GTA V

That’s 5…. Not  a V that’s short for something like Vietnam…. that would suck.

Well here it is, the big one. Never before has a game affected the world in such a scale as this game has. With it gaining perfect scores across the board and people discovering new and exciting things about it, this game has truly changed the face of the gaming world. So how exactly does it do this? Well let’s continue reading.

GTA V Logo, notice the V, roman numerals are the thing this time of year.

The game’s main story stars 3 unlikely heroes (as the trailer implies, they are not in the least bit heroes). There is Michael, a retired master thief with a dysfunctional family and a love for whiskey. Franklin, an intrepid ‘Gangbanger’ who is just learning the ropes of the trade. And then there is… Trevor. Psychopath, Lunatic, Meth-Head and strangely enough an ex-air force pilot. The 3 characters are introduced throughout the story in very effective ways and they obviously have a developing chemistry that changes as the story goes on. Each of them interact with the various characters around this world in believable ways however out of the 3, Trevor would have to be my favorite. Why? Because he is utterly unpredictable. Leading us into dangerous situation after dangerous situation and laughing all the way. His dialogue is funny and his character really develops as the story goes on.

Our 3 Characters. From left to right, Trevor, Franklin and Michael

The setting is a parody of LA, this time being known as ‘Los Santos’ and the surrounding areas of San Andreas, a fitting welcome back to those who played the previous GTA Games. The game looks, in a word, beautiful. Lighting is brilliant and the world around you seems fully alive. People go about on a daily routine, react to things you do like smash into the back of their cars with angry retorts. It helps make the world feel slightly more believable and alive. The animations are GREATLY improved from GTA 4 and the graphics overall are much brighter and colorful compared to the brown dullness of Liberty City. This sets a general tone for the game too. While GTA 4 was all serious and lacked any kind of campy, colorfulness that previous GTA games had. This game instead takes full advantage of the humor and craziness of past games.

Gameplay is standard GTA affair with going around the city becoming a better criminal as you hijack cars, steal money and kill people. The biggest gameplay inclusion however is the ability to switch between the 3 main characters at any time. This is great for allowing us to bond with each of the characters and is very useful within missions too. In free roam, you could be playing as Michael and then decide to switch to Trevor, who may be completely naked and passed out in a gutter somewhere when you take control of him. Little things like this make the game funnier and more dynamic. Missions is where this feature really shines however. The big, complex missions are heists, which involve you planning out strategies and choosing which crew you are going to take with you to complete these jobs. These missions are a blast, and using the ability to switch between the characters you are capable of making the missions more exciting. For example you may be involved in a shoot-out with police on the ground with Michael and Franklin, if you then switch to Trevor he could be on a building top and you could use him to snipe various targets on the ground for you. This makes the missions more varied as you can do them in lots of different ways. The game even allows you to go back and redo various missions in order to entice to to play them again with different strategies. The side missions are of course funny and well implemented, with some of them having the craziest of objectives like finding pieces of a UFO for a drugged-up hippy so he can rebuild the spacecraft. Also being introduced are literally tonnes of minigames and games within games. These include golf, car racing, tennis, scuba diving, jet ski racing, taking dogs for a walk and so on. Some of the most menial tasks become interesting and fun elements of the game because ultimately they help to make the world feel more believable and help to immerse you in the experience.

The beautiful countryside of Los Santos.

However no game is perfect, and indeed there are some negatives. While the driving is hugely improved over the previous iterations, there is just SO MUCH DRIVING. I’d accredit around 70% of the main missions to having you drive somewhere or do something while driving or stop someone who is driving. The thing about this however is also that important exposition and dialogue is conveyed through conversations while driving, so you are going to have to listen to what is being said. I suggest turning on subtitles just to make it clear to yourself what is being said. Another downside is that while the graphics do look great, the character models are less so. They lack too much detail and look strangely like they are made out of play-dough. Finally, while this is not exactly a negative, never before has a game earned it’s 18 rating quite like this game. The game includes various things which are most definitely not suited for children, and you can do some pretty messed up things. The worst of all (without going into too much detail) is a very detailed, very intricate part of the game in which you must torture someone in various ways. It was difficult to watch, let alone play this part.

All in all however, GTA 5 is a masterpiece. Combining all the various elements of past games that let the series become less serious and more fun while also catering to various political and economic issues through the simple story of 3 master criminals is a masterpiece of story telling. Some call this game revolutionary, a real step into the next-gen of open world gaming. With all the activities on hand, the immersion increasing minigames and some of the best characters ever introduced in a crime game, I would have to agree.

What’s your take on this review? Got any questions or want to voice your own opinion? Write your comments in the space below. I hope you enjoyed the review!