Gameinator Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Cscr-featured.svg
A few weeks ago, I was happily retired, sulking by my swimming pool, and my psychotic best friend shows up out of nowhere to torture me over mistakes I made, honest mistakes I made over a decade ago!

—Michael, Grand Theft Auto V

Grand Theft Auto V
Grand Theft Auto V
GTA V

Developer

Rockstar North</span

Publisher

Rockstar Games

Distributer

Take-Two Interactive

Writer

Dan Houser

Series

Grand Theft Auto

Engine

RAGE, Euphoria

Platforms

PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

Release date

17 September 2013

Genre

Action-adventure

Modes

Single-player, online multiplayer

Too many parameters

Grand Theft Auto V, commonly shortened to GTA V, is an open world action-adventure video game developed by Rockstar North in the United Kingdom and published by Rockstar Games. The game is the first major title in the Grand Theft Auto series since Grand Theft Auto IV (2008), and a continuation of the fictional universe that was introduced in that game. The 15th game in the series overall, GTA V is to be set in fictional Los Santos, Los Santos in the state of San Andreas and its surrounding areas, based on modern-day Los Angeles and Southern California. Renditions of San Andreas were previously featured in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, released in 2004, and the original Grand Theft Auto, released in 1997.

According to Rockstar, Grand Theft Auto V is destined to be their biggest open world game to date. The game will concentrate on "the pursuit of the almighty dollar". In a break with recent tradition, GTA V will feature three playable protagonists.

Grand Theft Auto V was officially announced on 25 October 2011, after much speculation. The debut trailer for the game was unveiled on 2 November 2011. The first demo of the game was revealed to press on 11 October 2012. The second trailer of GTA V was announced on 5 November 2012, and released on 14 November 2012, and three more character trailers were announced on 25 April 2013 and released on 30 April 2013.

A highly anticipated game, GTA V is fully released on 17 September 2013, for the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360. Releases for the PC and Wii U are being considered by Rockstar, but have not been officially announced.

Gameplay

NEW_Grand_Theft_Auto_V_-_Official_Gameplay_Video_-_HD_Gameplay_Footage!_(GTA_V_Gameplay)

NEW Grand Theft Auto V - Official Gameplay Video - HD Gameplay Footage! (GTA V Gameplay)

GTA V official gameplay

Grand Theft Auto V "evolves nearly every mechanic" found in previous games in the series. GTA V's world is bigger than the worlds of Red Dead Redemption, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and Grand Theft Auto IV combined. Areas in the game world include beach fronts, mountains, the wilderness, a "Salton Sea" region, a military base and the suburbs. The ocean floor is fully detailed and can be explored.

GTA V's single-player story is told through three player-controlled protagonists. They are Michael, Trevor and Franklin, criminals whose stories interconnect as they complete missions together. During story missions, the player can switch between the protagonists as they work together to accomplish an objective; in one such mission, Michael rappels down the side of a building, Franklin provides covering fire with a sniper rifle, and Trevor controls the getaway helicopter.

Outside of missions, the player is free to swap between the protagonists and explore the game's open world, which includes a fully-fledged ecosystem. The camera zooms out to a "Google Earth-style" perspective when switching characters and then drops into wherever the chosen character is. Even when the player is not controlling them, each character will still go about their own business across Los Santos. As any of the protagonists, the player can engage in activities such as yoga, triathlons, Jet Skiing, base-jumping, tennis, golf, scuba diving or go to the gym. Each character will have unique hobbies, which can be completed with the protagonists' friends, but the dating system from GTA IV does not return. San Andreas' role-playing game-like player customisation is also absent, but the player can customise the clothing of each character. Characters can "off" people, "something Rockstar recommends you do in varied circumstances to see different reactions from people". Depending on the area, people react differently.

The mobile phone introduced in GTA IV returns, but many of its features have been altered. The mobile phone is mainly used for activities and can also be used to access the in-game internet. There will be a "vibrant and fun" economy system, initially it was thought players would be unable to buy in-game property as in Vice City and Vice City Stories, but in the first showing to the press this was revealed to be inaccurate. Shooting has evolved "a long way" in terms of feel and mechanics, and the melee combat is improved over that of previous GTA titles.

