Latest GTA 5 News, Release Date & Screenshots

Rockstar Games launched the Crews section of their new Social Club yesterday, so we took the opportunity to create a crew for the website. We're hoping a lot of our visitors (that's you) will join us in the crew and help us kick some ass and have some fun on Max Payne 3 from next week and more importantly on GTA 5 when it launches at some point in the future.


You can check out our Crew over at Social Club. It's called iGrandTheftAuto. Request to join us and we'll send you an invite which you can accept to become a part of the crew.

This means if any of us happen to be playing multiplayer on the same server, extra bonuses can be awarded for battling with other crews.

Once you're signed up, you're free to create an emblem on the Social Club. Why not design something for iGTA to use and publish it to the crew and if it's awesome, we'll use it for our logo. Currently we have this great logo designed by DuPz0r.


You can join up to 5 crews, so ensure you make iGTA one of those and help us out with Max Payne 3 and GTA V multiplayer.

Rockstar Games have re-launched their Social Club website prior to the release of Max Payne 3. The website is a lot simpler to navigate and a lot nicer looking, making it easy to browse your games, friends and stats. A feature which hasn't yet gone live is the multiplayer Crews section. This will also be used for Grand Theft Auto V so if you don't have an account, or you haven't been on for awhile, check it out and get your profile up to date.

Crews open for pre-registration on May 9th, so get ready to sign up. We'll most likely be creating our own crew, so if you're feeling lonely and want some friends to game with, why not join us once it goes live!

In the mean time, why not add some of our website staff so that we can compare stats on all of Rockstar's Social Club compatible games...

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Over the weekend of April 20-22, I was invited to New York by Rockstar Games to preview Max Payne 3. I have put together a full write up of my trip over at iGrandTheftAuto.com which goes into excruciating detail about exactly what I got up to on the trip, however to keep things simple for those who don't care how much my breakfast cost, below is my Max Payne 3 Preview. You can see some of my personal photos from the trip at my Facebook.

Max Payne 3 Preview

Rockstar picked up myself and the other fansite webmasters from our hotel (the five star Soho Grand) at around 4:30 PM and took us to the old warehouse in Brooklyn which they used for the Red Dead Redemption fansite event a few years ago. There were shell casings all over the floor and a bunch of TV's and Xbox 360's set up with Max Payne 3 on them, plus a huge projection on the wall showing the game too. We all crowded around the projection and watched the brand new Max Payne 3 TV Spot which had just been launched that day. Once we'd had the game explained to us (the back story, the basic features of the game etc) we grabbed a controller and began playing.

The Story

Max accepts a job offer from a man known as Raul Passos, a former collegue from his police force days. This gives him the opportunity he needs to escape from New York and his drink and painkiller problem, brought on by the traumas of the first two games. That, plus the chain of events which are started when Max and Passos are re-united means they have little choice but to leave the city.

The Game

Rockstar Games allowed us to play through three missions of Max Payne 3 on both Xbox 360 and PC. We weren't allowed to see the opening cutscenes or the first mission - which we were told is essentially a tutorial - but were able to play through the 2nd to 4th missions of the game.

Nightclub Level

Our first mission was set in a night club. After arriving in a helicopter with Rodrigo Branco, his beautiful trophy wife Fabiana and her sister Giovanna, Max is tasked with babysitting them while they dance the night away. Unfortunately a group of masked gunmen break into the place and kidnap her. It's then up to Max to chase after them and rescue Fabiana Branco and her sister before it's too late, which requires making your way through various rooms in the skyscraper nightclub and taking down multiple enemies at a time. You may have seen footage from this mission in the various trailers which have been released.

Back from the previous games is Bullet Time, which gives you a great opportunity to pick off multiple enemies in one go, especially when used alongside shootdodge. The physics and animations are incredibly realistic, especially the way Max will adjust his arms to ensure he's always pointing his gun where you're aiming even while your body may be going in the opposite direction.

