GTAV is confirmed to be a four-player co-op RPG, with a full-scale weapon crafting system.
The new lead character is a white Hispanic middle-aged guy in his early 20s, and his co-op partners are the three respective protagonists of GTAIII, Vice City and San Andreas. Niko Bellic and Officer Tenpenny are both coming back, and you'll get to jetski through sewers while dealing with dynamically generated earthquakes. Well... That's not quite true.
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You see that's only the version of GTAV that's confirmed if you believe every rumour that's hit the internet since the game's official announcement in October. As usual, 'the web' - or rather, a subset of game blogs, fan sites and twitter accounts - thinks that it knows exactly what is going on. And as usual, it's probably making most of it up.
So which GTAV rumours are true, and which ones are as plausible as a sustainable music career post-X-Factor? We've rounded up the biggest and the maddest rumours, cross-referenced them with the debut trailer, and analysed them to within an inch of their suspiciously anonymous sources. Want to know what's really going on? Here's where you find out.
In the spirit of (not-so) wild predictions, here's ours: GTAV is a multi-protagonist, split viewpoint tale led by ex-con brothers Albert (Ned Luke) and Simon De Silva, centred around a jewel heist gone wrong, with online co-op, territory wars, economic and social satire plus... cast your eyes below and we'll explain...
PROTAGONIST
THE RUMOR GTA V's lead character is Albert De Silva, played by Ned Luke
THE THEORY That late-middle-aged guy in the trailer with the greying, receding hairline? That's your iconic new action hero (perhaps one of several, but we'll explain later), that is. Even cooler? His name is Albert and he's played by a guy called Ned. De Silva is an aging mobster making an attempt at retirement. A really, really crap attempt at retirement, as it turns out.
THE EVIDENCE A leaked, codenamed cast list 'Rush', very probably for GTAV, and a few Tweets from one of the protagonist's friends.
When the GTAV trailer hit, it featured a guy of fatherly age talking about settling down and being a dad, while getting away from "that line of work". And then, via Twitter, actor Jimmy Taenaka outed his buddy Ned Luke as voicing the trailer. And a quick look on IMDB revealed old Ned to have the exact same face as the promo's protagonist. Coincidence? Hmmm.
LIKELIHOOD 4/5
Comments
20 comments so far...
alan666 on 27 Dec '11 said:
if this is to be more predominantly multi-player then it's going to be rubbish, because all you get in multi-player games like this is idiots running about shooting people
don't really like the emphasis on the RPG element either, GTA-SA there was just enough, this though sounds more like it's going down the Saints Row way
DemonGhostPirate on 27 Dec '11 said:
Just re-watched the trailer and noticed how often that black character crops up throughout. I also noticed that whenever he does crop up, his face is hidden or covered (almost as if Rockstar are trying to cover his identity up), except from the part where he is shown running. This is especially noticeable when he is shown walking down the street from afar and then the camera changes to a view of him zoomed in, conveniently missing out his head entirely. Coincidence? I think not!
I have no doubt that there will be multiple characters to play as in the game and I would like to think that the character is CJ because they do look very similar in comparison to each other. However, we obviously have no way of knowing until more is shown of the game. Hopefully this multiple character thing, if it turns out to be true, could make the narrative a bit more interesting and complex and less of the usual 'rags to riches' storyline.
Spectre on 27 Dec '11 said:
If GTAV takes place in the same continuity as IV, then CJ, Tommy and Claude will not be present.
GTAIV took place in a separate universe from the previous games, meaning that all of the previous protagonists never existed.
plain_kloz_cop on 27 Dec '11 said:
As long as they have Segways, I'm sold. Imagine a low-speed police chase on one of those bad boys!
Sammy_bham on 27 Dec '11 said:
this...
i can see it selling "less" if it focuses on multiplayer.
the main enjoyment is the singleplayer element of it. multiplayer was a fun little add on, making it mainly co-op will suck balls.
jm3811 on 27 Dec '11 said:
I found the story to be quite decent in GTA4 although the missions were very average. What made the game so popular was the coop missions: everybody was asking for help to get the "Fly the Coop" trophy and all three challenges were nicely designed.
Now for the RPG bit: as long as it's about team death match with rocket-propelled grenade on the airport that sounds good to me. I'm not going back to the gym tho.
