Over the years, Rockstar games have brought us many classics such as LA Noire, Read Dead Redemption and the game most are familiar with: Grand Theft Auto. All of these games were of high quality in presentation and storytelling, as well as king in gameplay. It is no surprise then that the fifth game in Rockstar’s most popular franchise has a lot to live up to. Well, after all the hype, several delays, and a great many teasers, GTA V is finally here. However, the question that everyone is asking is, “Does GTA V live up to the hype?”
Presentation:
If there is anything that Rockstar nails really well it is presentation. GTA V is a technical marvel. The level of detail and polish put into every inch of the game is astounding. For instance, flip flops actually flop. When you wade in water you only get wet up to where you stood. Water drips where you walk while wet. If it rains: NPCs try to go indoors; take shelter, or wear a raincoat as water forms puddles on the road. There are weather systems that dynamically affect the game as well as day and night cycles. If you drive recklessly, NPCs will get angry and do such things as flicking you off. Causing noise near houses with sleeping NPCs causes them to flick the lights on as if they were disturbed. Causing damage to another character or their property ends up with said character sending you an angry text and a bill. There is an in-game web browser with a large amount of satirical mock-ups of real websites. You can watch full length movies and shows at in-game movie theaters and on TVs. You can take pictures of yourself and the world with your in-game phone. Cops will chase criminals besides you. Jets have airflow lines behind them, and many more. While it may seem insignificant, these small details go a long way to making the world feel alive. In fact, it is the first game world in a long time that I felt like it could be a real place.
Los Santos generally looks great as well. The textures are all superbly done and everything looks and feels authentic to the world it is creating. However, it is true that upon closer inspection a decent amount of textures look muddy or outdated. That is quickly countered though by the sound design which is superb. Everything in the game sounds just like its real world counterpart with several nice touches that convey authenticity. It is small details such as the engines of cars sputtering off, or gun shots getting quieter further away display the game’s intricate craftsmanship. Animations are also greatly improved as now Rockstar is using motion capture for the entire game. In doing so, you can see the actor’s infections on the characters and the characters themselves all look very realistic. To compliment this, the animations for all objects in GTA V are very smooth and fluid; lending to the game’s pervasive sense of realism.
The game also boasts a very well done musical score for the first time in the series’ history which fantastically sets the mood for every part of the game. This is coupled in fact, with the score of licensed tracks wherein the game has a great many. What should also be noted is the world. Los Santos is an enormous, open world that you are immediately set free in right out of the prologue. The world has such a great size and scope that surprisingly never feels too daunting and the whole way through the game always seems manageable. GTA V also maintains its trademark humor as a satirical social commentary. In fact, the world portrayed by the game is sharply relevant to today’s world. It represents a world filled with celebrity worship, filth, perversion, sexism, racism, government corruption, social media, and criminality. And surprisingly, the game manages to present all of these topics in one package and do so successfully through parodies such as Lifeinvader and the corrupt IAA. It is sad then that when you play the game, you realize just how true it all is; and that when you are forced to play through disturbing situations in the game it is to show that these things exist in real life. Therefore, when looking at the game in that respect, it is one of the most brilliant satirical pieces you can find.
Presentation Score: 10
Story:
In a lot of ways the story of GTA V is much more lighthearted and direct then its predecessor. Instead of suffering for this though, it tremendously excels. This is because the game’s story tone better matches the world it takes place in. It goes without saying then that the story is presented just as expertly as the rest of the game. The story this time is of three protagonists instead of one. These three characters are Michael, Franklin, and Trevor. Also lending to the satire, the three cahracters are plays on steryotypes that end up becoming more then that by the end of the game. To describe the characters though: Michael is a rich con man who made his life in the past off his crimes but now wants to repent and be with his family. A family, which holds great disdain for him. Franklin is a small time street hustler/repo man looking to make an honest ends meet. And finally there is Trevor. Trevor is a stark representation of everything wrong with humanity. He is a pervert, a sociopath, a murder, a racist and much more. Strangely enough though, he is a fantastic character. He is endearing in an odd way, well spoken, intelligent and sentimental at times and he may just be one of gaming’s greatest characters. How then do these characters meet? Well, that is quite complex as the stories, side characters and general actions of each protagonist weave in and out of each other in a generally well executed way. In many respects though, the characters come together because of Michael who tends to be the glue in the story. You see, Michael and Trevor are actually best friends that have been separated for years. They used to pull heists together until a bank job went wrong; causing them to go their separate ways. Leaving Michael as a rich man and Trevor as a drug runner in the desert. Franklin then comes into the picture as well through way of Michael. However, I will not spoil as to how. All I will reveal is that the three end up meeting and pulling big heists with the rest of Michael and Trevor’s old crew. The execution causes the whole narrative feels like a summer blockbuster in the vein of Ocean’s 11 or Heat. Later in the game though, the story takes a dark turn which ultimately helps convey a deeper narrative although these dark portions of the story are frequently unsettling.
