So by now hopefully you’ve seen the amazing Trailer 2 for GTA V.  Here is a run-down of my analysis of it, some predictions based on what I’ve seen, and any differences between this one and the official announcement trailer shown earlier this year.

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The trailer opens with shots of the opulent neighborhood that Michael, one of the series’ three protagonists, lives in – and from there it’s simply a whirlwind of clips and shots, giving you an idea of just what kind of a ride you’re in for.  Here are some bulleted observations:

• We get our first glimpse of Michael’s family – from his wife Amanda fighting with daughter Tracy, to Michael’s seemingly wannabe-thug son Jimmy, who tells his dad “Let’s bounce” in the car in the driveway, to which we are treated to Michael’s confused expression before he says “So we’re bouncing now?”  This broken-family dynamic is sure to play a major role in the game.
• COPIOUS amount of vehicles:
  • Audi R8-esque sports car
  • Pickup truck(s)
  • City Bus
  • Esperanto (?)
  • Sabre (?)
  • Semis with trailer / Car Carrier
  • Biff/Phantom
  • Classic beater pickup, in the vein of a 1940s Ford Truck
  • Classic low-rider (Voodoo perhaps?)
  • Dune buggy racer
  • Cement mixer truck
  • Upgraded Sentinel (more of a modern BMW design)
  • Landstalker or a pickup-version of it
  • Ambulance
  • Trains
  • Unidentified SUV that looks like the Infiniti FX
  • Burrito (?) some kind of old-looking typically-airbrushed van
  • Stinger (?)
  • Emperor
  • Police Cruiser
  • Classic Jaguar E-Type look-alike
  • Cheetah
  • Minivan
  • Futo
  • Super GT
  • Sentinel convertible
  • Truck with boat trailer
  • Wood-panel station wagon
  • Golf GTI look-alike
  • Lincoln Continental look-alike
  • Boxville with sign on top
  • Dilettante (Prius look-alike)
  • Ferrari F430 look-alike
  • Panel van emblazoned with a winged skull
  • Two-engine prop plane
  • Ford F-150 look-alike
  • Various motorcycles
  • Mesa Grande (Jeep look-alike)
  • Dirt bikes and Quad ATVs
  • Classic Tow Truck
  • Industrial Tow Truck
  • Helicopters
  • Sentinel XS
  • Fighter Jet
• A fierce-looking Rottweiler makes an appearance
• Jimmy, Michael’s son, has the word “Entitled” tattooed oh-so elegantly in script on his neck.  Good luck getting a job, Jimmy.
• At the end of the video, the three protagonists are reacting to something presumably gone horribly wrong.  And their reactions make up the three wise monkeys’ “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.”  Nice touch on the part of Rockstar.
• Tracy, Michael’s daughter is rocking rather garish tattoos on her back, including the infamous tramp stamp.
• At the point in which Trevor makes his first appearance, he threatens someone and refers to something called “Trevor Phillips Enterprises,” presumably his drug and gun running LLC.  I wonder if there is going to be more to it than that, or if it was just a simple way he was menacingly describing what he does?
• We get a good glimpse of fire following a trail of gasoline in the point in the trailer where Trevor blows up the old farmhouse.
• Trevor sports an interesting tattoo on his neck – a dotted line going across, with text underneath that reads “cut here”
• Franklin appears to have a buddy that sells drugs, whereas he himself seems to think there’s a better way to get money.
• There is what looks like a chance encounter between Franklin and his friend and Michael.  This might be the way that Franklin and Michael first meet, so presumably that cut-scene happens relatively early on in the game.
• Franklin appears to be a car thief perhaps, given his affinity for exotic sports cars (and driving them out of driveways at full speed while someone chases him).
• Franklin also has a love interest (or at least a lady that cares about him): “I don’t care how many cars you own; you ain’t changing.”
• At one point in the video, there is a scene where a black Super GT screeches to a halt while a man fires a gun out of the passenger side window as a Rottweiler runs by (starting at 1:16).  This is followed by a clip of Franklin going over the hood of an Emperor “Dukes of Hazzard” style, and then it cuts to the Rott jumping on the hood and running, presumably, after Franklin.  It seems like there is a continuity issue here, however – The same car, the same driver… but the scenes in which Franklin slides over the car’s hood and the dog jumps over the same seem to appear in completely different locations (an underpass or warehouse of some kind, and in some kind of a bus repair depot, respectively).
• In the scene where the Mesa Grande drives out of the back of the plane, and then Trevor jumps out of the Mesa Grande with a chute, I am figuring that this is a cutscene.  The camera angle and everything doesn’t really look like gameplay, and I’m assuming there’s no real way you could do that in the game itself.  Bummer, but it still looks frigging cool!
• In general, anything that was visible in the first trailer and subsequent screenshots (most noticeably Michael’s house) looks much more crisp and clean in this new trailer.  The polish is starting to show, for sure!

This is just from a couple of views of the video – I’m sure there will be more to come as I digest detail after detail.  So what else did I miss?