Grand Theft Auto V trailer reveals San Andreas setting

The first trailer for Grand Theft Auto V has been revealed, jam-packed with clues as to what to expect from the forthcoming crime simulator.

First off, the setting seems certain to be a return to the LA-stylings of San Andreas, complete with “Vinewood” Hollywood sign, mountainous regions, beaches, Skid Row-like slums and West Coast gang culture.

In terms of protagonists, rather than the multiple viewpoints some analysts expected, the game looks set to focus on an older, white male character who, after moving to San Andreas to turn his life around, gets sucked back into a life of crime. Compared to the troubled Nico from GTA IV, this guy seems wealthy, able to afford a luxurious house, and a fair bit older too. It seems he’s lived a mobsters life once before, and after a failed attempt at settling down with a family, is back out on the career criminal road. Is it Vice City’s Tommy Vercitti? Certainly looks like him!

A dog features in the trailer, suggesting plenty of Red Dead Redemption’s large cast of animals may be mined by GTA V. Though we couldn’t see too many faces up close, they looked incredibly lifelike, suggesting the game may possibly employ LA Noire’s face-motion capturing technology, which was incredibly impressive earlier in the year.

Overall the visual fidelity looks incredible, with draw distances, particularly with the shot of the mountain, looking absolutely stunning.

And, though we may be wrong, did we spot GTA: San Andreas’s protagonist Carl Johnson being chased down by the cops at the end of the clip? Could this game’s storyline crossover with the previous title’s in some way?

And a final massive “maybe” comes from the soundtrack: it’s The Small Faces “Ogdens’ Nut Gone Flake”, the best band to ever come out of my home town of Stepney, London. Unlikely, we know, but perhaps a little jaunt over to Blighty at some point in the game?

It’s certainly a tantalising glimpse!

So what do you think of the trailer? Another winner on the way from the folks over at Rockstar Games? Or has the Grand Thef Auto series run its course?

Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below, or over at Facebook.com/techdigest.tv !