On another note, the characters in the story are well fleshed out. The main characters each have friends and family that are well voiced and help to define each protagonist. In fact, some of the funniest lines and best parts of the story deal with each characters home conflicts. Throughout the story Michael has to deal with his wife and kids who despise him. His wife is finding every opportunity to get back on Michael by cheating on him. His children are behaving in irresponsible ways that he cannot refute because of his actions, and he has an unavoidable feeling that he is missing something. It is obvious that money does not make him happy. Instead, he got pleasure in the thrill of the chase which he feels he cannot avoid forever. Franklin used to be a gang banger, but now he wants to go clean and earn his money honestly. This causes problems though as he is constantly harassed by his friends from the hood and hated on by his Aunt he lives with. Throughout the story, these several friends of Franklin get him into all kinds of precarious situations.
The best of these characters though is Lamar, a constantly funny, somewhat dopey character that constantly gets himself into trouble Franklin must bail him out of or he will die. Lamar’s character is a great foil to Franklin, and he serves as a springboard for many of Franklin’s greatest moments. Finally there is Trevor. Trevor’s friends are almost like his children. He reprimands them all the time for doing things wrong yet still cares about their well being. These characters help Trevor accomplish such tasks as killing a biker gang or burning a competing meth lab. All of which is conveyed through excellent dialogue which is consistently sharp, and witty. The dialogue is further complimented by the exemplary voice work. It is clear by playing the game that the actors put themselves into the characters they played and that they were having fun too as the banter between characters is all very good. This quality of voice acting includes more than just the main three characters as it extends to all the side characters as well.
The story does suffer some faults though as much of the time after Trevor and Michael meet is spent arguing. It goes as such, Trevor yells at Michael for past mistakes and Michael yells at Trevor for bringing it up. It is kind of a shame that this is the case as it goes on for virtually the rest of the game. It is possible though to see that friends who have not seen each other for ten years would be this way upon meeting each other again. So it is not entirely bad, it is just tiresome after a while. Another fault with the story is that Michael and Franklin appear boring or less interesting a lot of times compared to Trevor. Also, the three protagonists may not appeal to all people. This is because they are all bad men, they are criminals inherently; unlike past GTAs. Therefore if you do not like stories about villains or case studies you may not like the story as much. However, I very much enjoyed seeing things from a different perspective even if I was not agreeing with it. The idea of the main characters being morally destitute is fine though because the game never asks you to support the main characters, instead it just asks you to stay along for the ride. In the end though, the faults presented prior are not enough to ruin an otherwise superbly written and acted story that is just as action packed as it is a complex satire.
Story Score: 9
Gameplay:
Perhaps the greatest strength of GTA V is the gameplay which has been greatly improved over IV. Just about everything from GTA IV has been reworked to make the game smoother and for the most part it works. For instance, the gunplay in GTA V is much more fluid and responsive then that of GTA IV. The sounds of the guns are appropriate as is the kickback received from them. The cover system also works better now too. As all you must do to take cover is press right bumper to take cover on anything. It removes the awkwardness of the previous entry by simplifying the mechanic just enough to work in tandem with the new weapons wheel ala Red Dead Redemption. Controls have also been revamped and characters no longer handle like a tank. The movement feels a lot better as does the cars. No longer do cars handle like there is a weight strapped to the front of them. Instead the driving mechanic has been rebuilt to better resemble that of Midnight Club and it feels like a large improvement. However, the flight mechanics do not hold up as well and the helicopters have a very steep learning curve. Another problem with the mechanics is the aiming and drive-by controls. The aiming reticule is really small, making it hard to aim, while if you use auto aim the game feels a little easy. This does not harm the game too much though because GTA V has a natural difficulty progression that keeps the game from ever feeling cheap or too easy due to the character switching mechanic. If you did not know before, the ability to switch between three characters is new to GTA V.
