GTA IV gets Google Mapped

It's been suggested that just because GTA IV concentrates on a single city as opposed to an entire state it's not going to be a very big game world. We're not so sure. And we've used Google Maps toprove it.

First we used Google Maps editing kit and dropped in all the known locations that have been seen in the trailer. Then we added the Liberty City/NYC boroughs revealed by the Game Informer preview. Finally we drew a boundary around certain geographical locations that we can imagine serving as useful boundary points in the game - sea, major roads and theJFK airport for example.

The results are pretty surprising.The area the map could potentially cover is huge.

We haven't even taken into account that the trailer shows a ferry terminal that might be a link to Staten Island. That would be another huge chunk of land to incorporate. Those disgruntled residents might still see Richmond County in GTA IV yet.

To see the map click here. Feel free to zoom in and out to check out the real-life locations. We'll be updating the map/redrawing boundaries with each round of coverage as new locations and buildings are revealed so be sure to check back to the map now and again.

April 19, 2007