Remember we recently reported on a mod for Grand Theft Auto IV that allowed players to switch between characters seamlessly? Yeah, it was a little clunky, everyone you switched to had Niko's voice and it seemed a bit crude. However, the mod has been updated with improved scripts, timing and code so that it's nearly identical to the one in Grand Theft Auto V.
So if you've been out of the loop for enough time to not know about the instant character switching, let's get you all up-to-date on the feature: Rockstar is doing something revolutionary in the open-world genre by including three playable protagonists. Each character has their own personality, voice, movement and idiosyncrasies. What's more is that players, at any time, can switch between each of these characters while carrying out missions or just goofing around. It all happens at the press of a button and it transitions without any loading screens whatsoever. It's an amazing feature, no doubt.
Well, for Grand Theft Auto IV, modders have made it possible for players to seamlessly switch between characters just like in Grand Theft Auto V. The video at the top of the article, courtesy of DSO Gaming, gives you a perfect illustration of the updated mod, which no longer stumbles and clumsily shifts between each of the protagonists in almost drunken-script fashion. Instead, the transition is now pitch perfect in its vertical scale out and the little sound effects add that much more to the polish of the script. It's amazing feat, showing the power of the RAGE and the ingenuity of the modders well before GTA V has been released.
What's more is that the most important part of the mod is that the voices switch correctly! Can you believe it? I'm not entirely sure how it works because unfortunately I have the crappy Steam version with all that GFWL DRM ruining the games from being properly combined but if you have the proper EFLC installed that has all three games together you'll be able to seamlessly switch characters with the script without any problems. It'll literally be like playing GTA V, just in GTA IV.
The only thing the modders need to do now is fix up the shooting so you can free-aim shoot and maybe polish up the fighting mechanics just a bit more – maybe something closer to Max Payne 3 – and then GTA IV will be just like GTA V.
Even if you're a PC gamer who is peeved Rockstar has been mum about an announcement for next-gen consoles and PC for their latest Grand Theft Auto game, you have to admit that the mods for GTA IV keep fresh life breathing through the game in ways that no DLC could have ever hoped to achieve.