In my opinion the biggest stand out feature in the game is the gore. Whenever you shoot people, wherever you shoot them, you'll see holes rip into their flesh and blood fly everywhere. If you kill the last enemy in a specific area, the shot that kills them will go in slow motion and you'll see the bullet or shrapnel fly towards them and make a mess of their body. The same thing also happens when you successfully complete Last Man Standing - see below.


If you've played a previous Max Payne game you'll understand that painkillers are effectively health packs you can collect and use to recover damage. Previously you had to manually use painkillers before you took too much damage, but on Max Payne 3 if you get killed but still have remaining painkillers, you'll go into Last Man Standing mode. Everything will slow down and you'll have a few seconds to take down your killer. If you manage to kill them before you die - and the game will automatically move the aiming reticule towards them - you'll survive and continue playing, but you'll automatically use up a painkiller to keep yourself alive.

If you find a part of the game tricky and constantly die over and over (which I did, many times), the game will get slightly easier; either by giving you extra painkillers, more ammo or by removing or altering enemy behaviour. This helps to keep the game accessible for everyone, particularly during difficult firefights - of which there are many.

While chasing enemies through a level and taking them out, you are able to examine various scenes which will lead to Max describing what he sees, as seen in previous Max Payne games. This helps to improve your understanding of the story and is also quite interesting. You can and should also check around for painkillers, new weapons and ammo and bonus collectibles such as the Golden Guns. Be aware though, in some missions (such as this one) wasting too much time will cause you to fail. After all, you're supposed to be trying to free Fabiana and Giovanna from the kidnappers before they escape.

Stadium Level

The second mission we played was the stadium level which you may have seen in other previews. This was the most intense and difficult mission we played and I died dozens of times while trying to figure out the best technique to take out all enemies at various points. The mission moves between run and gun against large numbers of enemies to providing sniper cover for Passos while he evades pursuing enemies. There are a lot of interesting features on this level, particularly the physics. You can shoot footballs which will deflate or shoot boots which are hanging up and they'll fall down. There are also plenty of lights and windows for you to destroy if you feel like wasting ammo, not to mention enemies to splatter with a variety of weapons.

New York Level

The final mission we saw was set in New York and is a flashback type mission which explains why Max is in this situation and why he had to leave NYC for Sao Paolo, Brazil. It begins with a bar fight and then requires you to move through various areas and open spaces taking out goons with Raul Passos. It didn't seem to be as long as the previous missions but I personally found it to be one of the most fun.


After playing through the three missions in single player on both 360 and PC, I can safely say I much prefer the PC version of the game. That is a personal preference and isn't based on anything being wrong with the console versions, I've just always preferred to play shooters with a mouse and keyboard. I find aiming with analog sticks pretty difficult and it was a big part of the reason why I found certain parts of the game quite tough. You can of course change the game settings to make it easier, such as adding auto-lock or literally changing the game difficulty (which I presume alters the enemy AI, gives you more health etc) but I tried to play through on medium with manual aim to get a good feel for the game. The PC was much easier for me to control and I enjoyed it more because I spent less time worrying about trying to aim and more time pulling off multiple headshot combos! The graphics are very impressive on both platforms and the game runs smoothly throughout the epic firefights.

Multiplayer

Everyone then moved back onto the Xbox version and played some multiplayer. Rockstar began by showing us through the menus and how detailed the character customisation can be. You can choose multiple load outs and customise almost every aspect of the game. I've never seen anything as detailed as this with regards to multiplayer customisation and you could quite easily spend a few hours getting everything set up before you even get in game.


I wasn't actually a part of the first multiplayer session as I had been playing the PC version single player and didn't get down in time to get a 360, but I watched some of the other guys playing and it looked pretty fun.

