Yesterday one of the biggest gaming franchises made its comeback after 2008's average game. So how was it? In one word it was AMAZING! The biggest new feature of GTAV is that you can switch between three protagonists at almost any time. But lets examine the game further.
The first thing that you will realize when you start play the game is that Rockstar has really push the boundaries of this console generation. The graphics look amazing and it is a blast to walk around the city and observe all these little things that make the world come true. In the first hours that you will play GTAV you will want to just walk around and marvel at the world that Rockstar has created. The city feels alive and the map is diversed giving you everything from deserts, to forest, to a huge city and everything in between. And as usual the loading times are reduced to a minimal. You don't have to see a single loading time when you trac=vel from one side of the map to the other. But as wonderfrul the world is you can't help but see that the current generation consoles are really cutting the games momentum. The loading time when you start the game is fairly big and if you watch far in the distance the world seems washed out. The game even gets stuck a few times if there are too many stuff going on on the screen. But this certainly doesn't keep you from experiencing the game to its full.
The games story is on the high standart that Rockstar always does. The voice acting is top notch and the story is amazing with a satisfying conclusion. This time around you control three characters. Franklin, a guy who feels trapped by people around him and he wants to escape from the hood where he lived all his life. Michael. A middle age guy who has it all (money, family ,a big house) and he isn't happy about it due to his problems with his family and his way of life. The third character is Trevor. Trevor is probably the most interesting of the characters and the most crazy. He lives in a trailer in a small town in the countryside and he appears as psycological unstable. The three characters provide a nice diversion in their ways of life. Franklin in his "hood", Michael in his mansion and Trevor in his RV in the middle of nowhere. When you switch from one character to the other you can even see them continue their everyday life and you can even found them in some silly situations from time to time. The missions in the game doesn't have repetition and its one feels diferent and unique. The heists which is one of the biggest new things this time around are spectacular. You can select two different stategies that have a huge impact on way things play out during the heist. You can also replay them several times to see different ways of doing them.
The gameplay is vastly improved since you know have a weapon wheel to quickly change between them. The car physics are also improved and it now feels more realistic to drive around the city. Most of the activities that were cut off from GTAIV are now back in GTAV. You can paracute, you can fly planes and many more activities.
Along with the game Rockstar decided to include this time around an online mode. THe online mode was due to realease in October 1. Two weeks after the games lauch so player can familiarize themselves with the games mechanincs. As probably you have heard though there wasn't even launch. THe game was so broken that people have been able to play the game for only the last 3-4 days if you are lucky and you don't have your character deleted somewhere in between. In my experience I have already created 6 characters whith each one being deleted. The little I managed to play GTA Online I have to say that the game is tons of fun. Although there are some feautures that haven't been implemented yet the mode shows great pormise for the future if they manage to stabilize the game. But if you don't have a lot of friends playing GTAV then you are ready for a rough time. I don't have a lot of friends online and the last days I have been repeteadly killed by random dudes, I have been kicked out of games and out of sessions for no aparent reason. So in my advice, the game the game is amazing but join a small crew as fast as pssible because you don't want to walk alone out there.
With every game that comes both single player and multiplayer in my opinion we need to review it seperately I am going to do just that.
GTAV VERDICT: The single player mode of GTAV is an amazing experience overall that flrts with the perfect status. You can spend hunderends of hours doing all sorts of different activities, missions or simply discovering the map. It was worth the wait and you will be playing it long after your purchase due to its immense replayability. SCORE: 9/10
GTA ONLINE VERDICT: The online part of the game is has been mostly broken and one of the most exciting feautures that is heists seem to be mising but it is overall a blast and you shouldn't miss it once things have been stabilize. SCORE: 8/10