I have
finally finished Grand Theft Auto V!
Holy cow it is a long game, but worth it for the pay off in the
end. I will be focusing on the game
play, sound/design, and overall story/characters in the main game, sorry no online
review yet. There might be some
spoilers, your have been warned!
Game Play
The control
for the cars and other motorized vehicles in the games is very well done. For some one who hates driving in games
because the cars usually go off the road after one bump into an object, that is
saying a lot. Now some cars are worse
than others but once you have found a well balanced car (or pimped out a car
enough to handle turns and breaking) it makes driving easier.
However, I
have found the controls for aircraft to be a bitch. The only thing I could really fly with
precision was the helicopters. Sure
there is flight school but I didn’t really want to spend 2 hours (that is how
long it would take me to complete the whole thing) learning to fly planes. Thankfully there aren’t too many missions
where you have to fly a plane.
The
fighting and shooting mechanics they are ok.
It is better to go into the setting menu and switch your sights to
complex. That way you can have a circle
and a dot instead of a tiny little dot that you can barely see what you are
shooting at. Combat situations are easy
to get threw as long as you stay in cover and switch to Trevor (when available)
to use his special powers.
Speaking of
special powers, each main character has there own unique skill/power. Michael is the ability to slow down time to
doge bullets and precise aim (Max Pain style); Franklin
Over all
the game play mechanics are done well and once you have grasped them, you can
fully immerge yourself into the game.
Visuals and Sound
The visuals
are stunning. From the first moment you
are walking on the beach and you watch the sunset, you know this game is going
to look alright. The lighting in this
game is very well done, from the sun glares to neon lights; everything is
properly lit and doesn’t seem out of place.
The water and sand looks like water and sand and not some copy and past
texture.
Although
there are cases where the textures are copy and past, the shops that you cannot
go into the “windows” look like poorly copied ads placed on the graphic. Also if you are riding around in the hills or
look at a patch of grass the texture looks like something out of a last gen
counsel.
As for
sound I literally had an orgasm when it came to the background sound
design. The layers and right mix of
traffic noise and air was overwhelming.
It is refreshing to go to different parts of the city and get a different
soundscape for each part. Even on the
beach near the city you could still hear the roar from the traffic.
The
dialogue from the main cast was well done, it pays to have an excellent cast,
but I felt the background extras became a little to repetitive. The sound effects for the vehicles could be
little more divers but overall everything was covered.
Overall the visuals and sound are
stunning, and you can easily get lost for house in this gigantic sandbox just
driving or what I like to do, sail around the map.
Story and Characters
This is a
long, long story line, as it should be with three main characters. While I found the story to be moving at a
good pace where I never felt board, I did find the story to be a little too
predictable. Once all the major players
in the game had been introduced you could easily see the setup and ending
roughly half way threw the main story.
Don’t get me wrong it is still a good story, but predictable.
Side
mission story lines boarder on the ridiculousness but funny. It is a nice deviant from the main story line
and gives the player more experiences that you can do in the world. I particularly love Trevor’s freaks and
strangers missions.
The
characters themselves are very complex and diverse in there own unique
way. You can easily identify where they
came from, brought up, and became the person they are to this day. As for the others characters outside of the
main 3, every single one is flat and a stereotype. The men fall into douche bag with penis envy
while the women fall is a raging ball of PMS and sluts looking to score a high paying
dick. It would be nice to see some type
of diversity in the next game.
Final
thought on the game, it was well written, visually appealing, and has a very
high replay value. Few things would need
to be fixed for example a few of the textures, more complex villains and side
characters, and better controls for flight.
But this was a fun game to play and I for one can not wait to dive back
in to explore more of this world.
See you on the other side.
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