Grand Theft Auto V has been officially announced by Rockstar this afternoon, with industry whispers continuing to suggest that the fifth open-world instalment could be set to make the switch to a real-world city - specifically, Los Angeles.
Not real-world, but San Andreas! Watch the GTA 5 trailer.
Hmmm. 'Rush'. Which city immediately springs to mind when you hear that phrase?
Alongside the loud-mouthed actor/comic Gilbert Gottfried - himself an L.A resident - CVG has heard whispers of "ridiculous" voice talent for GTA V, with even Robert De Niro being muttered as a possible candidate.
There's also chatter that Rockstar could be set to show off a living, breathing Los Angeles as the location for the next instalment - landmarks and all.
Of course it wouldn't be the first time Rockstar has mapped the entire city; Way before L.A Noire's painstakingly recreated 1940s L.A - all by Team Bondi's hand, but offering plenty of assets to dip into - there was Midnight Club: L.A. Built by Rockstar's San Diego and London studios.
The title provided an impressive, open-world environment for players to roam freely in and, perhaps, the perfect map to build a 2011 blockbuster on.
GTA 5's official 'V' logo - which looks more than a little bit like a US bank note - also seems to back up rumours that the next game will feature themes of global recession, yet another suggestion that Rockstar could be taking a step towards the real world.
There's only a week to wait for the GTA 5 trailer and when all is revealed. Keep your eyes on these pages...
For more thoughts read GTA5 - what does Official PlayStation Magazine UK expect from the next Grand Theft Auto.
Comments
36 comments so far...
kakah on 25 Oct '11 said:
I doubt it will look better than GTA IV with the Icehancer mod!
shiwayb on 25 Oct '11 said:
OMG.
:-O
sened9 on 25 Oct '11 said:
I hope not. It wouldn't seem right with a real city.
buckleboff94 on 25 Oct '11 said:
its gunna need to bring the funnies to beat saints row 3 though methinks...
charliecheswick on 25 Oct '11 said:
The City that immediately comes to mind when i hear the word "rush" is Wolverhampton,as i can't wait to get outta the dump. Really excited by the news,can't wait to see the trailer!
plightstar on 25 Oct '11 said:
It will be interesting to see if they continue on the serious road or go back down the San Andreas road. Hopefully it will be the San Andreas road of bigger is better.
mogel94 on 25 Oct '11 said:
Please for the love of all that is sacred let it be Vice City and not real LA. But regardless the sexy thang is a day one purchase! I don't even know what it actually looks like and I'm still gonna buy it!!!!!!!!!!
appyday on 25 Oct '11 said:
Rockstar made a decision with GTA4 to become a bit darker and grittier and I think they should stick with it. For those peeps who long for the San Andreas silliness factor play San Andreas, still a great game, or go with with Saints Row 3 which looks totally insane. To retread now it would be like copying Saints Row, who initially copied GTA....
I truly believe in Rockstar's ability to impress, I think Nico was the wrong character to lead GTA4, as evidenced with the Lost and the Damned and Ballad of Gay Tony packs which were really good fun while being realistic, dark and gritty, especially the Lost and the Damned.
To sum up then, decent characters and the seriousness of GTA4 would be just the job.... all in Vice City of course....
dwhlufc on 25 Oct '11 said:
The grass isn't always greener.
Hope this is true as I'll be jumping in a helicopter and heading straight to Michael Bays house with a rocket launcher in tow.
GameModo on 25 Oct '11 said:
Im quite skeptical on this to be honest. http://www.game-modo.com
StonecoldMC on 25 Oct '11 said:
The Houser Brothers and R* North are two names in the Gaming industry that just ooze brilliance.
The attention to detail they have is outstanding and looking at the logo for the next installment, it certainly does look like an American dollar bill, could this mean a stroy based around the worlds crumbling economy? Well if anyone can pull it off its the Housers and R* North.
With this, Infinite, Halo 4, Tomb Raider, Max Payne and The Last Guardian all due to drop next year, were going to have to start saving those pennies just now, me thinks.
Drusus on 25 Oct '11 said:
Ironically entertaining all of Bay's fans in the process.
TheLastDodo on 25 Oct '11 said:
Fecking hell Stonecold I never realised how big of a Rockstar fanboy you were
.
I do like the sound of a story based on the worlds crumbling economy.
StonecoldMC on 25 Oct '11 said:
I am a HUGE R* fanboy (especially North, as they are based just up the road from me!)
They have given me some of the best moments ive ever gotten out of a Game and I just know, that V will be a better Game than IV which was a better Game than III and so on and so on
.
Codename21 on 25 Oct '11 said:
I don't think they'll switch GTA to a REAL CITY - the whole point of GTA is that is the real world with a sartorial spin on it,filtered through various pop-cultural/media references and movie-homages - this is something they'd lose through moving to a real city (Dan Houser said this himself in a recent interview; "...Grand Theft Auto is America when viewed/filtered purely through Advertising and Movies...")
The amount of effort they've put into virtual brand names and logos for clothes/cars/mobile phones/beer etc etc in the previous iterations would be lost also, as if they moved to a real world setting they would have to remain consistent and use real world products so's not to break the illusion of place and setting (well, thats if the mass murder and police chases don't already) - and more to the point are you really going to see Coke-a-Cola sponsering the newest iteration of the world-famous Hooker-Murder-Simulator?!
