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Here we meet lead character Michael, an ageing bank robber who fulfils that most fecund of crime-fiction archetypes: a crook who’s made good, retired to a fancy house, but now misses the excitement of the old days. In the demo Rockstar shows us, he starts out sunbathing by the pool like Ray Winstone in Sexy Beast, the city shimmering in the distance beyond his landscaped gardens. The player is able to get up and explore the bleached stucco mansion, passing the tennis court (you can play a match if you like), then bumping into Michael’s bored wife as she clambers into a sports car on the front drive. “If you want to know where I am, read your credit card statement,” she yells as tyres squeal. “I’m feeling lucky, I’ll check the hospitals!” he calls back. And slowly but surely, his previous career begins to beckon.

Keith Stuart gives the lowdown on Grand Theft Auto V, in this comprehensive preview.