Features

You can buy property; houses, garages and businesses can all be purchased for extra revenue sources.

You can customise yourself with haircuts, new clothes, and tattoos

Pay N Sprays can also mod cars with paint jobs, new wheels, window tints, grilles, spoilers. Upgrades to suspension, engine and brakes can also be made.

Weapons can also be customised with laser sights, scopes, silencers, and high capacity magazines

You can pick up hitchikers, do stunt jumps and flying challenges, take part in yoga, golf, tennis or bike races.

iFruit, the game's new phone, can be used to snap pictures and upload them to Rockstar's Social Club

The phone also has apps. In addition to the camera there is internet, contacts, social media, a calendar, and a replay missions app. There are three more Rockstar hasn't yet revealed.

General

Each character is rated in a series of skill categories: Stamina, Shooting, Strength, Stealth, Flying, Driving, Mechanic, Lung Capacity.

Each character has a 'Special': Franklin is an adrenalin junkie and can slow down time while driving; Trevor has a frenzy mode, where he does double damage, takes half damage, and has a unique melee attack; Michael has his own version of bullet time

Specials are governed by a meter, it drains after use and recharges slowly

Other skill categories are shared and can be improved by completing missions, side missions, activities and more

Trevor will always be the best pilot, Franklin will always be the best driver but each can improve their proficiency a little

One of the skill categories is stealth, suggesting players will be able to take different approaches to missions

Some boats will include gear such as wetsuit, flippers and tanks for diving

An underwater ecosystem exits, "the sea is teaming with fish and sharks"

Treasures can be found underwater, but NPCs will be looking for them too

GTAV rewards exploration, there's no signposting underwater, so you'll have to find the treasure the hard way

Dives won't offer massive payoffs, but will "help grease the wheels"

The character selection wheel is split into four triangles: Franklin, Trevor, Michael, and your multiplayer character

It seems there's a closer relationship between single and multiplayer. Simply pressing Down on the d-pad will drop the play in and out of MP.

Rockstar has said it will reveal more on multiplayer in the future

There are subtle differences in the way each character moves to reflect their personalities; Michael is slower and deliberate.

Rockstar says there will be five times as many pedestrians in GTA V as there were in Grand Theft Auto IV

There's a "crazy level of detail": Tourist buses can be boarded for a tour of celebrity homes, film posters are plastered on the walls, men in comedy costumes try to corner you outside the Cathay Theatre, including the Superman-like Impotent Rage and Master Chief riff, Space Ranger.

Michael's obsession with classic films translates into in-game set pieces based on real world movies. In the demo the three characters mount a heist very similar to the one from Heat.

'Mini heists' are used to teach the player about preparation. Players must secure vehicles, outfits, masks, the getaway vehicle.

These build up to a bigger heist where the execution must be flawless. They'll require the right crew and players will have to decide on the cheap option, which results in less skilled people, or paying more for skilled crew members that will take a larger cut.

You can switch between Franklin, Trevor and Michael during a cutscene, manually, or automatically when the AI takes control for you

Each character has a job to do, how much you switch yourself in or let the computer do, is entirely up to you

If you die the game reloads to the last checkpoint, even if two other characters are alive

Although it's up to the player when they switch, dialogue will suggest ideal moments. For example, when Michael and Franklin are being overwhelmed by snipers, Michael might ask for Trevor's help.

A combat roll has been introduced for moving between cover

There is a wider field of vision, and players can run-and-gun

UPDATE

for people who want more info about buying properties and customizing cars and adding a more personal vibe to your gta v experience check out this game informer article

http://www.gameinformer.com/games/grand_theft_auto_v/b/xbox360/archive/2013/05/02/putting-your-personal-stamp-on-grand-theft-auto-v.aspx

UPDATE x 2

Rockstar has just added these previews on there newswire here is the link for people who want to read that.

http://www.rockstargames.com/newswire/article/49721/worldwide-grand-theft-auto-v-previews.html

The one thing I'm kinda iffy about is the unique special ability each character would have access to. To me it just doesn't fit in a game like GTA but I guess it is something I could warm up to once I have the game. Also it's unclear if the health meter is shared between all three characters or each has a separate health meter (so if one character is about to die, you can easily switch to another to avoid certain death). Still, a lot of the features listed is making me more and more excited.

if michael can also dive through the air, then i'm sold.

My Xbox died and I'm not buying a new one this close to next gen. PC version please. :)

Goodness gracious this sounds like it's slowly becoming Game of Every Year.

There has to be a catch to all this, though. Either it's going to run pretty poorly on the PS3/360, or the main story is actually really short or... this game just sounds too good and my ever-increasing cynicism simply refuses to believe it's going to be as fantastic as it's shaping up to be >_>'

You forgot the addition of wild animals

# All we hear is radio gaga... radio googoo... radio gaga #

All of this sounds really cool. If it works like it should this could be great.

It sounds too much to be good is how I would put it. Having a bunch of systems and activities in addition to a huge open world is great in concept but since development time has to be split between them you might end up getting a game where everything is there but nothing has enough depth to keep you invested and where the systems aren't refined enough to be fun.

If anyone can pull it off it's Rockstar though, so I'm cautiously optimistic. It's definetely a day one buy, no matter how it comes out because even if it fails I want to see how it does so.

They've at least pulled off such a gargantuan game filled to the absolute brim in raw content--the majority of which was executed surprisingly well and was super fun--with San Andreas after all, so maybe lightning will strike twice and all that ect.

Funny enough the first half of that list reads like they put back in everything from San Andreas that was cut out of GTA4.

They are like putting back in all the awesome shit from San Andreas like modding cars while still trying what ever new shit they are all about. This is shaping up to be amazing. I'm going to call it now GTA V is GiantBomb's 2013 GOTY.

