Since 2008, Rockstar North has been toiling away in its Edinburgh, Scotland studio, silently creating one of the biggest games of all time. Their artists have been rendering criminals and police officers; gang bangers and celebutantes. Their animators have been meticulously tweaking skeletal meshes of people being shot in the head and run over by cars. Their writers have been reimagining the American dream. Grand Theft Auto V is coming sooner than you think, and boy, do we have a lot to talk about.

Rockstar recently showed off a 45-minute-long section of the game, demonstrating how the world of Los Santos comes to life. We saw Michael cruise through Vinewood, watched Franklin leap from a helicopter, and dove underwater with a nearly nude Trevor. We saw how the game plays, what the world's like, and how everything works together to create the largest Grand Theft Auto yet. Let's get to it.

As revealed in the first trailer, Grand Theft Auto V takes place in and around the city of Los Santos, San Andreas, some 3,000 miles away from GTA IV's Liberty City. But this isn't an exact recreation of the coastal city gamers explored in 2004. It's been revamped and expanded, growing to contain the gangs of Los Santos, the celebrity-obsessed masses of Vinewood, the crazy people living off the grid in the massive forest, and the urban areas of Blain county. All in all, Rockstar is saying that GTA 5 is 3.5 times the size of Red Dead Redemption in terms of explorable land--an important distinction to make.

There's also a underwater component to the world, allowing for exploration of the world below the surface. We watched as Trevor navigated the deep after nabbing scuba gear from a boat, swimming around a sunken ship while avoiding sharks. If you're including the underwater areas, then the world is actually five times the size of Red Dead--and by far the biggest game Rockstar has ever made.

But what's the point of having a massive world if there's nothing to do in it? We've got memories of exploring empty wastelands in some other open-world games, embiggened for the sake of being embiggened. Rockstar is aware of this concern. It says that besides being the biggest GTA its made, Grand Theft Auto V will also be of the most jam-packed. The developer learned a lot from Red Dead Redemption, and used some of these teachings to make sure San Andreas feels truly alive.

Expect to see wildlife running around the sides of the road, optional quests popping up all over the place, more detailed minigames, and plenty to do as you navigate the world. To demonstrate this, Rockstar showed off an optional mission where Michael saved a celebrity from ravenous paparazzi. During their escape, she chastised him for not being her devout fan. "Don't you know who I am?!" she screamed as he weaved in and out of traffic. Welcome to Vinewood. It's... not really all that different from our world.

You'll play as three different protagonists in GTA V, each sporting their own personality and story. Michael used to be professional criminal--a bank robber extraordinaire--but those days are long behind him. Now, he lives a life of luxury on the taxpayers' dime, wasting away his days in witness protection. Except... he's sort of bored. His family is a mess, and he's about to turn back to the life he loved: crime.

Waiting for him in the underworld are the two other main characters: Franklin, a repo man living in Los Santos who might have ties to the Grove Street Families of GTA: San Andreas; and Trevor, a murderous drug dealer who enjoys his life at the bottom of Los Santos' criminal underbelly. Rockstar said that all three characters will play an equal part in the story, likening it to a long-form narrative TV series.

While the trio's role in the story is important, it's the gameplay implications that excite us most. You'll be able to jump between the characters basically at will (save for specific moments in the game), leaving them to continue their lives without you until it's time to pick things back up. When we jumped to Michael, he was leaving a bar after a night of partying, and when we leapt to Trevor, we saw him in a more... confusing situation. "Last one standing, once again," he uttered as he shuffled to his feet, farting (we think?) loudly. He was in his underwear surrounded by corpses on the beach. No context was given--or needed.

You can also swap between characters during missions, allowing you to change position to get a better angle while the AI controls the other characters. If you're pinned down as Michael you could switch to Franklin to flank the enemies, and if you're being attacked by a group in the distance you could swap to Trevor, ready on the roof with a sniper rifle.

The three antiheroes aren't carbon copies of each other, either. When you swap between characters, you'll see a number of stats flash up on the screen, listing each character's Stamina, Shooting, Strength, Stealth, Flying, Driving, Mechanic, and Lung Capacity skills. They also have a "Special" ability that ties into their personality. Franklin, for instance, is the team's wheelman, and can slow down time while driving in order to pull off insane maneuvers (as you can see in the image above).

Michael's ability is similar to Franklin's, except replace "driving" with shooting. During gunfights he's invaluable, capable of slowing time to turn the tide of battle. Trevor's is the most unique of the bunch, allowing him to go into "Rage" mode. While it's activated, he can take extra damage, deal more of his own, and use a special melee maneuver. Because, you know, Trevor is awesome.

The AI in Grand Theft Auto has always been perfectly serviceable, but Rockstar has opted to upgrade it in a number of ways for GTA V. The most notable change is with the police, and how a manhunt works in Los Santos. Police use line-of-sight to find people, meaning it's less about getting out of some ambiguous circle, and more about finding a spot where the cops won't find you and hiding out. This makes manhunts more organic, and helicopters much more menacing.

