[Review] Grand Theft Auto V (360)
Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto has always been a controversial franchise. It’s also one of the best selling games, too. Five years after its last numeric entry, Rockstar is back at it again with Grand Theft Auto V, one of the most anticipated titles of the year.
Grand Theft Auto V (GTA V) is a mission-driven open-world sandbox game. You are given missions to accomplish, but the order in which you do the missions is completely up to you. You can go explore the world, enjoying leisurely activities, taking missions on as you see fit. The game is made so you can have fun with it, and do what you want whenever you want to.
GTA V takes place in Los Santos, which Rockstar describes as “a sprawling sun-soaked metropolis full of self-help gurus, starlets and fading celebrities, once the envy of the Western world, now struggling to stay afloat in an era of economic uncertainty and cheap reality TV.” You take control of, three different individuals who plot their own chances of survival and success: Franklin, a street hustler; Michael, a retired ex-con; and Trevor, a maniac driven by cheap highs and big rewards.
The GTA franchise has been known to exaggerate the problems in today’s society, and GTA V does it all too well. I almost feel bad for playing it because today’s problems are very apparent within Los Santos. Almost. Everything in GTA V has been cranked up several notches from 2008’s GTA IV. This includes the explicit language and misogyny.
Another thing that’s been increased is the size of the map. GTA V is the biggest world that Rockstar has ever created, which is also completely explorable from the beginning of the game. The world is much more fleshed out than in the other games. There are movie theatres, military bases, tennis, golf, triathlons, darts, even strip clubs.The soundtrack has also been extensively increased, having 15 radio stations, two talk radio stations, 240 licensed songs, and more. They even have celebrity radio DJs, including Pam Grier, Bootsy Collins, and Kenny Loggins.
GTA V also gives player the ability to switch between the 3 main characters freely. There are times when you can’t switch (ie: in a shoot-out or chasing a car), but those are understandable restrictions. I really like this ability, because it gives you the chance to not only explore the world easier, but also to process the story in different ways. There are even missions that require you to switch during them, which is a nice touch.
The graphics don't seem to be a huge leap forward, but there is a noticeable difference; They are a lot cleaner, clearer, and more vivid in color than GTA IV. This is a welcome change because after awhile GTA IV’s dulled-out gray/brown graphics began to put me in a foul mood. The physics are much improved too, especially on the water.
There are several things within GTA V that I like and many that I don’t. Let’s start with the things that I do like. The first thing I really like is the ambient dialog, because it’s very authentic. This is due to the fact that instead of hiring actors, Rockstar got actual gang members. You can’t get much more authentic than that. Another thing that I like is that driving feels more refined and precise than in GTA IV, thanks to the improved physics. However, the one big thing that I love is that GTA V has the option for aim assist. This a huge help for me, because I honestly suck at shooting. Using aim assist even makes you follow a target when they move. Thank you, Rockstar!
Now for the things that I don’t like. First, there feels to me like that there’s more of a focus on driving than in previous games. This wouldn’t be much of an issue for me if the first-person view was in the center of the car, but it puts your point of view in the driver’s seat. Yes, that is the most logical position, but it’s not the best for me. Another thing I don’t like is the controls and how you activate each character’s ability. As expected, the entire controller is used, which makes the game inaccessible for me even with the PS2 One Handed Controller. Activating the ability is done by pressing down both analog sticks (L3+R3) at the same time. The weapons and character switch menu cannot be toggled. You have to hold the appropriate button and make your choice. The final thing I don’t like is the game’s mandatory install, on both systems. The game ships on one PS3 Blu-Ray disc, and 2 Xbox 360 discs (one Install and one Play disc). Regardless of your system, you need to install the game. I didn’t time it, but the installation process took approximately 15 minutes on my 250GB Xbox 360 Slim.
As for the controls… Yeah, no. Whether it’s aiming or shooting, chasing a car, scuba diving, or switching characters, you need to use every part of the controller at one part of the game or another. This extremely limits what I can do, even with the PS2 One Handed Controller. This has really prevented me from progressing too far in the game, without help. Even the in-game cheats are inaccessible. As in the previous entries, GTA V has cheats, but unlike GTA IV where enabling them was as simple as pulling up the character’s phone and dialing a number, in GTA V you have to input them Konami Code style using the D-Pad and buttons. One such cheat is: Right, Left, A, Y, RB, B, B, B, LT. I understand that this method prevents cheats from being abused, but for someone like me, who more or less needs the cheats to progress, this really hurts my gameplay.
Would I recommend Grand Theft Auto V? Definitely not for a physically challenged gamer as you need to use the whole controller. I’m physically unable to play much of the game, which is a shame, but I have a lot of fun during the parts I can play. I came into GTA V knowing what to expect, having played GTA IV and Red Dead Redemption. For everyone else, yeah, if they’re not easily offended and/or are fans of the series.
Game Rating: 4.5/5 stars (The excessive explicit language is a bit of a turn-off for me)
Accessibility Rating: 1/5 stars (Accessibility? Maybe aim assist, but that’s it)
Grand Theft Auto V was developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It was released for both the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on 2013.09.17, has a MSRP of $59.99 USD new, and is rated M for Mature. it also broke industry sales records by earning US $800 million in the first 24 hours of its release, and $1 billion within its first three days.
Rockstar Games is a multinational video game developer and publisher based in New York City, owned by Take-Two Interactive. Rockstar Games is mostly known for such franchises as Grand Theft Auto, Max Payne, L.A. Noire, Midnight Club, and Red Dead. They graciously sent me a Xbox 360 copy of Grand Theft Auto V for review, and I would like to sincerely thank them for doing so.
