About Grand Theft Auto V

Grand Theft Auto V

Grand Theft Auto V is a 2013 action-adventure game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It is the seventh main entry in the Grand Theft Auto series, following 2008’s Grand Theft Auto IV, and the fifteenth instalment overall. Set within the fictional state of San Andreas, based on Southern California, the single-player story follows three protagonists—retired bank robber Michael De Santa (Ned Luke), street gangster Franklin Clinton (Shawn Fonteno), and drug dealer and gunrunner Trevor Philips (Steven Ogg), and their attempts to commit heists while under pressure from a corrupt government agency and powerful criminals. Players freely roam San Andreas’s open world countryside and fictional city of Los Santos, based on Los Angeles.

The game world is navigated on foot and by vehicle, from either a third-person or first-person perspective. Players control the protagonists throughout single-player and switch among them, both during and outside missions. The story is centred on the heist sequences, and many missions involve shooting and driving gameplay. A “wanted” system governs the aggression of law enforcement response to players who commit crimes. In Grand Theft Auto Online, the game’s online multiplayer mode, up to 30 players engage in a variety of different cooperative and competitive game modes.

Shared between many of Rockstar’s studios worldwide, the game’s development began around the time of Grand Theft Auto IV‘s release. The developers drew influence from many of their previous projects (such as Red Dead Redemption and Max Payne 3) and designed the game around three lead protagonists to innovate on the core structure of its predecessors. Much of the development work constituted the open world’s creation, and several team members conducted field research around California to capture footage for the design team. The game’s soundtrack features an original score composed by a team of producers who collaborated over several years. Grand Theft Auto V was released in September 2013 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, in November 2014 for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, in April 2015 for Windows, and in March 2022 for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.

Extensively marketed and widely anticipated, the game broke industry sales records and became the fastest-selling entertainment product in history, earning $800 million in its first day and $1 billion in its first three days. It received critical acclaim, with praise directed at its multiple-protagonist design, open world, presentation and gameplay. However, its depiction of violence and women caused controversies. Several gaming publications awarded the game year-end accolades including Game of the Year awards. In retrospect, it is considered one of seventh and eighth generation console gaming’s most significant titles and among the best video games ever made. It is the second-best-selling video game of all time with over 190 million copies shipped, and one of the most financially successful entertainment products of all time, with over $8.5 billion in worldwide revenue. Its successor, Grand Theft Auto VI, is scheduled to be released in 2025.

Grand Theft Auto V System Requirements

Minimum

OS: Windows 10 64 Bit
Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.40GHz (4 CPUs) / AMD Phenom 9850 Quad-Core Processor (4 CPUs) @ 2.5GHz
Memory: 4 GB RAM
Graphics: NVIDIA 9800 GT 1GB / AMD HD 4870 1GB (DX 10, 10.1, 11)
Storage: 110 GB available space

Grand Theft Auto V System Requirements

GAMEPLAY

Grand Theft Auto V is an action-adventure game played from either a third-person or first-person perspective. Players complete missions—linear scenarios with set objectives—to progress through the story. Outside of the missions, players may freely roam the open world. Composed of the San Andreas open countryside area, and its fictional Blaine County and city of Los Santos, the world is much larger in area than earlier entries in the series. It may be fully explored after the game’s beginning without restriction, although story progress unlocks more gameplay content.

Players use melee attacks, firearms and explosives to fight enemies, and may run, jump, swim or use vehicles to navigate the world. To accommodate the map’s size, the game introduces vehicle types absent in its predecessor Grand Theft Auto IV, such as fixed-wing aircraft. In combat, auto-aim and a cover system may be used to assist against enemies. Should players take damage, their health meter will gradually regenerate to its halfway point. Players respawn at hospitals when their health depletes. If players commit crimes, law enforcement may respond as indicated by a “wanted” meter in the head-up display (HUD). Stars displayed on the meter indicate the current wanted level (for example, at the maximum five-star level, police helicopters and SWAT teams swarm to lethally dispatch players). Officers will search for players who leave the wanted vicinity. The meter enters a cool-down mode and eventually recedes when players are hidden from the officers’ line of sight that displays on the mini-map for a period of time.

