‘Grand Theft Auto V’ Review (Xbox 360)
When looking at the Grand Theft Auto games it comes as no surprise that it all started in 1997 a top down 2D classic that caught attention for the level of violence it portrayed on gamers screens. Imagine that, 2D and caused controversy about violence. Now we are in 2013 and Grand Theft Auto V is released, arguably one of the best games of the year and the best Grand Theft Auto game by far. How does it manage this? It respects its past and pushes to the future in ways that only GTA could.
Grand Theft Auto V freshens things up straight away by giving the gamers control over three characters. Michael is the main character of the game as he has the strongest story arc, but Franklin and Trevor cannot be ignored. These characters touch on the aspects of Grand Theft Auto that people loved, it picks up the idea and it runs with them letting out a lunatic laugh at the thought of what it’s going to throw at you.
The fact is Grand Theft Auto V is a very smart game, made by people who have a dark satirical sense of humour and know what their fans want. We have Michael the character who wants out of the “business”, we have Franklin who wants in and then we have Trevor who shows the worst of it. Put these characters together and add their associates into the mix and we have the potential for a very engrossing game, and that is before we even get to the actual gaming world.
San Andreas and more importantly Los Santos is a living breathing world just waiting to be a victim to whatever schemes you come up with. Whether it be heists to make your characters rich or just the odd abduction there is plenty to do in Grand Theft Auto V. Once Michael fully gives himself up to the fact he’s back in the business things get moving and you’ll be making money in no time. Heists come and go but the true fun of the game is the discovery and the so called “freaks” you meet out on the street. Let’s not get started on the “selfies” you’ll start taking based on the actions you take. It all gets very dark very soon, or at least it did for me.
The beauty of Grand Theft Auto V is the fact you can choose which character to control, I enjoy taking control of Trevor the most even though his depravity is sometimes a little much. For people who like to walk on the less strange side of things they may prefer Michael for the family life and Franklin for the amateur “gangster” side of things. The fact that for most of the game you have a choice shows the beauty of the game.
If I was to point out anything negative about Grand Theft Auto V it would be the fact it has an ending, people rushing to complete it really miss the point. I prefer to take my time in the world and just enjoy it, but I guess that is our personal choice as a gamer. Another issue would be that the game will offend, I can’t say that I was offended much but there is an undertone that can be picked up on of sexism and other “non-pc” factors that people can pick up on. For the most part though I found that if you don’t look for it, you tend not to find it. That said people have the right to be offended and if they choose to be? They tend to have a point, and that must be respected. In my view though this is arguably the game of the year, now we just have to wait to see if another game comes in the next few months that can beat it.
Grand Theft Auto V is out now on PS3 and Xbox 360.