Another change comes in the people who occupy the city. While they'll still run while shot at--because, you know, that's what you do--they have other reactions that go along with self-preservation. Some will call the police, others will hide, and still others will take out their cell phone to film you. That's the world we live in, people; let it wash over you.

When Michael says he wants to get back into the game, he isn't talking about knocking over liquor shops and snatching purses (though, let's be honest, we're sure there will be some of that). He wants to go big. Grand Theft Auto V will include several large missions, with each heist serving as a focal point for the story. And since you're playing as multiple characters before, during, and after the heist, you're involved in every element.

Rockstar claimed that the heists will be multi-part missions that involve real decisions. You'll decide how to approach each heist, which will change how the actual crime plays out. Want to go in guns blazing? Then do some missions to get specific weapons for the job and get backup in case things go south. Want to find an alternate entrance? You might need to hire someone to help. Want everyone to wear clown masks? Head to the store and get some.

While we didn't get a chance to see a "large" heist, we did witness what the developers said was a smaller one. This was the culmination of several missions' worth of work: Michael had stolen a garbage truck, found weapons, and scoped out different spots to make the hit go smoothly. And when the actual heist started, the player was in control of everything.

First, Michael had to block the road with a car, forcing the passing armored car to stop in the road. Next, the player jumped to Franklin, and rammed into the armored car, causing it to flip off the road. The guards hit the panic button, leading to the cops flooding the scene, and after a long shootout the trio went their separate ways, stashing some vehicles, blowing others up, and making it out with a ton of money. Everything worked together well, and we're pumped to try our hand at planning a heist of our own.

But so what? You pull of a heist, and then... add it to the millions of dollars you already have, because cash comes cheap in Grand Theft Auto games? Well, hold on--in GTA V, things are different. Rockstar told us that money is extremely important this time around, more so than ever in GTA game. Your cash can be spent on some of the things it's always been used for, like new clothing, weapons, and vehicles--but everything is customizable.

You can upgrade your weapons, adding new parts to them in order to find the gun that perfectly suits the character (or the heist, if you're planning for the future). Pay 'n' Sprays have been upgraded as well, allowing you to change your cars when you stop by. You'll also be able to buy and upgrade buildings and businesses, creating an ecosystem where it's actually worth making money. Want a helicopter? Good--buy a helipad first. What, you were going to land it on the street? Were you raised in a barn?

Grand Theft Auto IV (and Red Dead Redemption [and Max Payne 3]) had fun competitive (and cooperative) components, inviting players to join into mayhem with friends. That said, none of them felt all that integrated into the game--it was always sort of a separate beast. Will Grand Theft Auto V fix that? We have no idea. Boom! That's a troll, son. Deal with it.

Well, actually, we didn't write this just to mess with you. Rockstar did confirm with us that GTA V will have multiplayer. We don't know anything more about it, but Rockstar seems excited by what it has planned, and it's going to share the information with us... eventually.

Grand Theft Auto III is one of the most important games of all time. One major part of that is the circular map on the bottom left of the screen--one that would be aped by nearly every open-world game since. And with Grand Theft Auto V, Rockstar is remaking it.

While it's still in development (Rockstar says that the design isn't final), the iteration of the radar we saw was drastically different from the one in previous games. It's rectangular, like a car's GPS system, and has a more angled view of the world. Below it, there are three bars, simplifying the game's HUD: Green is health, blue is armor, and yellow is "special," which is used for the aforementioned character-specific special abilities. You know, like Trevor's "Rage" mode.

Remember the main beer in Grand Theft Auto IV? Pißwasser? Or the internet cafe, tw@? Or the GetaLife building? Rockstar loves turning American society into a series of puns and parodies, and we saw a multitude of examples of this throughout our time with GTA V. From the "Little Pricks" garbage collection company, to the new hit movie, Bitch in the Trunk (there's a dog, and it's in the car's trunk and... yeah), the world is jam-packed with fun references to world that exists outside the game.

We also saw that the fan-favorite Republican Space Rangers television show was still around, complete with mascots walking outside GTA's version of the Chinese Theatre in Vinewood. This time, though, they're joined by the other side of the coin: Impotent Rage, a new liberal superhero. We can't wait.

Rockstar has officially revealed the box art for Grand Theft Auto V, and--shocker--it looks just like every other Grand Theft Auto game released in the past decade. All three heroes are portrayed in a stylish way, with the world of Los Santos displayed across a number of sexy, flashy squares.

What does it tell us about the game? Well, nothing, really. Like, it tells you what the box the game will come in will look like, and that's sort of helpful in a way, but the art has never been indicative of anything besides that.

We know, that's a lot to soak in. The good and bad news is that you still need to wait a few months to actually play it. GTA 5 comes out on September 17, 2013, giving you plenty of time to create totally unrealistic expectations.

Or, if you want to check out more games coming out in 2013, read our list of 100 amazing games coming out this year, or keep the GTA love going with and everything you missed in the GTA trailers.