The first Grand Theft Auto 5 details revealed

By Robert Purchese Published 2 November, 2011

Was that Tommy Vercetti, Niko Bellic, Carl Johnson?

Grand Theft Auto 5 we now know features the Los Santos (Los Angeles) and Vinewood (Hollywood) areas.

They both are part of the San Andreas state (California).

The debut Grand Theft Auto 5 trailer also mentioned Los Puerta, but we're not sure what area that is.

The video showed a sun-drenched city setting - as well as mountainous climbs.

The main character of Grand Theft Auto 5 talks, but isn't clearly seen. Or is he?

At 38 seconds we get a meaningful shot of a man walking down the street, towards the camera. Is it San Andreas hero Carl Johnson?

At 40 seconds, we get a close-up shot of a middle-aged, white caucasian man on a high-up balcony. Is this man an older Tommy Vercetti, the hero of Vice City? Or an older Claude, the hero of Grand Theft Auto 3?

Ray Liotta voiced Tommy Vercetti, is it him providing the voice over?

"Why did I move here? I guess it was the weather," the narration begins. "Or the, ah, I don't know, that thing, that magic. You see it in the movies.

"I wanted to retire from what I was doing, you know? From that, that line of work. Be a good guy for once, a family man. So, I bought a big house, came here, put my feet up and thought I'd be a dad like all the other dads. My kids would be like the kids on TV; we'd play ball, sit in the sun.

"But, well, you know how it is."

At 58 seconds we glimpse a hobo who bears a striking resemblance to Grand Theft Auto 4 hero Niko Bellic, albeit older and more decrepit.

We glimpse various other characters as the focal point of various video frames from thereon. One, a tanned, thuggish looking male, drives a convertible sports car he can apparently lower the roof of at will.

Another, a heavily tattooed Afro-American, flees police officers and a helicopter.

The video shows a jet ski and a plane.

We see a building site run by STD Contractors. Arf. A speed boat is called the Speedofile 2000. There's a club called the Tequilalala. And there's sign on a lorry called Up 'n Atom Burger, which could be a parody of US fast food chain In and Out Burger.

The Small Faces' 1968 track Ogden's Nut Gone Flake was picked for video.

No release date for Grand Theft Auto 5 was given, nor were launch platforms mentioned.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds. @Clert on Twitter.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (52) Latest comment 7 months ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • TZac #1 7 months ago

    first? :)

  • neuroniky #2 7 months ago

    The trailer screams "more of the same" from every single frame. I'm not sure we need another GTA to be honest... but I guess in the end it will still sell millions and shut me up.

  • TZac #3 7 months ago

    Now for a real comment.
    Looks epic! Can't wait to check this out. Not many games I buy on release day any more but GTA games have yet to fail to be anything than excellent. Where can I put my pre-order?

  • Markusdragon #4 7 months ago

    My money's on the middle aged guy on the balcony; I think he's also one of the fumigator bank robbers, and driving a flash blue car almost immediately after.

  • DrStrangelove #5 7 months ago

    It didn't sound like CJ, which is a disappointment for me.

    I really miss that "straight outta Compton" vibe.

  • albo #6 7 months ago

    let the speculation begin. that's all it is now though until we get the official word from rockstar(or another leak!). i'll be very impressed if rockstar managed to create all three cities and not just LA even though i'll be satisfied with one large, content filled, detailed, quality LA. if they do create SA though i would expect they do it properly and put as much time and effort as they would if it was one city.

  • cowell #7 7 months ago

    Play clips of GTA3 and the trailer and the voice does sound a lot like Liotta.

  • Schmove #8 7 months ago

    I hope it's better than the last one. Even though I really enjoyed it I just didn't think they made the most out of the city scape, there just weren't enough cool things to do. Fingers crossed...

  • Eraserhead #9 7 months ago

    It's very unlikely to be Ray Liotta given the problems Rockstar allegedly had with him and some other famous cast on Vice City. Apparently that's partly why they moved to using entirely 'unknown' actors.
    Edited by Eraserhead at 02/11/11 @ 17:13

  • cowell #10 7 months ago

    http://www.game.co.uk/en/grand-theft-auto-v-136366?pageSize=20&searchTerm=GTA V

    360 and PS3 then. Retail "proof"!

    #overkeenretailerlol

  • Gimpy_Wonderland #11 7 months ago

    0:54 - could this be a hint that buying property is making a return? I really missed being able to buy new safe houses and businesses on a whim in GTA IV.

