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Let's step back for a moment and take a proper look at what the game is, and why it's so exciting. Who do you play as? What do you do? How does the online mode work? What's new for the PC version? We answer these exact questions in the pages to come.
THE STORY
After starting with a failed bank robbery in snowy North Yankton during the prologue, the story jumps forward nine years to San Andreas. All three main characters have their own goals, but fate and a series of bad decisions cause their paths to intertwine. They not only have to fight off the attentions of several rival gang factions, but also deal with a government power struggle between the Federal Investigation Bureau and the International Affairs Agency, as they work together to pull off a string of increasingly audacious heists that will hopefully secure their freedom.
Main Characters
Following the prologue, the first character you take control of is Franklin Clinton. A former street hustler turned repo man for a local car dealer, Franklin is looking to earn better money but is inexperienced when it comes to committing crimes. Next up is Michael De Santa, a retired professional criminal suffering from a midlife crisis. Michael came to Los Santos to escape his past, but it's not long before it starts catching up on him. Finally we have Trevor Philips, a psychopath living in a caravan out in rural Sandy Shores. Mentally unstable and prone to fits of rage, Trevor is trying to build a drugs and guns empire out in the sticks when the return of an old acquaintance changes everything.
Character Switching
During the course of the story you are able to switch between available characters at will by selecting them from the Character Wheel. Swapping from one character to another will trigger a Google Earth style cutscene as the camera pulls out high above the map, before moving to the new location and zooming back in, often discovering the new character in interesting or humorous situations. Each character has a special ability which can be triggered to help out in different situations—Franklin can slow down time while driving to perform tight maneuvers, Michael can activate a similar bullet time effect in combat to line up easier headshots, and Trevor enters a state of invulnerable rage to soak up large amounts of damage while also increasing the power of his attacks.
Story Missions
The main missions are marked on the map with the character's initials, and you'll need to switch to the relevant protagonist to trigger them. These missions often come in sets that can be completed in any order you choose, but you'll need to finish them all before the next set unlocks. Although many of the missions are character specific, there will be times when two or all three come together, requiring you to switch between them at various points to utilise their different skills.
Heists
During the course of the story you'll carry out a number of heists, and these set pieces always begin with a mission to scope out your intended target. Once you've gathered the necessary intel you'll be taken to a planning board where you can decide on your approach, normally a choice between being stealthy and going in guns blazing, to determine which set up missions follow and how the heist will play out. You also get to pick any additional crew members needed to carry out the score, and your selection here is crucial—using rookies increases your risk of something going wrong and losing money, but hiring professionals means paying out a higher percentage cut of any ill-gotten gains.
Side Missions and Activities
In addition to the story missions and heists, each character also has a set of Strangers and Freaks missions triggered by meeting all sorts of colourful NPCs marked as ? marks on your map. You can purchase and manage properties, visit the flight school and shooting range to improve your skills, or keep an eye out for the 50-odd random events that can occur as you travel around. For the completionists there are a ton of collectible items to find, as well as various aerial challenges and the classic GTA stunt jumps.
THE WORLD
GTA 5 is set across the sprawling fictional state of San Andreas, which is divided into several distinct regions. You begin in Los Santos, a dense and affluent city in the south bearing more than a passing resemblance to Los Angeles. The centre is full of skyscrapers and celebrity culture obsessed billboards line the streets, but look a little closer and you'll discover a city of extremes that includes impoverished gang 'hoods and a large homeless encampment, hidden beneath the shelter of a major freeway.
Head north through the hills of Los Santos County, or along one of the freeways and you'll make your way to Blaine County, a much more rural area comprised mainly of deserts, forests as mountain ranges. Among the scattered villages and farms you'll find the towns of Paleto Bay, Grapeseed, and Sandy Shores. The latter serves as a home and a base of opportunity for Trevor Philips, who makes creative use of the Sandy Shores airfield.
There are plenty of sights to see across San Andreas. These are some of the most interesting places to visit:
Del Perro Pier
Sat between Del Perro and Vespucci beaches, the world famous Del Perro Pier attracts visitors from far and wide, and at night it lights up like a neon beacon. As well as featuring several restaurants and a viewing platform at the far end, it also hosts the Pleasure Pier amusement park. Here you'll find the Ferris Whale big wheel and Leviathan roller coaster, both of which can be ridden for a small fee.
Vinewood Boulevard
Located between Downtown and East Vinewood, this lively street is the perfect place to go celebrity spotting. Follow the Vinewood Walk of Fame pavement stars to the Oriental Theatre, where you'll find plenty of street performers out to entertain you—and the crowds of tourists that regularly gather here.
Vinewood Sign
Set high in the Vinewood Hills, the iconic Vinewood Sign is visible from most locations in Los Santos and is a symbol of its excesses. If you make your way up to the sign you'll discover that each letter has a ladder up the side of it, leading to a platform at the top which affords excellent views across the city.
Mount Chiliad
Towering over the surrounding Blaine County, Mount Chiliad is the tallest mountain in the state. To reach the summit you can either trek up the long and winding paths or, if you're not feeling so energetic, simply take the cable car that runs from Paleto Bay to the west. At the peak you'll find an observation deck, along with several dirt bikes and a wooden ramp, but most interestingly you'll also spot a strange mural within the cable car station—what could it mean?
