Game Review: "GTA V"

- by Ninja Ross, 18 September 2013

You guys might have heard about this little game called "Grand Theft Auto V"... Right? It’s impossible to miss, thanks to the endless media coverage and hype it’s received. If you haven’t heard about this game, you’ve been living under a rock. On Mars. In an alternate universe where Mars is even further away from Earth than it is now. Also, there’s no Earth in that universe. You get the idea.

In this entry to the franchise you get to play as three characters; Michael, Franklin and Trevor. Michael is an ex bank robber who’s torn between returning to his past life of killing and stealing, and looking after his family while growing old and fat next to a pool.

Franklin is a gang member who wants to be more; he wants to perform daring heists and live like a king, instead of stealing carts and selling drugs. He’s smarter than anyone gives him credit for, and he knows it.

Trevor is... Trevor is Trevor. He’s a meth addict, a psychopath and probably the least fun to play as. He’s fun, of course; his psychotic ways are fun in the same way Deadpool or Joker are fun, but I found myself wanting to continue Michael and Franklin’s missions instead, simply because those two are more interesting.

See no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil. From left to right: Trevor, Franklin and Michael.

They can get a bit stereotypical in places, especially Franklin and Trevor, but they’re still interesting character with their own personalities. 

You can switch between these three characters whenever you want between missions, except when you’re first introduced to each one, but during missions you very rarely get a choice. There are moments when you need to switch things up to finish a mission. For example, one mission has you flying a helicopter as Trevor, sniping enemies as Franklin and dangling from a building as Michael. You’ll have to keep switching to keep your friends alive.

This is an interesting mechanic and is fun when implemented but it’s rarely needed or even possible. But it is interesting to see what everyone’s doing between missions. One minute you’re having sex with a stripper, the next you’re waking up in a cold sweat in your mansion or spooning a redneck.

The dangling Michael bit.

During the heists, you get more freedom, of course. The heists themselves are a lot of fun, too; you prepare by stealing the equipment you need, lining up the team you want to use and deciding what approach you want to take.

Each character also gets their own special power; Trevor has a Rage Mode that makes him almost invincible, Michael has Bullet Time and Franklin can slow down time while driving, similar to Bullet Time.

The story is all about the characters, as opposed to a real plot. While the plot is interesting enough, it doesn’t compare to watching Michael’s family life fall apart, Franklin’s departure from the streets he grew up on and Trevor’s attempt to become a drug lord in the most violent, perverted ways he can manage.

Raging Trevor

Besides all that, there’s some nice satire of American pop culture and advertising. It targets the likes of Call of Duty, American Idol and cosmetics. This is nothing new for the series, though. It often hits the mark, but can occasionally get a little too carried away, into the realm of silliness.

The gameplay itself is where this game is at its best. This is pretty fitting, considering the fact that it’s a game...You can spend hours and hours driving around the HUGE city of Los Santos shooting people, stealing cars, robbing trucks, buying clothes, playing the stock market, playing tennis, doing yoga and taking drugs. There is SO MUCH TO DO in this fictional world that you will likely need to waste days trying to see it all. The TV shows within the game, the radio DJs and so on all breathe life into the game.

Michael, emptying out police cars.

The shooting mechanics are better than previous games and have more in common with the soft lock option seen in Max Payne 3. While the game occasionally refuses to let you aim where you want in a crowd of enemies, it’s much better than shooting at nothing.

Driving has been made more realistic this time around; when driving on grass in a hybrid or something, you slow down and it’s difficult to steer. Driving in the rain is slippery and turns can be nearly impossible. The tighter controls make it an improvement over previous entries, but it’s nothing to get excited about.

Flying is as awful as it ever was and there’s more of it here than previous instalments. Trevor is supposed to be an ex-air force pilot but when controlling him, or either of the other two, it’s difficult to fly any better than a drunk rabbit.

Unfortunately this still sucks.

Another change from previous entries is the way you escape police attention. This time around, you need to use stealth mechanics and clever driving. When the police have lost sight of you, the radar will change to show their field of vision to help you stay out of their site. 

The graphics aren’t anything to scream about, though. It’s pretty enough, with relatively detailed scenery and expressive characters, but graphics don’t matter, especially when the game is this vast and full of life. The art direction more than makes up for any graphical errors.

There are frustrating aspects of the gameplay, though. Occasionally missions will fail for seemingly no reason. While attempting to steal a pest control van, I was informed the van had gotten away, despite me being half way through getting in the driver’s door.

Speaking of vans, the police can be especially annoying on missions where you’re required to drive big, clunky vehicles like this. You’ll find yourself driving at an incredibly slow pace while police cars ram you from behind.

Franklin getting ready to head out.

Overall, this is an excellent game, despite the flaws. It’s as violent as ever (including a scene that has received very little amount of heat, despite the fact it’s the most violent and macabre part of the game). Fans of the series should, of course love it and it has plenty of appeal to newcomers. I cannot recommend this game enough!


Have you played GTA V yet? Planning to? Enjoyed the review? Let us know in the comments!

Tagged: video games, Reviews.

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