Writing about Grand Theft Auto poses a problem. Normally, for these first glimpses of a game, we have to watch somebody else play it, then ask them questions. Often, they aren't interesting questions. Is it all on rails like this? Does the character change at all? That dialogue isn't final, is it? Oh. Really? With GTA V, our first glimpse comes from several thousand feet above faux-California, plummeting from a helicopter. There are planes in the sky, skyscrapers on one horizon, a military base on another. As we get closer to the ground, we see grazing animals in the countryside. Distant quad-bikes tear along a gravel track; two men fish next to a camper-van parked next to a mountain stream. Dive into the ocean and you can see the fish, too.
There's so much to ask questions about, you start to sound like an overly inquisitive toddler. Can you go anywhere? (Yes, and from the outset - the world won't be restricted like GTA IV's). Are there any constraints on diving? (No, certain boats will have scuba gear and you can explore any part of the seabed.) When you aren't controlling the three characters, will they live their lives without you? (Yes, basically.)
So let's start from the beginning: you control the three central characters, Franklin, Michael and Trevor, who are three very different career criminals. In some missions they work together - as a pair or as a trio - but in some they don't, and away from missions you can flip between them (via a Driver: San Francisco-style jump up into a satellite view, then back down with only a handful of seconds' pause) entirely as you like. It's an ambitious concept, combining three radically different narratives into a single grand story, and paired with its biggest ever setting, says Rockstar with typical self-confidence, it's the ultimate open-world game.
Ocean drive
To demonstrate, once our parachutist Franklin is on the deck, we flick over to Trevor. He's coming to in his Y-fronts on a beach surrounded by dead bikers - a cameo, if you can have such a thing post-mortem, from the Lost gang of GTA IV's Lost and Damned DLC. He's taken for a quick blast along the coast in nearby boat, showing off Rockstar's fancy new water effects, and the density of life both above the waves - jet skis, fishermen, people relaxing on the beach - and below, with shoals of fish and other divers bustling around while sharks circle a sunken container ship.
Such pleasures can be experienced with any of the three characters, although their prowess will differ. Each character has a set of vital statistics which list their ability in (deep breath) shooting, strength, stealth, flying, driving, mechanical ability and lung capacity. These are all boosted by practice, Skyrim-style, which gives you points to spend on upgrades - although each of them comes with certain strengths as standard. Ex-pilot Trevor has the edge in flying, so he's the best choice if you want to knock off a helicopter. You can still do it with Franklin, but it'll be harder to fly.
On top of these, each man gets a special skill. Trevor's is, not entirely surprisingly, melee: he does double damage and takes half damage. Michael gets bullet time, and Franklin gets a sort of petrol-infused variant that means he can slow time when driving in order to nail that perfect corner. These resources will be precious and should not be overused, says Rockstar - and they could shift the balance on which character you use for a particular mission or challenge.
The story itself is unusually flexible for GTA, too. Rather than the traditional build-up to a grand and often exhausting finale, here there's a series of key heists to complete. Instead of just cranking up the number of enemies and leaving you to get on with it, Rockstar promises more genuine flexibility - your preparation can include hiring gangs to assist (the cheaper the gang, the less talented, although pricier outfits are more likely to survive and demand their cut of the takings) and even deciding to use stealth rather than violence.
Heating up
Rockstar isn't prepared to show these in their full glory yet, but it does show a little light robbery - also previously seen in 1995 film Heat, it turns out - to give an example of how the three main characters can work together. Michael lifted the basic idea for this heist from his beloved movies - using a truck to ram an armoured car - and has previously sourced both truck and a road-blocking dustcart, stashed a getaway vehicle, and invested in some masks and overalls for the three of them.
It's a simple setup, switching from Michael in the dustcart to Franklin in the ramming truck, but the police reaction is swift and rapidly escalates. The officers wade in Horde Mode-style, and the squad have to pick them off. The switching between characters is quicker, here - a swift camera pop in and back - and a good thing too, as it's possible for AI-controlled characters to be killed without your guiding hand on their trigger finger.
Hustling between Trevor on the roof with a sniper rifle, Franklin on the ground with his machine gun, and Michael somewhere in between, it's a different take on the sieges we've seen in other titles; while you can apparently do it all in one character the different skills and positions make for a more successful, and certainly more satisfying, takedown. Switching back to someone on the roof to discover that they've whipped out an RPG means that the guy on the ground suddenly has a lot less to worry about.
When it's all over, all that's left is for Franklin to dump the truck in that previously-selected getaway spot and toss some CSI-thwarting C4 at it. Quite an undertaking just to knock off a security truck, all told, and this is one of the less complex missions - the main story heists promise to be far more elaborate. It remains to be seen how flexible they'll be in supporting widely different playstyles, but Rockstar takes care to point out that you'll get a detailed breakdown of the payout at the end that suggests they're being built for replay, and we're expecting them to be the backbone of the new multiplayer features.
At the very least, you can expect a set of Horde Mode-esque set-pieces to arrive soon after you start playing, rather than after ten hours of criminal busywork,and the cash you earn sounds like it'll be a lot more consequential than just a ticker spinning in the corner. You can spend it on car customisation, weapon customisation, property and your own appearance in the form of clothing, tattoos and haircuts - so the successful heist man can expect a far better quality of life.
