Grand Theft Auto V

Grand Theft Auto V is an epic open-world action game, giving the player complete freedom to explore the bustling city of Los Santos. Playing as a squad of uneasy allies, you'll pull off massive heists and get down and dirty with the criminal element.

Like other entries in the Grand Theft Auto franchise, there's an awesome assortment of vehicles to drive, missions to complete, and tons of immersive mini-games. With the added bonus of an expansive online multiplayer mode that sees constant updates, Grand Theft Auto V is packed to the seams with exciting content. As far as open-world action games are concerned, Grand Theft Auto V is arguably the king.

Main Game Features

• Massive map to explore
• Over 70 missions and dozens of side-activities
• Three main playable characters
• Expansive online multiplayer

Story

The main story of Grand Theft Auto V plays out in Los Santos, a city in the fictional state of San Andreas, focusing on three playable characters. The first and “main” character Michael is an ex-bank robber, who has moved to Los Santos to escape a life of crime and raise his family. Michael eventually meets the second playable character, Franklin, a Los Santos gangster who works with a shady car dealer. When Michael runs afoul a local drug dealer, he enlists the help of Franklin to commit a robbery in order to pay off his debt. This quickly draws the attention of the third playable character, Trevor, a crass, loud-mouth redneck who used to rob banks with Michael. Together, this unlikely trio slowly works their way up the criminal element of Los Santos, pulling off increasingly dangerous heists and missions. Packed with sex, violence, and action, Grand Theft Auto V is one of gaming's best crime stories.

Gameplay

Like in other entries of the Grand Theft Auto franchise, Grand Theft Auto V is mostly a third-person action game, with elements of shooting and racing scattered in. After the game's initial missions, players are dumped into Los Santos to complete some missions and progress through the story. After a while, you unlock both Franklin and Trevor as playable characters, whom you can swap between freely. All three characters have varying stats, and each has a special focus or ability to use. Michael can activate bullet-time, Franklin can slow down time when driving, and Trevor goes on a rage-induced rampage. Missions also include major heists, which require you to lay out your preparations. Characters also have personal story missions that further explore the world and unlock other activities.

When you're not engaged in storyline missions, you are free to roam around Los Santos as the rural hills of San Andreas. There are tons of activities and side-missions to enjoy, ranging from simple distractions to surprisingly complex mechanics. You can go hunting, catch a movie, practice your aim at the shooting range, or enjoy a variety of sports such as golf and tennis. As you rake in cash from missions, you can also purchase and customize vehicles, invest in the stock market, and even purchase properties around the city. If you venture into the online multiplayer mode dubbed Grand Theft Auto Online, you can experience these and other open-world activities with a full server of other players. Between the impressive amount of missions and the freedom of exploration, there's always something new to do in Los Santos.

Conclusion

There's a good reason Grand Theft Auto V is one of the most successful pieces of media ever created. It's incredibly fun to play, there's tons of content to enjoy, and the graphics are top-notch. The city of Los Santos is remarkably immersive, with lifelike citizens, traffic, and a bustling atmosphere. It's easy to sit back and sink several hours into Grand Theft Auto V without realizing it, as the game is immersive and engrossing through and through.

Pros:

• Interesting and compelling story
• Exciting gunplay and driving
• Impressive visuals and content

Cons:

• Shooting can feel clunky
• Some areas of the map feel empty
• Online lobbies can be frustrating

What could be considered one of the most successful games ever made remains a flawed masterpiece as it enters yet another console generation. Grand Theft Auto V offers players an unparalleled sense of freedom, coupled with powerful online multiplayer tools that have made the game the most long-lasting entry in the series.

Step into a world of crimes and excesses as you explore what the criminal underworld of Los Santos has to offer. A gripping single-player campaign is the icing on top of the amazingly dense Grand Theft Auto V, just don’t be surprised if you feel a bit let down by the game’s lackluster plot.

Los Santos Stories

The story of Grand Theft Auto V centers around a trio of career criminals trying to make ends meet in the seedy underbelly of Los Santos. The sprawling city is a parody of Los Angeles, complete with its distorted version of Hollywood and East LA. Unlike Grand Theft Auto IV, the map of Los Santos includes a lot of country terrain — perhaps even more than the actual city.

New to the series is the idea of the game being centered around three different protagonists. Unlike CJ from Grand Theft Auto San Andreas, having three characters offers, in theory, more chances for the game to develop different personalities for each protagonist.

While the characters are undeniably well-written, the same can’t be said about the game’s overall plot. The story reaches some very tense and surprisingly emotional points, but the plot gets to a sudden stop when you least expect it. The result is a single-player campaign that feels depressingly unfinished.

Considering this is the same studio that brought us Red Dead Redemption 2, seeing such a rushed plot being finished so unceremoniously can be painful to watch. The same, however, can’t be said of the game’s amazing multiplayer mode.

A Connected World

Grand Theft Auto V’s online mode — aptly titled “Grand Theft Auto Online” — might as well be the highlight of the entire game. All of the limitations of the game’s single-player mode have been steadily fixed with additional content in the multiplayer mode, leaving the experience feeling much more complete than what was supposed to be the star of the show.

In the game’s online mode, players can live out their dreams of owning property in beautiful (and chaotic) Los Santos. Not only can players buy and sell real estate in the virtual city, but they’re also able to craft a myriad of game modes using Grand Theft Auto V’s amazingly robust creation tools.

From wacky races to intense deathmatches, the sheer variety of gameplay elements on display in Grand Theft Auto V’s online component easily turns the game into one of the most malleable titles not just of the series — but for the entire open-world genre. The plot might not be as solid as it was in previous entries, but the online gameplay more than makes up for the shortcomings exhibited in the single-player campaign.

