Got the game. Got questions about the first two hours?

And just for legitimizing this discussion, I got the PS3 version of the game from a local store that got them early today ( I live in Israel):

Are they more exciting than the first two hours of GTA4?

How does the game run (from a technical standpoint) ?

@verkk: How is it technically, and how is the shooting, driving, general mechanics? Also can you put any story stuff in spoiler blocks please. Thanks.

yeah how is the performance? Framerate etc...

All I want to hear about is game performance.

Some answers:

As far as the performance, the PS3 version seems to be ok, some frame drops during fast driving, shooting scenarios (so far), and a few texture popping that was felt mostly through fast driving and cross areas exploration (meaning, while driving just in the "rural" area it is fine, but once you start venturing to the "deserty" areas, the texture popping is more noticeable if you look for it, but it's really minor once you play it for 15 minutes and get used to the look).

Not a spoiler really for the first two hours, just to give a thought, marked it in spoilers just in case:

Mechanics:

Shooting mechanics feels a lot like Max Payne 3, which is not bad really, but for now, since I cannot upgrade my weapons yet, the radical\cross-hair for the weapon is really small, and because it is white, it is hard to see where it is in the heat of the moment. It feels like you can potentially take a hell of a lot more damage from police\enemies unlike in GTA 4 where you could be more of a bullet sponge.

Driving:

It feels better, but it still feels a little janky, but from the cars I drove in so far (which is a lot of sports cars, luxury, semi's, police cars, family van kinna thing and an ATV) they do not feel different enough, but I think it is miles (no pun intended) better than GTA 4 and LA Noire.

Ask more, I will try to update faster now, since I am playing it alot now :)

Do not have problems with specifying story stuff, just let me know, gave you more of a general thought on it. Feel free to ask anything. Spoilers or non Spoilers stuff.

@verkk: Seems pretty good man! I loved the max payne 3 shooting!

tetchadesh achi

@officegamer: :)

Is there, by chance, a first-person view for driving? That's all I want in my open-world games and I almost never get it.

@doskias: Yes, there is! And it's not that shi*** behind the hood thing, it is totally first person.

Any fast travel options yet? Such as the taxi, possibly just warping. Driving to missions/mission givers for a third of the game is something I'd rather avoid.

Just to be clear about the driving mechanics, because I am not as knowledgeable with over steer and all that stuff, the driving feels still more stiff than "janky", it feels like the steering is still harder to pull off than what I was hoping, but with the fast cars, it is slightly better.

Hell yes! Do you get animated hands, all Far Cry 2-style?

@csl316: So far, I haven't seen an option for "fast travel" of some sort, I will try to spot cabs and see if you can like in GTA IV, but for now, I am still enjoying looking at the city and learning it... But yeah, sometimes you just want to be teleported there, for now, it is still the classy person X on Y on the map.

@doskias: No hands like FC2, it is literally first person, it's like they put a GoPro on the hood of the car, or the grill or something like that.

The only thing I want to know is how big of an install it requires. My PS3 is running out of space fast and I want to make space before hand.

@verkk: Ah, a shame. Well, not every dream is meant to come true.

How large of a frame drop? Are we talking barely-to-somewhat noticeable, or does it really start to chug in the more hectic situations?

@sunbrozak: Minor frame drops, but it is something I needed to get used to in motion It is hard to say in actual numbers, I would say for sure, it is not locked at 30. Which can be obvious, but it is not. At least from my viewing distance\tv and my eyes. (frame drops question).

@mosespippy: Hmm it is around 8.6 gigs. (size of installation question).

@csl316: I just got a popup of the ability to call a cab, so I am assuming there is fast travel like in GTA 4, but I haven't tried it yet.

Thanks for answering our questions I hope you are enjoying the game so far.

Are there different difficulty levels that you have noticed, and can they be changed in-game?

@pharseer: Not that I have seen, the second you finish installing the game (on PS3) you get directed into the Story stuff right away, so no. My guess that the way you can be a little more prepared for gun fights, is to purchase armors, I think they could turn out to be crucial, I got my a** beat in a mission where you usually don't get that much damage that fast, I try to remember to take a lot more cover now, even more than what I did in GTA 4. So far, it is about positioning and being careful with the gun fights.

@verkk: Is there regenerating health or is it the same system from the older GTAs?

@csl316: I've seen some gameplay in some places, and I'm pretty sure the cabs work exactly the same as they did in 4.

@verkk said:

Oh noes, waiting for a PC version then, hopefully the port won't be as bad as that of GTA4.

Yes also Buses and Light rails can be used as fast travel.

@banefirelord: There are three bars down the radar on the left side. The green is health, Blue which is armor, and yellow, and I'm assuming its Stamina, but I could be wrong on the that. I am pretty sure it is classic GTA, I tried to take damage from cops, take cover and nothing really happened, perhaps you need to really be out of combat all together to regenerate, but I know for sure that they tout using Aid kit when you go to your house to refill\recover health so.. looks like classic stuff.

