GTA V

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Thelepearchauns
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GTA V

Post by Thelepearchauns » 18 Sep 2013, 23:42

This review is spoiler free. The spoiler tags are for condensing text. Enjoy!

Grand Theft Auto 5 has been getting higher ratings than an Emma Watson sex tape. In fact the only people on this planet who think it isnt made of solid platinum are the good people at the Escapeist, for which this server is named. Now, I havnt finished the game. I have been working 10 hour days this week, and the game has only been out 48 hours...you do the math. Currently my save reads 25% and Ive done a lot of things in the open world. Enough so that I feel I can accurately review this game.

Audio:
Spoiler! :
Any game that has Elton John and Queen come up in succession is golden in my books. In past games I have turned GTA radio off. But here I find myself surfing the stations in the car. Even the hip hop hits I despise seem refreshing for some reason. The voice acting is better than most video games. Heck, its better than most movies. Crashes are crisp, bullets sound powerful and I constantly want to listen in on the random strangers phone conversations as I pass by. The only thing keeping audio from a perfect score so far would be your heist organizer, Lester. I cant believe Im typing these words(however this is a GTA review)...that guy makes me want to push his wheelchair into traffic...his voice is that annoying.
Graphics:
Spoiler! :
The graphics are clean, bright and a refreshing upgrade from the drab browns of GTA 4. It looks and feels like a bright, cheery SoCal city. The cars are shiny and damage realistically. If you nail a traffic bollard at 90 mph, its a sight to behold. Im playing on the 360 version. The hardware is showing its age. Graphics glitches appear at high speeds, but I think the more powerful next gen systems and PC will excel with this. It still looks "current gen" but with the sheer scale of the world, it looks like they did the absolute most you can do in current gen.
Gameplay:
Spoiler! :
Heres the biggy. The game plays well so far. Driving is MUCH tighter than in previous iterations. You can actually get from a to b without hitting d,e,f and killing c against a tree. Speaking of trees. They are still invincible. If I hit one with a semi or a heli...I expect it to move. Also, apparently cedar hedgerows are made of concrete, fyi. The new charachter switch system takes some getting used to. There were several times where I switch mid firefight and end up firing at nearby birds instead of enemies. Also, my first try, I technically shot myself in the face on the first mission...oops. This doesnt however mean it isnt smooth once you get a handle in it. The best improvement, however, is in the guns. Switching weapons adopts Red Dead Redemptions wheel system. It slows down time while you use the joystick to choose what you want. So goodbye scrolling through guns or accidentally switching from the one you want. The auto aim is also REALLY handy. The sights are minuscule, so manual aiming is touchy. Tapping a trigger switches targets, the other trigger fires. Its that easy. GTA 4 had, quite possibly, the WORST mechanic of all time in dating missions. Those are gone. People call and suggest side missions, or poke you toward the story, but nobody wants to go bowling. I can live with that. Even without the side missions, I find myself playing the minigames. Tennis was actually a fun way to pass time in between heists. The best feature that I have found so far though, are the random happenings. Driving by and seeing a purse snatcher...I automatically run his ass over and return the ladys bag. Sometimes you get rewards for it. Sometimes you dont. And those are the times when you run over the victim as well. And best of all are the strangers. They pop up in places from time to time, and are crazy. So far I range from racing an angry jogger, to getting high and chain gunning aliens, to filming a sex tape rivaling hot coffee. There is so much to so, and you are no longer forced to do it. The game encourages you to explore, and you will.
All I will say story wise, is that this has the best opening mission I think I have ever played. Its instructive, its interesting and its fun. After that the story paces itself well and you really start to get into the minds of the protagonists. Having sympathy for their issues at times, while at others you embrace their collective insanity.

Overall, I love this game. It reportedly cost over a quarter of a BILLION dollars to make. And it shows. Its also showing how it managed to make back nearly 4x that amount in just 24 hours. Its a tight game that immerse and fun. I dont want to put it down, but my boss would be miffed if Im late again. Its putting current hardware to the test and will be stunning on later editions. I personally cannot wait to pay for it again on PC.