Now, all that high-brow chat aside - Damn I cannot wait for GTAV
dazzauk06 on 25 Oct '11 said:
I'd be disappointed if it was set in a real life location as that would suggest a more realistic game. GTA 4 was hugely overrated in my opinion. It tried to take things in a more realistic, straight-laced direction which to my mind doesn't fit with the GTA series. They need to go more down the route of San Andreas in my opinion. Bring back the fun!!
Ali_ on 25 Oct '11 said:
Surely Rush = San Francisco?
But that's been done by Driver. Give us something new Rockstar. It's getting a bit old otherwise.
charliecheswick on 25 Oct '11 said:
:d I'm from Birmingham,hence the "RUSH".
Black Mantis on 25 Oct '11 said:
I would prefer a city loosely based on LA, but that's not a deal breaker either way. I think the year/decade it's based in and what type of criminal gang is used is more important. They haven't gone with the Mexican/Latino protagonist yet, so that would be cool for me personally and the gangs revolving around that ethnicity have pretty much risen to the top of the chain in multiple states. If it's revisiting San Andreas, I hope we see a return of OG Loc!
The Sandbag on 25 Oct '11 said:
Wouldn't it be cool if they had a cameo from one of the protagonists from the previous games? San Andreas had Claude, maybe this one could have Tommy Vercetti or CJ in one of the missions or something!
ted1138 on 25 Oct '11 said:
San Francisco?
gmcb007 on 25 Oct '11 said:
Christ I hope not. LA is a pretty boring city to be exploring these days and plus being confined to one city can be bland. Hopefully they used the SA layout. The addition of multiple cities and rural lanscapes never makes you feel trapped.
Houdini Splicer on 25 Oct '11 said:
Real world Los Angeles NO,
GTAIV Era Los Santos, which closely resembles real world LA, Maybe
Although i would much prefer a return to San Andreas, with more realistic versions (in terms of layout etc) of all 3 cities from GTA:SA
Very_Silver_Ownz on 25 Oct '11 said:
I'd rather have Vice City or San Andreas. LA Noire was so empty there was nothing to do. I have a feeling its going to be set in Ireland because the V is green and in the credits of IV ( if anyone got that far ) Packie is leaving on a plane from the airport which probably means its set in Ireland and Packie will be a main character in GTA V.
TheLastDodo on 25 Oct '11 said:
I haven't played a game set in New York for about a month now so if the Housers are reading this...........
Black Mantis on 25 Oct '11 said:
The V is styled after the US Dollar, so I doubt it'll be in Ireland. I do agree Packie will be involved as a protaganist, if not this one, then another further down the line.
EvilDog77 on 25 Oct '11 said:
My pitch:
GTA V - Welcome to Vatican City, the worst place on Earth.
DoucheVader on 25 Oct '11 said:
I hope not, GTA has always been a parody of the real world, that is apart of its charm. If they start using real world locations IMHO it would take away from that.
gmcb007 on 25 Oct '11 said:
Hmm having GTA based in my hometown Belfast would be intresting. All though the main missions would consist of cheating benefits and selling illegal fuel in Armagh.
El Mag on 25 Oct '11 said:
Wherever it's set it only really needs 4 things to be guaranteed classic status.
1. Another mission involving Phil Collins, preferably killing him this time.
2. Nothing but power ballads on a radio station.
3. Nolan North. The man has rent to pay and he's gotta eat.
4. A jetpack fastened to a jet ski that shoots rainbows and Smurfs out. For those that complained about lack of fun in GTA IV.
charlyd on 25 Oct '11 said:
Dont care where its set as long as the cars handle a bit better they were so slidey in iv it stopped me playing ,please rockstar fix the cars considering most of the game is spent driving
Kezwar on 26 Oct '11 said:
Hell no. I know there's a lot of you who feel like this, but I well prefer the more serious approach. A bit more variety in the missions would be nice but all in all they should stick to the streamlined approach. There was an awful lot of crap in San Andreas, as much as I like it. I don't want to see loads of s**t injected in V just because a minority complained.
Kezwar on 26 Oct '11 said:
The driving was the biggest improvement to the series. If you struggled it's down to your ability, not the driving mechanics.
Kezwar on 26 Oct '11 said:
I can't see them leaving America, it's too risky, but if they do this is one hell of a shout.
WHERESMYMONKEY on 26 Oct '11 said:
It'll be Vegas or a GTA version of or maybe vice city. think about it. GTA V.... It'd be an interesting use of the roman numeral and the font on the five is the same as a five dollar bill.
sexXxOFFENDER on 27 Oct '11 said:
I created an account just to say this: The writer of this blog is a grade A stupid ass! Has he even held a game controller before?
He says that industry whispers are pointing to the ridiculously absurd idea that GTA will be crossing out of the third dimension and into our reality. This is the first time I have ever heard of such a stupid piece of news - GARBAGE! This guy is obviously some dorky editor trying to cash in on the "GTA craze"! : "...Hmmm. 'Rush'. Which city immediately springs to mind when you hear that phrase?" Well, L.A. That is if you've never left Los Angeles.
BTW, the correct spelling is "installment". I suggest you acknowledge your spell check.