More details than you can shake a killing stick at. We’ve got loads of new information on one of the most anticipated games of all time. Amazingly, there are already boxes for it on the shelf of our local games store in the UK, despite the fact it isn’t out for months yet.

Gaming magazine PLAY has an exclusive preview of GTA IV in this month’s edition. We’ve read it and we have to say it is rather good, so if you can get your hands on a copy then make sure you pick it up for a very in-depth look at the game. If however, you can’t, the folks over at GTA4.net have cheekily summarised some of the key points. Whilst the magazine might be all about PlayStation, it still hold a whole lot of relevance to the XBOX 360 version, so read on…

• McReary, the character we learned about in GamesTM, is a corrupt cop. He has “dirt on Niko’s past.” The mission they previewed is called “Call and Collect.”
• Little Jacob (a caribbean arms dealer) is a good friend of Niko’s cousin. When you buy weapons from him (which are kept in his trunk) you can scroll through them like you did in Ammu-Nation in the previous GTA games.
• Rotterdam Hill (the place where Niko agrees to meet Jacob) is in Alderney - the GTA IV equivalent of New Jersey.
• Niko kills Goldberg (the shady lawyer) because he owes a favour to somebody.
• Rockstar showed the sequence where he kills Goldberg twice. The first time he fell out of the window, the second time he merely crumpled on the floor.
• When purchasing clothes, you have to choose the items from the shelf individually.
• Determining which figures you need to kill requires perception - there are no arrowheads to direct you like in the previous games.
• Once you gain a wanted-level, the map flashes with circles of blue and red, with each circle representing the line of sight of the police chase. The circles differ in size depending on your wanted-level.
• The default camera view when driving rests around the left-hand side of the car above the road.
• Multiplayer is accessed via your mobile phone.
• The combat rests somewhere between Resident Evil 4 and Gears of War in terms of style, allowing you to roll, find protection and blind-fire from behind cover.
• Shooting different parts of the body has different impacts (e.g shoot a security guard in the foot at the top of the stairs, and he’ll come tumbling down.)
• In GTA IV you have to develop relationships with other characters. Your relationship with Little Jacob, for example, is maintained through phone calls and loyalty. Developing good relationships with different characters can provide different rewards.

A quick note, if you fancy having yourself featured in GTA IV as an irate caller on a radio show, then now is your chance. Head on over to the new Rockstar site for WKTT Radio to find out more.

Be sure to check out the details of the recent GamesTM preview by taking a look at our summary of it right here. We’ll somewhat inevitably have more on this game soon.

Thanks for submitting, KilltasticBagel and VeteranAssassin!