Multiplayer – GTA 4’s secret weapon

For some games a standard review just isn’t enough. After delivering our verdict on GTA 4’s single-player campaign earlier this week and told you which version is the one to buy, we’ve now put the multiplayer functionality through its paces and it looks like we’ll be playing this for quite some time. Read on for our thoughts on how it all works and info on all the multiplayer game modes.

One of the neatest things about GTA 4’s multiplayer is how you access it. By bringing up your mobile phone you effectively access the game’s menu, and from here you simply choose multiplayer and you’re off – everything is accessed from within the main game. Whether you’re on Xbox 360 or PS3 the multiplayer is pretty much the same, complete with voice chat if you so wish, a party system and a ten-level ranking system. All the games allow for a level of customisation, including the area of play and whether or not target lock-on is allowed.

Here’s a run-down of the game types on offer.

Deathmatch (Team or solo)

This is your standard multiplayer game type, with the aim being to kill your opponents and pick up money. Whether played every man for himself or as a team, the goal is to collect as much money as possible. When you spawn the only weapon you have is a hand-gun, so it’s essential you head to a weapon pick-up (marked on the map) as soon as possible. With vehicles accessible just as they are in the single-player game a great option is to ram into opponents or, if playing as a team, get a group of you in car for drive bys.

Mafiya Work (Team or Solo)

In a set-up similar to the single-player campaign, Kenny Petrovic dishes out missions to all players. Whether playing alone or as part of a team, you must complete the mission before someone else does. Successfully completed missions earn you cash, and the player/team with the most cash when time runs out wins. We found Team Mafiya Work to be great fun, especially with players who knew the layout of the city and worked well as a team.

Car Jack City (Team or Solo)

For a game called Grand Theft Auto the series has definitely strayed away from stealing cars, but this multiplayer mode is focussed entirely on just this. Again, the winner is determined by who has the most cash when time is up, but how you earn cash depends on what cars you deliver. Cars marked with a blue icon on the map vary in their reward, with the better its condition the more cash you are awarded. Cars marked with a green icon hold drugs and are worth a lot of cash even if they’re battered. We found this game to be almost pointless to play solo, but with teams it’s great fun. Our favourite tactic was having one driver who ferried other players around the map to pick up cars – and shooting enemies through the windshield metres from the drop-off point before making some easy cash ourselves.

Turf War (Team only)

This is pretty much your standard control point game type, just set in Liberty City. Up to five control zones are spawned on the map and you must control as many of them as possible. It’s certainly one of the more simple game types on offer, but still relies on good team work – something we found much harder in the PS3 game where far fewer players use headsets.

Race/GTA Race (Solo only)

This is a straight up race to the finish against up to 15 other players. The exact game type can be customised, allowing you to start on foot or set the race over laps or an A to B free route. Depending on your settings, Cars, bikes, helicopters and boats are allowed. GTA Race is essentially the same, but you can leave your vehicle and use weapons on other players. Although lots of people were playing the Race game modes, we found it to be one of the least exciting on offer in GTA 4.

Cops ‘n’ Crooks (Team only)

This is by far one of the most entertaining game modes available in GTA 4’s multiplayer mode. It’s entirely team-based, with one team playing as the cops while the other are the crooks. There are two game type varieties, although they essentially work the same. All for One requires the Crooks team to get their boss (one of the players) to the getaway vehicle, whereas in One for All every crook must try to make it to the getaway vehicle. Cops simply have to stop them from doing this or destroy the getaway vehicle. Of all the game types in GTA 4, it’s this one that has most potential for hilarity, with high speed chases and intense shoot-outs cropping up in almost every game.

Co-op multiplayer modes

Deal Breaker, Bomb Da Base II and Hangman’s NOOSE are all co-op game types for up to four players. In Deal Breaker you must work together in order to stop a deal going down, in Bomb Da Base II you need to plant bombs on a ship, and in Hangman’s NOOSE you need to protect Petrovic at the airport. Without any co-op in GTA 4’s main campaign these three game modes are the closest you’re going to get to playing through missions with friends. With Easy, Medium and Hard difficulty settings there’s plenty of fun to be had here.

Free Mode

One of the best features of GTA 4 is the ability to just hang out with your mates in Liberty City. Up to sixteen players can be online together and you can do pretty much what you want. The story isn’t running, but you can still attract cops, fly helicopters and get up to no good. With a large group of players it’s far easier to set-up spectacular set-pieces – your imagination is your only limit.

Rockstar Social Club

The final feature to note is the Rockstar Social Club. Just like Bungie.net allows Halo 2 and Halo 3 players to track their stats, Rockstar Social Clubs allows you to view your achievements in the game, compare them to friends, enter competitions and even purchase songs you’ve heard on the radio (although this is currently only available in North America). At the moment the Rockstar Social Club is a great addition to GTA 4 and hopefully it will continue to evolve over the coming months.

GTA 4 is one of the best single-player games we’ve ever played, packing in 40 hours or more of brilliant entertainment. Seemingly that wasn’t enough for Rockstar, as the multiplayer is far more impressive than we imagined it would be. What we thought might be a throwaway feature with few game modes looks likely to keep gamers playing GTA 4 for months, if not years to come.