Grand Theft Auto 5 details have been leaking out left and right as Rockstar has loosened its tongue and a number of publications are getting hands-on time with the game. Popular videogame-centric site IGN recently had a chance to speak with Rockstar's vice president of creativity, Dan Houser, and here's a quick run through of what he had to say.
Houser on Grand Theft Auto 5's multiplayer:
"I believe this one will be the best we've delivered yet, the most comprehensive package and the best set of things you can do and ways you can organize and try to make it compelling. We think there's something very compelling about open world multiplayer."
Houser also stated that Rockstar isn't quite ready to show off multiplayer, and will do so once it is more polished.
Houser on Grand Theft Auto 5's multiple protagonists:
"Once we started playing around with having these three intersecting stories and these three characters, someone on the design team said, 'We could have them on the same missions and cut between them.' Brilliant. That takes away all the boring bits from the missions."
He then went to say how boring it can be for gamers to be chauffeured around by NPCs.
"We have to make sure the player has all the fun. It's not fun being driven. It's the most simple and obvious way around that, but you have to figure it out and get the stories working for it to make any sense and have any weight."
Houser did mention that not every mission will involve switching between the three playable characters, and that some missions will involve only one character as well.
Houser on Grand Theft Auto 5's money system:
Houser stated that one of the criticisms of Grand Theft Auto 4 was that there weren't enough things to spend money on, and that Rockstar hopes to rectify that in Grand Theft Auto 5.
"We want a lot of toys you can engage with at all points in the story. Using it in all different ways. Having a more vibrant economy and a sense that the reason these people are doing this stuff, at least on some level, is financially driven."
House on why Rockstar revisited Los Santos, Grand Theft Auto 5's open world:
"This world -- the range of height and between north and south and east and west -- is huge, and it's a real strength. It felt California. Oceans are there and tall hills are there. We wanted those in the game. For us, this kind of world, that was a big properly-realized L.A. and a huge slab of regionally appropriate countryside, felt like the most interesting match to do something new with. Doing other cities just didn't seem appealing."
For the complete interview that includes why bodybuilding won't be back in Grand Theft Auto 5, visit IGN.
Grand Theft Auto 5 is slated for a spring 2013 release on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Pre-orders have already begun worldwide.