I eventually got to have a go a bit later and found it extremely easy to pick up and get involved with. Unfortunately I died a lot of times, but did manage to get a few kills which I was pretty proud of. The main point was that it was fun. Even dying is awesome as the game automatically generates a comic book style freeze frame showing the point of impact as the bullet takes off your nose! We also saw parts of the multiplayer Crews which makes for interesting sub plots within multiplayer, but because everything was happening so fast it's not something that too much attention was given to. Perhaps when I'm more familiar with how it all works it'll be a nice feature to use, but when stuff was popping up on the screen during the gameplay, I just pressed whatever I had to so it disappeared and I could get back in game to die again.

After the multiplayer I went back to the PC's and played through the missions again. I managed to find more items which I'd missed the first time, so there is certainly some replay value here, although the enemies are fairly scripted. Their AI is dynamic and they'll do different things based on what you're doing - such as flanking you if you stay in cover - but if you've played through a mission once and remember where the enemies were, you probably won't have too much of a problem the second time.


Overall I'm as impressed by Max Payne 3 as I thought I would be. Having just played through the first 2 games in the week leading up to the Max Payne 3 preview, I had a good idea of the gameplay elements which were carried into the new game but improved (such as Last Man Standing). I can't really comment too much on the story as I didn't see enough of it, or for the most part hear enough of it to know exactly what was going on, but everything else was exactly as I'd hoped.

Once again Rockstar Games are continuing to push the boundaries. Even if you haven't played the first two Max Payne games, this is definitely worth picking up. After all, who wouldn't want to dive through a window in slow motion wielding dual sub-machine guns and take out 5 enemies with headshots before you even hit the ground? It's what an action movie would look like if they had enough money for all the fake blood.


Check out some of the other fansite write-ups:
The GTA Place, PayneKillers, Team Xbox, Broken Joysticks, GTA Warehouse, GTA Hood, PayneForums, Grand Theft Wiki

We hope those of you celebrating Easter are enjoying it. If not, here's a small pick-me-up:

Joystiq posted an interesting find from the World Wide Web. Apparently a character animator at Rockstar North named Alex O'Dwyer had his CV (résumé) posted online and it stated that Grand Theft Auto V would release sometime in October 2012 (this year):


It also shows the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC as platforms.

The CV was posted here but had been removed relatively quickly. His LinkedIn profile is here. Great news for all of us eagerly awaiting an official release date but this is not final at all. October could have been an early guess from a while ago. Assuming he updates his CV regularly that would mean Rockstar is pushing for a fall release this year. Of course things can always change and Rockstar is still trying to shake off delays of their titles.

It is worth noting that Bioshock Infinite will be releasing in October which may not concern Rockstar directly but it definitely could be a concern for parent company Take-Two who would like to space out titles.

So what do you think? Will we get two Rockstar Games titles in a year? Let us know in the comments below and join the discussions in the Grand Theft Auto V forums!

Those of you who follow us on Twitter already know this but for those that don't, Christopher Bellard aka Young MayLay aka Carl "CJ" Johnson in GTA San Andreas, confirmed on twitter that he is not in GTA 5:


It was rumored last May that he was working on scripts for the next GTA title. Even though we won't be hearing CJ, Bellard could still be helping Rockstar with the story, radio, or other aspects of the game - likely about gang life - but his words seem to deny that too.

To us at iGTA5.com this isn't much of a surprise as we've stated many times that the III era is done. Claude, Vercetti, and CJ have had their time. Rockstar has moved onto new characters and storylines. Although quite a few fans will be disappointed, know that Rockstar will still make a great game for all of us to enjoy no matter who the main character is or who we interact with during the game.

Let us know your thoughts in the comments below and in the Grand Theft Auto V forums!

Each month we'll be creating a Frequently Asked Questions article where we'll go over the many queries we're sent and try to bring everyone up to date with the latest information and rumors about Grand Theft Auto V. Many of the questions are impossible to answer at this time, given that we have very little information about the game so far, but if you have any questions you'd like us to answer, you can Tweet Us (@iGTA5), Facebook us (iGTA5), create a comment below or send us an email (submit[at]iGTA5.com).