@dredlockz: It's not Saints Row 4 console version bad, it is totally playable, but it is visible\noticeable every-once in a while. At the point I am in the game, I got used to it, really. I thought about waiting for a PC version aswell, but I am cool with some minor hitches here and there.

Sorry for interfering, but I thought I'd clear this up a bit. The yellow bar is the special ability bar. I haven't seen a stamina bar anywhere.

And you can regain up to 50% of your health when taking cover.

@daiphyer: @verkk: Thanks. One of my biggest frustrations with GTA4 was lack of any kind of regenerating health. That coupled with the lack of mid mission checkpointing in the base game was aggravating as all get out. Speaking of which, how is the mission checkpointing? Is it analogous to Red Dead Redemption's instant reset or more along the lines of TLAD and BoGT, getting dropped out of the mission and having to manually restart?

Yeah, that totally make sense now :)

Ok, after driving a few Porsche esque vehicles, the driving can be squirly as hell, so yeah, I guess I drove a lot of american supercars and big lambos and stuff... so good news on that front :)

Oh no. Is there a way to install the game without jumping into the story? I was hoping to get out of class, pick up the game, drive home, start the install, go to work, go to class, and come home and start playing it, but it seems like I'd be coming home to a character in the middle of a mission or something.

Which is still all right but it kinda sucks.

Also, does this have regenerating health or does it stick with first aid kits and stuff? If there's one genre where regenerating health fits quite well, it's open world games.

Don't remember if this was in gta4 but you can call a cab from your phone and they'll come pick you up whereever you are in about 30 seconds, you don't have to go find one. Got my UK Amazon copy on Saturday. Someone done fucked up. About 25% complete.

@mrjorowe: It wasn't in GTA 4 the only thing you could do is Whistle for a cab. Thats good news to hear about the cab system in 5.

@mrjorowe: It wasn't in GTA 4 the only thing you could do is Whistle for a cab. Thats good news to hear about the cab system in 5.

Damn your plan is pretty much the same as mine lol, I get out of class and have an hour before I have to go to work, was gonna do the same thing.

If it's like GTA IV you'd be able to pop open a menu and restart the story immediately, tbh I was expecting something like that because GTAIV started the same way (with no intro menu)

@jimmyfenix: if you befriended Roman or whatever you could call him and get one of his cabs to pick you up, which was funny cause the cab driver would bitch about having to drive you around for free the whole time.

1. Does the 'character swap' work as seamlessly as advertised? Can it be done mid-combat (to, say, get out of a tough encounter)?
2. Any sort of progression stuff other than upgrading your weapons? Outfits, XP, health upgrades, etc.?

1. Does the 'character swap' work as seamlessly as advertised? Can it be done mid-combat (to, say, get out of a tough encounter) A: It really does. I won't spoil the effect when switching but it is pretty awesome, and it's done about as seamlessly as possible I think. I was impressed the first time I switched characters. I haven't tried to switch mid-combat yet, but for example, you can't switch when you have a wanted level.
2. Any sort of progression stuff other than upgrading your weapons? Outfits, XP, health upgrades, etc.? A: Yes, there is a bunch of it. I won't go into specifics but there are a lot of different stats being tracked and there is progression to your characters' stats, upgrades available for vehicles, etc.

@believer258: You can start the install process and then walk away, it won't auto-start anything when the installation is done.

As far as your question about health, it will regenerate up to 50% and then beyond that you need health kits to top your health off.

@believer258: You can start the install process and then walk away, it won't auto-start anything when the installation is done.

As far as your question about health, it will regenerate up to 50% and then beyond that you need health kits to top your health off.

Is there any kind of scoring on a per mission basis (a la Ballad of Gay Tony) vice the standard binary mission completion status?

@ccforua: Yes, streams have revealed a Mission Passed / check box dialog similar to Gay Tony's, and recent previews (as well as the menus in those streams) have mentioned being able to replay missions at any time for higher scores.

@mb what happened to your thread from yesterday? How has the game opened up for you over the past 24 hours? Does it deliver on your expectations?

I deleted it because it was full of images, and believe it or not, Rockstar had sent over a copyright infringement/cease and desist notice about images in some other topics, so I just took it down to avoid any potential blowback for Giant Bomb. Hard to imagine their legal team was working weekends sending out notices for a game with a review embargo expiring in 36 hours, but there you go.

@verkk: I don't wanna read the rest of the thread to avoid spoilers, sorry if its been asked, but does it seem that this game will look the same on PS as on 360? Can you look at YouTube footage from other people who got 360, or a friend who picked up the 360 game from the same store? PS GTA-4 looked hazey blurry and jaggy compared to 360. Is the PS3 GTA-5 seemingly less hazey and jaggy than GTA4?