Rockstar details GTA IV multiplayer

Rockstar has shed some light on a handful of the multiplayer options in Grand Theft Auto IV.

Among its offerings will be the expected Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch modes, according to GameTap, which can be tinkered with by whoever is hosting. You can change the number of fighters on each team if you like, so one person could try to hold off 15 others - or you can fiddle with things like weapon types, police numbers, traffic, and pedestrians.

There's also a clever blip system you can turn on or off, which shows enemy locations when they move, but disappears when they stop.

Unsurprisingly, matches will be split into ranked and unranked affairs, and the reward for going competitive is cash; cash you can spend on in-game items and use to bolster your persistent ranked career.

Rockstar is also adding co-operative modes: Cops 'n' Crooks and Hangman's Noose.

The former splits you into two teams and has one side escort a boss character from A to B. The higher the difficulty the better the cash reward, and the more of you that are escorting the boss, the better the bonus.

Helping your friends can be as simple as plotting way points on an on-screen map so your driver doesn't have to do it.

Hangman's Noose, on the other hand, is a collection of mini-challenges. The specifics of each mission are laid out in cut-scenes at the start. You could find yourself fending off Noose (SWAT) teams while protecting someone, then hopping into a car and trying to escape helicopters and the full wrath of the law.

Rockstar shed a little light on the GTA Race mode as well, which simply requires you get to the finish line as fast as possible. The entire world and its contents are available for use, so you can pinch a noisy moped to distract your opponents, or just pick up a bazooka and blow them up.

Those of you with a hankering for pure racing will be able to do so in a GT mode, where you can pick car classes from favourites like Infernos, Turismos, Comets and Supercars.

There will be around 15 game modes to get to grips with online in the final game, which should make for a rather compelling experience, Rockstar claims.

"After players earn the cell phone in the single-player game (which takes about five minutes), if they want they can jump online and never even play the single-player again," said Jeronimo Barrera, product development boss. "Online is a serious time sucker. You're going to have to be really careful if you're married."

Grand Theft Auto IV is due out for Xbox 360 and PS3 on 29th April.