It's known around the Internet that I've played a few hours of "Grand Theft Auto IV." Around this Internet people ask me questions about the game.
Common inquiries involve:
1) the size of the city -- no, it doesn't feel bigger than "San Andreas," but it feels more dense
2) the game's new animation technology -- yes, it looks good
I think the most common question I'm asked is: Are the controls any better this time?
I'm certain I've addressed this before. I know I'm on record about it. But I also know why it's hard to believe. "Grand Theft Auto" controls have been less then ideal since 2001, at least.
So let me tell you about a moment in the game that I experienced on Monday, a moment that convinced me that "GTA IV" is the "GTA" that finally has good controls.
The moment in the game is the type of moment that sounds horrible if you're thinking in real-world terms, but not so bad if you're thinking in terms of being an actor in a crime drama: I'm talking about a moment of being surrounded by a squad of virtual "GTA" SWAT officers, wielding a machine gun and trying to take them out.
I still remember my frustration during such a moment in "Grand Theft Auto: Vice City," when I performed some no-good act and was swarmed by virtual cops. I tried to shoot back at all of them, accidentally killed a civilian and got mowed down by the law. I blamed the controls. They wouldn't properly target the people who were against me. If you played the game, I'm sure you had the same experience.
I remember having an easier time during such a moment in "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas." It was easier because that game allowed me to tap my controller's shoulder button to cycle a targeting reticule from one enemy to the next. But even that made it hard to fend off a rushing cluster of policemen.
Earlier this week, however, I finally had no trouble with that kind of situation. I was playing a mission of Hangman's NOOSE, a co-op mission that involves trying to rescue a criminal boss from a SWAT siege on an airport tarmac. This multiplayer mission required me and three other players to get the guy out of there. One of the other players ran off to grab a getaway van. I think the other two players went with him.
I was left alone near the crowd of angry NOOSE troopers. My character had a machine gun. I held the Xbox 360's left trigger to activate a zoomed aim. I used the right trigger to fire. And -- this is the key new feature -- I used the right thumbstick to flick my targeting reticule from one NOOSE trooper to the next. With each flick it moved to lock on to the next trooper. I could still adjust the aim manually, but the lock-on-and-flick technique let me swiftly and accurately cycle through my targets. Because we were playing on easy I didn't take much damage. But I dealt plenty and took out at least a dozen guys.
Because this is "GTA" I'm writing about, it feels awkward to highlight this feature. I recognize that, to some, the ability to shoot cops more easily and accurately than before will not be taken as a positive.
But judging "GTA" as a game, viewing it as a cops vs. robbers action-adventure that a player would want to function in a responsive and smooth fashion, the point here is that the very fundamental actions that were hardest to commit in previous "GTA" games are now a cinch. The developers have taken a flick-targeting technique that was pioneered by the makers of "Advent Rising," Donald and Geremy Mustard, and used it to remedy one of the series' nagging issues. Strange how I didn't feel uncomfortable at all when I wrote about flick-targeting for the Mustards' games.
So to answer the common question: Yes, the controls are much improved. They work now. They work well.