After a five year hiatus, the game where people could go to a strip club every night, have whatever car they want and do whatever they wanted to with no penalty is finally back.
Five years ago Rockstar Games released Grand Theft Auto IV, which is known as one of the top 10 games of the 2000 era. Now, Rockstar has released another masterpiece with Grand Theft Auto V. In just 24 hours they broke an industry record by making $800 million. To compare to another popular game, it made $300 million more than what Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 made in the first day.
Rockstar began working on GTA V shortly after the release of GTA IV in 2008. That five year period allowed Rockstar to build one of the largest in game maps of all time. The game takes place in a city called Los Santos, but the map stretches from the poorer side to the rich side, even extending all the way out to the desert and military bases.
In this game you play as three characters: Franklin, Michael and Trevor. Throughout the story you are able to switch between the three characters and play their portions of the story. Their stories intertwine as they work together to pull off many large heists in order to gain wealth. Each character has his own abilities as well as one special ability that can help you in those heists. As you progress through the game, each character’s abilities progressively get better.
You are allowed to pick your crew for you heists and each person you choose impacts the heists in a different way. That brings a whole new thought process to this series. In previous games it was “run here, aim and kill people,” but that is not possible in this game. You have to think about what people you want to help you. If you pick the wrong person, things will go wrong but if you pick the right person things will go very smoothly.
This is one of the most interactive games made to date; the game makes changes and reactions to the different people you are as well as the positions of the map you are on as well. For example, when using Michael, if in the bad part of the city you steal a car, people will question why you are there and will try to kill you. However, when you do that in the wealthier part of the city, no one pays any attention.
The story itself is unlike any game I have ever played. I will not give away any spoilers but the people you meet in the main story, and even in the side missions, have such a big impact on the story. It is impossible not to want to do each side mission and skip the main story.
Of course, what is a GTA game without strip clubs, stolen cars and running from the police? They have added much more to these concepts. Now, you can steal anything from a boat to a plane, and even a blimp if you have the access code.
In a new way to help the player earn money, the makers are now allowing you to venture into the stock market. You can buy and sell stock just like you do in real life, but in this game, you can take it into your own hands as to how your stock goes.
The online version of the game will be released Oct. 1 and it allows you to have a brand new character and play with friends. You can do heists, robberies, races, play golf; anything you could do in the story mode you can do online with friends. The server is limited to 16 people per server but you can still get your friends together when it releases and just let loose.
This is the best GTA game of all time by far. It’s not the shock of having another game after the five year drought, it is the amazing story mode, the interaction and connection of all the characters, the side missions and the interactive civilian and map features. I knew this game would be good but never did I expect this game to be this good or realistic.
GTA V is game of the year quality, but we shouldn’t be surprised because Rockstar never disappoints in their games. They have become the elite video game producers in the United States with games like Max Payne 3, Red Dead Redemption and the GTA series. They have done it once again with another great game, and as GTA IV is known as one of the best games of the 2000’s, GTA V will be known as one of the best games of this decade.
