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Just over two months after Grand Theft Auto 4 showed up on April 29th Sony rolled out firmware 2.40 for the PS3. Once the firmware showed up the forums echoed with the statement that it sure would be nice if GTA4 got a Trophy patch, wouldn't it?

And nobody logs in...

Last night I sat down and took the time to play through some GTA IV missions and noticed a couple of things. First, I'm finding the game to be getting significantly harder but more importantly I'm finding myself relying more and more on the taxis to get around quickly. Niko has enough cash to jump to the end of the taxi ride without flinching and when you're in a rush, there's absolutely no point to driving. Walking is very dangerous business in Liberty City, as Wombat told us, and driving can be treacherous. Sometimes, however, the fact that it can be a lot of fun to die in this game (especially online) trumps caution. The physics engine of GTA IV also can provide a couple of useful public safety lessons.

In Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas the best way to get around was by motorcycle. You could zip through traffic pretty easily, take shortcuts very easily, and take bigger risks trying to evade police with a motorcycle. When CJ's bike riding skill maxed out, he could stick to the motorcycle through almost any stunt or accident where you were able to land him reasonably on both wheels. This could be quite a bit of fun when joyriding or showing off. GTA IV takes a more realistic view of motorcycles and how they behave in the hands of an irresponsible rider.

Public Safety Lesson 1: Do not run red lights. When driving a car, you can slam into just about anybody, pull around them, and keep going. Hitting a police car is annoying because of the wanted star it gets you, and running down a pedestrian when trying to go around an intersection will likewise get you in hot water. Things are only worse if you're on a motorcycle and decide to run the light by sailing through from between, say, three lanes of traffic on the main drag in Algonquin. Last night I whipped out into the intersection, smacked into a cab and sent Niko flying. He ended up tumbling down the road for quite a distance, complete with cries of pain and the unpleasant sound of his body slapping the ground as he rolled. Good thing he had a helmet on and had gotten plenty of calcium for strong bones.

Public Safety Lesson 2: Do not speed on a bridge. Aside from only having two lanes or so in each direction, bridges have too many supports on the sides to make cutting around traffic feasible. Being on a motorcycle is even trickier. I wasn't able to stop fast enough in one case and skidded into the back of a car, ejecting Niko towards the side of the bridge and a certain impact with a steel support. This time, however, Niko sailed clear of the bridge supports and off the bridge entirely. He hurtled towards the water below, tumbling end over end with his motorcycle helmet still on, thankfully falling well short of the docks. I only wish the PlayStation Eye could have snapped a picture of my look of giddy surprise when he hit the water without a scratch on him.

So remember kids, take a cab or drive responsibly. Niko will thank you for it.

Image credit: IGN.

This dimly lit interior of the Perestroika club from Grand Theft Auto IV is shown with a tough-to-see profile of Niko at the far left with arms outstretched, aiming a weapon. Given that I didn't have anyone with me when I took this picture last night while playing the game on my PS3, you might wonder how I could be shooting and taking the picture at the same time.

The game had frozen during one of the missions, requiring a full reboot of the PS3. While the 1.01 patch might be helping, it hasn't fixed all of the problems with playing the single player game while connected to the PSN, and the real test won't occur until we hit peak gameplay times this weekend. Next patch, please.