After he was buzzed into the spacious, surprisingly detailed law firm and greeted by a cheerful security guard, Niko was led to Mr. Goldberg's office. Interestingly, you don't have to kill Goldberg right away - you can sit and listen to his spiel as he goes over Niko's resume and blathers about himself. Or you can abruptly stand up ("a power move," Goldberg says, "I like that"), brandish your pistol ("Hey, I'm all for the second amendment. Guns don't kill people, video games do.") and threaten him for McReary's files ("I haven't hurt anybody!") before launching his body through the office window with a well-placed shot.

It seems there'll be quieter ways to off Goldberg - using a silencer, for instance - but the pistol's loud report was enough to bring his secretary running to see what was going on. When she saw Niko standing, smoking gun in hand, in front of Goldberg's empty desk, she went running for help - which of course brought the firm's security guards, and then the cops, gunning for Niko.

While Rockstar wasn't yet ready to tell us exactly how aiming will work in GTA IV, it seemed to be a combination of over-the-shoulder free-look aiming and more traditional lock-on targeting, although there wasn't an overt visual cue (apart from the crosshairs staying focused on a single enemy) to show that a target was locked onto. As he dashed out of the office's wooden doors, Niko immediately took down a waiting security guard with a quick headshot, and then crouch-ran to take cover behind a cleaning cart the janitor left in the middle of a hallway. Like Gears of War, GTA IV features a cover system that enables Niko to sidle around behind shelter - some of which won't last too long, depending on how flimsy it is - and blind-fire around corners, or pop up briefly to take aimed shots at pursuers.

In the next few seconds, we watched as Niko dropped the next guard with a few shots to the torso, dashed over to an escalator in the center of the building and put three bullets into the knee of yet another guard - which sent the poor bastard tumbling down the moving steps. As he tried to leave the building, Niko was confronted by a couple of genuine cops, forcing him to take cover behind a desk and blind-fire them out of existence with a rattling Uzi. Gently shoving aside a terrified receptionist, Niko strode out into the street and took down two more cops as a couple of whizzing bullets sent brilliant red spurts flying from his own body.