[Timgt5]

Grand Theft Auto V
Review by Timgt5

The closing argument for Generation 7

In any medium there comes a pivotal moment, one that says “welcome to the next level”. For film one could argue that the Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001-2003) was such a product, a massive epic that set a new template for using CGI to bring fantasy locales and monsters to life. Each generation of gaming also comes with such moments as well, often debated just as fiercely as film or TV. During this cycle starting in 2005 through today, there have been lots of claimants, all outstanding. From the Uncharted Series to Gears of War, Bioshock Infinite, Red Dead Redemption, Last of Us, Mass Effect, God of War III, Beyond Two Souls, could all make a convincing case for themselves. Rockstar North has now presented its closing argument, Grand Theft Auto V, for consideration.

Is GTA V indeed this generation’s defining moment? Read on…

Grand Theft Auto V

Release Date: 9/17/2013
Type: 3rd Person, open world action/adventure
Genre: Crime Thriller, modern day setting
Developer: Rockstar North
Publisher: Take Two Interactive
Rating: M (mature)
Platforms: Xbox 360, PS3, PC (to be announced)

Highs: Fantastic Graphics, staggering game environment, diverse and deep gameplay, excellent sound track, solid script, good voice acting, polished mechanics, three playable characters.

Lows: early release related minor glitches; the narrative falters in places, a questionable mission (more on that further down)

The Plot: GTA V follows the lives and adventures of three men:

Michael DeSanta (formerly Townley) Michael is a retired criminal. The last robbery he pulled he had been captured by the FIB (think FBI) and arranged a plea bargain. He is living in an upscale neighborhood in Los Santos under witness protection. In the deal with the bureau Michael was able to keep a lot of the money he had stolen, so he lives rather well. Despite his luck however, Michael is rather miserable. He and his wife are on poor terms and she frequently cheats on him (the latest her tennis instructor). Michael is also not getting along well with his teenage children and his attempts to be a good father only further alienate him. To make matters worse, his therapist openly despises him. Michael’s life now feels empty and unfulfilled, but all that changes on a chance encounter with Franklin.



Franklin Clinton: Franklin is a young gang banger and part of the Grove Street Families (the same set as Carl CJ Johnson, GTA III-San Andreas) Much like CJ he tends to be a bit smarter and more rational than those around him. Franklin is looking for a way up in life and is continually frustrated by his friend Lamar, who drags Franklin to a series of ill planned schemes that go predictably wrong. Both Franklin and Lamar work as repo agents for a shady Armenian car dealer who is engaged in credit fraud. Franklin is dispatched to take back a car purchased by Jimmy DeSanta (Michael’s son). Michael gets the drop on Franklin, and forces him to crash through the dealer’s show room. This ultimately costs Franklin his job, but he and Michael find common ground, become friends and through a series of events begin a crime spree.



Trevor Phillips: Trevor had been friends with Michael many years earlier. On their last big job (the one that ended Michael’s career) Trevor had managed to flee the scene. He believes that their third man, Brad had been captured and that Michael was killed in the exchange (as the game begins, Michael also believes that Trevor is dead). Trevor now lives in Blain County Outside Of Los Santos. There he deals Meth and weapons to the locals, but seeks greater wealth. Sometime after Michael and Franklin pull their first big heist together, Trevor happens to catch a news cast and hears a phrase that he remembers Michael being fond of saying. He decides to head into Los Santos and learn the truth; eventually he finds Michael and is introduced to Franklin. The three of them start working together.



The three men begin working together; their adventures ultimately put them in the middle of an interagency feud over government funding and at odds with a Private Military Contractor. Overall the story of greed and material excess is a fitting one for this day and age. The script was well written and relevant. There are some narrative issues, parts of the story feel a bit contrived and some minor side stories are not fully resolved, but nothing here derails the game as a whole.

Along the way Rockstar North does not miss an opportunity to take pot shots at some of the excess and silliness of American culture (the Houser Brothers are actually British) launching digs at Facebook, Vulture Capitalism, Liberal Utopians, the Minuteman Militia, reality-“talent” shows, Fox News (in their universe it is called “Weasel News”, their catch phrase is “confirming your prejudices”) the paparazzi and many other things worth biting commentary.

Gameplay: In broad terms it carries similarities to its predecessors. The format is open world with a lot of freedom to choose main and side missions. There are however some changes to the formula.

