More details for Rockstar Games’ Grand Theft Auto V have emerged thanks to the crop of previews popping up online. NeoGAF handily collected all the important details, some which have been detailed here. Here’s the rest.
The game is set to feature five times as many free roaming pedestrians as GTA IV. Of course, if they see you a commit a crime, they’ll immediately call the police and take pics of the crime. They have their own schedules and will move about their day like real people (very much like Skyrim). You’ll even come across various celebrity lookalikes, some of them being riffs on comic book characters and other video game protagonists. These include Impotent Rage, a Superman figure, Space Ranger, who seems to be based on Halo’s Master Chief.
As Michael is obsessed with classic action movies, you’ll be pulling off heists with several set-pieces that draw on said movies. For instance, blocking an armoured truck’s route with a dump truck and stealing the cash to ride off into the night like in Heat.
There will be several of these big heists throughout the game, and mini-heists will be also present to help your team prepare for the big score. In these you’ll need to secure the necessary tools for a heist, including outfits, weapons, a getaway car and of course, masks. It’s not all by the book though – you can implement your own tactics to best go about the missions.
You can also pick up hitch-hikers and show them the ride of their lives. We see an entire culture cropping up here, where players try to capture the most terrible ways to traumatize the digital denizens of Los Santos.
One of the more expansive activities is scuba diving. You’ll be able to visit the ocean and explore an entirely new world under the sea. Unlike previous games, you’ll find sunken wrecks, sharks, coral reefs and treasure to discover. You’ll be competing with NPCs to find said treasure though, and given there’s no waypoint system, you’ll have to find things the old-fashioned way: Look. And possibly avoid the sharks while you’re at it.
That’s not all. Rockstar Games is significantly upping the amount of activities one can perform in GTA V. So get ready for sky diving, yoga, bike races, base jumping, golf, bus tours, robberies, tennis triathlons and more. How will you capture it all? Well, remember that phone we talked about, which people can use to call the cops? It’s the iFruit and you have one too.
You can use it to take pics and upload them to the Social Club. We imagine pics popping up of players’ more insane exploits in good time. It also has apps, including accessing the Internet, contacts, social media (which would be the Social Club, we’re guessing), a calendar, and an option to replay missions. As of now, there are still three unrevealed apps.
Combat is far livelier and takes some cues from Max Payne 3 (also developed under Rockstar Games). Having a three man crew and being able to switch between them allows for far more strategy. There will be cover mechanics and the ability to roll between cover, a new evasive roll and you can even do a “combat jog” where you run with your weapon ready but not raised.
Team-mates will call out targets, and do their own part in taking down enemies. Little verbal indications here and there will indicate where you can switch, and even what you should be doing in some situations. You have a better field of vision this time around and running and gunning is far better handled.
The world of Los Santos is awe-inspiring in its size. It’s reportedly three and a half times the size of Red Dead Redemption’s world. There are plenty of other places to explore, including military bases, beaches, rivers, mountains – the characters you’ll meet are part of the largest cast yet.
Ditto for the weapons list, which is the largest ever, and can upgraded with scopes, different magazines, silencers and other tools. Car customization is making a big comeback, with an enormous vehicle list, and you’ll be able to apply custom paint jobs, modify the engine and breaks, tint up the windows, add some sweet spoilers and much more.
Also property purchases are back. Each character has their own bank account, and you can use the money to pick up houses, taxi companies, businesses and other properties for regular, additional revenue.
Grand Theft Auto V is slated to release worldwide on September 17th for Xbox 360 and PS3.
