Grand Theft Auto V: Facts and Conjecture

It's not exactly a surprise that Grand Theft Auto V is officially in the works. Gamers have been awaiting any word on its development since 2008's release of Grand Theft Auto IV (and the subsequent push of two full-fledged DLC packs), but Rockstar has been mum for over three years on the future of the franchise.

We heard analyst rumblings way back in the summer of 2009 that GTA V was under way. About a year later, the rumor was that Grand Theft Auto V would be set on the west coast of the United States. The latter rumor persisted into this year, when a casting list for Grand Theft Auto V supported the California setting.

All of that speculation combined with Grand Theft Auto V's official announcement begs certain questions. What exactly is Grand Theft Auto V? Where will it take place? And most importantly, how will it borrow from the four sandbox GTA games that preceded it in order to make the ultimate Grand Theft Auto experience?

Looking back, the great strength of Grand Theft Auto III was how much of a mind-blowing, revolutionary title it was. Vice City and San Andreas were built on identical architecture, and Grand Theft Auto IV simply reimagined the notion of a sandbox city on a beautiful new engine. But none of them provided the be all, end all paradigm shift that Grand Theft Auto III was when it came out in 2001. Could Grand Theft Auto V reinvent what the GTA franchise is known for? Will it be something unexpected or will it be totally safe?

Certainly, Grand Theft Auto V will take place in a sandbox of its own, complete with over-the-top action, violence, sexual innuendo and everything else the series has been known and loved for over the last decade. But it could certainly be cleaned-up, too. If there's something I hope Rockstar focuses on more than anything, it's the fidelity of on-foot gameplay. Vehicular mechanics can't get much better than they were in Grand Theft Auto IV (well, except for those pesky-as-hell helicopter missions), but the on-foot portions of Grand Theft Auto V need to be as strong and polished as everything else in the game if, like Grand Theft Auto III, GTA V is set to raise the bar yet again.

Vice City and San Andreas expanded on Grand Theft Auto III's greatness with an insane level of attention paid to certain periods of time. Vice City, the first post-GTA III foray, embodied the 1980s. With its look and (especially) its soundtrack, Vice City was a spot-on, admittedly facetious look at the excesses of the '80s, and isn't only my favorite Grand Theft Auto game, but ranks extremely high in my all-time list of games. Likewise, San Andreas busted-open the sandbox and made it humongous (almost to the point of unwieldy), but again, its acute attention to the look and feel of the west coast during the mid-1990s was appreciated by fans around the world.

With Rockstar having proven that it could nail the look and feel of certain time periods, could Grand Theft Auto V explore another time entirely? The Godfather and Mafia games, competent in their own right though certainly not even remotely of GTA's quality, already covered the post-war era adequately. That leaves a vacuum for the 1960's and 1970's, two eras that I'd love to see Rockstar dabble in. Of course, Grand Theft Auto V could take place in the present � la Grand Theft Auto IV, but I really hope it doesn't. Rockstar manages to do special things when it focuses on certain time periods, and this remains true outside of the GTA franchise. Just think of Red Dead Redemption for a great example.

If there is a polarizing game in the series, it's no doubt San Andreas, the third and final GTA game on the PlayStation 2. San Andreas was a huge hit, and it was a great game, but some gamers suggest that it tried to do so much. San Andreas as a landmass was leaps and bounds ahead of Liberty City and Vice City in terms of size, and some thought that it forced the game to lose focus. Likewise, emphasizing RPG-like elements in terms of ancillary character development also contributed towards a more unfocused experience.

Still, San Andreas was instructive in that it gave Rockstar a formula that, if honed and fine-tuned, could again contribute to the ultimate Grand Theft Auto experience the developer will no doubt strive for with GTA V. Size wasn't necessarily the problem with San Andreas but rather what was done with a map of that size. If Grand Theft Auto V does indeed take place on the west coast, it's worth considering that Rockstar will revisit San Andreas itself, just like Liberty City was revisited in GTA IV. If this is so, Rockstar needs to focus on making it as diverse as possible and as populated as it can be with as much interesting scenery, people and stories as the studio can muster.

Likewise, the RPG elements introduced in building-up CJ could be more robust, friendly and useful, giving players more control over their character's development and destiny. There's nothing wrong with having your character exercise or eat, but why not take the obvious leap and go to the full-bore RPG route? Rockstar could give your characters real statistics that can be built-up. It would be awesome to have a character that earns experience points and levels-up. Imagine a GTA game where points could be attributed to certain stats, and your character could, say, drive better, run faster, or use firearms with more accuracy?

On November 2, we'll know more about Grand Theft Auto V when Rockstar finally releases the first trailer of the game. In the meantime, let the conjecture roll on. And be sure to contribute some of your own conjecture in the comments below, letting us know what your ultimate GTA V experience would be and what Rockstar should borrow (or not) from previous games in the series.

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