We’ve been carefully dissecting the Grand Theft Auto V trailer for clues about the finished game. And here’s what we’ve uncovered…
By now, you’ll almost certainly have watched Rockstar’s first trailer for GTA V. And if you’re like us, you may even have watched it several times, trying to spot things you may have missed before.
What’s interesting about GTA V is, although its trailer suggests that it’ll stick closely to the previous games in the series, the tone and subject matter are subtly different. At less than 90 seconds long, the promo inevitably leaves lots of questions unanswered, but we’ve still managed to glean a few intriguing details from GTA V’s debut footage…
The lead character’s possibly a family man
Although it’s not obvious who the lead character in GTA V is – as far as we can tell, we don’t see his face in the trailer – we do know that he’s somewhat older than some previous GTA protagonists. His voice suggests that he’s middle-aged, and that he’s either married with kids, or at least aims to settle down and start a family.
It’s a familiar staple of gangster and crime movies – the hero with a crooked past, looking to go straight – but it’s a fresh one for the GTA series. Certainly, it’ll provide the game’s missions a different edge to previous entries, with the anti-hero given a slightly more honourable motive – supporting his family – than before.
It’s a post-financial crisis comment on greed and acquisition
As many predicted, Rockstar is focusing on the fallout of the 2008 financial crisis in GTA V. The trailer’s voice-over tells us that its protagonist falls into the familiar capitalist trap of settling into an expensive lifestyle, and then having to find the means to afford it.
Meanwhile, images of wealth and decadence are intercut with those of grinding poverty: while rich people staring out from expensive apartment buildings or play golf, exhausted workers pick grapes in a vineyard. In one sequence, we see a man sullenly hammering a Foreclosure sign into the front garden of the house he’s about to lose. Rockstar have never backed away from confronting contemporary issues, and that hasn’t changed in GTA V.
One final question on this topic: is that a cameo from GTA IV protagonist Niko Bellic in the screen capture above? He's bloated, tired and homeless, but it looks remarkably like him.
It’s set in San Andreas
Another point that had been anticipated by various Internet dwellers – GTA V will indeed be set in San Andreas once again. But this is most definitely a current-gen San Andreas, with its beach fronts, run-down precincts and glittering towers looking more beautiful than ever. Plus, it appears that we’ll be able to go off exploring in the mountains with our chums, too.
That Rockstar humour’s back
A truck for an outlet called Atom Burger carries the strapline, “Once it pings, eat like kings.” A jetski is called the Speedophile 2000. A drink called eCola is described as “Deliciously infectious”. A postal van says, “We aim not to lose it.” There’s no doubt about it – Rockstar’s brought its usual sly humour to bear once again in GTA V.
It hints at the vehicles we may get to zoom about in
This may be wishful thinking on our part, but we’re hoping the extensive number of vehicles on display in the trailer may provide a clue as to what vehicles we can expect to beg, borrow and steal in the finished game. As well as the usual cars there for the taking, we’re shown jetskis, a crop duster, a jet, and there’s even a cameo from a golf buggy.
It’ll have something to do with property development
It’s possible we’re going out on a limb with this one, but there are repeated shots of skyscrapers being constructed in this trailer, with several glimpses of bright red cranes set against a pale blue sky. There’s a lingering look at a poster for the Mile High Club with the words, “Down town’s newest and most exciting complex” beneath it. Most strikingly of all, there’s a shot of an ominous-looking fellow in a grey suit, who looks like a typical GTA antagonist to us.
More than one vehicle is emblazoned with the word Brute – is this the name of an evil corporation in the game? Will GTA V have something to do with building a city, or is the impact of the recession on the construction industry a major theme in the game? All of this seems highly likely.
It’ll feature crime
A redundant observation, we’ll admit, but a pertinent one, given that so much of the trailer is given over to establishing the new high-definition San Andreas, with shots repeatedly referencing various work and leisure activities – weight training and yoga appear to be common pastimes in GTA V – but after an expertly cut build-up, we’re shown the pay-off. There’s an apparent heist, with the criminals using a bug exterminator’s van as the getaway vehicle, sundry cat-and-mouse pursuits between police and expensive American muscle cars, and an on-foot chase between a chap in a vest and an army of cops.
We wonder, in fact, whether the chap seen walking about in a bad sweater earlier in the trailer, and then running around in a white vest later on, is the game’s protagonist. We won’t know the answer to that particular question for some time yet, but one thing’s for sure – having seen the trailer, we can’t wait to find out more.
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