After months of remaining silent about the latest thug-life simulator known as Grand Theft Auto V, Rockstar Games is finally loosening its lips. In addition to a gameplay trailer released earlier this morning, Rockstar exchanged a few words with Game Informer about how GTA V's gameplay has improved over its predecessors.
Associate Technical Director and Combat Designer Phil Hooker described how Rockstar poured massive amounts of resources into designing GTA V's combat while taking bits and pieces from previous games like Red Dead Redemption and Max Payne 3.
“We wanted shooting to feel more precise and satisfying while supporting multiple styles of play,” Hooker said. “The controls have been expanded, so now in addition to traditional left trigger 'down the sights' aiming, you can also both run and shoot comfortably while only using the right trigger. This retains the benefits of seeing your character from the third-person view while keeping the feel much closer to the range of motion and shooting precision you have in a first-person shooter.”
Of course, auto-aim and mouse control have never gotten along particularly well, so this may very well change in the PC version—if we ever see one.
Hooker also described how a character's set of animations change depending on the situation. Niko Bellic could swagger down the street while bullets whizzed past his face, but GTA V's new cast will now react like normal human beings would in the face of gun fire.
Game Informer also spoke with producer and lead mission designer Imran Sarwar about the new customization options. You can now add attachments to your guns (such as scopes and better grips) to improve a weapon's handling. The options spill over into vehicles as well, letting you add bulletproof tires and better suspension in addition to purely aesthetic details like paint jobs.
Rockstar failed to mention the release of a PC version during these extensive interviews, but that recent job posting sort of did the job for them. It's still not confirmed, but I'd be more surprised if Rockstar didn't release GTA V on the PC than if they did.
Thanks, Game Informer .