In the single-player mode, players control three characters: Michael De Santa, Trevor Philips and Franklin Clinton—criminals whose stories interconnect as they complete missions. Some missions are completed with only one character and others feature two or three. Outside the missions, players may switch between characters at will by a directional compass on the HUD, although this feature is restricted at certain points during the story. During missions, characters may automatically switch to complete specific objectives. A character’s compass avatar will flash red if he is in danger and needs help, and flash white if he has a strategic advantage. Though players complete missions with the protagonists, the more difficult heist missions require aid from AI-controlled accomplices with unique skill sets like computer hacking and driving. If an accomplice survives a successful heist, they take a cut from the cash reward and may be available for later missions with improvements to their unique skills. Some heists afford multiple strategies; in a holdup mission, players may either stealthily subdue civilians with an incapacitating agent or conspicuously storm the venue with guns drawn.

Each character has a set of eight skills that represent their ability in specific areas such as shooting and driving. Though skills improve through play, each character has a skill with expertise by default (e.g. Trevor’s flying skill). The eighth “special” skill determines proficiency in an ability that is unique to each respective character. Michael enters bullet time in combat, Franklin slows down time while driving, and Trevor deals twice as much damage to enemies while taking half as much in combat. A meter on each character’s HUD depletes when an ability is being used and regenerates when players perform skilful actions (for example, drifting in vehicles as Franklin or performing headshots as Michael).

While free-roaming the game world, players may engage in context-specific activities such as scuba diving and BASE jumping, and visit businesses such as cinemas and strip clubs. Each character has a smartphone for contacting friends, starting activities and accessing an in-game Internet. The Internet lets players trade in stocks via a stock market. Players may purchase properties such as garages and businesses, upgrade the weapons and vehicles in each character’s arsenal, and customise their appearance by purchasing outfits, haircuts and tattoos.

STORY

In 2004, Michael Townley, Trevor Philips, and Brad Snider partake in a failed robbery in Ludendorff, North Yankton, resulting in Michael being presumed dead. Nine years later, Michael lives with his family in the city of Los Santos under the alias Michael De Santa, having made a secret agreement with the Federal Investigation Bureau (FIB) agent Dave Norton to stay hidden. Across town, gangbanger Franklin Clinton works for a corrupt car salesman and meets Michael while attempting to fraudulently repossess his son’s car. The two later become friends. When Michael finds his wife sleeping with her tennis coach, he and Franklin chase the coach to a mansion, which Michael heavily damages in anger. The owner of the mansion, drug lord Martin Madrazo, demands compensation. Michael returns to a life of crime to obtain the money, enlisting Franklin as an accomplice. With the help of Michael’s old friend Lester Crest, a disabled hacker, they rob a jewellery store to pay off the debt. Meanwhile, Trevor, who lives in squalor in rural Blaine County, hears of the heist and realises it was Michael’s work; Trevor had believed the FIB killed Michael in the Ludendorff heist. Trevor finds Michael and reunites with him, forcing Michael to reluctantly accept him back into his life.

As time goes on, the protagonists’ lives spiral out of control. Michael’s criminal behaviour prompts his family to leave him. When he later becomes a movie producer, he comes into conflict with Devin Weston, a billionaire venture capitalist and corporate raider, who attempts to shut down Michael’s studio. Michael thwarts his efforts and inadvertently kills his lawyer, causing Devin to vow revenge. Meanwhile, Franklin must rescue his friend Lamar Davis from their former friend and rival gangbanger Harold “Stretch” Joseph, who attempts to kill them to prove himself to his new gang. Concurrently, Trevor tries to consolidate his control over various black markets in Blaine County, waging war against The Lost outlaw motorcycle club, Latino street gangs, rival meth dealers, the private military company Merryweather, and triad kingpin Wei Cheng.

Having broken his agreement with Dave by committing robberies again, Michael is coerced by Dave and his superior, Steve Haines, to perform a series of operations alongside Franklin and Trevor to undermine the International Affairs Agency (IAA). Under Steve’s direction and with Lester’s help, they attack a convoy carrying funds for the IAA and steal an experimental chemical weapon from an IAA lab. As Steve comes under increasing scrutiny, he forces Michael and Franklin to erase evidence against him from the FIB servers. Michael takes the opportunity to wipe the data on his activities, destroying Steve’s leverage over him.