    I think we can also assume that planes will be flyable again.

  • Bilstar #12 7 months ago

    Looks badass, want it now.

    And, i'm sorry, that hobo at 58secs looks nothing like Nico.
    Edited by Bilstar at 02/11/11 @ 17:19

  • A_Nonny #13 7 months ago

    So when you say "First details revealed" you mean "First meaningless speculations based on the trailer"?

  • dwarak #14 7 months ago

    Post deleted at 09:51:42 12-12-2011

  • dwarak #15 7 months ago

    Post deleted at 09:51:42 12-12-2011

  • Goffee #16 7 months ago

    The gameplay had better be deep. Deeper than a grave dug by the mafia's finest diggers. I don't want pissy goto A, do B to C and come back missions. The missions in GTAV had better have heart, soul, logic and reason, that affects the city and the people in it.

  • Zaiz #17 7 months ago

    I wonder if they'll bother with PC enough to make it work properly on anything?

  • leemorgan978 #18 7 months ago

    Lol what? That hobo looked nothing like niko.

  • BBIAJ #19 7 months ago

    @cowell Tommy Vercetti was in Vice City, not GTa III.

  • HerrQwerty #20 7 months ago

    WiiU or gtfo.

  • GamesProgrammer Verified Games Team Programmer, Eutechnyx Ltd. #21 7 months ago

    Erm the original San Andreas game covered Citys and areas from 3 different states and not just California, So originally at least San Andreas was clearly a reference the West Coast not California.

  • cukydoh #22 7 months ago

    Massively underwhelming visuals unfortunately. Doesn't look that much better than IV, and that was fairly dull when it came out. The animations, the quality of the scenes, etc. all looks as another poster put it "more of the same", you could swear it was a video taken right out of GTA IV.

    Might be the first GTA I give a miss... :confused:

  • ROCK-NYC #23 7 months ago

    The GTAV trailer didnt scream the BIG makeover that I was assuming. It made me think of it as NICO moves to LA add on content. But nevertheless its GTA so lets get ready for the awesomeness! :cool:

  • LordViru #24 7 months ago

    If that guy really wants to be a family man he should listen to guiles theme :p

  • soviet_ #25 7 months ago

    @cukydoh You have got to be taking the piss

  • midnight_walker #26 7 months ago

    That looks nothing like Niko...

  • gribb #27 7 months ago

    Feck me guys I know Rockstar isn't given any journalists access to this game quite yet but can we just, for one second, park the wanton speculation at the door.

    Just put up the trailer, say it's GTA V and allow readers to make their own conclusions, they certainly would be more interesting and insightful than "The video shows a jet ski and a plane."

  • cukydoh #28 7 months ago

    @soviet_ No? :confused: Surely I'm not alone in thinking the visuals in that trailer look massively dated?

    I can imagine the biggest issue here is that it's going to be released on the current-gen console hardware and so they haven't even bothered to look at visual improvements. They were already pushing the hardware with their last game. That's a big shame imo as GTA is always such a huge game, it should look amazing too!

    It would be a shame to see another Rockstar game with the same visuals (GTA IV, Red Dead, LA Noire all had a *very* similar quality). Just about every other high profile title coming out around now is looking better visually, imo. Not sure why they released such a low-res, low-detail trailer for such a high-profile title. Almost no improvement over previous products, no AA, etc. etc. shown in that video for whatever reason.
    Edited by cukydoh at 02/11/11 @ 18:12

  • Wyrm #29 7 months ago

    Anyone see the spoiler info released by 4chan...? Apparently all these characters could be playable...

  • Snufkin #30 7 months ago

    Jets? I'm in.
    Shame its not set somewhere a bit more exciting and different, but still - its GTA. A proper event. IV was the only game I ever queued up at midnight for. This could be the second.

    And for those bitching about the visuals - well, its hardly likely to be a jump like you saw from San Andreas to IV, it's the same hardware FFS! Personally I think it looks amazing, though I can't help suspecting that is how it will look on a pretty decent spec PC. On Xbox or PS3 we'll either see much lower res or a shit load of frame-dropping and torn frames. GTA has always been about design and gameplay for me anyway, couldn't give a frick about 1080p 60fps etc etc.

  • Bigglesworth #31 7 months ago

    > cukydoh trolls for massive damage.

