Update: It’s been Confirmed. RDR II is coming next fall, and we’ll be seeing the first trailer tomorrow.

Grand Theft Auto IV introduced downloadable episodes to the series. After playing through Niko Bellic’s tale of redemption, players can also experience two other tales from the world of GTA IV, The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony. You can either download them yourself, or buy this disc which has both episodes on them. While both episodes utilize the same frame work as Grand Theft 4, they both offer wildly different, even if condensed, experiences.
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L.A.Noire was one of Rockstar’s most ambitious projects. Developed by Australian group Team Bondi, L.A. Noire is a detective story taking place after WWII. Playing as Cole Phelps, you set out to solve a series of crimes in post-war Los Angles, among them being a series of killings inspired by the real life Black Dahlia Murders. L.A. Noire’s gameplay and graphics make this a unique open world experience. It’s just too bad that we may not see much more from the developers.
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Let it be said that one of my favorite games of the previous console generation was the original Manhunt. It was one of those games that people either loved or hated. While critics of the game decried its slow pace and repetitiveness, I enjoyed the tense stealth action gameplay, the 8mm-style atmosphere, and the lunatics that made up the game’s adversaries. So, when I heard that Rockstar was developing a Wii-based sequel that utilized the Wiimote for motion-controlled killing, I was ecstatic. Then the controversy came. You see, the game received an AO (Adults Only) rating from the ESRB, and both Sony and Nintendo would refuse to allow an AO-rated product to be released for their consoles (and just for good measure, Microsoft also would not allow an AO-rated product to be released on its console, although there were no plans to bring the game to Xbox 360). I was worried that I would never get to see Rockstar’s vision. Then miraculously, the game was green-lighted for release after some censoring. Sadly, to finally play the game after the controversy was akin to dying, going to heaven, and finding Jesus strung out on heroin. Yes, the game was that bad.
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The controversy surrounding this game turned out to be hilarious. The media, anti-gaming advocates, ‘experts’ (people who never played a video game since Pac-Man), and everyone’s favorite disbarred lawyer decried this game as being everything from an entertainment medium that glorified bullying to a Columbine-simulator. The finished product actually ended up having more in common with Revenge of the Nerds than Virginia Tech. Instead of a gruesome Columbine fantasy, Bully actually ends up being a hilarious (and T-Rated) look at high school antics in the tradition of Porky’s.
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Not only is the 8th 4th game in the Grand Theft Auto series taking in more money Rockstar games than protagonist Niko Bellic could ever steal, the game now sits high atop Game Rankings and Meta Critic‘s score compilations.

Its surely the most important game to be released this year, but its not perfect. Can GTA stop Iron Man this weekend? We’ll have to wait and see.