GTA V’s Los Santos Closer To Life Than You Might Think

GTA V is a more detailed recreation of LA than previously thought, as comparison screenshots and photos show

By now most of us have probably seen GTA V’s Los Santos setting in-game and marvelled at how realistic and atmospheric it seems - it definitely seems to capture the essence of Los Angeles and California state as we’ve seen it on TV and film (or perhaps visiting in real life). We’ve also become used to games developers, including Rockstar, going out to location and snapping hundreds of photos for reference and inspiration, however, it seems Rockstar’s attention to detail with GTA V went to new levels.

A user over at GTA fansite GTAist, who lives in LA, took to the streets, alleys and hills of his hometown armed with an iPhone and camera to capture some of the key locations from the game. But more than that, he had a goal in mind, to show how realistic the in-game locations look compared to their real-life counterparts, and so he’s put together some of those cool slidey “before and after” photos showing off just how close Los Santos is to the real LA. There are a few samples here but to really get the full effect you’ve got to head over to GTAist and check out the interactive slides.