Grand Theft Auto V Review

It’s tough to pick a single subject to serve as the opening for a review of a title as expansive as Grand Theft Auto V. Perhaps it should start with the vastness of the open world, or the near endless gameplay and general chaos possibilities that await you in San Andreas. Or maybe readers should be teased by a peak at the game’s immense plot and memorable characters. That’s before mentioning the improved vehicle handling, satisfying shooting, and incredible attention to detail. But then you realize that this is barely scratching the surface; merely pointing out the biggest pillars of the experience from a bird’s eye view. This is Grand Theft Auto V.

The immensely popular and perhaps most recognizable video game franchise out there, Grand Theft Auto, returns with the fifth numbered iteration of the series. Following 2008’s Grand Theft Auto IV and its expansions, the newest entry brings with it a host of changes to the timeless formula. The most immediate differential aspect is its story, which has players assuming the roles of three different main characters. Although other games have done this before, taking the concept to GTA was no easy feat, but the developers at Rockstar Games have succeeded.

Players follow the lives of Michael De Santa, Franklin Clinton and Trevor Philips. Michael and Trevor were once proficient bank robbers until a job went bad; Trevor escaped to the outskirts of Los Santos while Michael faked his own death. Michael retained some of his earnings and was placed in the witness protection program. Nine years have passed, and through a series of events Michael comes in contact with Franklin, a repo man trying to escape the gang life. Before too long, they pair up and get some of the old crew together to restart their operations in Los Santos – performing heists. It would be in bad taste to spoil what happens over the lengthy adventure that follows, but let’s just say it is a tale of complex relationships, crime, and seeking the truth.

Writing for one main character is usually hard enough, but with three diverse personalities the writers likely had their hands full. While in the protection program, after faking his death, Michael and his family became rich, yet the family relationships are deteriorating. Constantly fighting with his wife and kids, he is at the end of a road in mid-life crisis with no feasible way out. Michael’s character is probably the most relatable to those of past GTA anti-heroes, thanks to his slightly crazy but still interesting personality. Franklin Clinton, meanwhile, is a repo man doing small jobs and avoiding his gang crew as much as possible. He doesn’t have much upon meeting Michael, but thanks to loyalty and hard work he’s able to join the heist crew. Franklin is probably the least interesting character of the three, with not much background beyond gangster culture clichés.

Finally, there’s Trevor Philips who is the last main character to enter the plot. Trevor has been living on the outskirts of the big city, running his own drug and guns business while behaving like a redneck. He’s probably legitimately crazy, with wild mood swings and a taste for violent behaviour. Whether you like him or not, however, this is one of the more complex characters that Rockstar Games have created. He’s seemingly insane in his actions, yet he often shows remorse and deeper understanding of why he is committing these acts. He’s dangerous and unpredictable, but self-aware and takes advantage of his own personality. Compared to the random wackiness and violent tendencies of others, for example the characters in Saints Row franchise, Trevor has a much deeper level of complexity.

The narrative crosses the line between sending a message and forcing it down the players’ throat. This may appeal to some players, but a lot Trevor’s antics are fairly gruesome and definitely not for the easily offended. But then again, you’re playing Grand Theft Auto – a game that’s always looking to push boundaries, for better or worse. Those attempts to create something wild and different don’t always pay off though, from a narrative or gameplay perspective. This all sounds vague, but unfortunately to say more would be to spoil the plot or mechanics. Overall the plot in GTA V is quite familiar for the franchise, and it’s somewhat disappointing that no risks or innovations were made by having three separate view points.

The three main characters come to life thanks to great writing and voice acting. All three are excellently presented and standout for their voice work, not only in the realm of the GTA franchise, but gaming in general. The actors should be commended for delivering their lines with enthusiasm and expert execution, but it wouldn’t work if it wasn’t for the great script. GTA V’s writing is pure brilliance at times; filled with jokes, parodies and all kinds of sharp commentary - an accomplishment that many games fail to achieve, let alone those with so much story to tell. Everything from idle car chatter involving “proto-hipsters” to angry exchanges between two middle aged men in Michael and Trevor, there is an almost endless stream of enjoyable conversations. And even though some of it is laden with tasteless profanity (Franklin and Co), repetitive (aforementioned arguments) and bordering on preachy (radio ads and billboards), it all adds to the overall experience in San Andreas.

