Set within the fictional state of San Andreas, based on Southern California, the single-player story follows three protagonists—retired bank robber Michael De Santa (Ned Luke), street gangster Franklin Clinton (Shawn Fonteno), and drug dealer and gunrunner Trevor Philips (Steven Ogg), and their attempts to commit heists while under pressure from a corrupt government agency and powerful criminals.The developers drew influence from many of their previous projects (such as Red Dead Redemption and Max Payne 3) and designed the game around three lead protagonists to innovate on the core structure of its predecessors.[21] Some heists afford multiple strategies; in a holdup mission, players may either stealthily subdue civilians with an incapacitating agent or conspicuously storm the venue with guns drawn.[25] While free-roaming the game world, players may engage in context-specific activities such as scuba diving and BASE jumping, and visit businesses such as cinemas and strip clubs.The owner of the mansion, drug lord Martin Madrazo, demands compensation, so Michael returns to a life of crime to obtain the money, enlisting Franklin as an accomplice.Concurrently, Trevor tries to consolidate his control over various black markets in Blaine County, waging war against The Lost outlaw motorcycle club, Latino street gangs, rival meth dealers, the private military company Merryweather, and triad kingpin Wei Cheng.After reconciling with his family, Michael starts planning his final heist with Trevor, Franklin, and Lester: raiding the Union Depository's gold bullion reserve.Deducing the heist was a setup and that he was supposed to be killed in Brad's place, Trevor feels betrayed and leaves Michael for dead during a shootout with Cheng's henchmen.[12] The team viewed it as a spiritual successor to many of their previous games (such as Grand Theft Auto IV, Red Dead Redemption and Max Payne 3), and designed it to improve upon their gameplay mechanics.[m] Some of the tracks were written specifically for the game, such as rapper and producer Flying Lotus' original work composed for the FlyLo FM radio station he hosts.This enhanced version features an increased draw distance, finer texture details, denser traffic, upgraded weather effects, and new wildlife and vegetation.[69] Plans to develop single-player downloadable content (DLC) were later scrapped as the team focused resources on Grand Theft Auto Online and Red Dead Redemption 2.[70] After Grand Theft Auto V's source code reportedly leaked online on 24 December 2023, possibly originating from members of Lapsus$,[71] dataminers found at least eight sets of single-player DLC were in development but cancelled, including a Liberty City expansion.[85][86] Rockstar released a technical patch on 5 October in an effort to resolve the issues,[87] but problems persisted the second week as some players reported their character progress as having disappeared.[88] Another technical patch was released on 10 October combating the issues,[89] and Rockstar offered a GTA$500,000 (in-game currency) stimulus to the accounts of all players connected to Online since launch as recompense.[90] Because of the widespread technical issues present at launch, many reviewers bemoaned their Grand Theft Auto Online experience but generally recognised its open-ended exploration and dynamic content as strengths.[101] Shortly after the game's PC release, some players reported being banned from Grand Theft Auto Online for using field of view and cosmetic mods in single-player.[108] Eurogamer wrote that switching added a tactical element to shootouts as characters set up in strategic outposts would cause fewer "shooting gallery" situations than previous instalments.[127] IGN and PlayStation Official Magazine (OPM) made favourable comparisons between Los Santos and Grand Theft Auto IV's Liberty City.Some found the narrative inferior to previous Rockstar games and cited Grand Theft Auto IV and Red Dead Redemption's plot strengths.[137] VideoGamer.com praised the "finer details" in first-person animations like camera lean when players take corners on motorcycles, or the navigational instruments in plane cockpits.[135] They opined that the PC version let players "witness the full extent of Rockstar's admirable handiwork", but noted that it "retains evidence of its last-gen roots ... with simple geometry".[139] On the game's multiplayer, IGN reported low player counts in matches, long wait times in lobbies, server disconnection and occasional crashes.While the improved visual fidelity and quicker loading times were singled out for praise, reviewers generally found the core gameplay, storytelling and character models dated.[205][206] Take-Two Interactive chief operating officer Strauss Zelnick publicly expressed the company's disappointment that the game had been pulled from the retailers, and affirmed that he "stand[s] behind our products, the people who create them, and the consumers who play them".[207] Kotaku said that the depiction of women is inherently problematic, and that Target were within their rights to refuse to stock the game and were obligated to respond to the petition's wide support.[209] The April 2022 re-release on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S removed the content from all portions of the game except Director Mode, meaning their models are accessible but without dialogue options.[216] In July, actress Lindsay Lohan filed a lawsuit, claiming elements in the game, including the Lacey Jonas character, were influenced by her image, voice and clothing line without permission.They compared the game's quality to that of its predecessor but thought that its ensemble character set-up, varied missions and multiplayer superseded Grand Theft Auto IV's placement on the list.[262] Development of Grand Theft Auto VI was confirmed by Rockstar in February 2022;[263] the game was formally revealed in December 2023 and is currently scheduled to be released in 2025.
A comparison of the
PlayStation 4
(left) and PlayStation 3 versions of the game. The enhanced re-release features greater draw distances and higher-resolution textures than the original versions.
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Los Santos, the city featured in the game's open world. Reviewers praised its design and similarity to Los Angeles.
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The departure from
Grand Theft Auto IV
's
Liberty City was well received.
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The mission "By the Book" requires players to use torture techniques including
waterboarding
to interrogate a man. Journalists noted the mission's function as political commentary, but some felt that the use of torture was in poor taste.
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