.

For the gameplay and animations, the team redid a lot of the work from previous games, wanting Grand Theft Auto IV to ”feel next-generation”. The role-playing elements from San Andreas were removed fairly early in development, partly due to the animation work it would have required, and because consistently needing to visit the gym felt antithetical to Niko’s motivations. The game’s targeting system was one of the first focuses of development due to the advanced technology; the team wanted it to feel realistic without being too technical. The cover system was a ”natural addition” to the targeting. Benzies described the multiplayer as the hardest part of the game’s development. The team wanted the multiplayer to feel like an extension of the cinematic single-player experience. Dan Houser described it as ”a section of a film rather than the whole narrative”. The developers considered adding co-operative multiplayer to the main story campaign, but decided it worked better as a single-player experience.

At E3 2006, Peter Moore, Corporate Vice President of Microsoft’s Interactive Entertainment Business division, formally announced the game by rolling up his sleeve to reveal a Grand Theft Auto IV temporary tattoo. Rockstar Games initially appeared to be committed to the original 16 October 2007 release date. However, Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter suggested that Take-Two may choose to delay the release of the game in order to boost its financial results for 2008 and to avoid competing with the release of other highly anticipated titles, such as Halo 3; Rockstar responded by saying that Grand Theft Auto IV was still on track for release in ”late October”. However, Take-Two announced in August 2007 that Grand Theft Auto IV would miss its original release date, and would be delayed to their second fiscal quarter (February–April) of 2008, attributing this to technical challenges. In particular, the delay was caused by technical difficulties with the PlayStation 3 version and storage problems with the Xbox 360 version. IGN predicted that other publishers would benefit from Grand Theft Auto IV’s delay, particularly Activision with Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. On 24 January 2008, the company announced the game’s release date of 29 April 2008. Some gameplay features were censored for the Australian and New Zealand versions of the game, though these censors were subsequently removed.In June 2008, six teenagers who were arrested for robbery in New Hyde Park, New York, claimed they were inspired by Grand Theft Auto IV, according to the Nassau County Police Department. In August, an 18-year-old student was arrested in Bangkok for the murder of a taxi driver after attempting to hijack the vehicle; according to the police captain, the student ”wanted to find out if it was as easy in real life to rob a taxi as it was in the game”. The game was subsequently banned in Thailand. In August 2013, 87-year-old Marie Smothers was killed in Slaughter, Louisiana, when her eight-year-old grandson shot her in the head with a handgun after playing Grand Theft Auto IV; under state law, the boy could not be charged for her death due to his age.

In 2007, then-Florida lawyer Jack Thompson, known for his campaigns against the series, stated he would take measures to prevent the sale of Grand Theft Auto IV to minors. On 14 March, Take-Two filed a lawsuit against Thompson to preemptively restrict his attempts to ban the game from sale. Thompson responded by filing a countersuit accusing Take-Two of violating federal RICO statutes, committing perjury and obstruction of justice, and conspiring to deprive him of his civil rights. On 20 April, both parties reached a settlement agreeing to drop their lawsuits: Thompson was barred from suing to ban the sale or distribution of Take-Two’s games but able to act as counsel in lawsuits by other parties, while Take-Two agreed to drop the contempt of court lawsuit against Thompson regarding alleged improper conduct during the court hearings for Rockstar’s game Bully (2006).Reviewers praised the sound design. Goldstein of IGN praised the actors’ performances and the use of licensed music. GameSpot’s Calvert and GamesRadar’s Walter also commended the licensed music, the latter admiring the humour of the radio’s talk stations. Michael Pinson of The Pro Audio Files praised the separate features of the game’s sound design—including the city’s ambiance, licensed music, character dialogue, and vehicle and weapon sound effects—applauding the developer’s use of uniting the features together. Carolyn Gudmundson of GamesRadar also retroactively praised the game’s soundtrack, commending its suitability to the game’s setting.

In the month prior to launch, Rockstar and GameStop held a competition offering up to US$10,000 and a trip to New York City for the game’s launch event. Microsoft held a similar sweepstakes competition, offering consoles, games, Microsoft Points, a baseball bat, and an invitation to the launch event as rewards. The official Grand Theft Auto IV website was redesigned on 8 February 2008 to show a preview of activities and locales within the game’s world. To encourage pre-order sales, Rockstar collaborated with several retail outlets to provide a special edition version of the game. It includes a metal safe deposit box, an art book, and the soundtrack CD. The publisher also collaborated with Sony to release a 40 GB PlayStation 3 console with a copy of the game. GameStop hosted midnight launch events at over 3,500 of its American stores, with contests and giveaways.Reviewers praised the game’s narrative. IGN’s Goldstein accepted that the darker tones to the story, a break from series tradition. Jon Hicks of Official Xbox Magazine felt surprised by the amount of depth to the story. Reiner of Game Informer wrote that the level of freedom in the game contributed to his enjoyment of the story. The morality choices faced by players throughout the narrative were also welcomed. 1UP.com’s Boyer felt that they gave the game an element of ”replayability”. Eurogamer’s Tom Bramwell considered the morality choices a fair substitute over ”bosses with large health bars”.

On 18 September 2007, Thompson filed a document with a federal court in Florida, claiming the assassination target of a mission in Grand Theft Auto IV is a lawyer character based upon himself. He threatened to ”take necessary and proper means to stop release of the game” if the similarities were not removed. In April 2008, Thompson wrote a letter directed to the mother of Take-Two chairman Strauss Zelnick, in which he labelled Grand Theft Auto a ”murder simulator” and criticised Zelnick’s upbringing, comparing his Boy Scouts experience to Hitler Youth. Thompson subsequently claimed he sent the letter to Zelnick’s lawyer, formulating it as a parody to induce ”shame” in Zelnick.