When is the GTA V Release Date?

We currently have no information as to when Grand Theft Auto V will be released. One thing for sure is that it won't be any time soon. Rockstar Games are focusing all of their efforts on ensuring Max Payne 3 gets enough publicity ahead of its May 15 release date. GTA 5 will also receive a similar level of publicity for a few months before its own release, so until you start to see GTA V news articles on the big gaming websites on a weekly basis, it's unlikely we're anywhere near the games' launch.

We can speculate that Grand Theft Auto 5 may be launched at the end of October 2012, as traditionally Rockstar Games have launched their new GTA games around this time. GTA IV was originally scheduled for an October launch before it was delayed until April the following year. An October launch date would also provide Rockstar with a few months gap between the launch of Max Payne 3 and leave them with a few months to advertise GTA 5. Other rumors from "market analysts" suggest the game may not be released until March 2013, which is also a possibility, although it would seem strange that Rockstar Games would launch a trailer for a game they didn't intend to release for almost 18 months.

The only thing we know for sure is.. We don't know when the game will be released - but it'll probably be AT LEAST 6 months from now.

When Will We See The Second Trailer?

Much like the GTA 5 Release Date, Rockstar haven't given any information about when we'll see a second trailer for GTA V. They did however say they would talk about GTA V "in a few months". That was on February 13. It's unlikely we'll see a new GTA V trailer before Max Payne 3 launches in May because it would almost certainly draw attention away from Max Payne, much like the GTA V trailer did when it launched in November. Being so close to release date for Max Payne, I can't see another GTA V trailer coming out until maybe mid-June, but that's just my opinion.

Which Platforms Will It Launch On?

We can be fairly certain that GTA 5 will launch on the three major platforms which has been the case for previous games. This means Playstation 3, Xbox 360 and PC. The Official Playstation website did have a page for GTA V, which would seemingly confirm the game will launch on PS3, but that has since been removed. It's also unknown whether the game will launch on PC at the same time as the console release, if it will be released shortly after (similar to Max Payne 3 which comes out 2 weeks after the consoles on PC), or follow the regular GTA PC trend and launch 6 months to a year later.

Will We See San Fierro or Las Venturas?

All Rockstar have said is that the game is set in Los Santos. They've said this in almost every public statement they've given. What they HAVEN'T said is "the game will ONLY take place in Los Santos". You can take this to mean what you want, but personally I'm keeping my options open. It's likely additional cities may make an appearance further down the line. Remember, the first GTA San Andreas screenshots and trailers only showed Los Santos... They're not going to give everything away all at once!

Other Questions About In-Game Details

We know nothing about what will be included in the game. Unfortunately we can't answer any questions about characters, vehicles, whether you can swim underwater, whether you can climb the mountains, who you play as etc. Perhaps new information will be announced soon and we'll answer these questions next time, but until then you'll have to keep dreaming!


We hope you enjoyed this group of Frequently Asked Questions. If you have any others you know where to send them. We'll try to answer them next month if we can!

Our first piece of GTA V info since the trailer comes in the form of an announcement about a new feature of the Social Club, which will be introduced for the first time in Max Payne 3.

In Max Payne 3, players will be able to team up in multiplayer 'Crews', where groups of players will be able to initiate Feuds with each other during matches. Developing a Vendetta between Crews will give the players involved opportunities to earn bonus XP, with stats tracked on the Social Club.

Crews will carry over from Max Payne 3 into GTA V, and later on into future Rockstar titles.


Below are details posted on the Newswire, which explain more:

"How will Crews be able to interact?

One major way will be with Feuds. In multiplayer games we have a feature called Vendettas – if someone kills you twice, you can initiate a vendetta against them, which lets everyone know that you’re out to get that person. For you, a special X marks their blip when they’re visible to you on the map. If you take that person down, you get extra XP. If they survive your vendetta though, they get that XP.

