04.19.2007 RUMOR: NEW GTA IV STORY AND GAMEPLAY INFO

The GTA IV rumors in the past haven't turned out to be too successful. A leaked music listing that meant to confirm a 1980s New York setting turned out to only get the location right, and not the timeframe. A lot of people still think Rockstar's keeping some big surprises secret for now, and are convinced that early rumors still hold merit, so now there's another claim to add to the pile. Someone posted a page worth of story and gameplay details here on the GameSpot forums, and if you'd rather not know what was written in the off chance that the information turns out to be true, then stop reading now.

Forum member Jadex9 claims that Nikko Bellic is not the main character . . . for long. Early on in the game you get murdered during a drug deal and your cousin Roman Petronov becomes the main character for the rest of the game. Roman is greatly disturbed and expects his death may not be far away either, so he decides to at least become as rich and powerful as he can before meeting his end, and from there you get to choose which gang you want to join and use to rise to the top. Although it might not be that simple, Jadex9 also mentions that you will be mugged/jacked/jumped/begged to join three different gangs. So it's still very unclear how non-linear GTA IV will turn out to be even if this rumor is true. As far as that mysterious backstory goes, Nikko fled Estonia to escape an angry "paramilitary/Mafioso hybrid" and the story revolves around a clash between the Italian and Russian mafias, which should easily tie into Nikko's backstory. Jadex9 also believes that there will be six motorcycle vehicles in the game, and there will be aircraft in the game, but it will only be three helicopters. Take this all into consideration and feel free to further predict what we'll actually see when the game comes out in October.