First Hands-on Previews of GTAV & New Screenshots

03
Sep
2013
By Chris | 3rd Sep 2013 at 16:24 GMT in GTA V | 7 Comments

The first hands-on previews of GTAV are coming out today, with various European gaming sites getting to play the game first. Below is a short summary of some interesting points that were mentioned in some of the reviews. Most other details concern some of the early missions, so with the interest of not wanting to spoil anything for anyone, we've left those out. If you don't mind reading about the early missions, then check out the links at the end of the post and read the whole articles.
 
Summary

  • Missions are extremely fun and varied
  • Characters will sometimes engage with pedestrians in totally unique ways to immerse players deeper into the world, for example, IGN saw Lamar randomly accost a drunken pedestrian
  • While on the ground, you feel like a tiny part of the game, while seeing Los Santos from the air you get to see just how vast and expansive the city is.
  • No graphics stuttering, and the infamous popup scenery that has plagued the GTA series since GTA III was only seen a handful of times - it has drastically improved since GTA IV.
  • The idea of character switching is a fantastic weapon, but if you use it right in-game you'll see how it can be extremely effective.
  • The diversity of the city, its surroundings, the characters and the whole world is really amazing.
  • There is a "colossal range of vehicles"
  • Police are a lot more intelligent and can spot you from a distance
  • The weapon selection wheel will store all your weapons, even when out of ammo, and you will never lose them.

Quotes from IGN:

 

The distinction between GTA V and GTA IV’s vehicle handling is immediately clear; carving my way through the throngs of 18-wheelers the low-slung supercar feels more sure-footed and grippy than similar models in GTA IV. It’s more responsive, but without erring towards feeling too superficial or light.


The motorcycles have benefitted from the handling improvements too; they still feel quite manoeuvrable but, at the same time, they now come with more believable sense of mass.


I'm struck at just how much brighter GTA V is than GTA IV. The harsh, San Andreas sunshine lends vehicles a dazzling gleam, casts sharp shadows, and gives the whole environment a brilliant, suitably over-exposed summertime feel. Aesthetically, Los Santos stands in stark contrast to the somewhat washed-out bleakness of Liberty City.

 
Screenshots

gtav-hands-on-01.jpg gtav-hands-on-02.jpg gtav-hands-on-03.jpg gtav-hands-on-04.jpg gtav-hands-on-05.jpg gtav-hands-on-06.jpg gtav-hands-on-07.jpg gtav-hands-on-08.jpg gtav-hands-on-09.jpg gtav-hands-on-10.jpg

 
 
Hands-on Previews

Trevor_Philips's photo
Trevor_Philips 3rd September, 2013 @ 18:53 - Permalink

For anyone who might be wondering, the scope on Michael's AR15 in the first screenshot is an ELCAN SpecterDR.

Blur's photo
Blur 3rd September, 2013 @ 21:24 - Permalink

The shot by the lake is incredible, my favorite screen that has been released. This game is stunning.

BlackListedB's photo
BlackListedB 3rd September, 2013 @ 22:30 - Permalink

Well, Games Informer as I recall is based out of Minneapolis, Minnesota, which was a surprise, but they didn't get a lead like this.

Covering GTA IV in-depth first in the print medium IIRC.

 

I just got the news about 25 minutes ago as I was offline testing a DVD burner VCR combo machine this afternoon.

Good news on that front as well, it works, bought used for bucks. Anyway, don't want to know too much even if it's officially released since it's not long now until we all get to form our own opinions. This is a nice break from no news however! haha

Someguy42's photo
Someguy42 3rd September, 2013 @ 23:09 - Permalink

Just finished reading it. I'm loving that ''city at night'' screenshot. 

Sherman's photo
Sherman 4th September, 2013 @ 11:27 - Permalink

Car in the 3rd screen shot... very cool. I hope they have more like it in-game and in GTAO! 13 days.. jesus, it's been forever!

NSanityHD's photo
NSanityHD 4th September, 2013 @ 12:22 - Permalink

I wonder how vehicle damage graphics/collisions will look in GTAV compared to GTA IV... :o This is one of the many things I can't wait to see. It was my understanding that R* was originally going to make the "next GTA" (this one) more like San Andreas as far as the graphics as well, but it looks like they have turned it around to make it a little more of a realistic feeling. :D

BlackListedB's photo
BlackListedB 13th September, 2013 @ 08:15 - Permalink

Hi Guys, seems our news feels dated since I see some have thwarted the best efforts of Rockstar Games and gotten videos of the actual game up on YouTube and perhaps other sources before it's official release. It's been a week of ads around town showing up, but I've been dealing with family matters that stand to hold off my access to GTA V legitimately.

 

So, sadly like GTA IV so many years before, a week was heavily infested with pre-release videos showing us actual game play incidents, I took part in watching them and even saved a few via IE cache, but it serves as a reminder of the first foray into the new World and what people were thinking of doing, having GTA IV be the basis for GTA V, it's not so much a curiosity as it was back then, I think the desire to have that experience personally is still in tact