A spanish edition of PSM3 magazine got the scoop on GTA IV multiplayer mechanics. How is it that some random Spanish publication gets this data from an American company like Rockstar? Are they paying for it or something? Does someone that works for this magazine have family in the company that leaks it? Who really cares I guess. The bottom line is that there are an incredible FIFTEEN ways to play GTA IV online allowing up to 16 players to interact with each other.

So far there is known to be a deathmatch mode (of course) as well as co-operation mode where you battle police with friends. There is a "racing" game, but I imagine you can shoot up the other cars and cause the player to have to steal a new one by crashing into them untill they explode, so its oh so much more than just racing. A VIP game where you fight to protect an NPC "VIP" is one of the modes and another where one team of players gets to BE the cops and the other team plays criminals. There is a scavenger hunt type of game where it's a race to see who can complete missions faster, and there is also a "free roam" option which is just a wide open city where players will be running around at the same time, but not bound by any rules or mini-goals.

The last option really appeals to me. Often in GTA I just sat down and enjoyed the fun of seeing how much carnage I could cause and how long I could survive vs the cops. I always wished I could see another player fly past me at an intersection with a huge number of cops chasing them as well. I wonder if the police resources will be stretched thin if many players are all involved in activity at the same time, or if it will simply be unlimited. I love the idea of luring the police into a massive ambush of 16 players with rocket launchers. "I'll get them to chase me, you 12 guys wait here in this dead end" Mwahahaha I'm just so happy I have Brawl to tide me over or else I'd be going crazy waiting for this game to drop.