GTA V to Feature Three Different Main Characters

Based on what I've seen and read, GTA 5 looks like it's going to be closer to San Andreas in terms of gameplay and scope. I'm pumped.

This constant whining about a lack of female playable character reminds why I virtually never read comments on this site. The community here is just so incredibly PC and terrible. You guys drive me absolutely nuts.

Yeah, I'm not sure why the lack of a female protagonist is that big a deal.

I mean, if we're going to start getting on developers every time they come out with a game lacking a female main character then...well, Patrick better get writing ASAP 'cause that'll be one long ass article.

@Groker said:

This constant whining about a lack of female playable character reminds why I virtually never read comments on this site. The community here is just so incredibly PC and terrible. You guys drive me absolutely nuts.

I could give a shit about being PC and I don't think having an opinion that a little change would be nice is "terrible." Having a female protagonist is more about just having a different perspective that the character see things through. GTA games, while usually told very well, are the same fucking tough guy antihero crook story every time and going from the trailer and this cover, its look so painfully obvious to be the more of the same all over.

@Clonedzero said:

what LA street gang has women as members. really enlighten me please.

...All of them?

@captain_clayman said:

@Jace said:

@PhilESkyline said:

Rockstar is just putting an end to 3 great GTA stories!

Cool, but it can't be right. Tommy would have to be way older than CJ or the GTA 3 guy (Claude)?

tommy is really old if that is tommy. in the original trailer he seemed to be at least middle aged.

Assuming GTA V takes place in the last 5 years, Tommy would have to be at LEAST 50. None of them match that. And if one did it would be the guy on the left.

Yup I think the want for a female protagonist is most a sign that we could use some different stuff in our games instead of what we've had for a while now. It's also tied into wanting games that aren't solely based on murder, it's difficult because the entire industry and gaming as a thing has evolved directly from the act of killing enemies but I'd love to see a solid amount of good games that don't focus on this.

Besides driving games, I don't think I've played a game where I am not shooting people. Maybe an adventure game I once played or something like 10 years ago?

@Shaanyboi said:

@Hunter5024 said:

@Shaanyboi said:

And all three will be unlikable cunts who have no consistency between their character motivations and their actions.

Because, y'know, Rockstar are such brilliant writers....

Let's not discourage some of the only people in the industry who actually try to engage the player in interesting narratives.

...some of the only people that try? Dude, what...? Do... do you play many games? Because the writing in Rockstar's games is average videogame crap at best. They're filled with bad caricatures, player action completely contrasting to the gameplay, characters spouting their REALLY poorly thought-out bullshit philosophies to you when you hang out with them (and without provocation, i might add), and protagonists that are nothing more than glorified errand boys.

The praise Rockstar gets for its writing is either some kind of widespread ironic joke that I'm not in on, or people have REALLY low standards for game storytelling... Bully was atleast KINDA entertaining, but that's about it.

Yeah because everyone thought the moral choices in GTA IV were so easy and bland. And TBoGT had no memorable characters what-so-ever.

Yeah yeah yeah, and the characters in Red Dead were trash too. Yeah, let's all be miserable cunts and not like anything.

@Baillie said:

Oh my god, it's totally Claude, CJ and Tommy!

Nah.

It really could be! It really could :) ! That would make the guy on the left one of the most speechless characters on the planet.

@GNitro said:

@cocowawa said:

how about a woman main character?!

But then who would play the hookers and girlfriend characters... gosh... lol

In the GI article it said there wasn't going to be any girlfriend character's in this one. They felt that it wouldn't mesh well with their 3 character system. So... spots cleared up for female protagonists!

@Anwar said:

And booth babes who work for fighting games during conventions apparently don't know jack shit about those games according to Klepek, so don't just throw around nonsensical crap like 'female protagonist'. Why does the gender of the protagonist(s) matter?

Well it's like some people's problem with many male lead characters being predominantly white male. A little variety wouldn't exactly hurt, but this is really a non-issue for me.

Also Klepek is not really making a big deal of the lack of a female protagonist. It was just a passing comment. People are really making way too much of that comment.

All of them generic looking men. GTA seems stuck in the past. I'll stick with Saints Row and my gangsta bitch.