Grand Theft Auto IV was released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles in April 2008, and for Windows in December. Upon release, the game received critical acclaim, with praise particularly directed at the narrative and open-world design. Grand Theft Auto IV broke industry sales records and became the fastest-selling entertainment product in history at the time, earning US$310 million in its first day and US$500 million in its first week. Considered one of the most significant titles of the seventh generation of video games, and by many critics as one of the greatest video games of all time, it won year-end accolades, including Game of the Year awards from several gaming publications. It is among the best-selling video games with over 25 million copies sold by 2013. The game generated controversy, with criticism directed at the game’s depiction of violence and players’ ability to drink-drive. Its successor, Grand Theft Auto V, was released in September 2013.Industry analysts found Grand Theft Auto IV’s marketing much more subtle than Microsoft’s marketing of Halo 3 (2007), identifying Rockstar’s interest in controlling the output at all times. The game was marketed through video trailers and press demonstrations. On 29 March 2007, the debut trailer was released. It was narrated by protagonist Niko, and depicts the open world accompanied by the song ”Pruit-Igoe” by Philip Glass, originally composed for Godfrey Reggio’s 1982 documentary film Koyaanisqatsi. The trailer is credited for starting the Rickrolling meme; after the higher viewership crashed Rockstar’s website, several users re-posted the trailer, but some misleadingly played the music video for Rick Astley’s ”Never Gonna Give You Up”. The second trailer was released on 28 June 2007, showcasing the game’s physics engine and featuring the song ”Arm in Arm (Shy Child Remix)” by The Boggs. Dan Houser noted that the game was ”still rough” when the first trailer was released, but that cutscenes were ”coming on board” by the second trailer’s release.

The game is played from a third-person perspective and its world is navigated on foot or by vehicle. Throughout the single-player mode, players control Niko Bellic. An online multiplayer mode is also included with the game, allowing up to 32 players to engage in both cooperative and competitive gameplay in a recreation of the single-player setting. Two expansion packs were later released for the game, The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony, which both feature new plots that are interconnected with the main Grand Theft Auto IV storyline, and follow new protagonists.In the United Kingdom, the game became the fastest-selling game of all time, selling over 631,000 copies in twenty-four hours. This broke the record set by Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas at 501,000 copies over the same period. During the first five days of availability, the game sold over 927,000 copies in the United Kingdom. In the United States, Grand Theft Auto IV sold 2.85 million units in its first five days. By the end of 2008, the game had sold over 5.18 million copies in the US. In its first four days of availability in Japan, it sold 133,000 copies on the PlayStation 3 and 34,000 on the Xbox 360, according to Media Create. The game’s script, written by Dan Houser and Rupert Humphries, is about 1,000 pages. Approximately 660 actors provided voices for the game over 80,000 lines of dialogue. After conceiving the character and setting, Dan Houser spoke with his brother Sam Houser and Leslie Benzies to bounce story ideas before writing a rough synopsis, a six-paged, detailed document. Once the synopsis was reworked, the designers broke it into missions, represented by a large flow document demonstrating each section. The writers then work on the introductions to the missions; the gameplay dialogue comes much later. Unlike previous Grand Theft Auto games, Grand Theft Auto IV does not have cinematic influences. ”We were consciously trying to go, well, if video games are going to develop into the next stage, then the thing isn’t to try and do a loving tribute or reference other stuff,” said Dan Houser. He said that the writers wanted something ”fresh and new and not something that was obviously derived from [a] movie”. Dan Houser felt that the quality of the writing had to improve alongside the advancements in graphics and technology. He noted that the improvements in facial animation allowed for slower-paced cutscenes. The unique dialogue that plays when a mission is retried was to ensure that the gameplay felt ”less canned and less like Groundhog Day”. When selecting music for the in-game radio stations, music supervisor Ivan Pavlovich said ”[we had] to pick the songs that make New York today what it is, but make sure they won’t feel dated by the time the game comes out.” The developers contacted over 2,000 people in order to obtain recording and publishing rights; they hired a private investigator to locate the relatives of late Skatt Bros. member Sean Delaney to license the band’s song, ”Walk the Night”. Billboard reported that Rockstar paid as much as $5,000 per composition and another $5,000 per master recording per track. Developers originally considered letting players purchase music in an in-game record shop and for Niko to have an MP3 player, but both ideas were cut. DJ Green Lantern produced tracks exclusively for the game’s hip-hop radio station The Beat 102.7. Record label owner and record producer Bobby Konders, who hosts the in-game radio station Massive B Soundsystem 96.9, flew to Jamaica to get dancehall artists to re-record tracks to make references to the boroughs of Liberty City. The Housers’s father, jazz musician Walter Houser, provided several classical music tracks for the game. Eventually, the government agents find Darko and bring him to Liberty City for Niko to decide his fate. Afterwards, Niko is summoned by Pegorino for one final favour: to help with a highly lucrative heroin deal in collusion with Dimitri. Niko must either agree to work with Dimitri or exact revenge on him. If Niko goes through with the deal, Dimitri betrays him again and keeps the heroin for himself. At Roman’s wedding, an assassin sent by Dimitri to kill Niko accidentally kills Roman with a stray bullet. Aided by Little Jacob, Niko retaliates by murdering Dimitri, who had also killed Pegorino. Later, Mallorie informs Niko that she is pregnant with Roman’s child, whom Niko vows to protect. If Niko chooses to exact revenge, he instead finds and kills Dimitri aboard the Platypus. At Roman’s wedding, Pegorino, furious at Niko’s betrayal, targets him in a drive-by shooting, but accidentally kills Patrick’s sister Kate, whom Niko had been dating. Aided by Little Jacob and Roman, Niko tracks down and kills Pegorino. Later, Roman tells Niko that Mallorie is pregnant and that they decided to name the baby after Kate if it is a girl. Grand Theft Auto IV earned awards from several critics and publications. It received Game of the Year awards from Digital Spy, the Entertainment Merchants Association, GameTrailers, Giant Bomb, IGN Australia, Kotaku, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, and Time. At the Spike Video Game Awards, the game wo
n Game of the Year and Best Action Adventure Game, and Michael Hollick won Best Performance by a Human Male for his role as Niko. It was nominated for three awards at the 9th Game Developers Choice Awards, and seven at the 5th British Academy Games Awards, tying for the most nominations at the latter. At IGN’s Best of 2008, it won eleven awards, including Best Voice Acting across all three platforms and overall, and Best Story for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

