Grand Theft Auto has long been a series that I have dabbled in, attempted to play through, but ultimately become bored with. Grand Theft Auto V, in my opinion, could change all that for me.
I have been a fan of the GTA series since I first played it on my Playstation One, back in the day. It’s a fun crime game that is full of character and depth, should you want to seek it out. The problem that I have always had with this series is something that has plagued most “open-world” games I’ve played, and something I have come to call “Sandbox Syndrome”. It’s when there is so much to do in a world that you cannot focus on the story, and eventually get bored with the ability to do ANYTHING, and end up doing nothing.
I have never once finished a Grand Theft Auto game. There have been many reasons for this, from story issues, difficulty with a particular mission, and control issues. Mostly it was due to me just not caring enough about the story to want to see it further. As opposed to the recent Saints Row games (III & IV) where the story was so ridiculously over the top, GTA games have been about the plight of a single man hell bent on revenge. That is an interesting plot line to follow in some cases, however, when you (the player) are solely in charge of moving the story forward, through actions or missions, it can be overlooked by the sheer vastness of things to do OUTSIDE of the story. With the SR games, things just kept escalating more and more to the point that I couldn’t wait to see what dumb thing the developers had me doing next. The Grand Theft series has always been more of a slow, methodical, deliberate build. Driving missions, escort missions, driving cabs… none of that was interesting to me for very long at all. Maybe it’s just that I have grown up over the years, but since GTAIV I have finished several “Open-World” games including Sleeping Dogs, Saints Row III and Saints Row IV. It looks like GTAV might be the first Grand Theft game I finish.
Grand Theft Auto Five offers way more for the player to do, in terms of story, and side distractions. The difference, at least for me, is that the story is more varied than previous games, and as such, makes me less likely to be distracted. As the story is “split” between three main protagonists, it naturally offers different perspectives to see the world of Los Santos. As Franklin, the player is shown a more desperate side of the town. Franklin starts out in a ghetto boosting cars and running small time hood operations. Michael is an “ex” bank robber that lives in the Vinewood (Hollywood) Hills with his family. They are well off, have no idea what poverty is like and all pretty much hate each other. Then there is Trevor. Trevor is a meth addict that lives in the dessert on the outskirts of the “big city”. He and his cronies cook, and sell meth and do pretty much anything to make money. Trevor is also insane, and has a temper that teeters between barely holding it together and full on “Hulk smash” rage. The three characters offer distinct looks into the living breathing city that is Los Santos.
Granted I am only a third of the way through the story/game, but I am enjoying this GTA on a level that the other games never reached. Previous GTA games were fun to play around with, but GTAV has been an absolute joy to play. What I mean is that where the other games were fun to poke at the systems and see what I could do, I was doing so while trying my best to ignore the way those early games controlled. The shooting and driving were always a mess, in my opinion. It was never easy to get into or out of a gun fight, and trying to escape the cops usually required feats timing and a LOT of luck. In GTAV (again, at least so far) the driving has been much more forgiving, and the shooting has been downright automatic. While the shooting may be, pardon the expression, “overkill” in trying to correct their previous controls schemes, the driving feels way better. Different cars handle in different ways depending on if they are sports cars or just your average clunker. The steering is more arcade-like and this lends itself well to a game that is partially about getting away as fast and as efficiently as possible.
What I think I like most about GTAV is that for as much time I spend goofing off doing side missions, discovering locations, and starting fights, I am enjoying the story proper just as much. I have yet to run up against a mission that I felt was to difficult to complete and usually the deaths/failures I have come across have been my own stupid mistakes. The variety of things that I can do and see, both scripted and unscripted, have been a hell of a lot of fun to go through. There also seems to be a wide variety of ways to accomplish missions as the game goes along. The ability to instantly replay a mission is wonderful. The best part of that is that you can replay them at ANY point, and it will not affect the story progress. This adds a LOT of replay value to a game and genre that usually is a “one and done” thing.
This is, by no means, a review of the entire game. I have not completed the story, and probably won’t for a while. However, I am enjoying GTAV enough that I felt I needed to write down my early impressions. Bottom line, if you can’t tell by reading all this, I am very impressed with Grand Theft Auto Five. From the presentation, the play mechanics, and the way the story has unfolded so far, it’s been a better experience than GTA games of the past. I honestly can say that I wish I could play for longer and more frequent sessions. That is a review in and of itself, I think.
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