As l read this Gamespot article it makes me think that RockStar wanted to betray its fans but as l read on l can understand why RockStar would remove planes(and maybe helicopters?). I think why they would remove airplanes from GTA 4 is maybe they don't want its fans to create attacks on the buildings that look like the real thing. If that is the reason RockStar is removing the airplanes from GTA 4 why don't do what GTA:SA did have military attack jets take you down like they did if you went beyond the boundaries in GTA:SA. I hope they don't really remove the planes in it because helicopters aren't really fun to fly in the GTA series.
Another thing they are doing in GTA 4 is adding behavior AI that NaturalMotion has created for another game l am waiting for is Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. This is going to change the way NPC act towards you and to another NPC in the game. I'm really happy that they are changing the way NPC act in the GTA series because before this announcement all they did was curse at you for bumping into them, run when you shot a gun, and some would fight you if you provoke them. One more thing that makes me happy to get GTA 4 when it comes out is the use of the RAGE engine that they used in RockStar Presents: Table Tennis. The grapics really improved from the last one which is good on the eyes.
Now lets talk about the multiplayer. The multiplayer really doesn't add to my excitement for GTA 4 because the Grand Theft Auto series doesn't really fit with it. Multiplayer was a bad choice on RockStar side I think because if it's like the Vice City Stories multiplayer when I won't pick it up on the first day when it comes up. Multiplayer gets very big judgement points from me and if the multiplayer is crap when it will mostly get a 8.5 from me if everything is a perfect ten.