GTA ONLINE
Getting Started
When you first enter GTA Online you'll be presented with a police station lineup screen, which represents the character creator. Here you begin by choosing your character's parents from a selection that includes some familiar faces from prior Rockstar games to determine your basic appearance, then further customise it with a wide array of sliders until you achieve your desired look. If you previously played GTA Online on any of the console platforms you also have the option to import your existing character, which you can do at any time, but only once—so make it count!
The Online World
Once you have your character established, you're dropped into the online world via a tutorial presented by Franklin's partner in crime Lamar. This introduces the basics, but you're quickly set loose and left to your own devices across the entire GTA 5 game map. Each online session can contain up to 30 players, and by forming crews with your friends using Rockstar's Social Club you can meet up and complete tasks together.
Reputation Points
In order to progress in GTA Online you need earn Reputation Points (RP), which are used to level up your character. This experience level is shown as your Rank, and increasing it will unlock new weapons, additional customisation options, plus more activities and jobs to take part in. The quickest way to gain RP is by completing jobs, and there are many of these to choose from.
Jobs
Jobs in GTA Online fall into two main categories. The first encompasses traditional modes, including variants on races, deathmatches, capture the flag, and horde mode. In these you compete against other players, and your final position determines how much RP you receive. The other is Contact Missions, which you receive by text message from NPCs you've previously met. These are played co-operatively with others, as you take on different roles to complete objectives together and earn RP for your group performance.
Activities
As well as jobs, there are plenty of other activities to take part in online. You can hold up convenience stores and rob armoured trucks as they drive around the city, or attack local gangs by assaulting their territory. You can challenge other players to impromptu races or initiate one-on-one deathmatches with them, but be warned—being too aggressive will increase your Mental State and highlight you on the map as a target for others to take down. For a more pleasant pastime, you can always play a round of golf or a few sets of tennis with them instead.
GTA$
The other important factor in GTA Online is GTA$, which you receive for completing jobs and activities. Most of the shops from single player are available, and you can spent your cash in these to buy fresh clothes, get a haircut, or have a tattoo inked to further customise your character. Ammu-Nation is the place to head and purchase new weapons, as well as stocking up on all important ammo and body armour. Once you've accrued enough GTA$ you can even buy your own apartment, giving you a place to rest and chance clothing, as well as somewhere to store vehicles if it has a garage attached.
Online Heists
This is the big one! Completing online heists requires a team of four players (all at Rank 12 or above) working together to bring home the score. One player must own a high end apartment as these contain a planning room, and they are designated leader by initiating the heist from here. They then recruit the rest of the team and embark on a series of set up missions, where players take on different roles to complete tasks leading up to each high earning heist finale. Initially there are five heists available, and these can all be replayed once completed.
NEW FOR PC
4K Support
GTA 5 on PC is promising to be the definitive version and will look better than ever. With the right hardware it will go up as high as 4K resolution to deliver incredibly detailed visuals. Those with monster gaming rigs will be pleased to hear that there's also support for up-to-triple monitor configurations.
New Music
On top of the 15 diverse music radio stations (and two talk radio stations) that already feature in GTA 5, the PC version is getting an extra music station called The Lab. This will feature brand new tracks composed by The Alchemist and Oh No working with Woody Jackson and Tangerine Dream, who together created the original score heard during a number of key missions in the game. The Lab's additional set of music spans multiple genres and will "weave together a musical journey that covers every corner of the fictional world of Grand Theft Auto V".
Video Editor
Another new feature being added to PC GTA 5 is the Rockstar Editor, and although not much known about this yet it will provide a complete set of editing tools for "recording, staging and editing original custom videos" in-game. You'll be able to add soundtracks to these custom clips using music from debut radio station The Lab, which can then be published directly to Rockstar's Social Club and YouTube. Given the wealth of skits, movie homages, and stunt compilations that console players have already managed to create.
System Specs
As announced in January, these are the specs you should be rocking if you want to get the best out of GTA 5 on your system:
Minimum specifications:
OS:Windows 8.1 64 Bit, Windows 8 64 Bit, Windows 7 64 Bit Service Pack 1, Windows Vista 64 Bit Service Pack 2* (*NVIDIA video card recommended if running Vista OS)
Processor:Intel Core 2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.40GHz (4 CPUs) / AMD Phenom 9850 Quad-Core Processor (4 CPUs) @ 2.5GHz
Memory:4GB
Video Card:NVIDIA 9800 GT 1GB / AMD HD 4870 1GB (DX 10, 10.1, 11)
Sound Card:100% DirectX 10 compatible
HDD Space:65GB
DVD Drive
Recommended specifications:
OS:Windows 8.1 64 Bit, Windows 8 64 Bit, Windows 7 64 Bit Service Pack 1
Processor:Intel Core i5 3470 @ 3.2GHZ (4 CPUs) / AMD X8 FX-8350 @ 4GHZ (8 CPUs)
Memory:8GB
Video Card:NVIDIA GTX 660 2GB / AMD HD7870 2GB
Sound Card:100% DirectX 10 compatible
HDD Space:65GB
DVD Drive
Stay glued to PCGamer.com for more GTA 5 PC details in the run up to launch. GTA 5 is out on April 14.
