Grand Theft Auto V - PlayStation 3

Latest Screens Show An Array Of Criminality

Jeff Cork — Fri, 17 May 2013 15:54:31 GMT

Rockstar has given us all a little Friday treat with the release of four new Grand Theft Auto V screens. Franklin and Trevor are up to no good, which doesn't come as much of a surprise.

There are plenty of little details to soak in, from the way the member of the SWAT team has positioned himself on the Sheriff's SUV to how sunlight filters through the murky waters off the Los Santos shores. Franklin appears in two of the screens, getting ready to escape the police on a dirtbike in one shot and breaking into a muscle car in another. We join loose cannon Trevor in the middle of a highway chase. Perhaps that canary-yellow car wasn't the best choice for keeping a low profile. We can't tell who's in the wetsuit, but it does look as though there's some wreckage to explore in the bottom-left corner of the shot.

Grand Theft Auto V adds a gameplay twist in that the story is told through the perspectives of three characters. Each brings his own skillset to missions, which is handy in some of the large-scale heists. Players can swap between each character on the fly, depending on the situation. We've broken down how it works in our in-depth preview, so be sure to check it out.

Look for Grand Theft Auto V on Sept. 17 for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

Touring The Open World of Grand Theft Auto V

Matt Bertz — Thu, 02 May 2013 16:00:00 GMT

Rockstar gives us a new look at the expansive territory gamers can explore in the latest GTA game.

Reading numbers on paper is one thing. However, seeing is believing when it comes to getting your head around just how large the Los Santos territory is in Grand Theft Auto V. When we visited Rockstar headquarters in New York City for the cover reveal, the team rattled off several impressive facts about the scale. The total playable area (including the underwater areas) is five times bigger than the frontier in Red Dead Redemption. Taken as a whole, this square footage is bigger than GTA San Andreas, GTA IV, and Red Dead Redemption combined. As impressive as these stats are, the expansiveness doesn't really sink in until you see Franklin hanging out of a plane at 13,000 feet.

The sense of scale is breathtaking. Looking out to the left as Franklin jumps from the plane, I can see clear to the Alamos Sea (the GTA version of the Salton Sea). Far in the distance to the right is downtown Los Santos, with skyscrapers reaching high into the sky despite the considerable distance from the jump location. In between lies a vast mountain range filled with trees, animals, and a wealth of dynamic activities. As Franklin descends over a ridge and guides himself toward a stream, I notice deer and wildcats roaming the mountain range and a park ranger cruising the winding cliffside roads.

Franklin successfully navigates himself to the side of the road, where two men are fishing the stream next to their Winnebago. Though the wilderness is vast, Rockstar promises several things to do in these open expanses. Vehicles like ATVs are parked at the side of the road just waiting for someone to hop on. Depending on which of the three characters you are controlling, the location, and the time of day, you may experience dynamic events like hitchhikers, broken-down cars, and ATM robberies. You can also kill time by hunting in these territories (sorry, no fishing).

The Bender And The Wet Suit

At this point in the demo we jump to Trevor, the most unpredictable of the three playable characters. The camera pulls away from Franklin high into the sky like a satellite before triangulating on Trevor's position and descending back to Earth. He's passed out on a beach with a bottle of liquor in his hand wearing nothing but his underwear, socks, and a pair of shoes. Bloody scratches, bruises, and scars pock his body, which Rockstar says are dynamically generated. The beachfront around him is littered with the bodies of the west-coast chapter of The Lost, the biker gang that first appeared in The Lost & Damned DLC for Grand Theft Auto IV. These rough-looking characters have patches of dried blood on their jeans and cuts, but I couldn't tell if they were just passed out from a bender or ended up on the losing end of a skirmish with Trevor, with whom they frequently clash.

Once Trevor drunkenly struggles to his feet he leaves the bikers behind and hops into a Dinghy (a boat that has appeared in several previous GTA games). Cruising out into the body of water, I notice the vastly improved wave technology, which looks more like the technology driving the open waters of Assassin's Creed III than previous GTA games. The boat rocks forward and backward naturally as the waves roll by.