The single-player mode lets players control an Eastern European war veteran, Niko Bellic. During the story, Niko meets and befriends various new characters. They can then perform favours for Niko whenever he asks; for example, his cousin Roman, who owns a taxi service, can send one of his cabs to take Niko to any destination around the city. Cabs are always available during gameplay for quick travel to a destination. Throughout the course of the game, players are also faced with morality choices, which alter the storyline appropriately depending on the player’s choice. While free roaming the game world, players may engage in context-specific activities such as bowling or darts. Other available activities include a vigilante mini-game, and in-game television programming. Niko has a cell phone for contacting friends and starting activities. The cell phone is also used to access the game’s online multiplayer mode, and to enter cheat codes. To access the in-game Internet, which allows Niko to send and receive emails and set up prospective dates with potential girlfriends, Niko can use Internet cafés located around the city. The game also features a subway system, allowing players to quickly traverse through the game’s world.

On his program in May 2008, conservative American radio host Glenn Beck used the game as an example of violence in video games ”training our kids to be killers”, erroneously stating the player can attack police officers with a chainsaw; Kombo’s David Oxford rebutted that the game is not targeted at children. Beck said games like Grand Theft Auto IV were being used to make militaries more violent; Destructoid’s Jim Sterling countered that violent wars occurred prior to the creation of video games. Computer and Video Games’s Robinson compared Beck’s ”rant” to the game’s satirical radio shows.

Within twenty-four hours of its release, Grand Theft Auto IV sold over 3.6 million copies, equating to approximately $310 million in revenue. Within a week, it generated more than $500 million in worldwide revenue, equating to approximately 6 million copies sold for Take Two. The numbers surpassed analysts’ expectations for the title. After one month of availability, the game had sold over 8.5 million copies. It broke three Guinness World Records on 13 May 2008: highest grossing video game in 24 hours, highest revenue generated by an entertainment product in 24 hours, and fastest-selling video game in 24 hours. On 11 March 2011, Take-Two announced that the game had sold over 20 million copies, with the Grand Theft Auto series surpassing a collective total of 100 million copies. As of July 2013, the game has sold over 25 million copies, making it one of the best-selling video games, and one of the best-selling games on both PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. All sales records broken by Grand Theft Auto IV were beaten by its successor, Grand Theft Auto V.

Niko’s design underwent a few changes, but was finalised early in development. His outfit underwent several changes based on Eastern Europeans, particularly photographs of men fighting in winter wars in Yugoslavia and Chechnya. The primary motivation for the design was a face to convey the appropriate emotions and a body that could move nicely with the new animations. The in-game purchasable outfits were also designed to fit with the character. The team ensured that the gameplay choices presented to the player were not too extensive, as they still had to make sense to the character, who is driven by the people around him. Dan Houser felt that the missions in San Andreas had become too linear, and wanted to present choices to the player in Grand Theft Auto IV.

Grand Theft Auto IV takes place in 2008, within a redesigned version of Liberty City. The design of the city focuses on a recreation of four of the boroughs of New York City: Broker (based on Brooklyn), Dukes (Queens), Bohan (The Bronx), and Algonquin (Manhattan). The setting also includes the neighbouring state of Alderney (based on New Jersey). Initially, bridges are locked down due to a terrorist threat, and police constantly pursue players if the bridges are crossed. The blockades are lifted as the story progresses, allowing the player to traverse between islands safely.

Following the release of the first trailer in March 2007, New York City officials criticised the choice of their city as inspiration for Liberty City; Peter Vallone Jr., chairman of the council’s public safety committee, compared it to ”setting Halo in Disneyland”, and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly called it ”despicable to glamorize violence in games like these”. A spokesman for mayor Michael Bloomberg said ”the mayor does not support any video game where you earn points for injuring or killing police officers”. Jason Della Rocca, executive director of the International Game Developers Association, accused city officials of double standards for criticising video games but avoiding the argument for books, films, and television series set in the city.

Following its announcement in May 2006, Grand Theft Auto IV was widely anticipated and released to critical acclaim. Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating in the 0–100 range, calculated an average score of 98, indicating ”universal acclaim”. It is tied as the second-highest rated game on the site. Reviewers heavily praised the game’s narrative, open world design and combat system. Hilary Goldstein of IGN felt that the game ”sets a new benchmark for open-world games”, and Andrew Reiner of Game Informer wrote that the game ”completely changes the landscape of gaming”.Dan Houser described Niko Bellic as ”a more rounded character” than those in previous games. He felt that his dual personality—often saving innocent people, while also being a ”cold-hearted killer”—made him more relatable. He also felt that Niko’s unfamiliarity with Liberty City allowed for the player to relate to him more, only driven by his vague past and relationship with Roman. When deciding on Niko’s background, the writers felt that being an immigrant could lead to more dangerous situations, and therefore more enjoyable missions; after discussions with criminal experts, Dan Houser found that ”the real scary characters are not born in America anymore”. He felt that Niko’s outsider view of American culture was ”fun”. The team wanted Niko to be ”more of an anti hero than a hero, capable of making positive actions within his criminal world”. They wanted his demeanour to reflect the weight of his past and choices.Grand Theft Auto IV is set in the fictional ”HD Universe”, which mirrors and parodies the real world. The previous games formed fictional universes of their own, which despite having many similarities with the HD Universe, are considered to be different continuities. Hence, the Liberty City depicted in Grand Theft Auto IV is different from its previous renditions, and the game itself serves as a reboot for the series. The new timeline established by Grand Theft Auto IV would continue with two expansion packs, The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony, and a sequel, Grand Theft Auto V, as well as its online component, Grand Theft Auto Online. The handheld game Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars is also considered part of the HD Universe, because it features the same map as Grand Theft Auto IV, except for Alderney.

Grand Theft Auto IV sees a shift in the series to a more realistic and detailed style and tone, partly a result of the transition to consoles which offered high-definition graphics and the new and improved capabilities of such consoles. The development team worked to represent the upgrade in quality across all design aspects while maintaining the coherence of the previous games. The team took the game’s development as an opportunity to ”strip things back and start again”, refining the art style without losing the style of the series; they distanced the game from the ”cartoon-like style” of its predecessors while creating a new style that was consistent across all aspects of the game. Garbut found the increased demand of detail brought on by the advanced technology daunting. A technique used to make the visuals look real was to avoid harsh edges, instead blending surfaces together to make the world look dirty and lived-in. The props department created multiple variations of different objects to make the world more interesting and unique. Grand Theft Auto IV was the first contemporary game in the series since 2001’s Grand Theft Auto III; the team felt that enough time had passed to avoid feeling repetitive. The types of in-game vehicles were decided upon early in development, after which the vehicles department begin creating the designs. The vehicles are not based on specific real-life counterparts, but take elements from several, with some original ideas by the developers.To unveil the game’s cover art, Rockstar contracted artists to paint a mural on a wall at a secluded warehouse location, showcasing the art in a video on 28 November 2007. A third trailer was released on 6 December 2007, introducing some of the game’s characters, such as Roman and Michelle. The trailer features the song ”King Ring” by Russian rap artist Seryoga, which Rockstar felt captured the ”melting pot mentality” of Liberty City. Dan Houser wanted the third trailer to capture the ”visceral qualities” of the game, but focus less on the story, as the first two trailers had done. On 8 February 2008, five teaser trailers for the game were released, each showcasing a particular character or service within the game. Similar teaser trailers were later released in pairs on 21 February, 7 March, and 11 April. Another trailer, released on 27 March 2008, showcases some scenes from the game, such as a bank robbery and police chase. A television commercial from GameStop debuted on 1 April, focusing on the activities in Liberty City.

Preliminary work on Grand Theft Auto IV began in November 2004, a month after the release of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Rockstar president Sam Houser felt that following up San Andreas was ”a nightmare”. Rockstar North, the core 220-person team behind the game, co-opted studios owned by parent company Rockstar Games to facilitate development between a full team of over 1,000, including 50 employees at Rockstar NYC, 40 at Rockstar Lincoln, 10 at Rockstar San Diego, and around 600–700 working part-time internally and externally. Some key members of the development team worked 12-hour days during production, often without holidays. The team decided to continue the numbering scheme absent from the previous two main games to represent the same leap in production as Grand Theft Auto 2 (1999) to Grand Theft Auto III (2001). Development of Grand Theft Auto IV ceased by 21 April 2008 when the game was submitted for manufacturing. Producer Leslie Benzies estimated that the budget of the development efforts exceeded US$100 million, making Grand Theft Auto IV one of the most expensive video games ever made.

In the first week of availability, the Windows version of Grand Theft Auto IV debuted at seventh place on the weekly charts; by the second week, it had left the top-ten. Based on unique user counts, the game was the most played Games for Windows – Live game in 2009 and 2012, and the second-most played in 2011.Players use melee attacks, firearms and explosives to fight enemies, and may run, jump, swim or use vehicles to navigate the game’s world. There is a first-person perspective option when using vehicles. In combat, auto-aim and a cover system can be used as assistance against enemies. Should players take damage, their health meter can be fully regenerated by consuming food or drinks, using medical kits, or calling for paramedics. If players commit crimes, the game’s law enforcement agencies may respond as indicated by a ”wanted” meter in the head-up display (HUD). On the meter, the displayed stars indicate the current wanted level (for example, at the maximum six-star level, efforts by law enforcement to incapacitate players become very aggressive). Law enforcement officers will search for players who leave the wanted vicinity. The wanted meter enters a cool-down mode and eventually recedes when players are hidden from the officers’ line of sight.Dimitri’s men burn down Niko and Roman’s apartment and taxi company, forcing them to flee to Bohan. While Niko finds work for several local drug lords, Dimitri kidnaps Roman in a failed attempt to lure Niko into a trap. Later, Niko discovers that his romantic interest Michelle is a government agent, and she entraps him into working for her agency. In exchange for the murders of several known or suspected terrorists, the agency clears Niko’s criminal record and assists him in searching for the traitor he seeks. Niko and Roman’s fortunes improve when the latter receives a large amount of insurance money from his destroyed business, which he uses to rebuild it and buy an apartment in Algonquin. Roman also proposes to Mallorie, who accepts.