1. Three playable characters: this is a first for Rockstar’s signature games. Switching between Trevor, Michael and Franklin is available on the fly for most of the game. While playing one character the other two will go about their business without your input. It is a very adept piece of programing to say the least. The three characters all share a set of basic attributes (strength, endurance, lung power, flying ability, driving ability etc…) these attributes can be raised by completing side missions and engaging in different activities. In addition to their common qualities each of the three comes with a special ability. During driving sequences Franklin can slow down time allowing him to more easily maneuver around obstacles and traffic. Michael can do the same during combat, slowing down time similar to Red Dead Redemption’s “dead eye” allowing for greater accuracy. Trevor has a “berserker mode” that allows him to deal more damage while taking less. All three powers have time limits so use wisely.

2. The entire map is accessible from the beginning of the game. In a change from other games in the series, the entire game area is fully unlocked once you past the “guided tour” portion at the outset. This is rather nice on Rockstar’s part and actually gave me great incentive to take time and explore as much as I could. The only irritation here is the sheer size of the environment leading to sometimes very long drives just to reach mission objectives.

3. The “toggle” system for weapon selection has been replaced by the weapon wheel system from Red Dead Redemption; this is a vast improvement and definitely makes life easier.

4. The Big Heist(s)-there was only one of these in GTA IV and it was rather scripted. Here there are several of these jobs throughout the narrative. This time you become much more involved in its planning and execution. Each heist comes with two approaches from which you choose one will be loud, quick and nasty, the other more subtle, slower and intricate. Lester (a brilliant but crippled associate of Trevor and Michael’s) will lay out the details but ultimately you make the call. These jobs also involve hiring Non Player Characters for additional support roles including getaway driver, gunman, or hacker. The amounts you have to pay the NPCs are based on their skill level. Hire more experienced crew and they will take a larger cut, but the job will go better with less likelihood of failure. Once a crew survives a job they will improve their abilities, with that in mind I found it better to get a good crew and stick with them, especially as you approach the last couple of missions. The heists are also broken down into a set of sub missions in which you have to gain access to the needed resources and equipment to complete the job. There are a couple of these jobs which pay homage to films like Heat, Ocean’s Eleven and the Italian Job. This new aspect in general was very well executed and almost single handedly makes the game worth playing.

5. The save check point system is much better than previous GTAs. In between missions you do not have to drive all the way back to your hideout to save, it can be done from your handy cell phone. Also if you fail a mission the game does not take you all the way back to the set up. These on the fly checkpoints make for a more seamless experience.

In addition to the main story there are a large number of side missions for each character to play. Strangers and Freaks pop up on the map and offer interesting subplots and diversions. May personal fav was the Paparazzi missions, where you help a Paparazzi named Beverly get various photos of celebs in compromising positions to sale to trashy tabloids. In addition random “citizens” will flag you down for help, which you can choose to do or ignore them. In some cases doing these increased the possibility of getting new crew members for heists.

In addition to missions you can also enjoy other activities such as a round of Golf, or Tennis match, participate in car or jet ski races, do yoga, skydive, and even take in a movie at one of two theaters (the previews are hilarious) You can do these alone or call up many of your contacts and do events together. Unlike GTA IV these are strictly voluntary, a good move on Rockstar’s part as a lot of people were not happy with these as required missions. This game is truly immersive.

Some features of prior GTA games make a return here as well. Characters can be altered with new haircuts or outfits. Also making a return is the ability to buy property. Extra cars can be stored at garages, and other businesses such as the cab company and bars generate extra money. A couple of these come with some extra side missions. Car customization has been greatly expanded and virtually any vehicle can be brought to one of several shops for mechanical and cosmetic upgrades. Also guns can be upgraded as well with improved sites, larger magazine capacities, flashlights and different looks.

The buddy AI system works very well. In battles where you play all three guys, this is important. When playing as one, the other two take up smart positions, lay down cover fire, and generally do not make errors. From time to time you have to switch around, but this works very well in the large scale fights as you get a lot of angles and options. NPC AI also works well and enemies are a fairly decent challenge, especially toward the end when you have battles against guys working for Meriwether (a PMC in the mold of Halliburton). Additional challenges come from a revamped police, who more aggressively try to hunt you down if you get out of sight while being chased.