@dagas said:

GTA seems stuck in the past.

In what way exactly? The way they're putting the player in control of three main characters seems pretty new. Just in terms of scale, they appear to be going beyond most, if not all, other open world games out there.

@Chaser324 said:

@dagas said:

GTA seems stuck in the past.

In what way exactly? The way they're putting the player in control of three main characters seems pretty new. Just in terms of scale, they appear to be going beyond most, if not all, other open world games out there.

Plus, there are very few games in the same genre, and they can't really compare to GTA. Not that they're bad, but it's just apples to oranges. I don't think GTA is stuck in the past because they're the only ones doing that type of game.

I wouldn't mind more female characters in general, but I really don't understand why people whine about it so much when it comes to Grand Theft Auto. It's not like crime dramas in any medium are known for having female leads. Name ten good crime dramas with a female main character, then maybe you're on to something.

@Shaanyboi said:

And all three will be unlikable cunts who have no consistency between their character motivations and their actions.

Because, y'know, Rockstar are such brilliant writers....

How are you supposed to write a game that encompasses all of player agency and freedom?

@Soapy86 said:

I wouldn't mind more female characters in general, but I really don't understand why people whine about it so much when it comes to Grand Theft Auto. It's not like crime dramas in any medium are known for having female leads. Name ten good crime dramas with a female main character, then maybe you're on to something.

I agree with you that the moaning about no female lead character is confusing and irritating, but I feel like I have to step up to your challenge and try to name ten crime movies with female leads:

1. Kill Bill
2. Traffic
3. Bonnie & Clyde
4. Basic Instinct
5. Jackie Brown
6. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
7. Monster
8. Point of No Return
9. La Femme Nikita
10. The Wire (Snoop)

Some of those might be a bit of a stretch, and two are debatably the same movie...I'm sure I could come up with better stuff if I thought about it longer.

@BestUsernameEver said:

@Chaser324 said:

@dagas said:

GTA seems stuck in the past.

In what way exactly? The way they're putting the player in control of three main characters seems pretty new. Just in terms of scale, they appear to be going beyond most, if not all, other open world games out there.

Plus, there are very few games in the same genre, and they can't really compare to GTA. Not that they're bad, but it's just apples to oranges. I don't think GTA is stuck in the past because they're the only ones doing that type of game.

Not to mention your average GTA protagonist has a million times more depth to him than "The Boss" in Saints Row.

A created character in something like Saints Row is nothing more than a cipher with some voice acting. Sure, it can have boobs, or a British accent and an afro, but it doesn't add anything to the game once the "look how ridiculous this is!" feeling wears off.

Just read the article, motherfucker I am psyched for this.

@Fjordson said:

@BestUsernameEver said:

@Chaser324 said:

@dagas said:

GTA seems stuck in the past.

In what way exactly? The way they're putting the player in control of three main characters seems pretty new. Just in terms of scale, they appear to be going beyond most, if not all, other open world games out there.

Plus, there are very few games in the same genre, and they can't really compare to GTA. Not that they're bad, but it's just apples to oranges. I don't think GTA is stuck in the past because they're the only ones doing that type of game.

Not to mention your average GTA protagonist has a million times more depth to him than "The Boss" in Saints Row.

A created character in something like Saints Row is nothing more than a cipher with some voice acting. Sure, it can have boobs, or a British accent and an afro, but it doesn't add anything to the game once the "look how ridiculous this is!" feeling wears off.

When I first read that I thought you were going to say The Boss from MGS3 and I was going to flip a table over.

I don't understand why some people are asking for a female protagonist. What difference does it make? Feminism? I don't know, I do know 2 things though. I'm hyped, and I need a better PC.

PEOPLE WHO ACTUALLY BELIEVE THAT THESE CHARACTERS MIGHT BE CJ, CLAUDE SPEED, OR TOMMY VERCETTI ARE FUCKING CRAZY.

also, the drug dealing from chinatown wars better be in this.

@SAC said:

PEOPLE WHO ACTUALLY BELIEVE THAT THESE CHARACTERS MIGHT BE CJ, CLAUDE SPEED, OR TOMMY VERCETTI ARE FUCKING CRAZY.

also, the drug dealing from chinatown wars better be in this.

