Boasting the biggest opening day sales in gaming history, Rockstar Games’ Grand Theft Auto 5 hit shelves with the buzz of a Hollywood blockbuster.
GTA 5 is Rockstar’s largest and most ambitious project since the series began in 1997.
The game offers a staggering amount of content. When not committing various street crimes around the fictional state of San Andreas, players can distract themselves with a myriad of activities, including watching television, playing tennis or golf, buying and trading in a virtual stock market, visiting bars and strip clubs and even deep sea diving. .
The game’s story takes place in and around the fictional city of Los Santos, which is an analogue for the city of Los Angeles.
In a break from the tradition, the game features main protagonists, which the player can switch between at any time. This is an interesting twist to the narrative and the transitions between the characters are seamless.
The three protagonists: retired criminal Michael, ambitious street hustler Franklin and violent sociopath Trevor, come together in a tale of a trio of men whose mutual aim is to make money at all costs.
The story is filled with action packed moments and missions play out in large- scale cinematic fashion.
Visually, GTA 5 is one of the most interesting games produced for the current generation of gaming consoles. Driving through Downtown Los Santos really looks and feels like driving through Downtown LA. Many of the famous landmarks and individual neighborhoods of LA have been beautifully rendered, giving the setting an amazing sense of authenticity.
While driving around some of the rural areas around Los Santos, I noticed that some of the in- game radio stations lost their signal the farther I got away from the city. Small touches like that make the game feel like being in a living, breathing world.
The control scheme works well, although I wish that Rockstar would have given users more control over the button configuration, as the driving and shooting mechanics might take a little getting used to.
GTA 5 delivers a well paced and often times, hilarious experience, and is surely to be one of the top candidates for game of the year.
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