Some boats in Los Santos include scuba equipment, which Trevor grabs to head underwater. Plunging into the ocean depth reveals another world players can lose themselves in. With schools of fish, waving seaweed, and a diverse ocean-floor terrain, it's teeming with just as much life as the mountainside. Trevor heads toward a giant shipwreck, which has attracted the attention of other divers as well. Rockstar wouldn't give specifics, but promises you can find several types of useful items in these wrecks.

As he moves around the hull of the ship he encounters the last thing a diver wants to see - a great white shark. Trevor audibly gasps in fear as it approaches, but Rockstar says as long as you don't make sudden movements or swim too near the sharks they may disregard you. Trevor quickens his pace toward the surface to escape the sticky situation.

Heart Attack And Vine

With our brief glimpse of the ocean life coming to an end, the playtester jumps from Trevor to Michael, who is walking out of an office building in Vinewood. Since he can't stand his family, the career criminal spends the majority of his downtime drinking whiskey, watching Vinewood action movies, and visiting his therapist.

As he turns the corner he runs into a fading actress named Pamela Drake, who says to anyone who will listen that back in the day a big-time Vinewood mogul wrote the film A *** In Paris specifically her for. Like the street preacher in GTA IV, Drake is one of a series of recurring pedestrians that offers chatter. Depending on whether you approach her with Trevor, Franklin, or Michael, she will react differently.

Gangland

San Andreas fans look back fondly at the gang wars between the Ballas, Grove Street Families, and Vagos. Though modern day Los Santos is very different from the golden era of street gangs featured in that game, Rockstar has confirmed that the Ballas are still going strong.

When you ride into gang territory, they don't automatically attack you like they used to. The thugs mind their own business unless you antagonize them by drawing a weapon. Their extreme distaste for authority, however, is much more apparent. Whenever the police roll into their neighborhood, the Ballas will open fire on the boys in blue. This can be used to your advantage when you're trying to lose the heat in a chase. Drive into gang territory and they will immediately attack the police, giving you a window to escape.

Michael continues down the street and I get a glimpse of the street life in the more populated sections of Los Santos. Much like in the Elder Scrolls games, the pedestrians in GTA V don't stay in one spot all day, preferring to move around from activity to activity. The AI is also much more responsive to your actions. In this instance, Michael walks past two celebrity lookalikes. The first is a stand-in for one of the Republican Space Rangers (which returns with new episodes in GTA V). The other is dressed as Impotent Rage, a new liberal superhero with a hit TV show. When Michael pulls out his smartphone to take a picture of the Space Ranger, the actor strikes a pose for him. Whenever you take a picture in Los Santos, you can share it with friends via the Rockstar Social Club. Nearby, another man is offering a tour of celebrity homes. If you jump on board, he will tell you the sleazy backstories of the stars featured on the tour.

Passing a tattoo parlor (which you can enter if you wish), Michael notices a woman hiding behind a bus in a nearby alley. The woman is Lacy Jonas, a celebrity who calls herself the voice of a generation., This isn just one of the several dynamic missions that may pop up on your map when walking through a neighborhood. Why is she in the alley? Paparazzi have staked out her car (which is hilariously called a Benefactor Surano). Michael nonchalantly walks up to the vehicle, smarts off to the cameramen, and peels away to pick up Lacy.

The paparazzi don't give up that easily. As Michael takes off in the sportscar, they give chase in a van. Lacy angrily voices her reservations about being photographed right now because she feels fat (she's not). When Michael asks what she did to generate so much attention, she replies, "I'm really famous. I didn't do anything!" Michael eventually shakes their pursuers and heads up to the safety of Vinewood hills.

Though our glimpses into the lives of Franklin, Trevor, and Michael were brief, they effectively communicate just how diverse the experiences will be depending on which corner of the open world you're in. The wildnerness both above and below water give players ample reasons to explore, and the heart of Los Santos feels just as vibrant and teeming with life as Liberty City did in GTA IV.

To learn more new details about GTA V, check out our other feature that went up today on the new heist system. If you haven't already, we also suggest you watch the brand new trailers and dive into our extensive coverage we released during our cover story last December.