Cogglesz on 28 Dec '11 said:
So far Rockstar is one of the developers i trust most when it comes to delivering an epic game, i know gta iv wasn't so popular compared to previous series but i thought it was great being a realistic like game showing what they could do with the new console at the time, and the multiplayer with friends was so fun, so i'm not worried about any multiplayer aspect or anything, they wont screw it up.
jm3811 on 28 Dec '11 said:
I remember that when GTA4 was released the Shockwave was still in Sony's drawers and I simply waited a few months to play it. GTA without the rumble you got to be kidding.
The Bossman on 29 Dec '11 said:
Multiple characters could be a superb addition to the game, think about The Wire and how that focused typically on 2 very different communities - the police and the criminals, with everyone else in between. That was multi-tiered and hugely interesting and entertaining to watch. So long as it doesn't go down the route of COD with forgettable playable characters, it'll probably be the best addition to the game if true. I just hope that they don't include too many OTT missions, the storyline is what sets it apart from other crap copycats like Saints Row.
Welsh Jester on 29 Dec '11 said:
They need to use Steam this time, i hear LA noire uses it which is a good sign for GTA V as GFWL is ass.. GTA V (if it has great mp for once) needs to have VAC at least.
Most stuff in SA was awesome so glad if they bring back the keeping fit elements in and expanding it, add it to online modes and allow a high amount of players online to do anything you can do in single player and more.
if it has as many options and potential as SA-MP i will praise R* highly, oh and it needs to be fun.
Welsh Jester on 29 Dec '11 said:
Wrong, SAMP shows tons of players want a great online experience with GTA if done right.
TheCrimsonFenix on 29 Dec '11 said:
1. Wouldn't mind playing as an older character who actually has it all to begin with. Maybe lose it through illegal/legal (criminal/economy) means and have him rebuild his empire or something. Would be a change from having to start with nothing.
2. As long as the setting is varied, I wouldn't mind it just being set in the one city with surrounding countryside/desert/w.e. Hopefully it just doesn't have sections that look a little too similar to GTA IV like that first trailer seems to show. Oh and make it different enough from the original Los Santos like Liberty City was from III to IV. Just seems odd they have "San Andreas" advertised everywhere in that trailer if they're only going to have the one city. Geography wise that isn't odd but this is gaming so it sets a lot of minds go off on wild imagination.
3. GTA IV gameplay was pretty solid with just a few niggles in combat. The odd car like steering of Niko when walking should have been fixed up and so should have the weird loosely stiff movement. Car control was perfect for me and felt on the right balance of arcade and realistic. Bikes were all over the place though. I imagine the gameplay will remain loosely the same with a few control changes and those niggles removed or ironed out.
4. If it becomes clear that the game is pushing towards multiplayer with the focus, count me out. I think though that the online and offline balance will be kept the same way that IV and Red Dead's was by having multiplayer take place in the single player setting.
5. No, no, no. Multiple protagonists screams lazier story imo. Why make one unoriginal story for one character when you can stretch it out between more than one? Those repeated appearances of those characters in the trailer could easily mean a character within the story, not necessarily the main character, or it could easily be a repeated skin from an npc.
6. Nope. Rockstar said GTA IV was all part of a new canon involving all new characters and would see no cameos or reappearances of old canon GTA, other than Lazlow of course. The hobo looks far too older for Niko, the black guy just looks like a black guy and is not CJ.
7. Would love those RPG parts to make a return, they added a lot of replay value and personal customisation options for San Andreas and in V would make IV's repetition almost go away. They could even allow multiple outcomes and co-occurrences to happen much like San Andreas (brother calling to tell you to lose weight, The Truth refusing you a mission until you lose weight, climbing ability made harder) Bring it on.
dookiephonic on 29 Dec '11 said:
Looks like CJ, are you CVG, doesn't every coloured chap look like Lenny Henry?
themadsaint on 30 Dec '11 said:
As long as its better than the last i'll be happy.
Very_Silver_Ownz on 30 Dec '11 said:
As long as its San Andreas HD but better then I'm happy. SA is true classic. Would love a GTA HD collection. They would need to be from the original Xbox versions though as the graphics were really good especially Vice City which looks fantastic.
jm3811 on 31 Dec '11 said:
- A double seated jet-pack so I can make the Dodo fly.
(I'll drive).
sporaneous on 16 Jan '12 said:
... I'm confused... So is he middle aged or is he in his early 20's. Both at the same time do not make sense.
elmajigo on 12 Feb '12 said:
the latest news of GTA 5 in :
http://gta5life.com
elmajigo on 12 Feb '12 said:
all the latest news of GTA 5 in :
http://gta5life.com
TehSlenderMan on 26 Feb '12 said:
Game looks promising, but to me, looks like they are copying Saints Row in some ways. Either way, I hope to see more of this game soon!