To say that Grand Theft Auto IV is the most anticipated game of the year for many people would be a bit of an understatement. My own personal hype levels are in overdrive at this point and it’d be about impossible for me to be rational about the game right now. Microsoft and Sony both have a lot riding on this game right now, especially with Microsoft giving a no-interest loan of $50 million to Rockstar to lockup two exclusive downloadable episodes to add content to the game, with the first episode supposed to arrive in August. No details exist about this DLC – at all. The most believable rumors have said that each episode will contain approximately 10 hours of content and cost $20.

So what do Playstation 3 owners have to look forward to? Especially considering that all of the early previews and footage of the game were demoed on the 360 and it was looking like the PS3 version would be yet another port, hopefully not one of the many, many, many sub-standard ports that the PS3 has received. It seems that the fears of PS3 owners may have been for naught, and that they may even have something to crow about. The IGN review for GTA IV is now live, and it appears that the PS3 version may actually sport superior visuals and performance:

Past GTA titles have had mild-to-serious framerate issues and technical glitches, because the games were trying to do far more than the PlayStation 2 could handle. While GTA IV is pushing the PS3 and 360 to the limit, it also runs amazingly well. Sure, there are framerate hitches here and there and (particularly on 360) there is some texture pop-in, but it actually runs better than I expected. That a game with great AI, an awesome physics engine and a detailed open world runs so well and with such short load times is a technical marvel. For that, I can forgive framerate issues and some noticeable aliasing.

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For those wanting to know which version looks better, the edge goes to the PS3. The textures and framerate are comparable, but the PS3 has far less pop-in. The 360 has richer colors, but the PS3 has better anti-aliasing making it look a little cleaner. Because GTA IV can preload onto the PS3 hard drive, the in-game loads are faster. Don’t worry Xbox owners, the load times are rarely more than 30 seconds and don’t occur very often. The slight visual edge goes to PS3, but the 360 is no slouch. Either version will do you proud.

Why yes, the fanboy fallout will be epic.