GTA 5 Wiki Guide

This game is set within the fictional state of San Andreas, which is inspired by South California. The story follows three protagonists: Michael De Santa, Franklin Clinton, and Trevor Phillips, all of them being playable characters. The story follows these three characters and their attempts to commit heists while under pressure from powerful criminals and a corrupt government agency.

The game has an open-world design that allows the player to explore Los Santos, based on Los Angeles and San Andreas’ open countryside, freely. The game can be experienced from both third and first-person perspectives. The game earned praise and critical acclaim from the gaming industry because of its fleshed-out characters, highly detailed open world, and polished gameplay. The game was extensively marketed and had immense hype behind it. It broke sales records and earned 800 million dollars on the day of its release. It has generated over 6 billion dollars in revenue as of April 2021. It is one of the most notable games of the last console generation and has set a high benchmark for other open-world game developers.

The events of GTA V begin in 2004 where two of our protagonists, Michael Townley and Trevor Philips, have their own heist crew. When Michael comes to the realization that he needs to put his family first, he sets up a deal with Dave Norton of the FIB to give him a new identity and move him to Los Santos with his family. Despite a few errors, his plan is a success, leaving Trevor believing that he was dead.

After 9 years, in 2013 Michael De Santa is seen living in a mansion in Rockford Hills, Los Santos with his family under the name De Santa. Here he meets Franklin Clinton, our third protagonist, and is dragged back into the criminal life. Trevor Philips lives in Sandy Shores and later reunites with Michael and Franklin, and the three carry out heists and other such jobs for either corrupt government forces or powerful criminals, who only use them to their advantage. They work towards carrying out the heist they always dreamed of, The Union Depository.

The prologue shows Michael Townley and Trevor Philips back in 2004, carrying out a heist, after which the events of GTA V directly take place somewhere around August to October of the year 2013, based on a few references in the game like advertisements, calendars, etc.

Grand Theft Auto 5 comes with improved gameplay based on the previous games. There is a lot more added to this game in terms of mechanics, physics, reactions, behavior, etc. Tons of extra activities have also been added like parachuting, tennis, golf, hunting, photography, yoga, etc. Vehicles and their mechanics have been improved with better-looking models and more driveable cars and bikes. Even the damage taken by the player is more realistic and the reactions of NPCs to the player’s actions have been drastically improved.

While switching between the three protagonists, there is a satellite kind of view that zooms out from one player, zooming in to the location of the player switched to, where the player is seen doing something random within the lines of the story. There are also major improvements in making the game feel more realistic. NPC movements have been updated where they are even seen taking pictures of an accident or something social media-worthy happening on the streets. They are also seen taking pictures of modified cars and complimenting the player while driving an expensive or rare-looking vehicle.

There is a more organized way of selecting weapons. The selection of weapons now takes place through a weapon wheel which slows down time while changing weapons in their sub-categories.

The original version of GTA V was released on 17th September, 2013 for PS3 and Xbox 360. After this, an enhanced version was released for PS4 and Xbox One on 18th November 2014 with its PC release date being 14th April 2015. There are some in-game features that are accessible only to returning players of GTA V. An expanded and enhanced version was released for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S on 15th March 2022. This is the latest version of the game. The enhanced version of the game comes with many improvements and added content like vehicles, weapons, improved graphics and textures, etc.

In GTA 5 we have three main protagonists instead of just one. A player can switch between the three at any point in the game except when switching to a character who is not a part of an ongoing mission. Michael De Santa, Franklin Clinton, and Trevor Philips all have different personalities. The other characters in the game are family or friends of the protagonists or are related to either storyline missions or side missions in the game. There are also characters who are part of random events that take place during the game.

The character models in GTA 5 have been immensely updated with a lot of attention to detail. The game has focused on realism and successfully knocks the ball out of the park when it comes to impressing players with the newest realistic features.

Protagonists
Michael De Santa	Franklin Clinton	Trevor Philips
Family & Friends
Amanda De Santa	Jimmy De Santa	Tracey De Santa
Dave Norton	Lester Crest	Lamar Davis
Denise Philips	Tanisha	Chop
Wade Herbert	Dr. Friedlander	Ron Jakowski
Antagonists
Devin Weston	Steve Haines	Wei Cheng
Stretch	Tao Cheng	Molly Schultz

A wide variety of vehicles are drivable in GTA 5. Even tractors, bulldozers and airport transport are drivable. The mechanics and physics of the game with respect to vehicles have seen a drastic improvement from the previous games. The feel of driving certain cars is very realistic and the traction and handling can be differentiated between the different types of cars. Muscle cars have louder revs and feel heavier whereas sports cars feel more aerodynamic and easier to handle. There are even electric vehicles that provide the player with a completely different driving experience.

Many vehicles from the previous games are seen in GTA 5 like the Cheetah and the PCJ-600. Aircraft and helicopters are present in abundance in GTA 5 and also have a more realistic feel while flying. The Velum, Cuban 800m Maverick and Buzzard Chopper are examples of some aircraft found in GTA 5. Aircraft feel a little more delicate and tend to take damage and explode even from minor contact with obstacles. The Jet, which is a passenger aircraft, can be controlled, unlike in the previous games. There are also submarines that can be used to explore the Pacific Ocean.

The first-person perspective in vehicles changes the vehicle experience completely. Every detail is intricate even inside the vehicle. If a player crashes a car at a high speed, he is seen flying out of the front windshield and taking damage. In helicopters, military aircrafts and on bikes, the player puts on a helmet for safety. The helmet is seen to be effective as the player takes lesser damage while falling off a bike while having a helmet on. Vehicles are seen driving into parking areas and also seen pulling out of alleyways driven by NPCs. Rarely modified vehicles are also seen driven around Los Santos.