Tales of interest
Even if you skip the story entirely, you're unlikely to be bored. There's no dead space in Los Santos: wherever you are in the world there'll be something to do. In the city, you can do yoga, go on a bus tour of celebrity homes, or pull your car into a garage to customise it. Out in the sticks, you can pick up hitchhikers or - more traditionally for GTA - rob an office. There are always rewards for exploration, although Rockstar won't clarify whether these are cash, abilities, or something else. The world is overflowing with these mini-games and "dynamic missions" that appear as you explore, and promises to be a welcome change from the sort of laundry-list car theft or minor delivery jobs that fill out most open-world games.
Which isn't to say there's no room for that sort of thing, of course, as Rockstar demonstrates with one of the aforementioned dynamic missions: Michael bumps into a self-absorbed actress o'ercome with paparazzi and has to, yes, drive her home. This is more standard GTA, albeit with a new car (the Benefactor Surano) and the fact that the pursuing vehicles are armed with long-range lenses rather than submachineguns. It serves mainly to confirm that the Rockstar-brand social sass is in full effect, the incredulous passenger refusing to believe that Michael has never heard of her as she "tests very well in [his] demographic".
[embedded content]
It also suggests that the car handling hasn't dramatically changed, keeping the same heft and weight that was introduced in GTA IV. The same can't be said of the shooting, which we're assured is much improved. You can now more easily shoot while moving, without having to stop and aim down the gun, the ability to roll between cover, and proper free aim options alongside hard lock-on and the previously-used soft-lock.
It's still GTA, then, and still recognisably built from the same parts as GTA IV, but we're quietly convinced it's actually one of the most dramatic updates the series has ever had. From what it's shown, and what it's insinuating, Rockstar is starting to change the stories you tell in its game.
So far, every moment in the franchise has been the story of a single psychopath, and the variety comes in how the world's systems react to him. By giving you control of how the story's key moments play out, and in a much more elaborate way than GTA IV's clunky "Who to kill?" story branching, Rockstar makes this far more rewarding and far more interesting to talk about - and that's only using the tools and characters it gives you in single-player.
Once you get your friends along, as the multiplayer will surely do, then Los Santos becomes a frothing cocktail of careful strategies and improvised showdowns, where great crime battles can be won and lost every night, and the victors spending their winnings on ensuring their status.
We've already seen the enthusiastic narratives people can built out of Call of Duty's tightly-confined maps. Set loose in the Xbox 360's greatest sandbox, and things will get much more interesting. How well it all works is a question we'll probably have to leave until September when it finally arrives and we can all find the answers ourselves.
Source: OXM[SUP][1][/SUP]
[h=3]References[/h]
Thanks to: Rheena.com
There's so much to ask questions about, you start to sound like an overly inquisitive toddler. Can you go anywhere? (Yes, and from the outset - the world won't be restricted like GTA IV's). Are there any constraints on diving? (No, certain boats will have scuba gear and you can explore any part of the seabed.) When you aren't controlling the three characters, will they live their lives without you? (Yes, basically.)
So let's start from the beginning: you control the three central characters, Franklin, Michael and Trevor, who are three very different career criminals. In some missions they work together - as a pair or as a trio - but in some they don't, and away from missions you can flip between them (via a Driver: San Francisco-style jump up into a satellite view, then back down with only a handful of seconds' pause) entirely as you like. It's an ambitious concept, combining three radically different narratives into a single grand story, and paired with its biggest ever setting, says Rockstar with typical self-confidence, it's the ultimate open-world game.
Ocean drive
To demonstrate, once our parachutist Franklin is on the deck, we flick over to Trevor. He's coming to in his Y-fronts on a beach surrounded by dead bikers - a cameo, if you can have such a thing post-mortem, from the Lost gang of GTA IV's Lost and Damned DLC. He's taken for a quick blast along the coast in nearby boat, showing off Rockstar's fancy new water effects, and the density of life both above the waves - jet skis, fishermen, people relaxing on the beach - and below, with shoals of fish and other divers bustling around while sharks circle a sunken container ship.
Such pleasures can be experienced with any of the three characters, although their prowess will differ. Each character has a set of vital statistics which list their ability in (deep breath) shooting, strength, stealth, flying, driving, mechanical ability and lung capacity. These are all boosted by practice, Skyrim-style, which gives you points to spend on upgrades - although each of them comes with certain strengths as standard. Ex-pilot Trevor has the edge in flying, so he's the best choice if you want to knock off a helicopter. You can still do it with Franklin, but it'll be harder to fly.
On top of these, each man gets a special skill. Trevor's is, not entirely surprisingly, melee: he does double damage and takes half damage. Michael gets bullet time, and Franklin gets a sort of petrol-infused variant that means he can slow time when driving in order to nail that perfect corner. These resources will be precious and should not be overused, says Rockstar - and they could shift the balance on which character you use for a particular mission or challenge.
