GTA 5 Xbox One, PS4 and PC Have First-Person Mode

Rockstar also releases a new first-person trailer for GTA 5.

The Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC versions of Grand Theft Auto V will feature a first-person mode, Rockstar Games confirmed today. This new way to play was previously rumored.

"It's a very intense, in-your-face experience… literally," animation director Rob Nelson said. "Obviously, we felt like one of the most compelling things you could do to make an experience people have had before feel different was the new first-person mode."

Nelson also revealed that Rockstar "always" wanted to make a first-person mode for GTA V, but this was not possible for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions due to technical reasons.

The first-person mode feels so unique in GTA V because it allows players experience the world of Los Santos and Blaine County from a completely new perspective.

"You're eye-level, down with the people on the street, and as you walk past them, you see them sort of look at you out of the corner of their eye," Nelson said. "All of this stuff existed in the game before--lots of little details."

The shift from third-person to first-person required a significant amount of development work, Nelson said.

"You have to change pretty much everything," he explained. "I mean, if you want to do it right. We have a very solid third-person animation system, but you don't just put the camera down there and expect to see the guns, aim, and shoot. All those animations are new when you switch to first-person, because it all has to be animated to the camera, to make it feel like a proper first-person experience that I think people would expect. All the timings have to be re-evaluated."

GTA V is scheduled for launch on November 18 for Xbox One and PS4, while the PC version will be released sometime in January 2015.