The way switching works is that once you meet all three characters; you can swap to them at any time and effectively drop in on their lives. When you do so, the game does a quick map zoom out as it finds the character you are switching to and then zooms in. Once it does swap to another character, you view whatever it is that the characters were doing prior to you swapping to them. Whether they were skydiving, driving, shopping, singing or smoking you will see them do so and it all makes the characters feel real. This is further realized by the natural cutscenes which are all pre-rendered animations within the engine. Therefore, when they begin it is never a jarring black screen. Rather, it is a smooth transition into the cutscene in the same style as Dead Space. Now while it is enjoyable to have three characters to play as and project yourself into; the character switching best loans itself to the story missions. The likes of which thankfully are much more interesting then GTA IV’s story missions. In fact, GTA V’s story missions are now the game’s highlight as each of them is varied and interesting. One mission may have you robbing a freight train; while another will have you rescuing Michael’s daughter from professional killers when riding on a jet ski.
As fun as the story missions are, the best of said missions are the heists. If you did not know already, GTA V’s main focus is on pulling grand heists. These heists are multi step missions that usually allow you to pick your team of criminals and your getaway car; as well as the car’s location. The process of these missions usually goes as such: you survey the area. You then decide between whether you want to go loud or quiet. Then you comprise a team of hackers, gunmen, and drivers. After these steps are complete you usually have to gather the necessary gear and place the getaway car. Then you pull the heists. Once the heists begin you find where the character switching is strongest. For instance, one heist has Trevor flying a helicopter, while Michael is rappelling down a skyscraper and Franklin is sniping. In this instance you can swap back and forth between the three to complete the objective. (Even though this example has been used before, it is a very good way of describing how the mechanic works.) Of course all of the aforementioned mission structure is helped by the fact that the AI is good and checkpoints are fixed. Friendly AI is competent, while enemy AI is aggressive and clever. Sometimes almost too much so, this is especially true for the cops who will kill you for simply being near them sometimes. On the other hand, story missions now have a great many checkpoints that keep prolonged shooting sessions from becoming a nuisance. The best part of all of these heist though is that if you fail or succeed, if feels like it is your fault and not some cheap trick’s. This is because you may have chosen a poor getaway location. Or possibly you chose a under skilled crew member. To summarize, when the game is in full gear, the heists are amazing. My only major complaint is that there are very little crew members to choose from and I wish there were more heists.
Now I am sure many of you are wondering how much fun is the open world; as indeed that is a major draw of GTA. In that regard GTA V is one of the best sandbox experiences out there. There are so many things to do in the game that is impossible to describe them all in detail in the length of a review so I will just list some of them here. You can: jet ski; scuba dive; take a submarine to the abyssal plains; find sunken ships; discover Easter eggs; base jump; do stunt jumps; play golf; play tennis; watch a movie; watch tv; invest in a stock market based on your in-game actions; skydive; hunt; fly planes; raid the military; hike Mt. Chilead; ride a bike; do triathlons; compete in offroad races; play darts; shop for clothes for your character; get a tattoo; get a haircut; customize your car with a deep customization system; go to the fair and ride rides; buy properties that each have a unique purpose; solve a murder mystery and of course go on rampages. On the topic of rampages though, I should note Rockstar’s inclusion of a stealth system. At first I was not sure if this implementation would work with the game. However, after playing with it I can say that it does. The way stealth is done in the game is that each cop has a cone of vision, and if you manage to escape them all you must do is elude their vision long enough and make no noise. Surprisingly enough this mechanic fits in very well and it is a welcome change from the norm, especially given the aggressiveness of the cops in the game. It is good though that the cops never really intervene with your open world fun. Which indeed it may seem there is a lot to do in Los Santos, and it is true this barely scratches the surface. Oddly enough though, the amount of content never felt overbearing or daunting at any point during my 80 hours of play. Given the time played it is also good then that the game is mostly bug free. In the course of my play-through I encountered only one bug and nothing more.
It is good then that I encountered minimal bugs because all of the side content is well done. Granted, it is not as well designed as a game solely dedicated to one of these features in particular, but aside from a few things it is all well executed. This is especially the case with golf and races, which I found to be some of the most fun offerings of these mini-games. Another thing to note is that there are also side missions. These side missions come in the form of Assassinations, which affect the stock market, and strangers and freaks. The latter of which have you doing crazy tasks for odd characters such as a cult leader or celebrity obsessed elderly. What is also interesting about the side missions is that each character has their own set of them each with unique characters. As a whole though, both types of missions are well designed and are fun to play through.
Gameplay Score: 9.5
GTA V is almost a masterpiece. While it is not without its flaws, it is genuinely one of the most fun, most engrossing, and most detailed games I have ever played. The game does suffer some problems here and there as far as design choices and the story has some trip ups. But when everything comes together it is one of the most cohesive and fun experiences you can have and one of the largest games to explore even without the inclusion of GTA Online. If you have not played this game yet, you owe it to yourself to do so because even though I am 80 hours into the game; I am still having fun in Los Santos.
Final Score: 9.5 Monumental