According to Rockstar,
Grand Theft Auto V's Los Santos is bigger than
Red Dead Redemption,
San Andreas, and
Grand Theft Auto IV combined. Yep. There's wilderness, a military base, and even an ocean floor to explore underwater.
You can switch between the game's
three main protagonists at "nearly any time."
Those three protagonists, by the way, are named Michael, Trevor, and Franklin.
Sometimes they'll work together on missions, during which you can switch back and forth from character to character depending on which part of a given mission you feel like doing.
Each character has his own personality, skill set, and group of friends to interact with. And the ones you're not controlling will go off and do their own thing.
This is the same world as
Grand Theft Auto IV and
Liberty City, so you might see some recurring characters from those games (just not the major ones, like Niko Bellic). But. Rockstar says this is the "high-definition" world of
Grand Theft Auto, so don't expect to see anyone from the PS2-era titles.
Remember those randomized dynamic missions in
Red Dead Redemption? They're back for GTAV: expect hitchhikers, muggers, and dead bodies, among others.
Yes friendships. No romance.
Rockstar says there will be an economy, but you won't be able to buy properties. There will be "loads of other stuff."