GTA V trailer lands as Rockstar returns to Los Santos

Rockstar Games has finally released the first trailer for Grand Theft Auto V, giving fans their first proper look at the next instalment in GTA, one of gaming’s biggest series.

After an extended break from Grand Theft Auto, presumably to give us all time to work our way through the excellent L.A. Noire, Rockstar is back with an all-new GTA title. And judging by the first GTA V trailer, things are looking very promising indeed.

The series has come a long way since the original Grand Theft Auto launched in 1997 as a top-down 2D action-adventure game. Since then, the cities have become bigger, the missions more ambitious, the satire sharper and the opportunities for causing mayhem almost endless. GTA V looks set to continue that tradition while taking the series’ scale and detail to another level.

The trailer confirms a return to Vinewood and Los Santos, locations many fans still regard as among the best in the series. Hopefully, that also means we’ll see the return of some of the brilliantly developed characters and dark humour that helped make the earlier games so memorable.

Location and character look like they will be major parts of GTA V. Rather than focusing purely on action, the trailer gives us a proper look at the city itself, and the level of detail appears painfully impressive. Cars, pedestrians, beaches, jet skis, golf courses, underpasses, mansions and less-than-savoury characters all flash by, suggesting Rockstar has put huge effort into making Los Santos feel like a real, living place.

There’s also a short voiceover, potentially from the game’s main character. He sounds like a family man chasing the idea of a better life before, inevitably, getting caught up in things the GTA way. Could this mean a stronger focus on character and backstory? Possibly. Only time will tell.

What is clear already is that Rockstar is going big. The trailer shows a world that looks brighter, richer and more alive than anything the series has delivered before, with the familiar mix of glamour, crime, sunshine and chaos that made the San Andreas setting so memorable.

Either way, it already looks and sounds fantastic.

Excited much? We are.