Crew Feuds are essentially Crew Vendettas: impromptu skirmishes between crews that can spring up in multiplayer matches that quickly spawn a first-to-10-kills battle. You can be playing any team-based game with a completely new set of players, but if you spot two or more members of a crew you’re feuding with on the opposite team, any kills you get against them will count to the overall feud so rivalries will spring up automatically - and when they do, you’ll be notified and the grudge will come to the forefront of the game.

We’ll track who you’re feuding with, how long you’ve been feuding, and who’s winning. You’ll get extra XP for taking down members of crews you’re feuding with, so you’ll be able to remember those grudges for future matches. Again, we want to create more drama out of the interactions that go down in typical multiplayer matches.

And the beauty of this system is that crews persist over time and across future games. Multiplayer is an ever-more important part of all our games moving forward, and by creating crews through Social Club the crews that you create in Max Payne 3 will be ready and available for you to play in Grand Theft Auto V from day one. It’s all part of our larger approach to make multiplayer deeper and richer than what’s currently available, much more easily accessible to the newcomer and rewarding for the hardcore.

Will the spirit behind Crews and Gang Wars – multiplayer with a user-generated narrative – appear in other Rockstar’s forthcoming games?

We made a promise not to talk too much about forthcoming games until a little further down the track but, yes, crews will feature in Grand Theft Auto V multiplayer. We are firm believers in the potential of third-person multiplayer and the attachment it can create to character, stories and worlds. This is at the heart of what we’re doing with Crews, and we think it opens up limitless new possibilities for the future. It’s right at the heart of our goal to bring greater weight and context to multiplayer games while still staying true to what competitive multiplayer does so well."

You can read a full interview with IGN here.

Sounds like multiplayer in Grand Theft Auto just got a lot more interesting. What do you think? Let us know in the comments.

Happy St. Patrick's Day from all of us at iGTA5.com. Make sure you go out and have a pint of Guinness for us!


The image above isn't official. It's fan art created by ourselves, but there are a few factors which point to Packie McReary, or some of his family appearing in GTA 5. If you haven't read about it already, check out our GTA 5 Characters page to see why Packie may well show up in Los Santos.

If you have any other fan artwork or fake screenshots for us to display, please get in contact with us. You can either post it on the forums, post it to our Facebook Page, Tweet Us or email it to us at submit[at]iGTA5.com.

Hopefully we'll have some official GTA 5 news to bring you in the near future. Until then, do us a favour and recommend this site to your friends :)

For those who have been fans and collectors of the Grand Theft Auto series, this shouldn't be much of a surprise.


MCV has posted an article saying that BradyGames will be publishing the official strategy guide for Grand Theft Auto V. They have been publishing guides for Rockstar Games titles for many years already and hope to be the #1 guide publisher in the UK with sales of GTA V. We can be sure that their guide will cover all there is to do in GTA V including story missions, side missions, hidden packages, and much more!

Also a quick reminder to sign up in order to join the GTA V forum discussions plus you'll be able to enter the release date contest!

Rockstar North have updated their website for the first time in what I'm guessing is over seven years. They've added the logo shown above, along with with the words "Coming Soon" etched below.

Previous content on the R* North website includes behind the scenes development images, audio and code from GTA 3 and GTA Vice City, which leads to speculation that the new website may, at some point in the future, feature some GTA 5 development information.

The actual website hasn't been launched yet, so there's not much there besides the logo and a link to jobs at Rockstar North, however given that the studio are actively developing GTA 5, we can probably expect some details to appear there about the new Grand Theft Auto game in due course.

Check out the 'new' website at RockstarNorth.com, and we'll keep you updated when it actually launches.

If, like me, you were playing GTA trivia with the 49 icons on the Rockstar North banner, here are the answers: