Open world, linear missions.
- Amazing graphics with unbelievably detailed world. Mind-blowing size, variety and density.
- Play three different characters and switch between them. Brilliant idea which works really well.
- Interesting adult story you actually want to watch play out, great acting and deep character personalities. Dark, yet humoristic. Although sometimes a bit inconsistent and forced.
- Missions are varied and fun, few racing missions. Love how the heist missions gradually build up the tension through planning, preparations to the final execution.
- You can do almost anything you want. Fly a plane, drive a submarine, play golf, play the stock market, jump off a plane with a parachute, hunt, visit a shrink... Huge amounts of activities at your disposal.
- Loads of things to spend money on, giving you a real intensive to make more.
- You can skip parts of the missions that are tedious or too hard.
- Trevor. :D
CONS
- Very linear missions, which will not accept much creativity.
- Not much mission replayability. Although they have a gold, silver and bronze system for how well you play a mission to encourage you to aim for perfection, a perfect score is usually just related to simple things like how fast you finish or how many headshots you got. Personally, I do not like to rush through missions, but rather prefer to spend time and enjoy them.
- Super powered and strict cops. They can see through walls and through dirty water, sense crimes done in the middle of the desert with noone around, will knock you down for walking past a hooker or standing too close to a police officer and they drive at supersonic speeds like the laws of physics is not limiting them. I understand the need for efficient cops to manage the players behavior, but can be annoying and confusing.
- Predetermined chases. In many missions you are told to chase another vehicle, but it is scripted to always stay just out of your reach until it reaches its destination. No matter how fast you go. This predetermined outcome makes you feel like the freedom you have is just an illusion.
- Buildings are for the most part still just lifeless shells, only few of them can be entered and explored.
- You can afford almost every powerup in the game very early on, making only very expensive things that are less interesting to buy, like houses or golf clubs for later.