Grave Gamer News & Views — rockstar games

Rockstar’s Ultimate Goal For the Grand Theft Auto Universe Is…

Putting each city from every previous GTA entry into one single game.  Good goddamn.

Speaking with Digital Trends, Leslie Benzies, currently the head of Rockstar North (the Edinburgh, Scotland stationed developer responsible for the majority of Grand Theft Auto’s main titles, including the upcoming GTAV), revealed that his studio eventually wants to create a game that allows you to travel between each existing GTA locale by plane.

“At some point we would like to have one big world containing all our cities and let the player fly between them and revisit their favorite areas,” says Benzies.  Although, reconciling every game’s locations into one context may prove difficult since some Grand Theft Auto games focused on the setting and time period hand in hand.  One glaring example would be Vice City, a satirized version of 1980’s era Miami.  “Miami in the 1980’s is so iconic,” Benzies says, “it would feel strange to revisit the city in a different time period.”

That’s not to say Rockstar North wouldn’t be up to the task.  Next year’s Grand Theft Auto V (voted at the VGA’s as 2013’s most anticipated game) makes a modern day return to San Andreas, last depicted as a mid-90’s satirization of gang infested Los Angeles.  Hell, Liberty City (more commonly thought of as a fictionalized New York City) has been the backdrop for several different installments using different eras.  If the timing’s right and if the technology can handle it, bet your ass Rockstar can chain together a Grand Theft Auto universe.

Grand Theft Auto V (PS3/X360) - Spring 2013

Three different characters each equipped with their own skills and abilities.  A world environment bigger than Red Dead, San Andreas, GTAIV combined.  Complex, story-impacting missions.  Rockstar Games is back and they’re looking to redefine the open-world genre the only way they know how: with a shitload of style.

Just about every one of GTA’s conventions has been retooled or rethought, from weightier physics on vehicles to give them a more grounded quality to modified melee combat.  If a mechanic didn’t feel polished before, Rockstar’s obsessive eye for perfectionism has likely scrutinized the hell out of it.  And don’t expect to run through the motions; GTAV’s modernized vision of Los Santos will let you explore in ways previously barred from players like searching fully rendered underwater environments.

Grand Theft Auto is a gaming cultural phenomenon.  One of the very few brand names that quite literally sells itself.  It’d be easy for a developer to coast along on that kind of recognition with very little effort put forth.  But if not for Rockstar’s pursuit for innovation and penchant to reinvent themselves, I doubt we would have made it all the way to the Roman numeral V.  Anything less than “unprecedented” just isn’t their style.

Grand Theft Auto V’s Latest Trailer Out Next Week

Enjoy the calm while it lasts, folks.  A veritable media mudslide is about to crush us.  After maintaining a thick air of secrecy around their virtual license to print money, Rockstar is nearly ready to blow the lid off of Grand Theft Auto V.

The game’s been made ready to pre-order, Game Informer is days off from their exhaustive feature on the game, and November 14th is our launch date for a brand new trailer.  Officially, that’s all the information Rockstar wants me to share…

Unofficially, we already have internet friendlies allegedly reporting the juiciest details from Game Informer’s December issue (no further proof than his word, that is, so I repeat: allegedly).  I won’t divulge too much here (hit that link if you want…I don’t know what you’d call them.  Gameplay spoilers?) but one of the more interesting details revealed is the ability to switch between two main protagonists on the fly.

Depicting contrasting generations of criminal – the young against the old – is a fascinating storytelling tool and an intriguing gameplay mechanic.  Will it work for Rockstar’s monolithic open-world crime franchise?  Time will tell (along with some generous hands-on sessions).  But who better than the mighty Rockstar to try?

[Ed: A Game Informer staff member eloquently pointed out that the leaked info is “total bullshit.”  I think he’s trying to say at least some of this information is faulty.]

10/15/12

I’ve resurfaced from ceaselessly playing Resident Evil 6 with all limbs and most bodily functions intact if a little scarred, so I thought I’d bring you humble folks another award winning dose of the Roundup (and, yes, giving yourself awards is almost as sad as coining your own nickname – same ballpark, really).

Last week in games we laughed, we cried, and we bore witness to the internet leaking the shit out of Halo.  Just another week in this wonderful industry.  Welcome back to the Roundup.

TRH: We now turn it over to Rockstar Games who has an update for us on the highly anticipated blockbuster hit Grand Theft Auto V.  Rockstar?

Rockstar Games: LAKES AND HELICOPTERS.

TRH: Right on, right on.  Any word on a release date?

Rockstar Games: …

TRH: Haha, fantastic stuff!  Stay tuned as this story develops.