Character Interaction:

1 - When Niko first arrives in Liberty City, he stays with his cousin, Roman, in a dilapidated area of Broker, where he runs a taxi depot. Having been less than honest about his situation in Liberty City, it is revealed that he is in heavy debt and has become a target of vicious thugs. This creates a continual money problem for the two, forcing Niko into working for shady criminals.

2 - Niko will be able to socialize with associates to improve ’friendships’ with them. If Niko arranges to meet a contact or associate and stands them up, it will negatively impact their relationship. Rewards are attained through good ’friendships,’ (like free cabs from Roman, helicopter taxi service from Brucie, and Little Jacob will deliver guns to Niko’s location.

3 - Niko is able to access Liberty City’s Internet connection from any computer in the game, and Rockstar has confirmed that it can also be utilized as a useful information tool.

4 - Leisure activities include drinking, eating, bowling, night clubbing (including bars and strip club type establishments) and darts. Players that spend time hanging-out will be rewarded (if only that were always the case in real life). Also, many other activities are at play, such as smoking, sitting, talking on the phone, and reading - all of which terminate as soon as Niko starts shooting.

5 - Niko can get a heads-up on the police, through hearing LCPD radio chatter.

6- Phrases heard by Niko while in the midst of a shootout include: "Don’t push me friend," "I’m not going to think twice about killing you" and "Don’t try to be a wise guy."

7 - The romantic element involves Roman in an unstable relationship with ’’Mallorie.’’

Character Agility and Movement:

1 - The RAGE proprietary game engine (from Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis) with NaturalMotion’s ’euphoria’ animation engine is used to create dynamic real-time character movement.

2 - Physics play a huge part: Niko’s walk, for instance, is influenced by pavement slope or material on the ground.

3 - A new ’wanted’ mechanic has been introduced. Niko must avoid the LCPD to stop the search radius from being reset to his last spotted location. If Niko attains a wanted level, a search radius appears on the mini-map. The higher the wanted level, the wider the radius.

4 - Niko can swim, though not underwater, and can climb on things such as telephone poles, though cannot access all buildings. He can hang on to trucks, although only in specific missions.

5 - Niko can switch cars without being spotted by the cops, while in hot pursuit. And if the cops drag him out of a car, he has more chances of escaping on foot, than in previous GTA’s.

6 - Niko is much better equipped to deal with fire fights, as he can take cover, wall-hug, blind-fire, slide to cover, vault over low objects and crouch-run.

7 - San Andreas-style character customization is absent, so don’t get any ideas about fattening him up by force feeding him junk food.

8 - When Niko fails a mission, he gets a text message asking if he wants to restart. Then he gets placed back to the point directly after any mission intro cut-scene - so that he can start again, without the typical annoying backtrack.

9 - Best of all, Niko can get piss-faced drunk to produce some of the most hilarious stumbling physics ever. The screen blurs and the camera moves erratically, to mimic effectively what happens during drunk driving. Kind of makes a case for sobriety during machine operation.