The Art Of The Heist In GTA V

Matt Bertz — Thu, 02 May 2013 16:00:00 GMT

You can make decent money knocking over liquor stores, arms trafficking, or carrying out hits in Los Santos, but why be a small-time crook when you can go for the major score? Grand Theft Auto V protagonist Michael thought he made enough to retire from a life of crime, but after his family squanders away most of his ill-gained earnings, he's forced to jump back into the game with fellow playable characters Trevor and Franklin. The only way he's going to regain his financial footing is by thinking big.

An aficionado of Vinewood action films, Michael also loves the thrill of the heist. GTA V peppers five or six of these big jobs throughout the story, each requiring careful preparation and execution. If you successfully pull off these jobs, you can walk away with millions of dollars to spend on luxury vehicles, helipads, marinas, businesses, weapons, aesthetic and performance car customizations, or even properties (a reversal of position for Rockstar, who previously told us you wouldn't be able to buy homes).

These major heists typically begin with a meeting of the minds. As Michael, Trevor, and Franklin kick around ideas, the player is presented with options on how to approach the proposed mission. For instance, you could enter a building stealthily from the roof or bust through the front door, guns blazing. The choice you make completely changes the dynamic of the heist, and thanks to the ability to replay missions you can experience both approaches if you want.

The more complex missions require the help of specialists like a wheelman, hired gun, or a hacker. You have cheap and expensive options, but you get what you pay for. The cheaper hacker may take longer to crack the security network, leaving you with only 30 seconds to collect all the money you can carry instead of the full minute you may have received had you spent more to get a seasoned pro. The drawback to hiring an expert is they demand a bigger cut of the take. If your hired hands survive the mission, they will improve and perform better the next time you need their expertise.

Once you lock down your approach and hire any specialists you require, you must perform a series of sub-missions. In the mission Rockstar showed us (which isn't a major story heist, but a one-of-a-kind mission that shares structural similarities), the crew plans to rob an armored security truck just like the famous scene in Heat. Before they can start the mission, the player must steal the vehicles being used for the job, find a place to stash the getaway vehicle, and buy some boiler suits and masks to wear during the heist.

With these sub-missions already taken care of before the demo starts, we join Franklin just as he's pulling up to meet Michael and Trevor. After the three exchange pleasantries, Michael outlines the plan. Trevor needs to find an elevated perch and serve as the lookout, notifying the other two when the security truck is nearing the site of the attempted robbery so they can block the road.

The job starts with the player controlling Trevor in a first-person view as he looks at the oncoming traffic through a pair of binoculars to locate the armored truck. Once he spots it, the camera zooms out and places the player in control of Michael in the garbage truck, who maneuvers the vehicle to block the entire street.

When the garbage truck is in place, a cinematic sequence shows the armored truck approaching the roadblock and screeching to a halt. Now the camera jumps to Franklin's first-person perspective behind the wheel of the tow truck. The play tester steps on the gas and rams into the target vehicle at full speed. Another cutscene shows the powerful impact of the crash, which tips the armored vehicle on its side.

The player stays in control of Franklin, who walks over and places explosives on the back door of the overturned truck. After detonation, Michael joins Franklin and the guards emerge with their hands up. The alarm is already sounding, and police sirens scream in the distance. The team doesn't have time to collect all the cash, so they take defensive positions and wait to open fire on the LSPD.

At this point in the mission the player is given the ability to swap between Trevor, who is perched in an elevated position with a sniper rifle and an RPG, and the two other characters, who are both armed with machine guns near the truck. When the characters are this close together, player-activated switching happens nearly instantaneously, with the world slowing down for a split second so the player can reorient before rejoining the fray. To showcase the speed of these transitions, the play tester fires a rocket with Trevor and switches immediately to Franklin. Before the rocket even reaches its intended destination, he's in full control of the new character.

After disposing of several waves of cops, a brief reprieve allows the crew to gather the money and make off in the getaway vehicle, marking the end of a thrilling score.

Jumping from one character to another repeatedly may sound disorienting on paper, but watching Grand Theft Auto V in action quells any worry I had about the system. Smooth transitions make it easy to orient yourself after a switch, the cinematic sequences add another layer of drama to the proceedings, and being able to rotate between the characters gives the players a new level of control in dictating their play style. For Rockstar, this may be the greatest heist of all.

To read more about GTA V, watch the character trailers released just last week, read our new feature on the open world, or check out our coverage hub.