There are a wide variety of weapons to use in GTA 5. Guns can also be fitted with attachments like flashlights and extended mags. There are melee weapons like the golf club and nightstick that haven’t been seen before. The RPG is back, known simply as the Rocket Launcher in GTA 5. Explosives such as Grenades and Sticky Bombs are seen as well.

Weapons can be customized with different skins, out of which some are exclusive to returning players or only in the enhanced version. The different kinds of weapons can be selected using the weapon wheel where the weapons are organized according to their type. The Stun Gun is seen in GTA 5 directly after being available in GTA: Chinatown Wars. An experimental weapon called the Railgun has also been added to GTA 5.

Here are different types of weapons in GTA 5:

Melee
Knuckle Dusters	Nightstick	Broken Bottle
Handguns
Combat Pistol	Stun Gun	AP Pistol
Shotguns
Pump Shotgun	Musket	Heavy Shotgun
Submachines Guns & Light Machine Guns
SMG	MG	Micro SMG
Assault Rifles
Assault Rifle	Special Carbine	Carbine Rifle
Sniper Rifles
Sniper Rifle	Heavy Sniper	Marksman Rifle
Heavy Weapons
Minigun	Rocket Launcher	Rail Gun
Throwables
Grenade	Molotov Cocktail	Sticky Bomb

The game starts with the Prologue mission set in 2004 after which the main storyline missions of GTA 5 begin. There are a total of 69 main missions excluding side missions. Most missions are set around heists; for example, The Big Score and The Paleto Score, and their preparation along with other missions are put very creatively into the storyline. The game has three optional endings but the main canonical ending is the one where the protagonists go against their enemies together, known as The Third Way. The player has to choose the end according to their own preference, however, this choice won’t affect the events of GTA Online or any upcoming projects by Rockstar Games.

GTA 5 is set in the beautiful state of San Andreas, perfectly balanced between nature and a concrete jungle. Los Santos has many prime locations beautifully designed with many similarities with GTA: San Andreas, but with a completely different look.

A very popular place in GTA 5 is the Vanilla Unicorn strip club. Towards the North we see the Grand Senora Desert, Mount Chiliad, Blaine County and more of Sandy Shores whereas towards the south of San Andreas in Los Santos we have the Los Santos International Airport, the Maze Bank Tower, The Maze Bank Arena, Rockford Hills, Vinewood Hills, Del Perro Pier etc.

There are a total of 22 in-game radio stations that are available on the radio wheel in vehicles based on the player’s location in San Andreas. These radio stations are all hosted by different artists and feature music mostly from the 2010s around the time when the game was released. Almost all different genres of music are covered by the variety of radio stations available to tune into by the player. Los Santos Rock Radio, West Coast Classics, Rebel Radio, The Lowdown 91.1 and Non-Stop-Pop FM are some examples of popular radio stations in GTA 5.

Radio Stations In GTA 5
Radio Los Santos (Contemporary Hip-Hop)	Space 103.2 (Funk)	West Coast Classics (Classic Hip-Hop)
Rebel Radio (Country)	Los Santos Rock Radio (Rock)	The Lowdown 91.1 (Classic Soul)
The Blue Ark (Reggae)	Non-Stop-Pop FM (Pop)	East Los FM (Latin Music)
WorldWide FM (World Music)	Channel X (Punk Rock)	Radio Mirror Park (Indie Music)
Vinewood Boulevard Radio (Modern Rock)	Soulwax FM (Techno)	FlyLo FM (Alternative Hip-Hop)
Blaine County Talk Radio (Talk Radio)	West Coast Talk Radio (Talk Radio)	The Lab (Hip-Hop)
Radio Stations Exclusive To Enhanced Version
blonded Los Santos 97.8 FM (Urban Adult Contemporary)	Los Santos Underground Radio (House Music)	iFruit Radio (Hip-Hop)

Self Radio is a radio station in the game that lets players play their own music by adding tracks to the game files and being able to access them through the Self Radio radio station on the radio wheel. There are also a few Cut Radio Stations that were not included in the final release of the game but were seen in the beta version. Pre-Millenium Radio and Santos Surf are among the cut radio stations of GTA V.

The types of collectibles in GTA 5 are very different from the other games. Some collectibles are related to side missions whereas some are required only to complete achievements. Monkey Mosaics, Letter Scraps, Spaceship Parts, Submarine Pieces, Epsilon Tracts and Hidden Packages are some examples of collectibles that can be found in the game. Some collectibles that are found at the bottom of the ocean require certain diving equipment to be reached. Others are mostly found around San Andreas in alleyways or behind buildings, some even being in places only a helicopter can help you reach. Not all are required for 100% completion of the game.

GTA 5 has 50 Achievements/trophies to be unlocked, that sum up to a total of 1000 gamerscore. These achievements are unlocked for various tasks like finding collectibles, completing missions or side missions, and even completing the game. Achievements do not have in-game rewards but add to the statistics of the account you are using to play the game based on the platform. Show Off, Los Santos Legend, and Career Criminal are some of the achievements that can be unlocked in GTA 5.

This game has won multiple awards including the VGX Game Of The Year award, British Academy Games awards, and even BAFTA awards with 12 wins and 29 nominations. It set a standard for all action-adventure games with respect to gameplay, graphics, mechanics, and every other aspect that makes a game complete. It received a 10/10 by IGN, 9/10 on Steam, and 81% on Metacritic.

GTA 5 has focused more on a good story experience with added realism and experience-based gameplay. Players keep coming back to the game because of the addictive gameplay in an open world with so many possibilities during a free roam. The story of GTA 5 seems to have kept every player on the edge of their seats and wanting more. The events of GTA Online take place a few years after the events of GTA 5 in which new features and gameplay are introduced which has kept GTA players happy and satisfied.