According to a recent interview with Rockstar North president Leslie Benzies conducted by French website Jeuzactu (with its finer points translated by OXM – nice Google Translate chops guys!), the upcoming entry in the company’s esteemed GTA franchise, Grand Theft Auto V, may be keeping its characters a bit more in check with reality this time around.
It’ll still be the crazy GTA we know and love, Benzies points out, but most or all of the general absurdity that occurs will have a logical explanation that ties directly into the overarching plot.
“You won’t see anyone doing crazy things for no reason,” Benzies said of the in-game characters. “The player will have access to enough heavy artillery early in the game, but again, in a particular context and not without reason.”
In other words, the polar opposite of Saints Row. Benzies also had this to say in regard to the way game mechanics will play out, and how the new protags differ from those of GTA’s past.
“From the beginning, we want to show off the new game mechanics while creating intense, action-packed gameplay, to capture the player’s attention immediately. Remember that the three characters in the game are already living in the city of Los Santos and surrounding areas. They are not newcomers like Niko and Tommy Vercetti, or people returning after a long absence like CJ. They already have contacts, they are integrated with the world and lead a busy life – these characteristics should give players a sense of immediate and total immersion.”
Though the game features three main characters, a first for the series, Benzies made it clear that this doesn’t mean they will be any less interesting or fleshed out – we’ll get to meet all three of them gradually, and see the world through each of their unique sets of eyes.
“We want to give the player the opportunity to get to know the three characters individually, and explore the world as each of them, and it would not have been possible if all three had been available from the start.”
Grand Theft Auto V already sounds absurdly ambitious, and between the recent gameplay trailer and interviews such as this, both hype and expectations are bound to soar between now and release. That said, if anyone can endure such a burden, it’s Rockstar, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they manipulate the pressure to their advantage. I mean c’mon, they’re already making fellow developers depressed, so they must be on the right track.
