Although the missions were all out of the way, Rockstar still had one last thing to show us: Boats. The scene was quickly changed to the docks near the Statue of Happiness (which we didn't get a clear look at), and Niko hopped into a high-powered dinghy and started to speed freely across the water. The water effects looked great, with the boat leaping through choppy waters and kicking up a foamy-looking spray on either side; think Wave Race 64, but with much better visuals.

It didn't last too long, however, as Niko whipped out his rocket launcher and proceeded to take aim at a passing cabin cruiser. After the first couple of shots missed, Niko aimed straight ahead - and clipped the rocket against his own boat's control panel, sending him flying as it exploded. Lucky for Niko, he can swim. He won't be able to go underwater, like in San Andreas, but being confined to the surface is still better than drowning instantly.

His boat went underwater, though, flames and all; we could see it slowly disappearing under the murky surface, still burning. And then it exploded, sending up a geyser of gray Liberty City water, which was a nice touch. Unfazed, Niko swam over to the nearest speedboat and tried to jack it, but while he succeeded in climbing on, he quickly fell off again.

MR: I thought the choppiness of the water was really impressive; previous GTAs have done that to certain degrees, but here it looked incredible.
CB: I don't think I ever wanted to play it myself as much as I did during the boat sequence. Yeah, that boat was just bouncing from wave to wave, splashing drops all over the screen.
MC: It just really showed how immense the game is going to be.
CB: Though you can't swim underwater.
MR: Also of note - Niko blowing up his own stupid boat by accident while trying to blast a passing cabin cruiser.
MC: Did you see swimming?
CB: Yeah, after he blew up his own boat, he swam a little
MR: I did like the huge water spray after Niko's boat exploded underwater, though - that's a very nice touch. Just this big gray geyser.
CB: I don't think we'll miss the swimming underwater... we're trading the millions of "things to do" from San Andreas for the immense detail and scale of GTA IV. And they'll probably start building all that stuff back in as they create 360/PS3 sequels.
MC: The boat bit was one place I thought the cinematic camera did work well.
MR: Because you don't have to worry as much about collisions?
MC: Exactly - there was plenty of open water, although he did ram a couple of buoys.
CB: If only there'd been a ramp. I can't wait to see my first GTA IV slow-motion Unique Stunt Jump.
MC: After playing San Andreas last night, I think the leap is just going to blow everyone away....
CB: Yeah, I went back to San Andreas a few hours afterwards.
MR: Was it hard to go back after seeing IV?
CB: It was hard.
MC: everything looks so bland and flat.
CB: San Andreas has good graphics "for GTA" and amazing detail "for GTA." GTA IV doesn't need that handicap. It's amazing-looking, and shows amazing detail compared to every other game out there.

That was the end of the demo, but there's a lot more to come. We still haven't actually played GTA IV yet, although that's coming soon - as is our first look at the PS3 version of the game, which up until now we've only seen running on Xbox 360 hardware. But we do know this: GTA IV is an incredible-looking game that looks poised to offer unprecedented opportunites for running rampant in a big city, and we can't wait to play it. We expect to have a lot more information next month; in the meantime, check back on Friday, when we'll have a no-nonsense list of every single thing we know about the game thus far.

Jan 23, 2008