Grand Theft Auto 5

By: Robert Murphy

Well I was finally able to pull myself away from the controller long enough to tell you all my thoughts and feelings on the latest entry into the Grand Theft Auto franchise, Grand Theft Auto 5. Now I am here to say straight out from the get go that I am in love with the game, since the very first opening sequence I have loved everything that the game has to offer. Players are now put into a massive world that is not only beautiful to look at but feels like a living breathing world with everything from animals to hunt, stores to shop in, games to play and just about everything you’re little heart desires. GTA 5 is the culmination of years of Grand Theft Auto games and brings in it all the things we have loved in previous games, brought them together and then added even more along with it. But this is only a fraction of a fraction of the pleasure that comes from the game, we also have an insanely addictive single player story to enjoy, so let’s dig right on in.

From the start of the game, I took immediate notice of the games vastly improved mechanics, player movement is both smooth and easy to handle much like it was in the last GTA game but now it’s been given an overhaul and made even better. Also the cover system and weapon handling has finally been put to a level that you’d want from a massively open world shooter, taking cover behind objects and popping out to take out enemies feels like a breeze. Not only that but moving the auto aim function, which was an absolute horror in GTA 4 at times, can now be described as seamless as it simply moves from enemy to enemy with a flick of your thumb. These mechanic upgrades also transfer over to the vehicles you will have the opportunity to be driving, cars are now not only easier to control and drive but the massive amount of selection and customization is astounding. There have always been fast cars in GTA games but now they look, sound and act like real life cars that you can go out and buy, for example, hearing the roar of the Dodge Charger look alike in the game gave me an evil grin and racing heartbeat. And then I have to make notice of small features that I just love, for example missions in the game start without players having to do a thing except walk up to the indicator and then the dialogue starts right up. Also we have another great improved to missions and story and that is the games checkpoint system, where in the past you could spend five minutes stumbling back through a mission if you screwed up, now checkpoints throughout the missions prevent all that frustration.

The story doesn’t suffer at all alongside the immersive world of GTA 5, in fact it’s on par with about everything else the game has to offer, it gives you a crazy, thrilling and often times dark tone but hey it is GTA after all, what do you expect. In the city of Los Santos, the people are stuck up and snobby, they spend their time on the couch, doing yoga, drinking their overpriced coffee and updating their Lifeinvader accounts, which is a jab at Facebook that I just love. The game makes a point to jab at today’s new generation of glamour seeking nobodys and the age of multimedia (good it needs to be taken down a peg) and you are destined for good things in this town. As you play between the three playable characters, you set out to make money, find purpose or just go ape @#$% on everything, as each character has their own reasons for doing what they do. This includes a list of highly integral heists and crimes that are something that you’d expect to see in an Ocean’s 11 style movie, with various elements to plan out, ridiculous maneuvers and of course daring chases. And you yourself get to plan out these heists and preform them in whatever way you see fit, you want to go in loud and heavy or smart and calculated you can, it’s all up to you.

Oh right I should probably introduce our characters, we have Michael a retired con man in his 40s, who is not happy with his new found life of luxury as he lays about his massive home, drinking and laying in the sun all day. Then there’s Franklin who is a young man from downtown Los Santos who gives off the feel of CJ from San Andreas but Franklin doesn’t want the gangster life style that his friends seem to relish in and he is looking for a way out to bigger things. And finally we have Trevor, a volatile criminal who spends his days out in the hills of Los Santos, cooking drugs, killing rednecks and generally causing mass chaos. Players can switch in between the three characters during the game and get a feel for the life of each character and what they’re all about and experiencing the many different elements of Los Santos and the people that live there. This was a great aspect in my opinion because I didn’t have to play as one player that I didn’t necessarily like but I had the option to choose from multiple characters, each with their own unique personality and appeal.

I could literally go on for pages about all the action, activities and fun that can be had in Grand Theft Auto 5, Rockstar has spared no expense for fans this time around and it is much appreciated from me and I’m sure the Grand Theft Auto community as well. The game has an intelligent storyline and appealing heists, crimes and activities to be had with our three characters, just about anything you can think of doing or want to do is set out before you. The games ability to plan out heists and crimes as you play through the main story is a great aspect that makes you feel in complete control of the action and the crimes you’re performing. The in game mechanics have also been improved in every way imaginable, movement is smooth and no longer clunky, gun play and the auto aiming system have all been given an upgrade and driving cars is not only fun but is massively appealing with how real all the cars feel. Grand Theft Auto 5 is the GTA game that fans have been waiting for and for those of you who haven’t played a GTA game before will quickly fall in love just as fast as hardcore fans will.

Good:

- Incredibly massive and immersive world

- Stimulating storyline

- Amazing and ridiculous heists and crimes

- Dark and witty humor/dialogue

- Never ending list of things to see and do throughout the game

Bad:

- I haven’t had a single bad thing to say about this game

Scully Rating: 10 out of 10