Both Combat and driving have been greatly improved. Aiming feels more natural than before and the immense variety of weapons makes for a lot fun experimentation (Hint kiddies, the fully “modded” Combat Shotgun is a thug’s best friend, trust me on that one). Car physics, imported from another Rockstar title, “Midnight Club”, are much more dialed in than before, and the cars are much easier to predict and control. All in all the playing revamps have been very successful and have made the game much less frustrating and a lot more fun.

There were a couple of initial glitches however, such as cars disappearing from garages, and the occasional clipping. There was also some difficulty with the multiplayer as well. These problems were largely resolved with a set of recent downloads.

There is however one mission that in my opinion should have been left out. There is a “Jack Bauer” (“24”) style torture scene in which you (as Trevor) have to participate. This is one of Rockstar’s most controversial moments. While the Houser brothers sought to convey a message regarding the hypocrisy and often ineffectiveness of “enhanced interrogation” (one I agree with them on) I feel a video game is not an appropriate platform for this rather serious discussion, especially with the industry under more scrutiny than ever.

Okay, Tim climbs off the soapbox now and gets back to the rest of this review.

Sights and Sounds: Rockstar does an absolutely fantastic job with this game. The world of GTA V is a staggering masterwork, soaked with a mind blowing amount of detail. I cannot begin to imagine the hours of coding all of this required. Everything from road textures, to foliage, to building surfaces is done with an uncanny meticulousness. Sunlight, water and particle effects are first rate; even the underwater areas are clear and teaming with life. Draw distances are incredible; climbing a tall mountain and looking at the sprawl below on a big TV is just awe inspiring.




(yes you get to run around in all of that, but there is more)



(yep, this too!, )

Character models get a big upgrade as well, looking less like “Ken and Barbie” and more like LA Noire or Uncharted, which is to say, very good. For the first time in one of these games the characters have real expressions and can convey emotion. NPCs are also much more distinctive. Everything from clothing, to stubble (it naturally grows on Trevor and Michael as time goes on) is very detailed. Car models are more crisp and recognizable than ever. A really cool touch is that on convertibles, tops can be lowered and raised with the press of the pad. On rare occasion there is slowdown, there is also some minor draw in, though less than in its predecessors.

An equally compelling proposition is the sound. Considering everything that had to be balanced, Rockstar delivered on this score as well. Effects such as explosions, gunfire, car crashes are all handled with near flawless balance. Car exhausts can be changed and actually sound differently with upgrades. The in car radio offers a lot of variety of music, from Jazz to classic “Gangsta” to punk and world music. There are also the obligatory talk stations as well. For the first time GTA V has an in game sound track that stands apart from the radio music and it is well done. No famous actors doing voices on this one but the cast overall was made up of experienced voice actors who all delivered fine performances. The NPC acting is good as well.

Rockstar has always sought to create a truly living, breathing, world for the player to become engrossed in experiencing. With GTA V pushing hard against the limits of PS3 and 360-they are closer to realizing that vision than ever before. It is one of the best looking games ever made. This stokes my anticipation of what they will be able to do on Xbox One and PS4.

Kid’s Corner: This one is M rated for a lot of good reasons. First and foremost the game is extremely violent, with depictions of weapons assault, beatings and stabbings. As characters take damage their clothes become bloody. There is one torture scene (mentioned earlier). The main characters are amoral criminals with little regard for innocent life. Trevor in particular is a rather disturbed individual and to be honest, an ugly caricature of someone with mental health issues. In addition to the violence there are depictions of sexual behavior, and partial nudity. The language contains lots of “F”s, “MFs” heavy use of the “N” word, and other swearing. Bottom line this game is wholly inappropriate for kids.

In Summary: Taking everything into consideration, Grand Theft Auto V is a monumental achievement in game development. The level of sheer coding is nothing short of astounding. The game is not perfect but it is incredibly immersive and you are truly hooked on coming back to Los Santos time and time again.

If there is an exclamation mark to be placed on Generation 7, then Rockstar has just “dropped the mic”

For those out there who still think gaming is a passing fad or just some obscure corner of the universe, let me drop a number on everyone, 1 BILLION, that is the take, THE FIRST WEEK, so impressive that it shattered records not only for games, but every form of entertainment, that kiddies is 60 bucks a pop.

Gaming, ladies and gentlemen has just arrived…

9.75 out of 10

Game of the Year-2013-Hell yes!

Bathe in all the Glory, Trailers below: