With Grand Theft Auto V selling millions of copies (over 35 million, to be precise) for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, Rockstar Games is expecting a repeat performance when it introduces the popular criminal action game to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in just a matter of weeks. However, some have questioned why they should purchase the game again, to which the publisher has offered a number of items, including improved graphics and the inclusion of exclusive goodies, as well as the ability to transfer over game progress to the new versions.

The publisher may have just introduced its biggest and best feature to date for the new version – a first-person mode. Speaking with IGN, Rockstar’s animation director, Rob Nelson, explained that the new perspective will change what a player has come to expect from the Grand Theft Auto universe. “it’s a very intense, in-your-face experience…literally,” he said. “Obviously, we felt like one of the most compelling things you could do to make an experience people have had before feel different was the new first-person mode.

Within the mode, players will experience the action of the game from the eyes of the character, whether they’re in the middle of a barbaric shootout or taking the wheel of several vehicles in the game, complete with the ability to look around the cockpit or dashboard. You can see what kind of effect it has on players in the trailer below.

First-person view has been a long time coming, according to Nelson, although it wasn’t really possible with previous versions of the game. “We’ve always been interested in it, but it’s never really been an option for us,” he said. “I don’t think we could’ve put it in the (last-gen version) because we were too busy making the game. We were too busy working on our third-person controls and the missions.”

Of course, now it’s a reality, although the game had to be rebuilt from the ground up in order to make it effectively work. “You have to change pretty much everything,” explained Nelson. “I mean, if you want to do it right. We have a very solid third-person animation system, but you don’t just put the camera down there and expect to see the guns, aim, and shoot. All those animations are new when you switch to first-person, because it all has to be animated to the camera, to make it feel like a proper first-person experience that I think people would expect. All the timings have to be re-evaluated.”

In addition, PC owners will get an additional perk with their version of the game when it arrives in 2015. Along with being able to play in first-person, they’ll be able to experience the game in beautiful 4K resolution – although, obviously, they’ll need a properly powered machine, and a 4K monitor, in order to make it work.

Grand Theft Auto V – and the beautiful new perspective that comes with it – will arrive on November 18th for Xbox One and PlayStation 4, and in early 2015 for PC.