@rschafer I think you guys are spot on. I'll have to give multiplayer a try because it sounds like it contains a lot of what I want out of a GTA game, which is to be a criminal and hustle to establish my street cred. I've been waiting out the MP because it sounds like a technical mess so I've been waiting for them to fix it. Also, all my co-workers play this game but I don't know on what system. Why in the year 2013 can I not play MP with a game on a 360 with someone with a PS3 when it's the exact same game???
@airshocker Carolyn used to be one of the best reviewers on this site until she found the need to inject her philanthropic agenda into all of them. Gamespot was probably going for something outside the box with having her review GTA V but I believe from a professional standpoint they should have picked someone else who could have been more objective and actually review the game.
@megamatics They also overlooked Molly the crazy assistant so dedicated to her job she's almost robotic. While you can't use her to gain anything, she clearly fits the mold for what all these reviewers claim isn't there.
I agree that there was something missing from the game. I don't agree with what the reviewer says it was, but I have my opinions as well. First, GTA has always presented itself as injecting a character, be it speechless or otherwise, as someone thrust into a city unfamiliar to them and that's much bigger than they are. Examples: Tom Vercetti travels to Vice City from Liberty City and gets ambushed. CJ travels to San Andreas after a 5 year absence, and Nico travels to Liberty City from Serbia. We don't have that in this one. All of our characters have been living in LS for some time. However, I don't think this is the issue. What I believe is missing is the element of being a criminal. Having to do some two-bit jobs to survive and build the foundation of your criminal empire and making the contacts to help you along the way. In other words, working towards something. This game could have had it all. Franklin with the gangsta theme in the tough streets of South Central LS and East LS having to build his street cred. Trevor in building his meth empire and battling crazy biker gangs and Mexican cartels. Michael with his dealings with his crappy family and the FIB and exploring the white collar crime element. It started out with this, but in my opinion they met paths way too quickly. Instead we get every mission that involves all three of them in some over the top dynamic event that almost has little or no impact on the city. If R* added more missions for each player that revolved around their unique backgrounds and settings this game would exceed epic proportions. Nothing against the current mission set that exists, but I wish they could have explored this a lot more. The setting is there but the locations feel empty because they're just backdrops. Nothing more. I think the heists are great but I want more of them. If they are going to make the cities an almost exact replica of their influence, at least make me feel like what I am doing has an effect on what's going on.
Thanks for this Reality Check as this is sort of right up my alley. I'm a simulations officer in the US Army whose field is rapidly expanding because of the increased use and need of live, virtual, constructive and gaming simulations used for not just basic rifle marksmanship (EST 2000) but for a wide variety of training objectives depending on your training audience. While the sims and milgames we use for training are a complete bore in comparison to commercial games, it's still interesting to know how the armed forces has leveraged these tools in the face of shrinking resources and budgets as well as a training tool that has had success in basic combat training, specifically with younger generations of Soldiers who have grown up with gaming and can actually apply some of what they have learned into real life situations.
I find it hilarious that with all the immorality, criminal activity and characters that represent degenerate animals we're complaining that a "strong female lead" isn't represented amongst the main protagonists. Should people in general be happy that society still doesn't identify with women being hardened criminals? Would it be appropriate for the next DLC to play as a female member of a SoCal biker gang where the women are considered property and not really members of the gang? Isn't complaining about this "issue" in GTA like complaining about a hardcore Vivid video because there was too much cursing in it?
If they fixed the bugs and tackled social issues better like racism, sexism and ism-ism this game would have gotten a 7.5. Just joking but it's games like this why I wish gamespot would bring back their dubious awards. It can't be worse than this game though: http://www.gamespot.com/navy-seals-weapons-of-mass-destruction/reviews/navy-seals-weapons-of-mass-destruction-review-6073226/
@ps2fatboy Don't worry. All they have to do is replace the drugs with skittles and the ban will be lifted. Or you could see below and change your region on XBL and have free reign.
Man the Australian Classification Board really has a hangup with drug use in games. I remember them having a problem with Fallout 3 because of this. Is the Australian Classification Board government ran or is it independent like the ESRB? Pardon my ignorance but it seems off that a game that is refused classification by this board effectively outlaws it from sale. I can smell a lot of potential corruption coming from this.
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