Rockstar has launched the first ever gameplay footage of Grand Theft Auto V, showing several of the game's new features.

gta v gameplay

It was previously announced that Grand Theft Auto V would feature three main characters that players could change between on the fly, either during or outside of missions. The new footage shows how this process happens dynamically, without any loading screens. Michael, one of the game's three characters, smashes through the window of a skyscraper to grab a kidnap target. Suddenly surrounded by guards, the player switches to Franklin, another playable character, and is instantly thrown behind the sights of a sniper rifle to pick of the guys targeting Michael.

Switching between the three outside of missions, players catch them in the middle of their daily lives. Michael is out on a bike ride with his son, Franklin is buying medicinal marijuana and Trevor, the third character, is in a high-speed pursuit with the police. Again, these switches happen almost instantly and can be performed any time.

Several of the features shown in the new footage have already been publicised thanks to a sneak preview offered to the press earlier this year. However, the new footage revealed for the first time that as well as spending money on clothing, tattoos and hairstyles, players would be able to invest in the stock and property markets in Grand Theft Auto V. Also offered was a sneak glimpse at the game's multiplayer mode, which Rockstar said will be revealed more fully in the near future.

Shooting and has also been updated since Grand Theft Auto IV and now closely resembles that found in Max Payne 3. There is a also a new feature that allows players to plan missions themselves; the footage showed two versions of the same jewellery robbery, one in which the player filtered knockout gas through the store's vents to get rid of all the security guards and another where they simply burst through the front door with a shotgun.

Grand Theft Auto V is set to launch on 17 September this year.