Having three main characters is not only a narrative tool, but it is also a gameplay mechanic. At any point during free-roam, the player is able to switch between the three characters who are going on about their daily lives as usual. You’ll be transported to your selected persona in a few moments, and can start to cause mayhem from a different perspective. This helps alleviate some of the redundancy that past GTA games had, with being stuck on the same character through the game’s lengthy story. In addition, each character comes with their own set of stats that can be improved by performing corresponding activities, adding a slight RPG element. You’ve also got a special ability tied to each character; Michael has a special ability to slow down time while shooting, Franklin can slow down time while driving, and Trevor can enter a rage mode where he takes less damage. Each ability is more like an additional tool rather than key to gameplay, as it’s easily to finish the game without ever using them.

While the character-switching mechanic is innovative, it often feels restricted. While missions are interesting with three protagonists, they don’t provide any options for the player. For example, during heists, all three protagonists will be performing tasks, but the game will pre-select what task each character does. You might have Michael as the best-skilled driver, but the narrative will force Franklin to be the getaway man. So the most variety you ever get is picking which perspective you want to use for a specific sequence, such as an escape or a shootout. It’s a problem that has haunted GTA for a long time, being pushed down linear gameplay segments when playing through the story, with little opportunity for deviation.

On the subject of mission structure, most of the content in GTA V is by the numbers. You’ll be doing odd jobs for common crooks, and work your way up to high government and military corruption. One new addition, as mentioned above, is the heists. These missions usually require some prep work by collecting required tools or vehicles, and then executing on a plan. You’ll sometimes have to pick one of two approaches to a heist, as well as what crew members to use. Sadly, these mechanics are not utilized every time. Some of your escapes are totally outlandish and defy even movie heist logic. Further, the game only has a few heists in total and half of them feel like the usual destructive GTA missions that end in a shootout. From a gameplay perspective, the heists combined with character switching ability are a definite missed opportunity and a case of “what could have been” .

Grand Theft Auto V takes place in Los Santos, a fictional city located in the southwestern United States, within the State of San Andreas – and for the first time in the series, the whole map is open for exploration from the beginning. As one might guess, it is based on Los Angeles and contains many of that city’s landmarks and familiar sights. The city itself is quite large, easily comparable to that of GTA IV, and just as detailed. Every street corner is unique, each area modelled after its real-life counterpart, or at the very least inspired by it. Those who have been to Los Angeles will easily recognize some of the landmarks, recreated here with full grandeur but with their own unique take on the architecture. But that’s not all – there’s also a full island to explore that represents the wilderness areas. It’s probably the largest world that Rockstar Games has ever built, and although the rural areas are not as detailed as Los Santos, they add sheer scope to the game.

There is more to explore and do in GTA V than ever before. In addition to being able to easily replay story missions for better scores or try alternative heist plans, the amount of activities and mini-games is quite extensive. You can partake in some standard past times, such as tennis, golf, darts, car and sea races and more. Some brand new additions include yoga, triathlons, hunting, and parachuting. More involving activities include taxi missions and underwater exploration. The mini-games vary in their level of engagement and perceived entertainment value, but chances are you’ll find something enjoyable to do during the downtime.

You’ve also got two stock markets, one tied to offline play and one that involves other players and Rockstar’s Social Club. Sadly, there isn’t too much info on how these markets work/affected by player actions, and what best practices are for investment. Players are able to purchase property, but the returns are so tiny compared to buying costs – and you can’t even go inside these buildings you own – that it doesn’t seem worth it. Sure they give you a few extra side missions to do, but hopefully you won’t be so bored as to resort to those.