To achieve a realistic environment, 60–70 employees from Rockstar North travelled to New York for research: first at the beginning of the project in March or April 2005 for a week and a half, and a smaller trip in 2007. Police officers who previously worked the beat drove the team around Washington Heights. A full-time research team based in New York handled further requests for information, such as the ethnic minority of a neighbourhood or videos of traffic patterns. Videos shot in New York were played on televisions at the Rockstar North offices ”so while they worked they could look up and there was New York”. Benzies claimed that the team took over 100,000 photographs on location in New York, though Garbut estimates that they took around 250,000. They also studied architectural plans for apartments, used satellite images to determine city block layout, researched sales figures for models of cars, and read books that detailed the city’s infrastructure, including its subways, sewers, and garbage disposal. Hove Beach is based on Brighton Beach, which Sam Houser found ”pretty incredible” and unusual; the name is based on the English city Brighton and Hove, made up of the former neighbouring towns Brighton and Hove. Houser appreciated that Brighton Beach was home to several Eastern Europeans due to the nature of the game’s characters.There is nothing in the game you would not see in a TV show, or a movie a hundred times over … We set out to make games that felt like they could culturally exist alongside the movies we were watching and the books we were reading

In retaliation, Niko and Roman are kidnapped by Russian mobsters on orders of their boss Mikhail Faustin and his lieutenant, Dimitri Rascalov. Indifferent to Vlad’s murder, Faustin releases them and employs Niko as a hitman, eventually ordering him to kill the son of Russian crime lord Kenny Petrović. When Petrović threatens retaliation, Dimitri convinces Niko to assassinate Faustin. However, he then betrays and brings Niko to his former employer, Ray Bulgarin, who accuses Niko of stealing from him during a botched human trafficking job years earlier. Niko denies the allegation and a firefight ensues, allowing Dimitri and Bulgarin to escape.

The writers found that Niko needed a motivation to come to America, so they created his cousin, Roman. Dan Houser felt that the two could not be brothers as there would be a deeper level of familiarity than necessary. He described the two as a double act, with Roman’s fantasist charm playing off Niko’s tough cynicism. The team gave other non-playable characters (NPCs) more definable behaviours and dialogue to make them feel more alive. The writers initially considered having a smaller group of characters, but found that the story became boring and that players were less likely to explore the world. The stranger characters found in the game world were based on the ”crazy people” that populate New York, according to Dan Houser, which in previous games were only able to be captured through radio stations or mild pedestrian behaviours. The team based the ethnicities, clothing, and behaviours of the NPCs on the photographs and videos that they captured around New York, divided into different areas; they created mood boards for each location. The NPCs also converse in different languages.The game’s cover system allows players to move between cover, to fire blindly, aim freely, and target a specific enemy. Individual body parts can also be targeted. Melee attacks include additional moves, such as dodging, blocking, disarming an opponent and counter-attacking. Body armour can be used to absorb gunshots and explosive damage, but is used up in the process. When health is entirely depleted, gameplay stops, and players respawn at the nearest hospital.

Grand Theft Auto IV is a 2008 action-adventure game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It is the sixth main entry in the Grand Theft Auto series, following 2004’s Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, and the eleventh instalment overall. Set within the fictional Liberty City, based on New York City, the single-player story follows Eastern European war veteran Niko Bellic and his attempts to escape his past while under pressure from high-profile criminals. The open world design lets players freely roam Liberty City, consisting of three main islands, and the neighbouring state of Alderney, which is based on New Jersey.

The port’s enhanced visuals were commended by many reviewers. GameZone’s Hopper considered the visuals an improvement over the original versions. Andy Robinson of Computer and Video Games called the visuals ”impressive”, while Tom Orry of VideoGamer.com called them ”superb”. Conversely, the port’s system requirements, considered difficult to run with advanced settings, received criticism. Eurogamer’s Gillen said that, though the Windows version is ”the most attractive version”, it’s ”annoyingly fiddly to get there”. GameSpy’s Tuttle was able to overlook the demanding system requirements in exchange for the game’s other features.The game’s setting, Liberty City, is based on New York City. The team did not look at the previous renditions of Liberty City as inspiration, wanting it to retain the ”general feel” but nothing else. The map is roughly three times the size of Grand Theft Auto III’s. The developers originally considered using the entire state of New York, before restricting it to Manhattan, and then expanding it out again. They considered including more suburbs with woods, and would regularly vote on which areas to include. Art director Aaron Garbut said that the team chose the setting because of the detail and variety it provided, describing New York as ”an amazing, diverse, vibrant, cinematic city”. Writer Dan Houser added that the team ”wanted to be somewhere where we had a foothold” due to the amount of research required for the world; Rockstar Games’s main headquarters are located in New York. The team consciously avoided a precise recreation of New York City to allow for more enjoyable game design, selecting the areas that they felt ”characterised it the best”. Garbut wanted to capture a caricature of the city as he felt that most people were familiar with ”the highlights” from film or literature but did not need to know the areas precisely. The city was not built with specific missions in mind; the area was created first, and missions implemented later.

While working for the Irish Mob, Niko befriends gangster Patrick McReary and helps him and his brothers carry out a bank robbery. Niko is later hired by Ray Boccino, a caporegime in the Pegorino crime family, to oversee a diamond deal, which goes awry. Boccino repays Niko by helping him find ex-comrade Florian Cravic, now known as Bernie Crane, who claims that he did not betray their unit. Niko concludes that the traitor was Darko Brevic, the only other survivor. Niko continues working for the Mafia in Liberty City and eventually earns the trust of Don Jimmy Pegorino, who orders Niko to kill Boccino after suspecting him of being a police informant. Niko also helps Patrick kidnap Don Giovanni Ancelotti’s daughter to ransom her for the diamonds, but Bulgarin intercepts the exchange, and the diamonds are lost. In April 2008, non-profit organisation Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) criticised the ability to drink-drive in the game. MADD requested the Entertainment Software Rating Board change the rating of the game to ”Adults Only”, effectively removing it from sale. They asked Take-Two and Rockstar to consider halting distribution out of a sense of social responsibility and respect for victims of driving under the influence. Rockstar said it respected MADD’s work but felt the game’s audience ”is more than sophisticated enough to understand the game’s content”, adding ”you can’t judge Grand Theft Auto IV by a small aspect of the game”. Development of Grand Theft Auto IV began soon after the release of San Andreas and was shared between many of Rockstar’s studios worldwide. The game introduced a shift to a more realistic and detailed style and tone for the series. Unlike previous entries, Grand Theft Auto IV lacked a strong cinematic influence, as the team attempted an original approach to the story. As part of their research for the open world, the development team conducted extensive field research in New York, capturing over 100,000 photographs and several hours of video. The developers considered the world to be the most important element of the game; though not the largest map in the series, they considered it comparable in scope due to its verticality and level of detail. The budget climbed to over US$100 million, making it one of the most expensive video games to develop. The game’s characters—particularly Niko—received positive reactions from critics. Hicks of Official Xbox Magazine and Andy Robinson of Computer and Video Games both called Niko ”charismatic” and ”likeable”, stating that they prefer him over previous protagonists of the series. George Walter of GamesRadar praised the depth of the character, and IGN’s Goldstein felt that the character of Niko feels relatable when faced with difficult decisions. Jeff Gerstmann of Giant Bomb felt that Niko was ”the only thing that mattered to [him]” as he progressed through the story, with the character becoming one of his favourite features of the game. Schiesel of The New York Times named Niko one of the most realised video game characters attributing this to the game’s script, while 1UP.com’s Boyer commended the use of character bonding during the game’s missions. Dan Houser described Liberty City as ”the biggest character” of the game. The Grand Theft Auto IV rendition of Liberty City is more detailed and larger in size than most earlier entries in the series; although smaller than San Andreas, the setting of the previous main game, the developers considered it comparable in scope due to city’s verticality, number of buildings, and level of detail. The team wanted less dead spots and irrelevant spaces, such as the wide open deserts in San Andreas. They wanted the game to be ”a more focused experience” than San Andreas, and Dan Houser felt that the limited activities of New York allowed this. The team felt that the addition of Niko’s mobile phone added to the immersion of the world and represented society’s shifted focus on phones. The in-game brands and products are designed over several years; the billboards were implemented in the game around six months prior to release.The online multiplayer mode for Grand Theft Auto IV allows up to 32 players to freely roam across the map. Players decide which game mode they wish to play, including deathmatches and street races. Both cooperative and competitive game modes are available, split into ranked and unranked matches. For players to level up through ranks, in-game money has to be earned. The game also features a Free Mode, in which players have the entire map open to explore, with no end goal or mission to complete. Hosts of the game can control many variables, such as police presence, traffic, and weapons. The multiplayer mode was discontinued on Windows in 2020.

In August 2008, Rockstar announced that the game would be coming to Windows on 18 November 2008 in North America and 21 November in Europe, with additional development work by Rockstar Toronto. Microsoft partnered with Rockstar in a US$50 million deal to bring two episodic downloadable content packs to the Xbox 360: Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned on 17 February 2009, and Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony on 29 October 2009. Dan Houser wanted the episodes to show ”a different side of Liberty City”. In January 2010, Rockstar announced that the DLC would be bundled as Episodes from Liberty City, released for PlayStation 3 and Windows on 13 April 2010 in North America and 16 April in Europe. Episodes from Liberty City was also bundled with the main game in The Complete Edition, released on 26 October 2010 in North America and 29 October in Europe. The Xbox 360 version of the game and its DLC were made backwards compatible with the Xbox One on 9 February 2017. Many reviewers found the combat system was more responsive than in previous games, particularly praising the addition of the cover system. Justin Calvert of GameSpot wrote that the cover system makes the game’s combat a ”huge improvement” over previous games. Reiner of Game Informer agreed, writing that the targeting system makes players feel responsible for all deaths. IGN’s Goldstein praised the fluidity of the cover system, and felt that the auto aim mechanic is a ”great help in larger battles”. GamesRadar’s Walter wrote that the cover system has ”paved the way to a new style of mission”. David McComb of Empire called the combat ”sharp and instinctive”, and Hicks of Official Xbox Magazine felt that the cover system allows players to execute an attack plan. In addition to the combat system, most reviewers noted the vehicle handling was more realistic than in previous games. Robinson of Computer and Video Games felt that the vehicle handling echoed realism, while Hicks of Official Xbox Magazine called the vehicle selection ”excellent”. Costantino of GameRevolution praised the improvement of the game’s mechanics, particularly the physics engine’s advanced vehicle and character animations. When the McReary family decided to steal a million dollars from a bank chain, they made their mark in GTA history. The events of Three Leaf Clover are brought up repeatedly by GTA 5 characters. Niko was able to pull off the heist of the century.

It’s a tear-jerking scene, as Niko realizes all his friends died for a paltry sum of money. The drug-addled Darko harshly criticizes Niko for being no different than he is. Sadly, his statement is partly true. While Niko does have a sense of honor, he isn’t above dirty jobs for the right price.Niko will take down attack choppers and put bullet holes in the bodies of several officers. This is Niko at his most dangerous. He is like a cornered rat trying to make his escape from a hungry cat. However, everything GTA 4 players do here is for nothing. Michelle ends up taking the coke for herself. He delivers a gut-wrenching performance, with his voice completely distraught with anger and sadness. Niko loses a girlfriend, but at least he doesn’t lose his life. Whether the GTA 4 players kill or spare Darko, it’s one of the strongest moments in the story. Either way, Niko will feel nothing. He can’t even bother to listen to a radio station afterwards. Along with Patrick and Derrick, Niko must blast his way through seemingly the entire police force of Liberty City. Three Lear Clover is one of the most exciting missions in GTA 4, so much so it directly inspired the heists in later games. After Niko finally takes care of Vladimir Glebov in GTA 4, Roman asks why he went to Liberty City in the first place. It’s obvious Niko is unable to escape the criminal lifestyle he grew up with.Niko seemingly cannot let go of his past, despite trying to walk away from it multiple times. He finally gets what he’s looking for in the penultimate mission That Special Someone. Niko gets to confront Darko Brevic, the man who betrayed him and his entire squad. GTA 4 players will fondly remember his iconic moments. Given the stronger narrative of the game, Niko’s best scenes are related to dialog. That’s not to say he doesn’t hold his own during missions. GTA 4 is an action-packed game with cinema-quality lines sprinkled throughout. While seemingly a cold-blooded killer at his core, Niko has warm layers underneath. Every memorable scene from GTA 4 deals with his inner conflict – he tries to find peace with his violent nature. These tragic circumstances are what made Niko a compelling person.Niko delivers a somber narrative of his war-riddled past. He goes on about how men die young for the sake of powerful older men. It’s surprisingly introspective for a GTA title, especially with dark subject matter.