Overall 97/100

For comparison I gave a few games I played extensively in the past ratings on the same scale:
GTA 4 85/100
Halo 4 88/100
Black Ops 1 79/100
Madden 25 84/100
Assasins Creed 3 81/100
Guns of Icarus online 92/100
Portal 2 98/100
Last edited by Thelepearchauns on 19 Sep 2013, 10:05, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: GTA V

Post by wokka1 » 19 Sep 2013, 00:36

Nice Lep, thanks

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Thelepearchauns
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Re: GTA V

Post by Thelepearchauns » 19 Sep 2013, 10:05

Im playing a few hours a night. Its just...fantastic. Ill keep updating if anything comes up, but at this point, anything would have to be a MASSIVE issue in order to change my opinion
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So its a sword that acts like a key in very specific situations
Or its a key all the time...and when you stick it in someone, it unlocks their death
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Invunarble
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Re: GTA V

Post by Invunarble » 19 Sep 2013, 14:18

The game is truthfully amazing, and this isn't even counting what online will have.

It's just... go buy it for yourself, readers of this review. It's beyond worth the $60 and the countless hours you'll throw away playing. DO IT!
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Re: GTA V

Post by Sti_Jo_Lew » 19 Sep 2013, 14:59

But it unfortunately isn't worth the cost of a console plus the game. Curse you Rockstaaaaaaaar!
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Re: GTA V

Post by Invunarble » 19 Sep 2013, 17:16

Sti_Jo_Lew wrote:isn't worth the cost of a console
Hell yes it is! Not only are current-gen consoles only around $150, but the game really makes up for it and is probably worth way more then $150.

Waiting for it to port to PC's going to have you sitting there for a looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong time - and I personally think the extra $150 is worth it as opposed to waiting 2 years for a port to come out.
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Re: GTA V

Post by Wildwill002 » 19 Sep 2013, 18:14

That extra $150 (£93.56, [EURO GOES HERE] 110.89) Could be used to buy several games on PC or even an upgrade to the PC in some aspect. I'm willing to wait for the ability to mod, see the world in the intended graphics and have a smoother time doing it to boot.

The only time I acquire a console is at the end of its "life" so to speak, the exception being my Xbox which I got from christmas gifts. That way, you get the console cheaper, and have a large back catalog of games to play (Which will, most likely, also be cheaper).

That said, depending on how I do in a few upcoming poker games, I will hopefully be getting a PS4 sometime next summer. I've a real hankering for playing the Ratchet and Clank games in HD and I believe theres some form of Playstation store that will allow me to purchase them
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Re: GTA V

Post by aflycon » 04 Oct 2013, 13:39

Don't get me wrong, I love GTA games. I've played and (to some extent) enjoyed every single one, all the way back to the original Grand Theft Auto and London, 1969. So, I would say my opinion on the franchise is fairly informed.

Many of my fondest childhood memories include playing Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas on the original Xbox. In those days, games like San Andreas were few and far between and truly spectacular. It was a time when a game didn't require a compelling storyline to entice a player, but simply interesting and new mechanics. However, San Andreas delivered on both. Nearly everything about that game was fantastic and ahead of its time, including the story.

Now, I won't get into detail, but at its core San Andreas was a classic story of gangland betrayal. Some of the characters weren't particularly likable, and some were downright shitty, but by the end of Carl Johnson's journey you found yourself looking back retrospectively at all the crazy things that had happened, how they had unfolded, and why. (Spoilers ahead, but if you haven't finished it in nine years it's on you pal.) When you return to Grove Street one last time, things are different and you can feel it. Big Smoke, the rat, the traitor, the Judas of the family is dead along with Tenpenny, Pulaski and countless others. But there's meaning to the blood on Carl's hands. It was a well-written piece of work that I would definitely play through again, and did many times.

The game I spent the second-most amount of time on was GTA IV, with a total of eight play-throughs. I've beaten this game in every way imaginable, with game times ranging from over a hundred hours (total completion and plenty of dicking around) to only eighteen (just completing the storyline). I have to say that GTA 4, while it had its flaws, may have been the best game of this generation. Nearly every mechanic from previous GTA games was improved upon, some regrettably, and some very well. The game handled and still handles smoothly, given its age; I still find myself sitting on top of the Sprunk! factory with six stars, picking off police and NOOSE officers with the fluid and easily-managed aiming system (I honestly don't know where any complaints came from - that system works great).

But where GTA IV really shone was its storyline. Despite what may be popular belief, the Grand Theft Auto games are not cop-killing simulators, or rampage games, or spatter games. Each one contains a wonderful story, be it a caricature or satire of modern culture or a heartstring-pulling tale of death and despair. (Spoilers ahead, but again, it's been five and a half years. Come on.) Every loose end had been tied up by the time Niko stood retrospectively by the Platypus following the final mission, and they had been tied up well. But at the same time, Niko's story should have tugged at your heartstrings - if you played the game right. You listened to Roman; you realized that revenge would bring you little; you spared Darko; you tried to make the deal with Dimitri. And in the end you lost what was dearest to you - not the prude, flat character that was Kate McReary but the cousin who valued you above all else: Roman was gone.