  • Freakz #32 7 months ago

    My guess, the main character is the guy in the balcony ( Older version of Tommy Vercetti, that moves to Los Santos in a way to change his life but ... :D italian accent, and his face is very similiar to TV ) Was i the only one that say a dog when the trailer begins? and i saw guys working out in the trailer, probably we can work out like in San andreas :)

  • Eldritch #33 7 months ago

    I'm with cukydoh, underwhelmed by the visuals and the character animations in particular. Reminded me of a heavily modded GTA IV.

    Still, it DOES look like GTA, which is a very welcome sight indeed.

  • Cobalt_Jackal #34 7 months ago

    GTA V's main theme song

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDDkCiUhHCc :D
    Edited by Cobalt_Jackal at 02/11/11 @ 19:23

  • Eldritch #35 7 months ago

    I was secretly hoping for a Chinatown game featuring that creepy badass Chinese from Rockstar Table Tennis.

    And: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfBbuMQ_AA8

  • penhalion #36 7 months ago

    Looking at the trailer I have to say that it didn't look like anything had changed since GTA 4. If this is the case then I'm giving this a miss. I didn't even bother finishing 4 as I felt that Niko was a complete nonsense character. On the one hand he's all "I vant to mek a life and be good" and the next some stranger calls him and says go kill this bloke and hes suddenly "yes sure ting mister". There was zero logic or believability in the game after that.

    5 would have to be something very special for me to waste any time on it after that.

  • LLT_taz #37 7 months ago

    A good story like 4 - maybe not so gloomy
    Ability to buy house's, taxi rant strip club like VC
    And having all those silly missions like SA
    I will buy at mid-night release day.

  • Kaminari #38 7 months ago

    @HerrQwerty gtfo

  • J.8493 #39 7 months ago

    I hope that is Tommy Vercetti he is my favorite GTA playable character so far, but I highly doubt it is him tho. I wonder when we will get some info on the game. Hopefully soon :D

  • Svalbaard #40 7 months ago

    "The video shows a jet ski and a plane."

    Thanks for pointing that out. Not overly excited about this.

  • M_of_the_sys #41 7 months ago

    @cukydoh

    "Surely I'm not alone in thinking the visuals in that trailer look massively dated?"

    If the visuals stay the same but it's a larger game then I will be happy. I wasn't massively impressed with GTAIV but that was a problem with the gameplay.

    The scope of San Andreas had me in awe and although I know that a game of that scope is unlikely, something larger than GTAIV with the same visuals is fine with me. This doesn't address the repetitive gameplay issue though.

  • steoconnell #42 7 months ago

    "Why did I move here? I guess it was the weather,"

    It's not going to be Tommy Vercetti then. He has better weather in Vice City!

  • dadrester #43 7 months ago

    i just hope to god he doesn't say sorry every time he batters some one to death in cold blood, for no reason at all. that's what completely ruined vice city stories for me.

  • Duke_Red #44 7 months ago

    @Eraserhead Yeah, its too gravely to be ray liotta (no offence)

  • Rodchenko #45 7 months ago

    Apart from 'Los Puerta' not making much (grammatical) sense I am really looking forward to this.

  • Averice #46 7 months ago

    as long as it's more pre-gta4. gta4 just kinda... wasn't that immersive.

  • mazk #47 7 months ago

    'Is that San Andreas hero Carl Johnson?'

    Are you saying all black people look the same? ;)

  • whatfruit #48 7 months ago

    Niko was playing golf.
    Claude was up the mountain
    CJ was riding the jet ski at the begining
    Tommy was on top of he building.

    My hopeful guess anyway.
    Edited by whatfruit at 03/11/11 @ 09:17

  • Darren #49 7 months ago

    I loved GTA IV but after Vice City (my favourite last generation GTA game) I found San Andreas to be buggy, sprawling (it seemed to be big just for the sake of it) and a lot less enjoyable to play, even occasionally tedious, particularly as I did not like the storyline or characters at all. Also the soundtrack was disappointing too after the awesomeness of Vice City's 80s vibe. A return to the world of San Andreas would be welcome but I only hope that the story and characters are more appealing.

  • Slipstream #50 7 months ago

    Nice, Frank West is in.
    Edited by Slipstream at 03/11/11 @ 12:37

  • Madder-Max #51 7 months ago

    I hope it stays true to form and does not become 'Grand Theft CODField Effect'

  • reeferchief #52 7 months ago

    Looking good, now the anticipation to release day begins, good job there's plenty of good stuff to keep me occupied till then.