Set within the fictional state of San Andreas, based on Southern California , the single-player story follows three protagonists βretired bank robber Michael De Santa Ned Luke , street gangster Franklin Clinton Shawn Fonteno , and drug dealer and gunrunner Trevor Philips Steven Ogg , and their attempts to commit heists while under pressure from a corrupt government agency and powerful criminals. The game world is navigated on foot and by vehicle, from either a third-person or first-person perspective.
Players control the protagonists throughout single-player and switch among them, both during and outside missions. The story is centred on the heist sequences, and many missions involve shooting and driving gameplay. A "wanted" system governs the aggression of law enforcement response to players who commit crimes. In Grand Theft Auto Online , the game's online multiplayer mode, up to 30 players engage in a variety of different cooperative and competitive game modes. Shared between many of Rockstar's studios worldwide, the game's development began around the time of Grand Theft Auto IV 's release.
The developers drew influence from many of their previous projects such as Red Dead Redemption and Max Payne 3 and designed the game around three lead protagonists to innovate on the core structure of its predecessors. Much of the development work constituted the open world's creation, and several team members conducted field research around California to capture footage for the design team.
The game's soundtrack features an original score composed by a team of producers who collaborated over several years. It received critical acclaim, with praise directed at its multiple-protagonist design, open world, presentation and gameplay. However, its depiction of violence and women caused controversies.
Several gaming publications awarded the game year-end accolades including Game of the Year awards. In retrospect, it is considered one of seventh and eighth generation console gaming 's most significant titles and among the best video games ever made. Grand Theft Auto V is an action-adventure game [ 2 ] played from either a third-person [ 3 ] or first-person perspective. Composed of the San Andreas open countryside area, and its fictional Blaine County and city of Los Santos, the world is much larger in area than earlier entries in the series.
