The Low Budget Review: GTA V

Grand Theft Auto 5 Review

Here we go again people. Our lives will be taken over by another Grand Theft Auto game.  Since the release of 2008’s exceptional GTA 4 in the gritty Liberty City gamers now make a happy and much waited and anticipated return to the sun soaked shores of Los Santos. However does this game surpass its predecessor? Read on and find out…

So the first key difference is the fact that there are now three main characters instead of one solitary figure in previous games. There is Franklin, who we are first introduced to, a “gang banger” who makes his living stealing cars for evil businessman and car dealer extraordinaire Simeon but wants to do more with his life and live the high life. Gamers play as him until he attempts to steal a car from the second key character, retired bank robber Michael a cynical family man with an unfaithful wife and two children that drive him mad living under the witness protection programme. This spirals into a friendship between the two and they decide to rob a jewellery store. This then introduces us to our third and final character and probably the most popular, Trevor, a mad yet highly intelligent redneck drug dealer. The key twist here is he is Michael’s former partner in thievery and not too happy to learn his partner is alive. In some games this mix of protagonists it may seem that the experience may be shallow and characters thin and weak but leave it to Rockstar to create three amazing deep characters that each has their own unique ideas and needs. The experience is rich and gamers will have fun investigating the quirks of each character.

Alongside the mixed characters there is a fun and dynamic story with 69 story missions where each feels different and fun. The story introduces numerous side characters some with unique jobs and fun little side activities that will entertain during the main story or after it. The main selling point of the game was the heist missions and they do not disappoint as there are several different heists that occur over the course of the story. These suit different purposes and are buried in context.  There is also multiple options as to how these heists can be carried out, though this mainly differs between loud and sensible, the choice is still appreciated and adds to replay ability. Regardless of which choice you make there is an extensive preparation period managed through your friend Lester who co-ordinates your actions. Overall the story is fun and involves all three characters equally and fairly throughout its course. Starting out in a totally different area in the midst of a heist that spirals out of control and ends up with your crew member shot and Michael supposedly dead. This is where we are teleported into the future with Franklin in the midst of stealing a car. From there events create twists and turns. I’m purposefully avoiding details so the story isn’t spoiled as you MUST play this game.

One of the main selling points of the GTA series has been its massive open worlds and GTA V holds this tradition. The world is the biggest yet holding a city that is roughly the size of Liberty City then miles of desert, forest, mountains and ocean all teeming with life. The world is alive and expansive with miles of land to explore from the city streets to the grand Senora Desert to the peaks of Mount Chilliad. The world provides the player with an expansive sandbox to cause as much chaos as they’d like. It is bright, colourful and a very satirical parody of Los Angeles.

With all the cosmetics and narrative in play, do the game mechanics hold up? Yes, yes they do. The mechanics are improved from simple movement and driving to a less clunky inventory to house your arsenal of destruction. The mechanics feel smooth and just makes the game fun to play. You, the player, can easily drive fast and flashy sports cars, fly stunt planes, airliners and even military grade jets.  There is also a wide selection of helicopters and boats on offer too, all handling well and highly responsive.  The gunplay is also fluid with aim assist present but also the ability to free-aim with ease. The main downside to the games mechanics lies with the still challenging ability to shoot from vehicles making some story missions more challenging than necessary, but this is mainly nit picking.

So just what do you do when the story ends? Well there is an extensive list of side activities from extreme sports to towing vehicles to destroying for sale signs. No I’m not joking it’s a thing. There is also plenty of collectables such as submarine parts that can only be found in the ocean to letter scraps of a murder mystery and flying saucer parts all of which lead to rewards and feelings of personal accomplishment. Just to add extra to the game there are also strangers that will randomly appear needing your help, all with available rewards and personalities. These can be businessmen to drunken teenagers. There are secret cults and weird churches available to meet and help over the course of your journey through Los Santos and the surrounding lands.

Alongside this epic campaign there is also an MMO style online mode that allows you to create your own character and help them progress into high society among fellow friends and other online players. You can work your way to the top levelling up gaining access to new weapons, cars and eventually tanks and attack helicopters. There are plenty of characters providing jobs and even famous faces from the story require your help. There are also plenty of activities such as deathmatches, races survival modes and as of the latest update a capture mode that can be all out chaos. However the online mode is lacking in heist missions and can be a bit of a drag to newer players who can be insta-killed be higher level players with better guns. This can be counter with passive mode but that is just kinda dull. There was also a very broken release for the online mode that took upwards of a week to fix leaving some players unable to start the online mode at all. This has since been fixed and is mainly fine now. There is also the content creator that is currently in beta that allows for your own creativity to shine through.  Overall the online mode is fun and continuously growing with provided support from Rockstar improving it and developing it.

So lastly we look at the gimmicks and extras of the game.  GTA is well known for diverse and well selected radio stations with hilarious and satirical adverts, though some just leave you wondering what the hell you just heard and well created personalities or famous celebrities taking the mix. Once again the radio stations are well done with content ranging from gangsta rap to classic rock to punk to even Mexican rap and fiesta music. These are fun but in some cases can get repetitive if the radio station is kept on too long. This again is relatively nit-picky but there is no real heavy metal station and may be a shame to some metal heads like myself. However there are plenty of hidden Easter eggs from flying saucers and aliens to weird individuals and cults. Once again Rockstar mix satire, crude humour and some realism to create a game that is fun to play and leaves you wanting to explore more. The game will last you anywhere from about 10-20 hours in campaign and many more in the online mode. There is plenty to enjoy as this sandbox world of madness, fun and exploration will eat away hours of your day if you truly get immersed. I have no problem recommending this game to you and hope to run into you online. Though watch out I may just be in a tank.