Rockstar releases new Grand Theft Auto V screenshots

Grand Theft Auto is nothing without the vehicles in the game. It is named Grand Theft “Auto”, after all. To show off the new vehicles in the game, Rockstar has released a bunch of new screenshots, that also show how the in-game graphics will look, since Rockstar is famous for not using pre-rendered graphics for cutscenes and trailers.

The bicycle will be making a comeback in the game

One of the biggest things to note is that two of the vehicles that have been sorely missed since their debut in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, bicycles and jets, will be making appearances in the latest game in the open-world crime drama series. These vehicles were not present in Grand Theft Auto IV and its expansions, The Lost and the Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony, as Liberty City wasn’t big enough to warrant the presence of jets. The omission of bicycles was puzzling though, but it could be argued that bicycles didn’t go with the more serious tone of the GTA IV games.

Jets will also be coming back in the game

Some of the other things to note is that according to the license plate of the Cheetah in the screenshot, the new game will indeed be taking place in the San Andreas area - same as that in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. This could mean a return to one of the biggest maps created in gaming at the time. It will also be interesting to look at the three cities in the state of San Andreas: Los Santos, San Fierro and Las Venturas, rendered in the beauty that the current generation of consoles and PCs are capable of.

Finally! Randomised license plates!

The previous game in the series, Grand Theft Auto IV, starred Nico Bellic, a fresh off the boat immigrant in Liberty City, which was geographically based on New York. The game’s major theme was a satire of the “American Dream”, with Nico Bellic trying to run away from his past.

After GTA IV, Rockstar released two major expansion packs for the games - The Lost and the Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony. The Lost and the Damned stars a new protagonist, Johnny Klebitz, who is a member of Liberty City’s Motorcycle Club The Lost, a club which was featured in missions throughout the course of GTA IV. The Ballad of Gay Tony stars another protagonist, Luis Lopez. The game shows the more “glamourous” side of Liberty City, with its vibrant nightlife. Rockstar later on released both the games in a single standalone box titled Grand Theft Auto: Episodes From Liberty City.

Earlier this month, Rockstar had put up a website for the “Epsilon Project”, which is a parody of Scientology as depicted in the Grand Theft Auto series since GTA: San Andreas. The Epislon Project also has a Twitter account. The parody religion likes to make some audacious claims such as “The world is 157 years old,” and “We all come from the same tree."

Last month, Rockstar had released two screenshots of the game as part of a Q&A that the developers had with fans of the series. Rockstar has stated on its website that it will be releasing more information on the game later this week.