The vastness of the open world is as impressive as ever, but it’s not a case of building onto what has existed in previous games. Firetruck, ambulance, and police missions are not in the game. There are no street vendors, Burger Shots or other restaurants. Instead, new convenience stores and tattoo parlors can be entered. Clothing stores and barber shops are still present. The game allows players to rob many of these locations, but they are artificially limited – it’s impossible to rob weapon or clothing stores, for example.

With stores, the game offers extensive amounts of customization for both your cars and characters. You can buy all sorts of hairstyles and beards, clothes, and weaponry. Guns can be extensively customized, in both function and look. Similarly, cars have a ton of options and can be outfitted to be fast and bulletproof. It’s annoying that switching between characters or progressing the story will often make our heroes change out from whatever clothes you’ve put on them. On the other hand, being killed doesn’t take away any of your ammo or weapons, which is extremely convenient.

For the same reasons, cars are finally worth keeping and using throughout the game as they can be customized and saved. After many complaints about GTA IV’s floaty and slippery car controls, the physics have been revamped and driving feels much better this time around. It’s still fairly sensitive and easy to lose control of fast rides, but overall the cars handle better; you’ve now also got the ability to control the car mid-air to ensure a smoother landing.

Weapons also feel more satisfying, and there’s a big arsenal available to the players. You must purchase weapons for each character separately, and they can be customized in a huge variety of ways: from colors to silencers and extended clips. Thankfully, you get to keep everything upon dying, so no more Ammunation runs to re-supply. Cover is more important than ever, as you’ll go down quick in a firefight without good armor. Enemy AI is decent but not exactly tactical, and will try to stay in cover when possible. Shooting mechanics have been improved and feel more responsive than before, although the tiny reticule of your weapons can be difficult to spot in the heat of battle. On default settings, the game offers some aim assist to help with that.

The police in particular are much more ruthless this time around and can provide a good challenge if you earn a high wanted level. They drive fast, block your path at every opportunity, and open fire without hesitation; so much so that during the game’s 20+ hours of main story, there were zero busts but many trips to the hospital. There’s also a new system for evasion, based on line of sight. It’s no longer about escaping a heated area on the map, but actually getting them to lose visual. Once you do, all patrols display their vision range on your radar and you must stay out of their view long enough to lose the heat. It’s a more realistic approach, as you can play hide and seek within the same area using alleys and parking garages, instead of having to outrun the pursuit every time.

The vast openness of San Andreas looks pretty good at most times, considering there are still no loading screens when traversing the world and it’s all open to the player from the start. Characters are well animated and the physics engine performs well most of the time. GTA V has some of the best looking natural vistas and lighting effects in recent memory. It’s all very pretty to look at from the horizon, or when focusing on your protagonists from up close. Look around, however, and in the distance you’ll begin to notice some rough spots. Visuals begin to deteriorate the further out you look, with jagged edges dominating the nearby environment. Some of the textures are nearly from the previous generation era, and some cutscenes reveal very poor looking environments. Players may forgive these visual hitches, but one can only wonder what the game could look like on PC or next-gen consoles.

There are also problems with texture pop-ins, which can be an actual hindrance to your gameplay. It wasn’t so bad on our main Xbox 360 S, whereas the occasional tree would load in too slowly. Flying low was always a hazard as you could easily run into a light post that decided to take its sweet time loading, but overall it’s not too terrible. It is quite bad, however, on another Xbox 360 where we tested the game. This was an older model, and the pop-in was so severe that just driving in back alleys, we’d frequently crash head on into dumpsters because they did not load fast enough. This is something to be aware of for users with older hardware versions.

Audio design is strong thanks to attention to detail and variety. Voice actors carry their roles wonderfully, as mentioned earlier. There is a great variety of radio stations, general pedestrian chatter, and sound effects that help set the mood depending on where you are. From small details like car engines cooling off to the empowering sound of gunfire and explosions, the audio holds up to the standards of the rest of the game.

