Los Santos and Blaine County:
Our largest open world yet - by far - and spanning vastly diverse cultural and geographical areas, the entire world of Grand Theft Auto V is open from the very beginning of the game to explore. Visitors to the greater metropolis of Los Santos and the countryside of Blaine County will encounter faded celebrities, meth heads, party people, violent gangs, hikers, bikers and every other manner of colorful denizen. You'll be able to traverse everywhere from the tops of the mountains, through the streets of Los Santos and to the depths of the ocean floor. Below is an excerpt from
The Telegraph about their first view of the game's world:
"A helicopter hovers gently in the midday sun, the whumph of its rotor-blades blending into an ambient, dream-like score. A man stands in the open fuselage of the chopper, peering down on a vast expanse of dusty wilderness. Countless dirt tracks wriggling through green hills like snakes. Mountain peaks looming over the brush. The sea stretching out to a beautiful cerulean horizon. As far as the eye can see; a detailed, enormous, bewildering landscape.
This is Blaine County, a vast scrubland just outside of the fictional west coast city of Los Santos, a garish, hyperactive pastiche of Los Angeles, California... We were told Grand Theft Auto V was going to be big --purportedly enough virtual acreage to fit in the maps of Red Dead Redemption, GTAIV and GTA: San Andreas-- but being told doesn’t quite prepare you for the sheer scale of the thing. And this is a just a small chunk of brushland, a speck on a map that, for the first time in the series, is completely open to you from the very beginning."
Michael, Franklin and Trevor:
Three playable protagonists - Michael, Franklin and Trevor may live in different parts of town, have their own issues, attitudes, lifestyles, desires and goals - but they do know how to work together. They also each have their own unique skillsets to bring to the table when it's time to get the job done. From Destructoid's piece
'Grand Theft Auto V: Everything is Bigger and Better':
"It's important to note that the gameplay never stops while you're switching characters. You'll jump into whoever you've selected even if they're in the middle of driving a vehicle. All three characters have their own lives, own circle of friends, enemies, associates, and hobbies and they'll be living out their life while not in the player's control. When off mission, you can play as any of these characters or even just focus on one the entire time. It's up to you, but you'll want to play as all three if you want to experience everything possible as there will be things that only certain characters can do.
Each character has their respective roles. It was pretty cool to see the player shoot off the rocket as Trevor, and then switch down to Michael just as the rocket hit its target. You're going to want to switch between characters to take advantage of their skills as the enemy AI has greatly improved. Cops will try to flank you, get to higher ground, and communicate with one another, all in an effort to make for a fun challenge."
For more previews from around the web, read on after the jump...