When Niko arrived in Liberty City, he expected more than a cockroach-ridden apartment from Roman. GTA 4 sets the stage for his inevitable disappointment with life in general. He decides now is the time to tell his story.Having probably heard the story a million times, Roman has the audacity to fall asleep. The scene abruptly goes from dead serious to flat-out hilarious in a matter of seconds. Niko’s incredulous response to Roman is good for a laugh.Niko placidly reveals he is a man on a mission. He wants to find out who betrayed his old squad from several years ago. With a few suspects in mind, he went to Liberty City to find them.

After the war, Niko experienced difficulty leading a normal life, and his brother was killed in action. Knowing only violence, Niko turned to the Balkanic criminal underworld. He joined a smuggling and trafficking ring run by Russian crime lord Ray Bulgarin. During one smuggling run into Italy, the boat that Niko was working on sank in the Adriatic Sea. He was able to swim to safety, but Bulgarin accused him of sinking the ship intentionally to escape with the money. Niko later joined the merchant navy to flee from Bulgarin, befriended the crew of the Platypus cargo ship, and contemplated his cousin Roman’s requests for him to come to Liberty City in the
United States.Once in Liberty City in 2008, Niko quickly realises that Roman’s stories of success were exaggerated. In reality, his cousin lives in a small, decrepit apartment in the Broker district, and owes gambling debts across the city, which he struggles to pay through his unprofitable taxi service. In addition to working for Roman as a cab driver, Niko must protect him from loan sharks and work for Russian gangster Vlad Glebov to prevent Roman from sinking further into debt. Niko completes most of the jobs he is given with ease, as his military skills give him an advantage over the street thugs of Liberty City. During this time, he also begins making criminal contacts that will eventually become important allies, such as Yardie underboss Little Jacob and car entrepreneur Brucie Kibbutz. Niko’s professional and personal relationships expand over the course of the game, as he is introduced to more powerful and influential criminals.

Depending on the ending chosen, Niko is later informed by Mallorie or Roman that the former is pregnant. He either vows to protect the child and become a father figure for them, or is told by Roman that the couple have decided to name their child in Kate’s memory, should it be a girl. Either way, the game ends with Niko musing on the American Dream and concluding that it is a hollow promise, which no one can truly achieve.The most significant aspect of Niko’s personality is his cynicism, which he gained in the war. Although generally he is a caring individual, Niko’s realistic view of life allows him the ability to manipulate people. Niko’s biggest weakness is his inability to let go of the past, and the desire for revenge is a driving force in many of his decisions. Despite his long involvement with criminal activity, Niko holds a somewhat sympathetic view of law enforcement, stating that cops are just people trying to survive. Near the end of the game, Niko expresses a desire to move on from his criminal past and get a fresh start. Niko has a distaste for drugs, despite his frequent involvement in the drugs trade, and regularly refuses offers of marijuana by Little Jacob.

Niko is portrayed as a down-to-business man with a volatile temper. He has a dry, sarcastic sense of humour, and often makes acerbic remarks. Though he regrets his past crimes, he feels that his soul is permanently tainted, and that killing is all he can do. Niko appears to be a more mature, empathetic, and sensible person than many of his acquaintances. His female acquaintances often point out that Niko has sophisticated manners and appears to be a very courteous person. Many times he attempts to resolve conflicts between two parties without the use of violence. After assisting Ray Boccino, a caporegime in the Pegorino Crime Family with an important diamond deal, Niko finally locates Florian, now the flamboyant homosexual Bernie Crane, only to discover he is not the traitor. He then sets off to find Darko, now revealed as the one who betrayed their unit, while continuing to work for the Italian Mafia in Liberty City, including the Pegorino and Gambetti families. While helping Patrick trade Don Giovanni Ancelotti’s kidnapped daughter for the diamonds, Niko crosses paths with Bulgarin again, whose interference in the exchange results in the diamonds’ loss. Forced to move to the Bohan district and lay low for a while, Niko begins making new criminal contacts, including several drug dealers and the Irish mob, for whom he begins working in an effort to secure a better life and locate Florian, who Niko knows also lives in Liberty City. In the process, he befriends Irish gangster Patrick McReary, and discovers that his girlfriend Michelle is an undercover government agent actually named Karen, who entraps Niko into working for her agency, known only by its cover: the United Liberty Paper (ULP). Niko assassinates several known or suspected terrorists for the agency in exchange for clearing his criminal record and assistance in finding the man who betrayed his unit.Niko plays a minor role in both of Grand Theft Auto IV’s expansion packs, The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony (both 2009), which take place simultaneously with the storyline of the base game, from the perspective of characters with minor roles in GTA IV’s narrative. He appears as an NPC in the missions that cross over with the base game.

