Posted by: Nik Taylor

Here we go then folks, the wait is almost over. GTA IV goes on sale at midnight tonight, with many shops opening up in the wee small hours to provide wide-eyed gamers with their pre-order copies.

And although I should really be doing some work, I have no intention of being left out. So I've swiped Jane's pre-release copy of Rockstar's latest epic and will be embarking on a marathon session in a few minutes. After that I'm going to be playing through until 12pm tomorrow lunchtime (aside from a few hours kip once the caffeine supplies run low.)

Throughout the next 18 hours I'll be blogging my progress with the game - but most importantly I want to hear from you. What are you looking forward to in the game? What do you hope they've improved upon since San Andreas? Are you taking a sickie to get in a full day's gaming on the day of release? And, if you're also playing the game in its first few hours of release, what are you making of it? Post your messages on the blog or add your posts to the thread on our message board.

Right, I'm off to Liberty City. Back in a couple of hours with some first impressions.

7.06pm
Well, I'm a couple of hours in and I still feel like a newcomer. As ever the beauty of GTA is in the exploring. Grabbing a car and hammering round the streets is excellent fun. The car mechanics feel more fluid than before - the first time I threw a handbrake turn made me laugh out loud.

Some other things that have made me grin inanely...

• Crash your car too hard and you go flying through the windscreen.
• Smash up an old banger too much and its engine cuts out rather than blowing up.
• Having sat-nav built in to the map system.
• Being able to call 911 and send the police out on prank calls.

It's a lot of fun so far and I'm really still in the intro tutorial section. A long way to go... :)

One other thing for now, for those of you who've said you're already playing the game. Is it just me or does Nico sound more than a little like Borat...?