Xbox Addict

Rockstar releases new GTAV screenshots on Facebook

Speculation time!  There’s not much to say that these photos aren’t already doing, but usually when you see a vehicle in a pre-release GTA screenshot, it means that the chances of driving or piloting that vehicle in-game are VERY HIGH, so one must consider the implications of every new form of transportation that is introduced.

The James-Cameron style Deep Sea Explorer vehicle, for example could potentially allow players to comb the very depths of San Andreas’ underwater areas...and Rockstar has notably gone on record saying that the game’s unprecedented size includes the tops of the mountains and the depths of the ocean.  In the same picture, note the shark fin in the distance.

Sharks have appeared in GTA games before, but never could you get as close to them as in the screenshot featuring a shark and a snorkeler taken from below.  Draw your own conclusions there about the gruesome possibilities.

In the screenshot featuring one of the protagonists (Franklin) driving a low-rider, his passenger is a junkyard dog with a  pink collar.  This same dog has been seen running loose during the second GTA trailer, so it’s likely that the dog will be featured in one of the game’s missions (hopefully not a "find the lost dog" mission), but it raises the question, will dogs be featured in GTA as civilans or enemies as well?  More specifically, will attacking pedestrian dog-owners lead to traffic chaos if a loose dog runs into the street, or will missions that require stealth, such as sneaking on to private property, be further complicated by guard dogs that can detect your scent?

Finally, take a good long look at the screenshot featuring the fighter jet "escorting" what looks like a passenger plane in the foreground.  The figure in the passenger plane’s cockpit window doesn’t look anything like a pilot and appears more like one of the protagonists (most likely Trevor -- just compare his jacket collar to that of Trevor’s in the first screenshot).  We’ve already seen an escape sequence in the official second trailer where a jeep is driven out of the back of a carrier plane followed by the driver leaping out of the jeep with a parachute.  If ANY of that is playable, that means that means players won’t just be flying small planes or fighter jets, but much larger planes.  When you consider how difficult Rockstar made it to fly a plane in Grand Theft Auto 3 in the wake of 9/11, the potential for crazy chaos that players will be able to create is enough to make one shudder...after all, that plane and jeep have got to land somewhere.

Sweet holiday dreams to you all, imagining all the virtual carnage you’ll be able to bring upon San Andreas next spring.  And you’re welcome.