Putting Your Personal Stamp On Grand Theft Auto V

Matt Bertz — Thu, 02 May 2013 16:00:00 GMT

The RPG-style character customization in GTA: San Andreas was so popular that when Rockstar announced this feature would be left out of GTA IV, a vocal minority made its displeasure widely known. For the return trip to Los Santos, this fan-favorite feature returns in a new way. While you won't be ballooning Michael up several pants sizes by gorging on snacks from the convenience store or turning Franklin into Ray Lewis by pumping iron, you can leave your mark by improving several of their skills.

Given their diverse backgrounds and experiences, Michael, Trevor, and Franklin start off with unique skill levels in each of the different upgradable categories. Currently, the game includes strength, shooting, stealth, flying, driving, and lung capacity, but Rockstar says these are still subject to change. Rather than giving players experience points that they can allocate to the various categories, the characters improve their skills by performing these tasks. Flying planes may be difficult with Michael at first, but the more he does it, the better he gets. Dedicated players can max out each of the characters' abilities.

Those with an eye for fashion can also customize the look of Michael, Franklin, and Trevor by giving them new haircuts, buying new clothes, and getting tattoos.

Pimp Your Ride

The customization doesn't end with character progression. The Pay & Spray businesses that used to serve as a quick way to fix up your car and get a new paintjob are now full custom shops. Rockstar says players can tweak both performance and aesthetics at a level on par with Midnight Club: Los Angeles.

Under the hood, you can tune the engine, improve the suspension, buy new brakes, and make other tweaks to how the car handles. Trick your engine out too much and you can overtune it, so be careful.

If you'd rather focus on style over substance, concentrate on altering the paint job, wheels, window tinting, grill, and spoiler. You can even customize your license plate.

This Is My Rifle, This Is My Gun

Considering the amount of time you spend in shootouts, it was only natural that Rockstar would eventually implement a deeper weapon-customization option for gun nuts who like to debate the finer qualities of the red-dot sight versus the reflex sight.

With the ability to mix and match scopes, silencers, laser sights, flashlights, and extended mags for your favorite weapons, you may want to sign up for a customer rewards program at Ammu-nation in Grand Theft Auto V.

Making Money To Spend Money

During our cover visit, Rockstar intimated that money would play a central role in Grand Theft Auto V. We knew pulling off heists could result in big payoffs, but details were still sketchy regarding what we could spend that money on. Now we have a better idea. In addition to dropping serious cash on all the weapon, car, and character customization options, players can invest heavily in toys, real estate, and businesses.

Rockstar originally told us we wouldn't be able to buy new properties for the three main characters, but has since reversed course. Make enough cash and you can blow it on new houses, garages, marinas, helipads (a prerequisite for owning a chopper), and even businesses. Several of these investments have perks. For instance, if you throw your money behind a taxi business, you won't have to spend a dime on cabs ever again.

To read more about GTA V, watch the character trailers released just last week, read our new features on the open world and heists, and check out our coverage hub.

Running And Gunning In Grand Theft Auto V

Matt Bertz — Thu, 02 May 2013 16:00:00 GMT

The core combat of Rockstar games has evolved quite a bit since Grand Theft Auto IV released in 2008. Red Dead Redemption streamlined the cover system first implemented in GTA IV, made gunfights more visceral thanks to the animations provided by the Euphoria technology, and introduced the slow-motion Dead-Eye mechanic. Max Payne 3 took the combat even further with destructible environments, kill cams, a last stand mechanic, and more natural feeling movement when you're running and gunning. For Grand Theft Auto V, Rockstar is taking the lessons learned from all of its previous games to bring the combat into the future.

The first thing I notice when Franklin and Michael open fire during a heist gone wrong is the smoothness of the transition animations. The characters move effortlessly in and out of cover, while taking care to avoid exposing themselves to incoming fire. A library of new animations also introduces a combat-ready jog that makes it easier to shoot from the hip and even allows players to run, aim, and shoot at the same time. Players can also drop into a combat roll at the press of a button.

The Specials

In addition to skills that improve over the course of time, each of the three playable protagonists has a unique special ability that can help get you out of sticky situations. Michael wields the slow-motion Bullet Time feature borrowed from Max Payne. Franklin can slow time when driving to navigate through sticky situations. Trevor has a rage mode that allows him to deal double the amount of damage while taking less damage. During his rage fits, he also has a unique melee attack. Rockstar says each of these special abilities is a limited resource that is best used strategically, so don't expect to spend the majority of your time shooting or driving in slow motion.

The gunplay still takes place in third person, but Rockstar migrated part of the Max Payne 3 team over to the GTA team to tweak the camera perspective. The new over-the-shoulder aim view gives you a clearer field of vision during combat, which makes it easier to spot enemies at the periphery and while you're behind cover.

Not every gamer prefers the same aiming system, so Rockstar has included three different options in GTA V: a hard snap-to targeting, a soft targeting, and free aim. The impressive death animations created by Euphoria normally make it easy to tell when a body is about to hit the floor, but the tweaked reticle confirms your kill by turning into an X. When you hover the reticle over an enemy, it also turns red to indicate the threat.

When you pull the trigger, expect to have a more visceral connection to the outcome. Some types of cover are destructible, so you can chip away at hiding spots to expose enemies. Rockstar says the gunshot damage is now totally dynamic and specific to particular weapons as well.

When you're on the receiving end of a hail of bullets, you'll also notice a slightly modified health system. You can regenerate up to 50 percent of your health, but you need med packs to make up the difference. Rockstar is also implementing various kinds of body armor that offer different levels of protection.

Melding these improvements together, Rockstar aims to offer the best gunplay the series has ever seen. We won't know for sure if it succeeded until we get our hands on the game for ourselves, but given its track record of improvements with Red Dead Redemption and Max Payne 3, we're bullish on its prospects.

To learn more about GTA V, watch the character trailers, read our new features on the open world, heists, and customization, and check out our coverage hub.

New Grand Theft Auto V Character Trailers

Matthew Kato — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 15:00:00 GMT

Grand Theft Auto V is upping the ante with not one, but three protagonists in its upcoming open-world adventure. The latest trailers for the game delve a little deeper into each of them.

In a heist, everybody's got a role to play, and you'll experience them all as you jump between each character and play them throughout the game. Each is a different piece of the puzzle with their own background and motivations.

GTA V comes out for the PS3 and Xbox 360 on September 17. For more on the game's characters, check out our Who's Who story.

MICHAEL

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FRANKLIN

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TREVOR

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COMBO TRAILER

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Ten New Grand Theft Auto V Screens

Matthew Kato — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 14:07:00 GMT

We haven't heard much from Grand Theft Auto since it's release date was announced, but now Rockstar Games has delivered 10 new screens to help tide you over until September.

The screens range from showing off the world's beautiful locations and look to the activities of its three main characters.

Be sure to scroll down to the screenshot gallery at the bottom of the page for more shots.

Grand Theft Auto V comes out for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on September 17.

New Grand Theft Auto V Screens Show Terror From The Deep

Andrew Reiner — Mon, 24 Dec 2012 15:02:00 GMT

Large bodies of water are safe zones in open world games. We never have to worry about what is under the surface. Water can be used as a means of escaping police, ditching cars, and casually exploring.

And then Ubisoft decided to populate Far Cry 3's beautiful blue seas with bloodthirsty sharks and crocodiles. Far Cry 3 shows us just how terrifying swimming can be with large predators lying in wait.

In Rockstar Games' newest batch of Grand Theft Auto V screenshots – a holiday gift to its community – San Andreas swimmers may have to be wary of shark attacks. And we're not talking about little makos here. That's a great white in the screenshot above. If this image tells a story, Rockstar may be striving for realism with the shark AI. In the real world, a shark is more likely to avoid a human than attack him. Maybe shark attacks will be somewhat rare?

Another screen shows a submarine, which I assume is Grand Theft Auto V's safest way to view the sea's majestic killers up close.

For more information of Grand Theft Auto V, click the banner below to visit our hub.

[via Rockstar Games]

Who's Who In Grand Theft Auto V

Matt Helgeson — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 00:35:00 GMT

You’ve read the cover story. You’ve watched the trailers. Now, get a closer look at the three men whose stories define Rockstar’s next open-world epic.

If you’ve somehow managed to miss the news, this latest Grand Theft Auto doesn’t have one hero; it has three. What’s more, their sagas are intertwined throughout the entire game. During most of the game you can switch instantly between characters, experiencing the events of GTA V from three very different perspectives.

To give the game dramatic heft and variety, these characters are vastly different in temperament, background, and skills. By constantly moving from character to character, you’ll learn each one’s motives and experience the world from their point of view. Read on to discover more about each of the protagonists. While most of this information is available in our cover story, we wanted to give you a quick-and-easy summary of the game’s three heroes.

Michael

This is the character many assumed was the main character of Grand Theft Auto V. Michael is a middle-aged ex-bank robber, ensconced in his gilded cage in Rockford Hills, GTA’s approximation of Beverly Hills. Judging by his house, he was quite good at his former profession. He’s now living in quiet retirement with his wife Audra, daughter Tracy, and son Jimmy.

A big house, an attractive younger wife, a fast car, and two children – sounds like paradise, right? Sadly, Michael has found the good life lacking. In reality, his wife can barely tolerate him, and spends her time spending his money throughout the city’s finest boutiques. His daughter and son have little time for him. For Rockstar, Michael represents an interesting paradigm: he’s basically “won” the game that so many GTA protagonists have played over the years. He escaped from the criminal life with his fortune and freedom intact. Yet, he’s miserable and bored, trapped in a loveless marriage he can’t leave because he’s basically in witness protection.

From what we’ve seen so far, Michael appears to be thoughtful and calculated, and likely to keep his motives hidden. These traits were likely the ones that allowed him to survive his criminal career.

Like any aging criminal of fiction, his retirement isn’t as permanent as he thinks.

Role In GTA V

We only saw a small portion of a very large game, but we did see enough to draw some conclusions about Michael’s role in GTA V and his place in this tenuous alliance of three career criminals. As an experienced bank robber, he’s skilled in planning the complex heists that make up the structure for the single-player saga. In the cutscenes we saw, Michael appears to be the team’s leader – although neither of his partners is easily led. He’s good with a gun, and though older now, still capable of tackling challenging tasks like rappelling out of a helicopter onto a skyscraper.

He has a long, often troubled relationship with Trevor, and the two bickered frequently in the demo. He appears to hold some affection for Franklin, and seems to see a bit of himself in the young up-and-comer.

Rockstar vice president of creative Dan Houser on Michael:

“When we started with Michael, the idea was an older guy who was very successful getting sucked back into the game. Of all the various stories we've told about bank robbers, thieves, and hit men over the years, this was a story – just as we thought with GTA IV and Niko as an immigrant – that's got a lot of freshness to it.”

New Grand Theft Auto V Trailer

Kyle Hilliard — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 16:00:00 GMT

Rockstar Games has released its second trailer for Grand Theft Auto V. It has a lot of people jumping out of, from, and into moving vehicles. Take your pick of video player below, and enjoy!

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For more on Grand Theft Auto V, click the banner below to head to our hub where we will be posting new GTA V features all month. You can also check out the most recent batch of screenshots by clicking here.

What We Know About Grand Theft Auto V: The Overview

Matt Bertz — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 19:00:00 GMT

Our 18-page cover story goes into great detail about the narrative, characters, mission structure, setting, and extracurricular activities, but if you’re looking for a brief overview on the game here is a concise summary.

The Characters

Building off the idea of multiple playable characters introduced in Episodes of Liberty City, Grand Theft Auto V stars three main protagonists.
Michael is a retired bank robber who is living a life of luxury thanks to a sweetheart deal with the FIB. But when his wife burns through all his money he is forced to get back in the game.
Trevor is a frequent drug user who is prone to violent outbursts. A former military pilot, he used to rob banks but now he scrapes to get by living on the fringes of Los Santos society.
Franklin is a hustler who works for an Armenian scam artist who sells young kids cars they can’t afford. When they default on the loans, Franklin repossesses the cars. He crosses paths with Michael when looking for a bigger score.
Players can switch between these characters at any time when they are off mission.
Rockstar says due to the heavy volume of voiceover recording sessions, celebrities don’t make sense as options for lead characters. Like Niko Bellic before them, Michael, Franklin, and Trevor will all have unknown voice actors.
Each main character has a few unique hobbies that only they can participate in.
Though Rockstar wouldn’t name specific characters, it confirmed that some familiar faces from Grand Theft Auto IV and Episodes From Liberty City may resurface in Los Santos.
Niko Bellic will not be one of the recurring characters.
Characters from the PS2 era of Grand Theft Auto games will not appear, either.