No spoilers about GTA V.

In GTA V, the storyline is streamlined to say the least. Markedly shorter than its predecessor (by about 17 missions), the story - that focused decidedly more on Michael than on Franklin or Trevor - seemed rushed in comparison to Niko's. Yes, it had its strong points, but as its ancestors it too included boring fetch quests and flat cutscenes.

Each character works not for some complex moral reason but simply out of greed. Michael, after settling past debts, continues to heist simply for his own gain despite already being filthy rich. Trevor, who has little and wants less, has no true reason other than the thrill of the hunt to continue alongside the other protagonists. Only Franklin's tale, that of a would-be gangster trying to escape the hood, has any semblance of structure (though he still only works for the money). Now, that being said, I was able to appreciate each and every character in this game. From Steve "Mr. Leisurewear" Haines to Devin "Hey Slick, it's me" Weston (God, I hated that line) to Lester to Brad, each character was at the least well-written - just not necessarily well-written into the story.

Trevor was chief among these, contrary to what I expected. In a display of incredible irony, Trevor actually displays the most moral character of the three protagonists - he is an upstanding, loyal man, despite his many quirks. I found myself drawn more into his story than into Michael's or Franklin's, if only for the cutscenes and dialogue where he was most profound (the beginning of Predator, all of Bury the Hatchet, and his dialogue in Something Sensible to name a few).

But the other characters fell short, and the story suffered for this. The heists were fun, but otherwise the story of Grand Theft Auto V consisted of a few subplots strung together and rushed to their respective climaxes, resulting in a game that left little effect on the player. I appreciated that they cut the clutter this time around (for the most part), but this game, at 69 missions, felt far shorter than GTA IV. The three endings were also a disappointment for me, because while only one of them seems to truly clean up shop in respect to what's already happened, the other two - which both leave a few stones unturned - offer a twisted sense of closure in the dialogue that follows their respective missions.

TL;DR: GTA V was an improvement in every way except for the storyline, where it fell completely flat in comparison to GTA IV.

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Re: GTA V

Post by Invunarble » 04 Oct 2013, 14:28

Potential spoilers below, do not open if you haven't played the game yet!
Spoiler! :
For me, it seemed like the climax of GTA V's story was at the beginning-ish area of the game, just about when you start playing as Trevor and begin doing Merryweather heists - which by the way, that wasn't pleasing at all losing 20 million dollars at the end of the mission - and reuniting with Michael. Just about everything after that, minus the Union Depository mission and the ending seemed too quick and unexciting as the game appeared earlier.

In terms of the personalities of the game's characters, yeah, they didn't seem that relatable despite their uniqueness. But as (I think) Angry Joe said in his review, GTA V's protagonists aren't really meant to be related to - as they're essentially bank robbers. Their motivations seemed reasonable (Trevor's lust for revenge on the various people around him, I.E. Merryweather and The Lost, Michael's reliving of his glory days and his sickness of doing the same thing, and Franklin's whole "get out of the hood" thing), and I give credit for the fact Rockstar incorporated their friendships in with each other pretty well - as opposed to GTA IV which just threw Niko in with Packie and LJ and Dwayne based on mutual acquaintances - but my biggest concern was that their way of dealing with it was kind of quick and anti-climactic. I practically felt like I flew right through the whole game by the time I got to the final mission - and this was with doing all of the side missions, too.

However, I do like the fact the ending of the game gave you the option between doing something a bit insensible that'd leave you feeling empty and/or unsatisfied, and doing a mediocre ending that doesn't go out with a loud, rupturing bang. Just as I liked the fact GTA IV let you choose between the shocking ending of Roman dying, or the mediocre ending of Kate McReary dying, I also enjoyed how GTA V lets you choose between a ME3-style "Kill everyone off" ending and an ending that isn't exactly dramatic or insensible, but is nonetheless satisfying. I mean, it's definitely an improvement over RDR's one-way ending isn't it?

So while I think that this game's storyline kind of picked up the pace in the wrong part of the story, I also think that some aspects of it were improved from GTA IV's storyline (such as Niko just being thrown in with his various accomplices), and I enjoyed the fact that you didn't have to go an unsatisfying, big character dies-style ending if you really didn't want to.
Now, to just wait through the rest of GTA Online's loading screens...
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