Rockstar Games recently released the official trailer for Grand Theft Auto V, the newest iteration into Rockstar’s crime-oriented open-world franchise.
Granted, it is by no means the first trailer — two other official trailers, three character videos introducing the game’s three different criminal protagonists and two official gameplay videos have preceded the latest video by at least a month.
However, the newest trailer could be the last, with the game’s upcoming release on Sept. 17 just over the horizon.
This latest trailer is all cut scenes and story development, so don’t expect too much insight into gameplay, though many of the aforementioned videos have already demonstrated GTA V’s impressive use of the Rockstar Advanced Game Engine to create almost movie-quality graphics and physics effects (glass breaks, bricks crumble and laws of physics).
The game world of GTA V is to be even larger than the game worlds of Grand Theft Auto IV and Red Dead Redemption combined, according to the game’s website. It is not figurative language to say GTA V will be the most ambitious entry into the franchise to date.
In previous titles, nonplayer characters were randomly generated to wander around town and allow players to abuse them with anything from machine guns to wooden bludgeons. However, designers have worked to change the static lives of the characters in the game.
One of the most-anticipated features is the inclusion of advanced artificial intelligence, allowing in-game characters to dynamically go about their daily lives in San Andreas. In the game, you may see gardeners and cleaners waiting at the bus stop in the morning and then find the same guys tending the gardens and houses of San Andreas’ fictional Beverly Hills later on.
Additionally, previous trailers have promised a much more immersive and strategic heist system. Players can decide how they want to plan and perform their criminal activities: either through force or subterfuge, which actively affects the content of missions.
Players will choose and recruit which crew members to take with them on missions, with less-skilled crew members taking a smaller portion of a successful heist and expert crew members grabbing a larger cut.
GameStops in both The Oaks Mall and Butler Plaza are planning midnight releases for the new game and accepting preorders of the title.
Kyle Varnadore, a store manager of R.U. Game?, said retailers will be getting their shipments of the new game the on Sept. 16, the day before its release.
GTA V will be available for both the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, likely the last major huzzah for the seventh-generation gaming consoles before the release of the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 this holiday season.
