What's perhaps even more surprising is that Rockstar Games and Take-Two have provided at least two reporters with a look at 30 minutes of in-person gameplay, as revealed by the folks over at IGN.
We're going to keep an eye out for more previews, but here's just a sample of what we've found so far (keep in mind these are extensive impressions, and we're only picking out small parts from them):
"Somehow, I'm sitting down at Rockstar North, about to watch co-studio head Rob Nelson play through 30 minutes of the game. It's a privilege only me and one other person have been granted. Half an hour later, it's crystal clear that this game will occupy every waking minute of my existence when it finally arrives this November. If you need to know just one thing about GTA 6, it's that you're going to spend so much time in it you'll probably be subject to Leonida taxes.
The scope of what I saw is even more colossal than I was prepared for. Combined, the gameplay and Nelson revealed a new era for the series, one where everything that made us all fall in love with a life of crime is still there, but now it's set in a world so rich and ready to explore that it's not just a game; it's a parallel universe."
"The main takeaway for me with GTA 6 from two and a half hours - GTA 5 and GTA Online to some extent is a game that you can turn your brain off to, but from what I saw, that is not going to be the case with GTA 6. This game, somewhat similar to Red Dead Redemption 2, but in the best way possible, forces you to constantly make decisions. This is a world that's alive, more so than any other GTA in the past. This truly is a world full of characters and NPCs that feel like real people, and everything that you do in that world comes with a lot more weight than in previous GTAs."
As mentioned, these are just hands-off previews for now, which means none of these people actually had a chance to play the game directly. We'll have to wait a bit longer for that - and maybe even until release on November 19th.
It's no surprise that everyone's excited for this one, but it's nice to see that the game is living up to expectations so far. Just over two months to go until we can all decide on it for ourselves, and that wait is going to feel like an eternity.
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