Also, they're people that haven't read the article that clearly indicates that they aren't. Also, this article is at least the second or third place where Dan Houser has explicitly stated that there will never be any sort of character cross over between the old GTA III era games and the current era with GTA IV and V.

@Chaser324 said:

@Soapy86 said:

I wouldn't mind more female characters in general, but I really don't understand why people whine about it so much when it comes to Grand Theft Auto. It's not like crime dramas in any medium are known for having female leads. Name ten good crime dramas with a female main character, then maybe you're on to something.

I agree with you that the moaning about no female lead character is confusing and irritating, but I feel like I have to step up to your challenge and try to name ten crime movies with female leads:

1. Kill Bill
2. Traffic
3. Bonnie & Clyde
4. Basic Instinct
5. Jackie Brown
6. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
7. Monster
8. Point of No Return
9. La Femme Nikita
10. The Wire (Snoop)

Some of those might be a bit of a stretch, and two are debatably the same movie...I'm sure I could come up with better stuff if I thought about it longer.

1.) thats awful ninja nonsense, not really criminal stuff. awful movies. just awful.

2.) i dont remember any criminal leads in that. i remember college girl or whatever.

3.) valid.

4.) sex is not valid gameplay

5.) she wasn't a hardcore criminal.

6.) valid.

7.) more rape based motivation. awesome for video games amirite?

8.) dont know it.

9.) spies are different than criminals.

10.) valid.

@Clonedzero: Catherine Zeta Jones takes over the responsibilities of running her husband's drug cartel in Traffic. She orders a hit on a guy, so it should definitely be on the list.

Also, I'd argue that even though Jackie Brown isn't a hardcore criminal, I guarantee you that the Houser brothers would look to that film for inspiration if they were writing a female lead, if for no other reason than the fact that it's directed by Tarantino.

Point of No Return is basically the same as La Femme Nikita, so I assume you don't count it. What about the little girl in Leon: The Professional, would you say that counts?

There's probably some other "rape revenge" movies I can think of too if we're going to count those.

@TheDudeOfGaming said:

I don't understand why some people are asking for a female protagonist. What difference does it make? Feminism? I don't know, I do know 2 things though. I'm hyped, and I need a better PC.

I think it'd be a cool angle for them to look at, but I'm not pressing for it as much as Patrick and some other dudes seem to. I trust that R* will have great characters regardless.

@project343 said:

@Shaanyboi said:

And all three will be unlikable cunts who have no consistency between their character motivations and their actions.

Because, y'know, Rockstar are such brilliant writers....

How are you supposed to write a game that encompasses all of player agency and freedom?

By imposing a shit ton of rules that punish you for killing civilians, running red lights, and violating other principles that the character would not do and thus making the game completely unfun.

I honestly don't get why people complain about that character dissonance stuff in open world games. If you want to immerse yourself in the story and character, then role play and don't act like a crazed lunatic. I for one can make the distinction. When I'm fucking about running people over and shooting cops in Sleeping Dogs, Wei Shen has become the digital incarnation of myself so that I may interact in the world as I please. When I'm playing a story mission, I'm back to watching Wei Shen as a character and not my homicidal ass. If your brain can't switch between those two modes, then you probably shouldn't be playing videogames. They probably require the most suspension of disbelief than any other medium.

It really is baffling and disappointing that they have three protagonists and none of them are female. Such a wasted opportunity.

That said, three protagonists does sound like an interesting idea. I look forward to seeing how it plays out.

Color me disappointed Rockstar Games continues to focus exclusively on male protagonists

Well fuck. We get it @patrickklepek, you're a total feminist, congratulations. But how about we trust Rockstar to tell an awesome story, not try to force an agenda on them that isn't theirs and stop giving a fuck what sex their chosen protagonists are as long as the game is excellent?

@SharkEthic: This may be news to you, but Rockstar have always had a liberal bias to their storytelling, in the themes and the portrayals of American culture. Or maybe they were just being real. ZING.

@lord_python: Zing? I don't even know what your point is?

@Shaanyboi said:

And all three will be unlikable cunts who have no consistency between their character motivations and their actions.