The same ambition that went into creating the single player world and campaign carries over into Grand Theft Auto Online, the multiplayer component of GTA V. Unlike before, there is a bigger sense of progression and persistence with the online experience. You begin by creating a character, customizing their looks with unique but awkward parent and grandparent selection. After entering the open world, you’re on the same map as the main game, though up to 16 other players are freeroaming with you. The game world’s huge size means that you aren’t likely to run into another player by pure accident, outside of hotspots (such as airports or places where players want to cause general mayhem). It’s not a big deal, mind you, because you’d be killed on sight anyway.

Abovementioned character progression system adds an MMO-like feel to GTA Online. You have the similar set of skills from the single player experience, dictating your athletic, driving, shooting and other abilities. Performing actions earns you experience points, which in turn unlocks more weapons and items for purchase. You’ve got to start making money by completing jobs, which can be launched from the actual start location or via menus. Event variety leaves something to be desired, with most modes being the usual races, deathmatches, wave survival modes, etc. It’s something that’s been done before in other games and even GTA itself. Missions are very simple and repetitive, with the most promising content – heists – coming as a free update at some point in the future. Races are demolition derbies that are difficult to enjoy given the game’s signature floaty physics. The idea of any kind of narrative doesn’t really pan out.

Cash is extremely important in GTA Online if you want to have a chance in the open world and be useful in missions. Making money is a key aspect of the game, and it certainly feels like a grind at times. Design issues crop up when you spend 10 minutes on a mission and get awarded a mere $1k for your efforts. Some missions refuse to give you any experience or cash if you fail them, even after multiple kills and attempts to complete the objective. With low income potential, the game certainly provides tons of ways to lose money. If you get killed while carrying cash, you may lose it forever, so trips to the ATM are a must to make deposits. If you die, get busted, or want your car insured against theft or damages, be prepared for the bills. There’s passive mode, which restricts other players from killing you in free roam, and of course you have to pay for that too. Players can buy apartments to host social gatherings and garages for their custom vehicles, but with the cheapest costing $80k and $20k respectively, you’ll be working for cash for a while to afford them.

The whole idea of cash being king seems detrimental to the GTA experience, where players just want to get in and start wrecking havoc, not play catch up to players with better weapons and cars. Similarly, a “good sport” system aims to reward players who act politely online. In a GTA game, of all things. But even that idea is underdeveloped, as you’ll barely get a warning for killing others but certainly take their hard earned cash. On the other hand, blowing up a custom car labels you a bad sport and actually bans you from playing with anyone other than other bad sports for two days. Here was the scenario: messing around with a crew during a mission, not even in open roam, a player blew up his friend’s custom car by accident. He was promptly booted, and unable to play with us for 48 real hours. No option to forgive, or even disable the system during missions or for crew members. .

So there are design issues with online play, as developers have seemingly punched above their height. But the worst part are the technical issues. GTA Online didn’t even launch alongside GTA V, instead arriving as a patch some two weeks later. And to this day, 10 of them after it launched, there are still big problems. Not just being unable to connect to the game servers at all, launch any jobs, or connect to friends without lag. Loading times taking forever or just being stuck. But worse – character deletions, disappearing of bank funds, and causing problems with your single player save files. Some of these issues have been improving over the past week, but GTA Online is still in a rather sorry state for something so hugely ambitious, and pales in comparison to the polished single player experience.

Like its predecessors, Grand Theft Auto V remains one of the best water cooler games out there. It’s the type of open world sandbox where almost anything is possible, and it sets itself apart from the likes of Just Cause and Saints Row by focusing on realism while also being darkly humorous at the same time. The attention to detail is impeccable, three main protagonists is an innovation, and the writing and acting is great all around. However GTA Online is a bit of a mess, technical visuals are subpar, and the story mode fails to take full advantage of its original gameplay ideas. But with even with these problems, Grand Theft Auto V continues to carry the legacy of the franchise with a proud spring in its step.