‘Grand Theft Auto V’ Rumor Round-Up

Though Rockstar games has kept fairly tight-lipped about Grand Theft Auto V since it debuted a trailer of the game, rumors and leaks about it have floated steadily onto the Internet.

We've seen a leaked game map, an anonymous game journalist posting his experience with the game, and a quality assurance tester named OpenSurvivor putting up details on GTAforums. We have plenty of rumors to chew on and here are the most interesting we've heard. But remember none of them have been confirmed.

The protagonist is supposedly named Ray, and is 53 years old with two 10-year-old children. However, he is divorced and doesn't have custody of his kids. The story focuses on Mexican drug cartels fighting over a major drug shipment with plenty of other gangs in the mix.

The game is going to take place in Los Santos and its surroundings including beaches, snow-capped mountains and a desert. Los Santos will be about 50 percent bigger than Liberty City and the entire game world is rumored to be twice the size of the Red Dead Redemption world. However, San Fierro and Las Venturas will not be returning. There should be five counties in the game, each a takeoff of real California counties:

• Los Angeles County --> Los Santos County
• Orange County --> Valais County
• San Diego County --> Santa Hueso County
• San Bernardino County --> Brigham County
• Ventura/Santa Barbara County --> Santa Catarina County
• Riverside/Imperial County --> Trecena County

The game is also supposed to feel more alive. There will be hundreds of workers in an oil field outside of town. There will be campers in the woods, along with motocross bikers. There will be runners on the beach, shoppers, young people going to bars, people fixing fences and others moving in and out of their houses.

There will be many more interior locations in the game world including a college campus, shopping malls, hospitals, police stations and a huge sewer system. Players can also hole up in these locations, lock and barricade the doors. There are much more climbable elements in the game as well.

Police will act much more believably. If you kill someone and there are no cops around, you are less likely to get in trouble than you would in GTA IV. They will use tear gas, dogs and riot gear. They may also use a battering ram to knock down doors the player has locked. But players will be able to grab civilians and use them as body shields.

All the weapons in the game can be customizable and some can even be home-made. Players can also use random objects as weapons, or sneak into a museum and steal an axe or sword. The more players use weapons the more their skill with particular guns will level up. Some weapons include a flamethrower, mines and a RC explosive mini-truck.

Vehicles can also be upgraded and customized. Players will have to keep an eye on fuel levels and might have to gas up cars from time to time. Players can also rupture fuel lines leaving a trail of gas for them to ignite. Speaking of vehicles, all of the planes seen in the trailer will be flyable, except for the commercial jet.

The dating and cell phone mechanics from past games are gone. That means other characters won't be calling the main character wanting to hang out. The player will have a cell phone, but it will only be used for getting missions. That said, there will be plenty to distract the player from the main mission such as weight-training, gambling, cage fighting, entering triathlons, cannoning, rock climbing and base jumping just to name a few. The player can also change the main character's clothes and body weight.

Rockstar seems to be reinstalling a lot of mechanics that were present in GTA: San Andreas while taking out a lot of annoying features that were in GTAIV. We'll see if these rumors shake out in 2012.