After reconciling with his family, Michael starts planning his final heist with Trevor, Franklin, and Lester: raiding the Union Depository’s gold bullion reserve. However, Trevor discovers that Brad was not imprisoned as he was led to believe, but killed during the Ludendorff heist and buried in the grave marked for Michael. Deducing that the heist was a setup and that he was supposed to be killed in Brad’s place, Trevor feels betrayed and leaves Michael for dead following a standoff with Cheng’s henchmen. Although Franklin rescues Michael, Trevor’s anger towards the latter causes friction within the group and threatens to undermine their plans. Meanwhile, Steve betrays Michael and Dave, and they become caught in a Mexican standoff between the FIB, the IAA, and Merryweather. Michael and Dave are rescued by Trevor, who believes only he has the right to kill Michael.

The Union Depository heist is successful, but Franklin is afterwards approached by Steve and Dave, who contend that Trevor is a liability, and Devin, who seeks revenge on Michael. Franklin has three options: kill Trevor, kill Michael, or attempt to save both in a suicide mission. Should Franklin choose to kill either Michael or Trevor, his relationship with the other ceases or becomes strained, and he returns to his old life. Otherwise, the trio, aided by Lamar and Lester, withstand an onslaught from the FIB and Merryweather before going on to kill Cheng, Stretch, Steve, and Devin. Michael and Trevor reconcile, and the three protagonists cease working together but remain friends.

DEVELOPMENT

Rockstar North began to develop Grand Theft Auto V in 2008, around Grand Theft Auto IV‘s release. The development team totalled more than 1,000 people, including Rockstar North’s core team and staff from parent company Rockstar Games’ studios around the world. The proprietary Rockstar Advanced Game Engine (RAGE) was overhauled for the game to improve its draw distance rendering capabilities. The Euphoria and Bullet software handle additional animation and rendering tasks. Having become familiar with the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 hardware over time, Rockstar found they were able to push the consoles’ graphical capabilities further than in previous games. Analyst estimations place the game’s combined development and marketing budget at more than £170 million (US$265 million), which would make it the most expensive game ever made at that time.

The open world was modelled on Southern California and Los Angeles, and its design and in-game render constituted much of the game’s early work. Key members of the game world production team took field research trips throughout the region and documented their research with photo and video footage. Google Maps projections of Los Angeles were used by the team to help design Los Santos’s road networks. To reflect and reproduce Los Angeles’s demographic spread, the developers studied census data and watched documentaries about the city. The team considered creating the open world the most technically demanding aspect of the game’s production.

A fundamental design goal from the outset was to innovate on the series’ core structure by giving players control of three lead protagonists instead of one. The idea was first raised during Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas‘ development, but contemporaneous hardware restrictions made it infeasible. Having developed two Grand Theft Auto IV episodic expansion packs featuring new protagonists in 2009, the team wanted to base Grand Theft Auto V around three simultaneously controlled protagonists. The team viewed it as a spiritual successor to many of their previous games (such as Grand Theft Auto IV, Red Dead Redemption and Max Payne 3), and designed it to improve upon their gameplay mechanics. They sought to improve the action gameplay by refining the shooting mechanics and cover system and reworked the driving mechanics to correct Grand Theft Auto IV‘s awkward vehicle controls.

After an audition process, Ned Luke, Shawn Fonteno and Steven Ogg were selected to portray Michael, Franklin and Trevor, respectively. Their performances were mostly recorded using motion capture technology, but dialogue for scenes with characters seated in vehicles was recorded in studios instead. The game’s original score was composed by a team of producers who collaborated over several years. Licensed music provided by an in-game radio is also used. The team licensed more than 241 tracks shared between fifteen radio stations, with an additional two stations providing talk radio. Some of the tracks were written specifically for the game, such as rapper and producer Flying Lotus’ original work composed for the FlyLo FM radio station he hosts.