Grand Theft Auto V's Los Santos is bigger than the worlds of Red Dead Redemption, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and GTA IV's Liberty City combined, according to the calculations made by art director Aaron Garbut.

As if the above ground terrain wasn't expansive enough, Rockstar has even mapped out the ocean floor along the Los Santos coastline, which players can explore.
Naturally, the game will be packed with more vehicles than in any previous GTA game to encourage players to see the sights. Confirmed vehicles include a BMX bike, mountain bikes, road bikes, dirt bikes, cars, trucks, helicopters, planes, ATVs and Jet Skis.
We've gathered all the first GTA V details from the magazine and compiled them in one article. Have a read for a breakdown on each of the three main characters, dynamic missions, and more.
Comments
20 comments so far...
Stryker89 on 8 Nov '12 said:
Bigger than..? Mother of GTA....
Houdini Splicer on 8 Nov '12 said:
Hate to be a pessimist but they say this, don't actually know whether it will turn out to be true or not, and if it is, will it all fit on one DVD? Doubt it.
1Nightmare1 on 8 Nov '12 said:
I doubt it will fit on single DVD as well but that doesn't mean that they won't put it on 2 or 3 DVDs and/or force you to load it into your HD. Still though, bigger better; that's what I liked about SA. This game started to look like SA on steroids!
flash501 on 8 Nov '12 said:
Bigger than all three combined???
Nah, it can't be, surely? San Andreas on it's own was enormous!
Barca Azul on 8 Nov '12 said:
Looking at those other screens, it look Monstrous!
I wonder how much you will go inside buildings in this one?
Cant really say it made that much difference in 4!
DAEDALUS79 on 8 Nov '12 said:
If they manage to pull it off, making a game that big with as much polish that usually goes into the GTA games.....I shall doff my cap to rockstar games!
AJDarkstar on 8 Nov '12 said:
This'll be crazy optimised - reused textures, sound compression, etc. In theory the PS3 version could be better if they don't bodge the port this time (4 & RDR on PS3 were lower res and frame rate than 360), but PS3's gimped RAM may be an issue. I so badly want a Wii U version of this - the best of both worlds and more than double the RAM.
alan666 on 8 Nov '12 said:
It is going to take how long to drive about though
Hoping for a Wii U version, but unless it is day one it will have to be the X360 version.
damoxuk on 8 Nov '12 said:
Wii-U version may come but it most likely will be around same time as a PC/Nextgen release imo.
Still looks to be Skyrim in size but with added ho-kills.
Black Mantis on 9 Nov '12 said:
Map size does not dictate how many dvd's a game needs, Just Cause 2 is proof of this. CGI cut-scenes, audio, textures, and tech like LA Noire's MotionScan does.
divinebeetle on 9 Nov '12 said:
Looks like I'm gonna have to dust off the old 360 for this game
1Nightmare1 on 9 Nov '12 said:
But don't map sizes contribute to textures problem? The bigger the map the more memory you need for textures, including drawing distance and details. This just my assumption, I'm not trying to impress you with my poor graphic design knowledge lol.
moogiesboy on 9 Nov '12 said:
God bless Ken Kutaragi for Blu-ray!
ChrisTypeR on 9 Nov '12 said:
R* will find a way to fit all this in, probably a massive amount of memory required for a heavy install. The underwater sections will be huge but can be repeats of textures I suppose. Who cares though, we have confirmation and hopefully R* have learned their lesson from GTA IV - they clearly have as RDR and Max Payne 3 were 10 out of 10 for me - then we are all in for a massive treat, hopefully this is not a port from the 360, I own a PS3 so am hoping for a higher frame rate and better quality draw distance for the jet fighter

FishyGinger on 9 Nov '12 said:
Got a bad feeling about this. It doesn't need to be that large. San Anreas was a good size without feeling too empty.
Gambini on 9 Nov '12 said:
So.... Probably still smaller than Just Cause 2
http://unrealitymag.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/large-video-game-worlds2.jpg
Joking aside, if they can pull this off on current gen consoles then they have truly worked magic! (I still wish the PC release was day and date with the Consoles though...)
Nimron Tang on 9 Nov '12 said:
Funny enough, that was my first reaction to this news.
My dream game is a Just Cause 2 size world but with Rockstar's physics, humour and attention to detail. This game doesn't seem to be too far away from that. I'm a happy cat!
Barca Azul on 9 Nov '12 said:
I think this is the point though, there are probably games with bigger area's still, but not with the detail you can see in these screens! Ive not played JC2, but isnt there a lot of more open space and generic landscape?
Nimron Tang on 9 Nov '12 said:
You are spot on. Just Cause 2 was huge, but had large expanses of what you could describe as nothing. Even the settlements were very basic, with similar assets constantly re-used everywhere. I really enjoyed Just Cause 2 (still nothing compared to GTAIV for me), but generic is definitely a word I would use to describe it. GTAV will probably be around half the size (map wise) but hundreds of times more varied, detailed and interesting.
Barca are you an ex-pat, and what is the azul (blue) a reference to?
Gambini on 9 Nov '12 said:
The JC2 maps certainly weren't as densely packed as GTA games (and in particular GTAIV) but it was a HUGE frickkin map perfectly suited to JC2 more over-the-top gameplay. There were also a lot of hidden gems in the map like secret islands, mountain enemy bases and even an airship nightclub complete with landing strip
Still, my absolute favorite open world game will always be GTA:SA... and I'm secretly hoping that Las Venturas and San Fierro show up as DLC for GTAV