The story itself is unusually flexible for GTA, too. Rather than the traditional build-up to a grand and often exhausting finale, here there's a series of key heists to complete. Instead of just cranking up the number of enemies and leaving you to get on with it, Rockstar promises more genuine flexibility - your preparation can include hiring gangs to assist (the cheaper the gang, the less talented, although pricier outfits are more likely to survive and demand their cut of the takings) and even deciding to use stealth rather than violence.
Heating up
Rockstar isn't prepared to show these in their full glory yet, but it does show a little light robbery - also previously seen in 1995 film Heat, it turns out - to give an example of how the three main characters can work together. Michael lifted the basic idea for this heist from his beloved movies - using a truck to ram an armoured car - and has previously sourced both truck and a road-blocking dustcart, stashed a getaway vehicle, and invested in some masks and overalls for the three of them.
It's a simple setup, switching from Michael in the dustcart to Franklin in the ramming truck, but the police reaction is swift and rapidly escalates. The officers wade in Horde Mode-style, and the squad have to pick them off. The switching between characters is quicker, here - a swift camera pop in and back - and a good thing too, as it's possible for AI-controlled characters to be killed without your guiding hand on their trigger finger.
Hustling between Trevor on the roof with a sniper rifle, Franklin on the ground with his machine gun, and Michael somewhere in between, it's a different take on the sieges we've seen in other titles; while you can apparently do it all in one character the different skills and positions make for a more successful, and certainly more satisfying, takedown. Switching back to someone on the roof to discover that they've whipped out an RPG means that the guy on the ground suddenly has a lot less to worry about.
When it's all over, all that's left is for Franklin to dump the truck in that previously-selected getaway spot and toss some CSI-thwarting C4 at it. Quite an undertaking just to knock off a security truck, all told, and this is one of the less complex missions - the main story heists promise to be far more elaborate. It remains to be seen how flexible they'll be in supporting widely different playstyles, but Rockstar takes care to point out that you'll get a detailed breakdown of the payout at the end that suggests they're being built for replay, and we're expecting them to be the backbone of the new multiplayer features.
At the very least, you can expect a set of Horde Mode-esque set-pieces to arrive soon after you start playing, rather than after ten hours of criminal busywork,and the cash you earn sounds like it'll be a lot more consequential than just a ticker spinning in the corner. You can spend it on car customisation, weapon customisation, property and your own appearance in the form of clothing, tattoos and haircuts - so the successful heist man can expect a far better quality of life.
Tales of interest
Even if you skip the story entirely, you're unlikely to be bored. There's no dead space in Los Santos: wherever you are in the world there'll be something to do. In the city, you can do yoga, go on a bus tour of celebrity homes, or pull your car into a garage to customise it. Out in the sticks, you can pick up hitchhikers or - more traditionally for GTA - rob an office. There are always rewards for exploration, although Rockstar won't clarify whether these are cash, abilities, or something else. The world is overflowing with these mini-games and "dynamic missions" that appear as you explore, and promises to be a welcome change from the sort of laundry-list car theft or minor delivery jobs that fill out most open-world games.
Which isn't to say there's no room for that sort of thing, of course, as Rockstar demonstrates with one of the aforementioned dynamic missions: Michael bumps into a self-absorbed actress o'ercome with paparazzi and has to, yes, drive her home. This is more standard GTA, albeit with a new car (the Benefactor Surano) and the fact that the pursuing vehicles are armed with long-range lenses rather than submachineguns. It serves mainly to confirm that the Rockstar-brand social sass is in full effect, the incredulous passenger refusing to believe that Michael has never heard of her as she "tests very well in [his] demographic".
[embedded content]
It also suggests that the car handling hasn't dramatically changed, keeping the same heft and weight that was introduced in GTA IV. The same can't be said of the shooting, which we're assured is much improved. You can now more easily shoot while moving, without having to stop and aim down the gun, the ability to roll between cover, and proper free aim options alongside hard lock-on and the previously-used soft-lock.
It's still GTA, then, and still recognisably built from the same parts as GTA IV, but we're quietly convinced it's actually one of the most dramatic updates the series has ever had. From what it's shown, and what it's insinuating, Rockstar is starting to change the stories you tell in its game.
So far, every moment in the franchise has been the story of a single psychopath, and the variety comes in how the world's systems react to him. By giving you control of how the story's key moments play out, and in a much more elaborate way than GTA IV's clunky "Who to kill?" story branching, Rockstar makes this far more rewarding and far more interesting to talk about - and that's only using the tools and characters it gives you in single-player.
Once you get your friends along, as the multiplayer will surely do, then Los Santos becomes a frothing cocktail of careful strategies and improvised showdowns, where great crime battles can be won and lost every night, and the victors spending their winnings on ensuring their status.
We've already seen the enthusiastic narratives people can built out of Call of Duty's tightly-confined maps. Set loose in the Xbox 360's greatest sandbox, and things will get much more interesting. How well it all works is a question we'll probably have to leave until September when it finally arrives and we can all find the answers ourselves.
Source: OXM[SUP][1][/SUP]
[h=3]References[/h]
- [SUP]^[/SUP] Source: OXM (www.oxm.co.uk)
Thanks to: Rheena.com