GTA V will feature more vehicles than in any GTA to date, including huge variety of cars, trucks, bikes, helicopters, planes, ATVs and jet skis. The cars will feel less "boatlike" than in GTA IV, they will "hold on better to the ground" and the driving mechanic will feel "more like a racing game".

In May 2013, Rockstar released a new demo to the press that shows each main character having a special ability which can be activated, Michael can slow down time in gunfights (similar to Max Paynes bullet time and Red Dead Redemptions Dead Eye), Franklin can slow down time while driving and Trevor can go into a violent rage where he can take less damage, or do extra damage to enemies and can perform a unique melee attack when activated. The demo also included role-playing game elements—such as the ability to gain experience in specific skills such as flying, driving, stamina and strength—similar to a gameplay mechanic employed in San Andreas.

Multiplayer

Multiplayer will feature "Crews" similar to Max Payne 3. The new Rockstar Games Social Club functionality will connect play across multiple titles, starting with Max Payne 3 and GTA V. By playing both games' multiplayer, crews that the player set up in one will be carried over to the other. GTA V will let players form private crews with friends, or join public crews. Players can be a member of up to five at the same time, and completing tasks as a crew will gain experience points for the player. In late 2012, Rockstar said that "refining open-world multiplayer into something really special" had been a huge focus in the development of GTA V.

Premise

The narrative of the game follows three characters with interconnected stories. Michael is a retired former bank robber in his early forties who lives with his dysfunctional family on the proceeds of his former life in the upper-class suburb of Rockford Hills, based on Beverly Hills. Trevor, his former partner in crime, lives alone in a trailer in the desert of Blaine County, where his reckless and psychopathic behaviours are fuelled by drug addiction. Franklin makes a living in Vespucci Beach—based on Venice Beach—as a repo man for an unscrupulous Armenian car dealership. The three acquaintances are drawn into Los Santos' criminal underworld "in the pursuit of the almighty American dollar". According to Dan Houser, each of the protagonists is unlike any primary character that has appeared in a Grand Theft Auto title to date: Michael represents a protagonist who "won" and is now trying to adjust to life after his story has come to an end; Trevor is styled after a supporting character who has been re-cast in the role of protagonist; and Franklin is someone who has had no real exposure to a life of crime until the events of the game, and his attempts to avoid such a life end up thrusting him into the middle of it.

Development

In September 2009 during an earnings call, Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick answered a listener's question about the next Grand Theft Auto. He replied, "We're not going to announce it, we're not going to announce when we are going to announce it, and we are not going to announce a strategy about announcing it or about when we are going to announce it either, or about the announcement strategy surrounding the announcement of the strategy."

In a November 2009 interview with The Times, Grand Theft Auto producer Dan Houser discussed his work, including the future of the series. Houser stated that he planned to co-write a script that reached about one thousand pages in length. In the same interview, Houser explained the company's basic workflow of creating new games in the series, which involves coming up with the city first, and then the lead character later.

In July 2010, Rockstar North posted seven job ads related to a new title. The firm looked to fill positions including environment artists, physics programmers and character animators. The job ad for the latter asking for those with "professional experience developing a third person action game". It was unknown if Rockstar was hiring for GTA V, or the firm was bulking up its Agent team.

In June 2011, sources allegedly close to the developer told GameSpot that the title is "well under way", with final touches like mini-games already being applied, and a 2012 release "pretty likely". "It's the big one," they also said of the game, noting that GTA V's scale is vast.

Dan Houser said that though GTA V will introduce a musical score for missions inspired by previous Rockstar titles Red Dead Redemption and Max Payne 3, the series' traditional radio stations will remain. The immense size of Los Santos was necessary to accommodate flying. Dan Houser said that he argued against a new installment leaving the series' traditional US setting. The idea to include three main protagonists in GTA V came from the interweaving plots of GTA IV's Episodes from Liberty City expansions. Houser argued that all of the best games come out at the end of each generation, stating that the time has been spent getting the most out of current tech. Rockstar North head Leslie Benzies stated that "we hope that GTA V will do for multiplayer open world games what GTA III did for open world single-player games."

Downloadable content

On 30 October 2012, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick suggested that Rockstar had "a lot of interesting stuff" planned for GTA V's downloadable content (DLC), but that it was "way too early" to begin discussing it.


External links

Advertisement