The Missions

The story missions feature a healthy variety of styles. Some feature one protagonist, while others have two or three participants.
When a mission features multiple protagonists, players are often given the option of switching between them at will in the middle of the job. Rockstar chose this approach to always keep the player in the action and eliminate the flat spots.
Each of the three main characters has a fully fleshed-out story arc, but instead of waiting for the finale to introduce complex missions, Grand Theft Auto V peppers several complicated, multi-tiered heists in the vein of Grand Theft Auto IV’s popular “Three Leaf Clover” mission across the narrative. These missions will including prepping for the heists and the break-ins themselves.
The mission we watched during the live gameplay demo started with Trevor and Michael taking a helicopter to the IAA headquarters, which is the GTA equivalent to the CIA.
When they arrive at the skyscraper, Michael repels down the side of the building until he locates their target – a person being interrogated that the FIB wants removed from the hands of the IAA.
When Michael breaks through the glass and grabs the target, a switch option appears for the player. From here you could stay as Michael or switch to Franklin, who is positioned with a sniper rifle in an adjacent building, to take out the startled IAA agents. These changes happen instantaneously and smoothly, with cinematic angles that help you re-orient yourself in the new perspective.
Once the player clears the room of IAA agents and Michael safely makes it into the chopper with the extraction target, a helicopter chase ensures. During this sequence, the player can switch freely between piloting the chopper as Trevor and shooting out the back toward the tailing helicopters with either Franklin or Michael.
For the first time in a GTA game, Rockstar is using a score to bring some tension to the missions.

The World

Taking the interiors and exteriors into account, the world of Los Santos is bigger than the worlds of GTA IV, San Andreas, and Red Dead Redemption combined, with room to spare.
Grand Theft Auto V combines the best of both GTA IV and Red Dead Redemption, giving players the largest open-world playground in Rockstar history with a huge and diverse city serving as the epicenter.
Locations include beachfronts, wine country, a large wilderness area surrounding a fully explorable Mt. Chiliad, a region modeled after the Salton Sea called the Alamos Sea, a military base, and of course the sprawling suburban hills leading up to the bustling urban center of Los Santos. Bring your scuba equipment, too, because you can even explore the fully detailed ocean floor along the Los Santos coastline.

The Gameplay

Rockstar says it has rebuilt the shooting mechanics, driving, and melee combat from the ground up.
To encourage players to explore this vast expanse, Rockstar is giving them more vehicles than any other Grand Theft Auto to date.
Confirmed vehicles include a BMX bike, mountain bikes, road bikes, dirt bikes, a huge variety of cars and trucks, helicopters, planes, ATVs, and Jet Skis. You won’t have to wait until the endgame to take to the skies, either. Since Trevor is a former war veteran with flight experience, you just need to find a plane to fly it.
Rockstar plans to blow out off-mission activities to an even greater degree with a variety of different side missions and more sophisticated minigames in the vein of Red Dead Redemption’s poker.
Confirmed activities include yoga, triathlons, Jet Skiing, base jumping, tennis, and even a full-fledged golf game.
Because Michael, Trevor, and Franklin are fully fleshed-out characters with specific skill traits, Grand Theft Auto V does not have the RPG-style player customization so many people loved in San Andreas.
However, you can still customize the look of the characters with different clothing.
The dating system is not returning to GTA V, which Rockstar says is due to the nature of the characters.
GTA V does not allow players to buy real estate, but Rockstar knows players didn’t have much to spend their money on toward the end of GTA IV so it plans to remedy this with the sequel.

If you want a deeper dive into the world of Grand Theft Auto V and give some context to these bullet points, find out how to purchase a copy of our December issue here. To discover new content throughout the month, please check back regularly by visiting our hub:

Rockstar Gets Down To Business In New GTA V Screens

Jeff Cork — Fri, 24 Aug 2012 14:43:48 GMT

Rockstar is capping Friday off with four new screens from its upcoming Grand Theft Auto V. Today's theme is business. This is GTA, after all, so don't expect any 9-to-5 corporate hijinks.

