The embargo has lifted on a round of previews across international publications that were treated to a hands-off demo of the hugely anticipated Grand Theft Auto V, bringing with them a raft of new details on Rockstar's return to Los Santos, and an assortment of new screenshots and character art.

New articles can be found on Game Informer, Edge, Polygon, Destructoid, and VideoGamer, among others.

Fan site GTAV.net has done a great job of collating the many features revealed from the multitude of articles with a large bulleted list. Here's a few choice points of note:

General

• The character selection wheel is split into four triangles: Franklin, Trevor, Michael, and your multiplayer character
  
• Some boats will include gear such as wetsuit, flippers and tanks for diving
  
• GTAV rewards exploration, there's no signposting underwater, so you'll have to find the treasure the hard way
  
• There are subtle differences in the way each character moves to reflect their personalities; Michael is slower and deliberate.
  
• Rockstar says there will be five times as many pedestrians in GTAV as there were in Grand Theft Auto IV
  
• There's a "crazy level of detail": Tourist buses can be boarded for a tour of celebrity homes, film posters are plastered on the walls, men in comedy costumes try to corner you outside the Cathay Theatre, including the Superman-like Impotent Rage and Master Chief riff, Space Ranger.
  
• You can switch between Franklin, Trevor and Michael during a cutscene, manually, or automatically when the AI takes control for you
  
• Each character has a job to do, how much you switch yourself in or let the computer do, is entirely up to you
  
• If you die the game reloads to the last checkpoint, even if two other characters are alive
  
• Although it's up to the player when they switch, dialogue will suggest ideal moments. For example, when Michael and Franklin are being overwhelmed by snipers, Michael might ask for Trevor's help.

Skill Categories:

• Each character is rated in a series of skill categories: Stamina, Shooting, Strength, Stealth, Flying, Driving, Mechanic, Lung Capacity.
  
• Each character has a 'Special': Franklin is an adrenalin junkie and can slow down time while driving; Trevor has a frenzy mode, where he does double damage, takes half damage, and has a unique melee attack; Michael has his own version of bullet time
  
• Specials are governed by a meter, it drains after use and recharges slowly
  
• Other skill categories are shared and can be improved by completing missions, side missions, activities and more
  
• Trevor will always be the best pilot, Franklin will always be the best driver but each can improve their proficiency a little
  
• One of the skill categories is stealth, suggesting players will be able to take different approaches to missions

Head over to GTAV.net for their complete list of extracted factoids, and hit up our game page gallery for all of the new screenshots and character art.

Grand Theft Auto V is due on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on September 17th 2013.