Rockstar's been working overtime to make sure that Grand Theft Auto 5's re-release is more than a simple cash grab. In addition to better graphics and a highly anticipated first-person mode, the next-generation remake sports a bevy of new features including additional vehicles, weapons, and events and an enhanced multiplayer mode. Oh, and those online heists that Rockstar keeps promising? They're supposedly coming soon, too.

With all this new content, the question for die-hard Grand Theft Auto fans isn't whether or not the remake is worth it, but which platform to get it for. The PC version doesn't come out until January, but if Grand Theft Auto 4 is any indication, it'll be worth it. The PC is the only platform that supports player-made modifications, which can make the game both completely different and flat-out ridiculous.

Sony's hoping players will spring for one of the Grand Theft Auto 5's console editions, though, specifically the PlayStation 4 version. To help make up customers' minds, Sony's posted a short article on PlayStation.Blog detailing some additional features possible only on the PS4 – or, more specifically, its controller.

The new version of Grand Theft Auto 5 will use the DualShock 4's unique touchpad to make gameplay a little smoother. A simple finger-swipe will select weapons, switch radio stations, or change the camera angle. The touch pad can also be used to switch between third and first-person modes. There's no information on how the DualShock will distinguish between all of these swipe-based actions (it's probably contextual), but if the touch pad interface is well-implemented it could further streamline an already slick game.

That's not all the DualShock 4 will do. The controller's onboard speaker will double as a police radio as players cruise around Los Santos, as well as a phone when one of the game's side characters wants to chat. Meanwhile, the DualShock's light bar will change colors based on which character players are controlling, and will flash red and blue during a police chase.

So, yeah, that's pretty silly. Given Grand Theft Auto's tongue-in-cheek vibe, it's easy to imagine developers snickering as they decided to make the controller act like a police siren. Still, Rockstar deserves credit for trying to fill the remake with as much new content as possible – even if some of it is kind of trivial, if not entertaining.

___

Grand Theft Auto 5 hits Xbox One and PlayStation 4 on November 18, 2014. It's already out for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, and should come to PC in January 2015.

Source: PlayStation.Blog