Judging from the images (which you can see in the gallery below), life in Grand Theft Auto isn't getting any less seedy. Two of the screens show helicopter-mounted snipers lining up their shots. Another captures what appears to be a car-carrier heist in progress. The cop doesn't seem to be all that interested, but that's life in the big city. The final pic shows a biplane cruising along a river. We're not sure what that has to do with business. Perhaps the pilot is taking a survey on the effects of erosion.

If you missed the shots from earlier in the week, take a look at them here and here.

Passing The Time In Grand Theft Auto V

Matthew Kato — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 14:04:20 GMT

Rockstar Games has released a few more screens from Grand Theft Auto V, and they show some of the more fun things you can do when you aren't pursuing a life of crime.

Whereas the last batch of screens was themed around transportation, these trio of shots showing parachuting, dirt biking, and tennis. Either that, or they show two getaways and a potential gang meeting about to take place.

Looking at Rockstar's screen gallery on its website, there are three more blank boxes, so it may be safe to assume that there are at least as many shots still to be unveiled. Hopefully soon.

Rockstar Teases GTA V With Trio Of New Screens

Jeff Cork — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 14:01:14 GMT

In what's now become an Internet tradition, Rockstar Games says "jump," and everyone says "How high, sir?" Today, the calisthenics revolve around three new screens for the upcoming Grand Theft Auto. And wouldn't you know it, they have a theme: transportation.

The screens, which you can see in the gallery below, show a car, a bicycle, and a small jet airplane. If the Cheetah looks familiar, it's probably because you've been driving variations of it since GTA III.

GTA V: Dissecting The Trailer

Matt Bertz — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 18:26:43 GMT

How much information about Rockstar's new game can we extract from the first teaser trailer? You'd be surprised.

The trailer may not have shed light on new gameplay mechanics or who the game's protagonist will be, but the brief glimpse we got of the game gave us more than enough content with which to speculate. Here's what caught our eye.

Back To San Andreas

In Grand Theft Auto games, the cities are as much of the stars as the characters. Much like GTA IV's Liberty City captured the essence of New York City, judging by this trailer it looks like Rockstar is bringing the same impressive level of detail to making a city that looks and feels just like Los Angeles. The majority of the trailer takes place in Los Santos, the first city players encountered in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Though some city districts return from the last game (including the affluent Hollywood doppleganger Vinewood), it looks like Rockstar is exploring new areas as well. The trailer introduced us to the Pleasure Pier on Vespucci beach, which looks to be a play off Venice Beach. We also saw a highway sign for Little Seoul, the GTA equivalent of Koreatown.

And The Countryside

At this juncture we have no idea if GTA V expands its setting to Los Venturas and San Fiero like San Andreas did, but we do know that there looks to be ample room to roam the countryside. The trailer showed off an impressive mountain range, a vineyard staffed by immigrant workers, and a large expanse of rolling hills littered with wind turbines and dirt roads. If the script leaks are correct, this may be were the pot evangelist grows his cannibus crops.

Flight Is Back

Many fans cried foul when Rockstar failed to include controllable planes in Grand Theft Auto IV. Judging by this trailer, they return in a big way for GTA V. Rockstar featured three aircraft in the footage – a crop duster, a charter plane, and a fighter jet that looks very similar to the Hydra VTOL in San Andreas.

Fun Vehicles

In the trailer alone, we saw a sexy convertible sports car, a jet ski, and a blimp hovering over Los Santos. Blimp killing spree? Where do I sign up?!

Rockstar's Trademark Sense of Humor

No one in video games is better at lampooning American culture than Rockstar. The signs visible in the trailer indicate that the company's sense of humor is still alive and well. A real estate development of downtown condos is called the Mile High Club, the pest control van the characters use as cover for an assault features the slogan "Putting the FU in fumigate," the postal van slogan says, "We aim not to lose it," and the police car has "Obey and survive" on the side. Rockstar even sends up the legendary In-n-Out Burger with an Up-n-Atom Burger truck.