Because, y'know, Rockstar are such brilliant writers....

I quite liked Red Dead Redemption...

@Srah said:

@SharkEthic: I don't see how wanting variety in a game is considered feminist.

It's not. But given Patricks previously expressed views on girls in gaming, his statement goes beyond that.

@MiniPato said:

@project343 said:

@Shaanyboi said:

And all three will be unlikable cunts who have no consistency between their character motivations and their actions.

Because, y'know, Rockstar are such brilliant writers....

How are you supposed to write a game that encompasses all of player agency and freedom?

By imposing a shit ton of rules that punish you for killing civilians, running red lights, and violating other principles that the character would not do and thus making the game completely unfun.

I honestly don't get why people complain about that character dissonance stuff in open world games. If you want to immerse yourself in the story and character, then role play and don't act like a crazed lunatic. I for one can make the distinction. When I'm fucking about running people over and shooting cops in Sleeping Dogs, Wei Shen has become the digital incarnation of myself so that I may interact in the world as I please. When I'm playing a story mission, I'm back to watching Wei Shen as a character and not my homicidal ass. If your brain can't switch between those two modes, then you probably shouldn't be playing videogames. They probably require the most suspension of disbelief than any other medium.

I'm totally with you. I always hear that Clint Hocking buzz term "Ludonarrative Dissonance" to describe it, but it's just never really bothered me.

@msavo said:

@Fjordson said:

@BestUsernameEver said:

@Chaser324 said:

@dagas said:

GTA seems stuck in the past.

In what way exactly? The way they're putting the player in control of three main characters seems pretty new. Just in terms of scale, they appear to be going beyond most, if not all, other open world games out there.

Plus, there are very few games in the same genre, and they can't really compare to GTA. Not that they're bad, but it's just apples to oranges. I don't think GTA is stuck in the past because they're the only ones doing that type of game.

Not to mention your average GTA protagonist has a million times more depth to him than "The Boss" in Saints Row.

A created character in something like Saints Row is nothing more than a cipher with some voice acting. Sure, it can have boobs, or a British accent and an afro, but it doesn't add anything to the game once the "look how ridiculous this is!" feeling wears off.

When I first read that I thought you were going to say The Boss from MGS3 and I was going to flip a table over.

Haha, no way, that Boss is great!

And I should clarify that I'm not saying a "blank slate" character like in Saints Row 3 is automatically bad. I get that some people prefer that sort of character with a lot customization and don't give two shits about story in gaming. It's just that there are already plenty of games out there that do that sort of the thing with the robust character creation and whatnot. It's why I appreciate Rockstar's take since it adds some nice variety to the genre.

I still think Tommy Vercetti was the best character. Don't try and humanise someone when you're making a game where you are constantly murdering people and jacking their shit, write the character as such.

More games should just have main characters that are not trying to be good guys or trying to convince us they are.

Cause if the main character was female, none of the mobsters would take her seriously and the game would constantly have them making jokes about her being female or saying she has to go fuck someone for a mission.

That's why.

I would strongly suggest everyone reads the GameInformer article. After reading that, I got pretty excited about this game.

Also, is the rabid and sudden grown-up demand for female protagonists going to be a '10s thing?

@Incapability: Fuck I hope not. All this white knight bullshit needs to go away.

I was surprised by Sleeping Dogs. The game was janky and had issues, but it was by far the best story I've ever seen in a game of this genre. Rockstar has something to beat.

Are people assuming this'll be a matter of actually choosing a protagonist? I get the feeling it's just going to be modern shooter style where you jump between them or finish them one by one.

Not sure about this. Whole point of a GTA game is you feel connected to your character and their actions. Spread this out to 3 sperate characters and your just gonna lose that feeling.

Did you hear that Metal Gear Solid 5 isn't going to have a female lead. Man fuck that game..

@whitespider said:

I don't want to be abusive and aggressive like some pc gamers. However I really want this to come to pc. If I just stuck to my xbox and ps3 for years after they came out - I would more easily be able to tolerate 720p @ (let's be honest here) 24.7fps. However, the truth of the matter is that once you go up, going down is extremely hard. At least in my case.

Surely some of you can relate to that? Imagine that you upgraded from a tube television strait from 1993 to a wall sized OLED television running at 1000hz and 7680x4320 resolution. Then people said "shut up and just play the game on the crt television and be happy with it, or else you are a fucking snob"

For weeks, you would suffer from eye strain, possible headaches, the adjustment would counteract the entire game's enjoyment.

That's where I am at with GTAV. And that's why I am disappointed in a lack of pc version. It's not that I don't want to play the game, and it's not that I won't put up with 20-something fps and less than a quarter of the refresh rate and resolution - it's the consequences of doing so. And that's where the distinction between "snob" and "actual issue" come into play.

And sure, there might be a lot of people who are just like "why should i play inferior version" - I am fully willing to play the inferior version. SIGN ME UP. Seriously. I just don't want eyestrain. I am a headache prone person, and long term clarity and motion changes take me a while to adjust.

Instead of saying "bro, you need to see a doctor about that" , maybe just sympathise that some people need the pc version of this game for 'other than pride' reasons.

So many games this year have made me scream "WHERES MY NEW XBOX", shit is getting worse like look at AC3 compared to AC2, AC2 looks way better.

No female protagonist is disappointing, but I was never expecting it to seriously happen. Besides, multiple protagonists! Take what you can get, people.

Hope this comes to PC 99 percent chance it will but the 3 protagonists has me a little bit worried how it will play other then that the game sounds awesome.

It's possible the other 2 will be the dlc's like in IV...

@Clonedzero: @Chaser324 said:

@Soapy86 said:

I wouldn't mind more female characters in general, but I really don't understand why people whine about it so much when it comes to Grand Theft Auto. It's not like crime dramas in any medium are known for having female leads. Name ten good crime dramas with a female main character, then maybe you're on to something.

I agree with you that the moaning about no female lead character is confusing and irritating, but I feel like I have to step up to your challenge and try to name ten crime movies with female leads:

1. Kill Bill
2. Traffic
3. Bonnie & Clyde
4. Basic Instinct
5. Jackie Brown
6. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
7. Monster
8. Point of No Return
9. La Femme Nikita
10. The Wire (Snoop)

Some of those might be a bit of a stretch, and two are debatably the same movie...I'm sure I could come up with better stuff if I thought about it longer.

Maybe this is part of the problem? It doesn't say anywhere that Rockstar can't lead the way with a kick-ass female gangster. Not saying they have to, but just because it hasn't been done before doesn't mean it can't be, won't be or shouldn't be.

@Shaanyboi said:

Quantity =/= quality. Rockstar simply inputting "more" voiced dialogue, or hours of cutscenes doesn't mean anything if they're not doing anything good with it. Yeah, there is a LOT of shit videogame storytelling out there, but for all the fucking championing GTA gets everytime the release a fucking screenshot is made a big deal, I'd expect something far less... dumb.

Look at The Walking Dead, look at Spec Ops: The Line. Two games that manage to tell great stories intertwined well with the gameplay. When Walker in Spec Ops has to get in a firefight, both the scenario and the character are in-line with one another that I believe "okay, yeah, he'd probably start firing back. This makes sense." Hell, for all the shit ME3 got for its deus ex machina of an ending, atleast that series as a whole had some great characters, interesting questions, and good dialogue.

Do you know what GTA4 reminds me of? It reminds me of some idiot in high school who is into some really dumb shit, watches the news one night about Israel vs. Palestine, and then thinks if he brings it up in a conversation, it'll make him sound really socially aware and mature. Just because it strips away the stupid overthetop shit from previous games, and then goes "Man... things are tough for immigrants, huh?", that doesn't make it good. Because it contrasts all of its good intentions and... uhh.. depth, with shitty characters and missions that make no sense for the protagonist to get involved in.

And don't get me started on the shit-stain that was RDR's story. The gameplay was totally fine, but that story... No. Just no.

So just to be clear, because you dislike their story, you don't even think they're trying to make it good? I mean why would they devote so many resources to make all those cutscenes and stuff if they know it's going to come out like crap?

@XxRANGAxX said:

It's possible the other 2 will be the dlc's like in IV...

It's really not. You should read the feature perhaps. You switch between chars on the fly.