Though it might seem like they’re completely different games at times, both game modes complement each other rather well, making the complete Grand Theft Auto V experience one worth replaying over and over.

Pros

• Amazing open world map with tons of places to explore
• Robust multiplayer modes with great customization potential
• Well-written plot and endearing characters

Cons

• The single-player campaign feels unfinished compared to the game’s online mode

Grand Theft Auto V is the kind of game that I can never get tired of talking about. I originally played this back on the PlayStation 3 and played it to death! Then the PC version came out and I put even more time into that! This for me, is one of the greatest video games ever made and today rather than just doing a “review” I am breaking down GTA V into three parts, the story, the mayhem and the online!

The Story

What makes a good story is always a matter of opinion, but I think the story that Grand Theft Auto V tells is fantastic. It starts off with a prelude where a gang of crooks end up on the wrong end of the law. This at first seems rather pointless, but it really sets the tone for what is to come.

We have three playable characters in GTA V. Franklin the up and coming criminal who needs guidance. Michael the career criminal who is under the thumb of the authorities and decides to take Franklin under his wing and Trevor a nut case who has a complicated past with Michaels. Their fates are all connected when they are pulled into doing jobs for the government, but there is far more to the story than that. With many twists, turns, visits to the strip club and more. The story is one that you will really want to get to the end of. Which takes a while as the side missions are a ton of fun too!

The Mayhem

A huge part of the fun of any GTA game is being able to do what you want and Grand Theft Auto V is the largest playground the series has ever had! You can play a round of golf, go on a killing spree, get a fleet of cars, go to the lap dancing club and just cause as much mayhem as you would like. It is crazy the amount of stuff there is to do in this game and the map which is supposed to be the west coast of the USA is very diverse and a lot of fun to traverse. If you like games where you can just screw around and do what you want, GTA V is just perfect for you.

The Online

Who wants online in their GTA game? Was a question I actually asked myself and I was sure it was just a quick cash grab and would be lame. GTA Online though is a great deal of fun and something I have spent many hours with. You can be a real career criminal here. Getting properties, vehicles, weapons, ammo and making your own gang. For me, GTA Online is at its very best when you are playing with friends and you are all working together to be the ultimate gang.

The Final Word On GTA V

Many games can be overrated, but I really do not think you can oversell Grand Theft Auto V! This is a truly epic game in every sense of the word. There is so much to do here in the single-player, but then you have the online which is really going to take over your life. If for some reason you still have not played GTA V…… What are you doing??? Go and play it now, trust me you will not be disappointed.

10/10!!!!!

GTA V Best Features

• A truly amazing story that grabs you from the start
• Three playable characters
• Lots of side content to enjoy
• The city is huge and very diverse
• The online mode is a lot of fun

What else at this point can be said about Grand Theft Auto V? This is truly one of the best video games to be released over the last decade… maybe of all time! It is an absolute masterpiece, a masterpiece that was made even better when Rockstar made improvements to the original PS3/Xbox 360 version of the game.

Meet The Gang

The story in Grand Theft Auto V is truly amazing stuff. What Rockstar did is nothing short of amazing. Rather than just having one main character who interreacts with a bunch of other characters. GTA V switches things up but allowing you to play as three different characters and boy are these three characters different. Franklin, Michael, and Trevor are three very likable and different characters that you get to experience. The whole story is amazing and the back story of Michael and Trevor is really the “main event” and Michael taking Franklin under his wing is also pretty great. Like other GTA and Rockstar games, the story is massive in its scale and it will have you laughing and wincing as you watch it all unfold.

On The Fly

Eventually, you get to a point where you can switch between the characters on the fly. Some characters are required for certain missions so keep that in mind. What I like about switching characters is the way that the characters go about their daily lives when you are not playing as them. This is a lot of fun and when you switch back to, let’s say Michael and he is chilling in his pool it is kind of cool.

GTA Your Way!

There is more content in Grand Theft Auto V than any other game in the series. The world that they give you to play in is massive and very diverse in its design. This take on LA is fantastic and just exploring is something I have spent countless hours doing. Seriously this is a game where you can play it for three hours and not actually do anything!

There are tons of side missions for you to do and trouble that you can cause. You can just screw around, play a round of golf or go on a rampage so epic that SWAT is called in to take you down. While just messing around is fun, Rockstar has made sure that the main missions are also awesome. One thing in particular that I really liked was the heists. You have to pull off these epic heists and this starts by hiring a crew and then pulling off the actual heist. It is awesome stuff when you are able to pull a heist off perfectly. If you are like me, more often than not all hell will break loose and you end up in a gunfight.

GTA Online

A big part of this Grand Theft Auto is, of course, GTA Online. This is a lot of fun to be part of and you can just play this on your own if you like. For me, the real fun is playing with a friend and starting up your own gang to go to war with other gangs! Even if you are not a hardcore online gamer, I do feel that GTA Online is worth checking out as it is very close to what the main game offers.

It has been talked about to death, but Grand Theft Auto V really is an amazing game. It is the kind of game that I am legit struggling to find anything negative to say about it at all! It looks great, the city is massive and the three characters you play as are each great in their own way. Then we, of course, have GTA Online which is also excellent.

10/10

Pros:

• One of the greatest GTA games ever made
• So much for you to do
• Three playable characters
• The heists are awesome
• GTA Online is a lot of fun

Cons:

• GTA Online might not be for you
• Nothing at all!!!!