Niko’s character has been well received by both critics and fans. He was voted as the 14th top character of the 2000s decade by readers of Game Informer. In 2008, The Age ranked Niko as the second greatest Xbox character of all time, as ”few characters in video game history have provided us with such a spectrum of emotions. Niko’s tale is such a roller coaster ride that by the climax you’d be forgiven for feeling exhausted and perhaps even a little numb.” IGN’s Hilary Goldstein commented ”Niko’s struggles with his ruthless nature never inhibit the gameplay, but instead enhance the emotional gravity of a brilliant storyline. The more absurd the action becomes, the greater we feel the very real pathos of Niko Bellic.” Tom Bramwell of Eurogamer opined Niko ”himself is quickly sympathetic – his moral latitude is rooted in horrible war stories, but he’s warm-hearted – and imposing.” GameDaily included him in a top 25 list of video game anti-heroes, stating that he has a heart-of-gold beneath his rough exterior. In another article, GameDaily listed the ”scary foreigner” as one of their top 25 video game archetypes, using Niko as an example of this due to his ”European thug” appearance. They also used him as an example for the ”walking stereotype” archetype. In 2011, readers of Guinness World Records Gamer’s Edition voted Niko as the 13th-top video game character of all time. GamesRadar staff ranked Niko Bellic 97th place in a list of the 100 best heroes in video games, published in 2013. Yahtzee Croshaw of Zero Punctuation found Niko to be an improvement over previous GTA protagonists, regarding him as ”a very human, very relatable character who could still believably lose his mind.”In the ”Collector’s Edition” of Grand Theft Auto Online, players can choose what their character is to look like by selecting between different parents; Niko is one of the special parents available, meaning that players can select Niko so that their character has a level of resemblance to him. Niko is mentioned several times in Grand Theft Auto V (2013), indirectly by Lester Crest, who, when planning a jewellery store robbery alongside prot
agonist Michael De Santa, considers ”an Eastern European guy making moves in Liberty City” as a possible accomplice, before dismissing the idea, claiming that he ”went quiet”. If selected as a crew member for ”The Paleto Score”, Patrick McReary will talk about the bank heist he, Niko, his brother Derrick, and accomplice Michael Keane carried out in Liberty City, mentioning how the latter two are dead and that Niko is probably dead as well, as he hasn’t heard from him in the past five years. As an Easter egg in the game, players can view Niko’s LifeInvader profile, which reveals that he is still working for Roman’s taxi company. Niko’s latest message to his cousin is wishing him a happy birthday; this implies that Roman survived the game’s events. Niko’s nationality is unspecified in the game and is subject to debate. It was believed by some that he was Russian, Serbian, or Croatian. Executive producer Sam Houser spoke on the matter, saying that Niko is ”from that grey part of broken-down Eastern Europe”, suggesting that Niko’s nationality was left intentionally vague or to the interpretation of the player. Following the game’s release, several journalists referred to Niko as Serbian. In the game, it is suggested by his cousin Roman that Niko can speak Serbian.The former scenario sees Niko successfully killing Dimitri and his men, only for Pegorino, enraged at losing out on a substantial profit, to try and exact revenge on him at Roman and Mallorie’s wedding. Pegorino performs a drive-by attack on Niko, but accidentally kills Patrick’s sister Kate, whom Niko had been dating. Little Jacob and Roman help Niko find and kill Pegorino, who by this point was targeted by most of the Liberty City underworld. If Niko instead agrees to work with Dimitri again, the latter betrays him by keeping the heroin for himself, and sending a hitman to murder him at Roman and Mallorie’s wedding. Niko survives the attempt on his life, but the hitman accidentally kills Roman with a stray bullet. With Little Jacob’s help, the vengeful and devastated Niko tracks down and kills Dimitri, who in turn murdered Pegorino.

Niko was born to Milica Bellic and an unnamed father in an unspecified country in Eastern Europe. Milica, a maternal and caring presence in Niko’s life, regrets that her sons have been forced to endure the hardships they did as children, including their abusive, alcoholic father. As a teenager, Niko participated in an unnamed war as an infantryman, tank driver, and helicopter pilot, during which he witnessed numerous atrocities that traumatised him, leading to his cynical view on life. After his unit of fifteen men from his village were ambushed by the enemy, Niko escaped and concluded that the unit had been betrayed by one of their own soldiers. He later learned that there are two other survivors, Florian Cravic and Darko Brevic, and vowed to search for the traitor.

Niko Bellic is a fictional character and the playable protagonist of Rockstar North’s 2008 video game Grand Theft Auto IV, the sixth main instalment in Rockstar Games’ Grand Theft Auto series. He also makes non-playable appearances in the game’s episodic content The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony, both released in 2009. Michael Hollick provided the character’s voice and motion capture.Russian actor Vladimir Mashkov claims he was in discussions with Rockstar Games to voice the character, and that the character’s appearance is based on him, specifically from his role of the Tracker, Sasha Ivanic, in the 2001 movie Behind Enemy Lines, but he ultimately turned down the offer. Rockstar Games have not commented on Mashkov’s claims.

During this time, Niko’s conflict with Dimitri escalates as the former rescues Roman after he is kidnapped by Dimitri’s men, thwarts his plot to blackmail Liberty City’s deputy mayor, and disrupts his drug operations while working for the Mafia. Niko and Roman eventually secure the lifestyle they sought after the latter rebuilds his taxi company and buys a new apartment in Algonquin using insurance money from his formerly destroyed business.

At the end of the game, a Weazel News report states that Niko is wanted for questioning by the police (although not as a suspect), for the events at his cousin’s wedding. It is assumed Niko steers clear of the questioning as he already dealt with the situation personally.Work was hard to come by following the war. In 1998 Niko’s cousin, Roman had already moved to America to start a new life in Liberty City. Niko tells Kate McReary that after Roman left Yugoslavia, Roman’s mother was raped and murdered but to spare Roman further devastation, he told him she died in a house fire. Niko did at least one prison stint in Europe (that was definitely not for his war crimes as Niko would either be in prison for life or executed) , then worked as a human trafficker for Ray Bulgarin. During a smuggling run from Yugoslavia to Italy the ship sank in the Adriatic. Niko swam to safety, but everything and everyone else was lost. Bulgarin believed that Niko had intentionally scuttled the ship and stole his money; the gangster’s reach was too great within Europe, so Niko joined the merchant navy to escape Bulgarin’s influence.