A GTA 5 player has gone viral on Reddit after sharing photos of a bunch of Los Santos buildings in real life during a trip to Los Angeles.
Grand Theft Auto has delivered some of the most memorable open-world locations in video game history, from Vice City to San Andreas – but GTA 5’s Los Santos is arguably the best and most iconic map fans have experienced so far.
Now, most players know that the beloved in-game location is based on the real-life city of Los Angeles, but they might not be aware of just how true-to-life Rockstar made it, even down to recreating specific buildings in great detail.
Reddit user DylanP3692 took to the GTA Online subreddit to share photos from their recent trip to Los Angeles, where they went hunting for buildings that were recreated in the Los Santos map.
First on the list is Del Perro Heights, the in-game building where players can purchase apartments 4, 7, and 20. It’s not quite as exciting in real life, as it turns out it’s just a standard office building.
Next is Maze Bank West, which serves as an office for criminal organizations in the game. In real life, DylanP3692 explained, this building is actually a bank.
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Finally, there’s Eclipse Towers, the 27-story residential skyscraper in West Vinewood. This is based on the real-life Sierra Towers, a luxury building that’s previously been home to the likes of Cher, Joan Collins, and Courteney Cox.
The comparisons left some Reddit users impressed once again at how authentic the game portrayed Los Angeles. Others shared their own memories of exploring the city and recognizing buildings from the Los Santos map.
“I swear to god, if I go to LA I’d be able to make my way around way too damn well just because of how immaculately they recreated it in GTA,” wrote one player, while another explained: “As an LA resident, GTA V will forever be the best GTA for me because of how accurately they captured my city.”
One Redditor jokingly asked if it was strange not seeing flying bikes, to which DylanP3692 replied: “It kind of did, but it felt good knowing my day wouldn’t be ruined by me losing my temper and killing the griefer over and over again.”
There have been plenty of examples of how Rockstar recreated the city of Los Angeles in GTA 5 over the years, but it’s especially impressive to see how faithfully they did this even down to individual buildings.