Flying down the highway at 130 miles per hour, Michael de Santa opens fire on the police squad cars behind him. Taking a quick turn into a dark tunnel at breakneck speeds, he throws the police off his track, returning home to his dysfunctional family, only to drown it out with a stiff glass of scotch and an old movie. This sort of debauchery is all but the norm in Grand Theft Auto 5.
The latest game in one of the most popular international video game series of all time, GTA 5 continues a legacy of action-packed games notorious for excessive illegal and immoral actions. On September 17, yet another excellent game flew off the shelves worldwide, eventually earning the title of the fastest-selling entertainment product in history. But this game goes much deeper than it appears on the surface, despite what some may believe.
As someone who beat this game, I feel it fulfilled every expectation I had, improving on many of the flaws in the previous game, Grand Theft Auto 4. With a great story-line and even better characters, GTA 5 has depth that should not get lost in the apparent immorality. Additionally, the vast parody of Los Angeles and the modern United States that it constructs is remarkable and often overlooked.
One noticeably different feature from the beginning of the game is the graphic content. Although made for the XBox 360 and PS3, GTA 5 has crisp images that are quite life-like. Pushing these aging consoles to their limits, this game operates smoothly without any hitches or bugs even as the next generation of gaming consoles arrive on the shelves.
Accompanying these graphical changes was a map significantly larger than that of any of the previous games in the series. Modeled off of southern California, this game provides a wide variety of environments for the user to explore. From mountains to valleys, deserts to cities, there is plenty of room to run around, race cars, and even fly planes. Greatly increasing the area of the map, GTA 5 simply gives more space to be enjoyed. More importantly, the detail put into every corner of the map surpasses that of any previous version.
On the streets of San Andreas, the people are active, with cars on every street and people on every sidewalk. Occasionally, you’ll see gang showdowns or police chases, along with built-in random events that enliven the typical flow of the game. In the countryside, you’ll encounter wild animals that may run away from you or run at you, keeping things unpredictable. Adding variation to the already superb free mode, GTA 5 furthers the reputation of the series as great for free play.
Accompanying this expansive map are countless vehicles and the reintroduction of planes to the series. With 257 total vehicles, there is much more variety, and a massive highway system extending throughout the map gives the opportunity to test them all out. GTA 5 also features three airports and a number of different helicopters and planes to cross the expansive map. On top of this all, the cars, boats, and planes all have a better operational feel, appearing more life-like and responsive.
Although all of these changes are noteworthy, what really sets this game apart are its complex characters. With three main characters, Michael, Trevor, and Franklin, the game can be experienced from various perspectives. A player grows to learn much about all of them and, regardless of his/her opinion, the he/she feels an emotional connection to them in one way or another by the end of the campaign. Whether you love or hate Michael’s struggle with his family life, or Franklin’s journey out of the hood, or even Trevor’s troubles as an up-and-coming meth dealer, you will know the characters inside and out, aware of even small details of these three men’s lives. Whether you’re in love with their merits or filled of disdain for their flaws, you will see the incredible level of character development each has.
Furthermore, GTA 5 is such an excellent game because of its mockery of many prevalent developments in American culture. On the radio and in missions, you see social media, plastic surgery, and reality T.V., among other aspects of our society directly lampooned. With clear parodies of the FBI and CIA as well as companies like Google, Facebook, and Apple, the game relates to real-world patterns in an entertaining way, weaving them into the story-line seamlessly.
Overall, this is a great game, quite possibly the best game of the century thus far and certainly the best game I have ever played. Regardless of whether you dislike the message it sends, GTA 5 has earned worldwide acclaim with record success and virtually impeccable reviews. If you look beyond the reputation of the game and give it a chance, it is almost certain that you will find something that you love about it.
