'Grand Theft Auto V' to star three main characters

Spring 2013 release Grand Theft Auto V will present players with three main characters to switch between: monied ex-con Michael, violent career criminal Trevor, and vehicle reposession expert Franklin.

Grand-Theft-Auto-V-s-Trevor-Franklin-and-Michael-L-R-Photo-AFP

Spring 2013 release Grand Theft Auto V will present players with three main characters to switch between: monied ex-con Michael, violent career criminal Trevor, and vehicle reposession expert Franklin.

The multiple protagonist approach was confirmed by Game Informer magazine's cover art and detailed in subsequent preview material.

Though Grand Theft Auto IV featured one main character, Niko Bellic, to start with, two expansion packs then introduced biker gang member Johnny Klebitz and nightclub manager Luis Lopez, with all three storylines intertwining.

By contrast, Michael, Trevor and Franklin will be working together in a much closer capacity, with players able to switch between them.

All have their own reasons for teaming up together, and bank jobs and heists will be prominent. There'll be a variety of leisure activities to take part in -- golf, tennis, triathalon -- as well as transport options that range from pedal bikes to planes.

GTA V's city of Los Santos will be modeled on Los Angeles, a city that the Rockstar Games group has reconstructed in various forms in street racer Midnight Club: Los Angeles, detective thriller L.A. Noire, and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, and a city that has also been showcased in True Crime: The Streets of L.A., Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines, and this year's Call of Duty: Black Ops II.

The new Los Santos is said to be larger than the interior and exterior spaces of Rockstar Games' previous Red Dead Redemption, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and Grand Theft Auto IV put together.

Though not mentioned by the Game Informer coverage, it appears that Compton rapper The Game will voice returning San Andreas character B-Dup, according to an interview with radio station Wired 96.5; Rockstar VP Dan Houser expressed a preference for unknown actors in the Game Informer piece as far as major parts are concerned.