@yummylee: a lot of the things here sound straight from san andreas or in the same vein, so definitely maybe.

Cant wait to scuba dive with sharks.

Oh lordy, this is rapidly shaping up to be a contender for my favorite game of all time. Please don't fuck this up, R*.

Some of the previews mention that the shooting is the same as in Max Payne 3, which is great news.

This game is sounding like potential game of the generation material :O (imo of course)

This being released on current gen has to be a joke right? Jesus Christ...Like what the hell is the caveat going to be!? I'm both baffled and highly, highly excited.

Also, in the Rev3 video today, Adam Sessler mentioned that you had to plan every detail in a heist yourself. Down to the masks used and where the getaway car would be. I don't know if anyone mentioned that yet in this thread but that shit sounds AWESOME.

i like how adam said that when trevor launched an rpg they switched to michael and the rpg exploded so the switching is really that quick!

10fps.

I think I'll wait until I actually play the game before nominating it for game of the generation, if that's okay with everybody. The big list of features is great but not particularly meaningful.

Sounds like there were performance issues in the demo. That's concerning, and not unexpected. All the more reason this should've been a next gen title. Also no idea why there isn't a PC version at launch. Fucking Rockstar man.

@mariachimacabre: Holy wow awesome batman righteousness. I swear to god, if this is true... I will never play another game again. This is exactly what I've always wanted in a game. Thank you Rockstar.

All these details sounds just awesome, especially how big they made the world (at least for a GTA game). I think it was Polygon's preview that said that the map is "three times bigger than Red Dead Redemption".

And with the added sea exploration...man, my hopes are soaring high with this game. If Microsoft / Sony want to see some serious cash coming their way they'll announce a next-gen version at E3, heh.

Every bit of information about this game so far makes me think that it would so much sweeter on PC. I've preordered the PS3 version, but the scope and ambition that Rockstart outlined sounds like it will produce a game with crazy load times and be buggy as hell.

Oh man this year's GOTY discussions is probably going to have a Take Two game vs Take Two game rap battle.... except the real game of the year is going to be...

Here's the Rev3 video with The SESS-BRO....that I mentioned...

@jimmyfenix: Where did you read the first point you mentioned about buying properties?.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/video-games/video-game-previews/10033217/Grand-Theft-Auto-V-preview.html
you can get tatoos and hair cuts aswell

not really apparently this game follows up on what max payne did. a cutscene will happen and then rejoin gameplay once it is done, the loading will be covered in the cutscene and judging from the demo they said the frame rate has been improved from gta and red dead

When can I get it on PC so I don't have to use a controller to aim?

:'(

All of this with high end graphics on the current ancient consoles? No wizard can be this wizardly, I refuse to beleef.

Hoping for a PC version less than a decade from now.

Said no one ever. Except you just now!

I think its almost time to go into full black-out mode - this is shaping out to be amazing and I want to spoil as little as possible. Also kind of wish they had waited until next gen so all these features could be given there full reign. Oh well just have to wait until Fallout 4 for some next-gen open-world crazyness.

Will I be able to punch the sharks? No shark punching, no sale!

The real genius is how Rockstar manages to take the cheesiest music from the 80s from the most laughably uncool bands and make it sound like the coolest, gangsterist shit ever.

*listens to radio gaga for the 23rd time*

you can run over a mountain lion :O or maybe plant some c4 on the shark then well you know what happens :D

but will i be able to listen to the radio on my phone while drop kicking some pedestrian fools!. well can i, or when i i stop for a sprunk.

Nope, I won't get my hopes up this time! GTA IV was just about the most disappointing experience I've ever had with a game and I'm not going through that again.

Did you just insult queen?

@fourwude said:

Oh no you did NOT just say that about Queen!

This would be a great game to end the generation with, hopefully it runs well on consoles or at least let there be a short wait time between that and a PC release.

it sucks you guys missed red dead but yeah hopefully theres a shorter wait time for gta v to be on the pc. it really sounds like a great game to end the generation with so hopefully rockstar get it right

I really hope so especially since I was disappointed in how GTAIV came together. That game was really ambitious too but most of the systems ended up not working well enough (buddy system is a good example), there was way too much padding going on and the shooting mechanics were pretty bad.

I know a lot of people love GTAIV but that's how I feel about it. Max Payne 3 (being Rockstar's latest title) on the other hand, I enjoyed a lot so if the carry over some of the feel of the shooting I would be more than happy.

With Tomb Raider, Bioshock Infinite and Injustice it has already been a pretty good year but I think GTAV has the biggest potential of knocking Infinite from my GotY throne.

@jimmyfenix: I hope so, although I'm not sure if that will work so well in an open world game. One of the most fun parts of GTA is causing mayhem, when the world is so large I'm worried this will suffer the same problems as Skyrim on consoles. Even though I really enjoyed MP3 those cutscense masking everything started getting annoying at the end especially since I died a ton. That game was pretty much a straight line to the end. So many people don't even finish the missions in GTA, they just run around doing nonsense. That's where I imagine the pop in and buggy AI will come in. I won't be convinced until I actually see some gameplay.

@fourwude said:

Are you seriously talking shit about Queen?

I really, really, really, really wish they would release this for the PS4 and next Xbox.

Damnnnn this sounds really fun

oh no he didnt!!

I don't know how I feel about "leveling up" driving. Does this mean they're gonna intentionally gimp the driving so that you have to level it up for it not to be shit?

Was looking foward to just another GTA game but this... this sounds like THE SHIT!

So...the plot will be like other GTA games, pretty much? I mean, that's like saying that the ending of Vice City is like a winnable Scarface scenario.