by For all of you die hard gamers eagerly anticipating the release of the new Grand Theft Auto game, the great news is that the day is almost upon us. GTA V will be released on Xbox 360 on September 17. One of the most popular video game series of all time, developer Rockstar Games has promised the fifth major installment will feature the largest open world platform yet, and will also make available a whole host of new features including multiple playable characters and an online version. Needless to say, none of the main characters of the game will qualify for cheap motor insurance from Express Insurance!
A series of snippets
The run-up to the release of GTA V has seen almost 2 years of trailers, press releases, playable demos and gameplay videos, each providing just a little bit more information to fans. The development of GTA V was first announced way back on 25 October 2011; since then fans have been speculating on what the new game will be like, and whether it will live up to the hype and popularity of the previous instalments.
Narrative
GTA V features the interconnected stories of three main characters, each one of which is playable. Trevor is a drug addled psychopath who lives in a trailer, and is the former crime partner of Michael, a retired bank robber who lives with his dysfunctional family. Meanwhile, Franklin is a repo man operating out of Venice Beach who simply goes around cracking heads and collecting debts for a ruthless Armenian car dealership. The three characters are thrown into the seedy Los Santos underworld, having to deal with vindictive criminals whilst trying to make a big score. While it’s fair to say that none of the three main protagonists are upstanding members of the community, with GTA’s reputation for violence, crime and irredeemable characters, they will fit in nicely.
Gameplay
As in previous games, the main objective is to complete various missions which will advance the storyline. What makes the fifth installment different is that these missions can now be played through any of the three characters, as well as being able to switch between characters for various missions. It will even be part of the game to switch between characters during individual missions and scenes, for example in one mission Michael has to abseil down the side of a building while Franklin protects him by providing covering fire with a sniper rifle from another building. In the same scene, Trevor is responsible for flying a helicopter which all three will use to escape. As you can tell, the gameplay of GTA seems set to be the most in-depth and complex yet.
Adults only
One word of warning about GTA V is that the game also promises to be the most violent and over the top episode yet. The game been rated 18 and over only due to representations of extreme violence with blood and gore; nudity, strong language, mature humor, sexual content and scenes of drug and alcohol use. Needless to say, if your 13-year-old has put this game on his or her birthday or Christmas shopping list, you might want to think twice about buying it. For the rest of us, it’s crime and violence galore!
