GTA5, the best game ever ?

A little bit of a background, I haven’t been into gaming at all since 3-4 years. I probably play one or two games in the whole year. Very few games interest me nowadays. I prefer to put my feet up and relax and watch movies and TV shows. That being said, I have been a huge fan of the Grand Theft Auto series since 2005 and have  anxiously waited for the newest installment in the series.  GTA5’s first trailer release way back in 2011.  I have been going crazy counting down the days to the games launch on the 17^th of September. The day I had been waiting  for so long finally came. I skipped college, kept calling up a famous online retailer who royally screwed up my pre-order. Quickly cancelled it and hopped across to a store and stood in line for a game, yup this was a first for me. I never ever took myself to be the kind to stand in queue for a game of all things.

About the game, it’s the most awaited video game of 2013. I did read some of the pre-release reviews. Yupp, it definitely seemed like it lived up to the massive expectations. IGN gave it a perfect 10/10 rating. People had already started writing about how this is the best GTA game ever and may just be the best game they have ever played. It has  been a good 5 years since GTA4 released. Rockstar games have really taken their time with this one, but I’m not complaining. It was definitely worth the wait!!! GTA5 cost its developer, Rockstar Games, a cool $265 million dollars to develop and market.  Within 24 hours of its launch it generated more than $800 million in revenue surpassing the previous record held by Call of Duty: Black Ops 2. GTA5 went on to make over 1$ billion within the first three days and is going to earn its second billion this October. Calling it a commercial success is merely an understatement ehh? It’s out only on Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.

Coming to the gameplay, it was everything and more than I had expected. I can’t even begin to tell you how crazy it is.  The game is set in the fictional city of Los Santos, which is loosely based around Los Angeles. There’s even a Vinewood hills, no points for guessing its inspired from Hollywood Hills. It’s got the biggest map and in-game area than any of the previous titles. The attention to detail is nuts. Compared to GTA4, they have really overhauled how the cars drive and handle, it’s really improved and much more realistic now.  The main story-line is brilliant.  You can play as one of three characters in the game Michael, Franklin and Trevor.  I finished the main story within a week with a total play time of about 32 hours.  My game progress stands at 62%, lots of side missions left to do.  It’s like a parallel world, you can practically do anything you want. You can free roam, drive cars, ride motorcycles, fly planes, fighter planes, jumbo jets, helicopters, visit a strip club, drive a boat, cycle, play tennis, play golf, swim, go on a date to name a few. The in-game radio features real songs. There is also an in-game internet, where you can purchase stocks, and buy cars and clothes and almost any thing you would want in the game. The money earned through bank robberies, drug deals and other crimes can be used to buy businesses or can be invested. The things and variety of things you can do in the game is truly mind boggling. GTA5 really takes a dig at a couple of real life things, there’s a Facebook alternative in the game called Life Invader and there’s a phone in the game called iFruit. Car customization is done at a place called Los Santos Customs, (rip off of West Coast Customs?).  Most of the vehicles in the game bear a striking resemblance to popular real cars, and there are many many cars in the game. The missions are extremely good, starting from hijacking planes to stopping trains to stealing cars to assassinations to heists and robberies and the list just goes on.

There is a bit of an adult-ish theme apart from the language used. This game has already been banned for sales in the middle-east. Additionally, there is a GTA5 application which can be downloaded on IOS called the ‘iFruit’ app, where you can fiddle around with your game and modify your car etc when you aren’t near your console.

Some things off the top of my head which I would want to point out is, the damage on cars has been toned down significantly compared to GTA4. Also,  since Rockstar Games has such a huge budget I wish they use and license real cars in the forthcoming titles just like the Driver series did with their most recent game; Driver San Fransisco.

GTA5’s online play starts from the 1^st of October. Make a crew with your friends and commit crimes together.  Also, make a Rockstar Social Club id and link it to your PSN or your XBOX Live.

The sheer size of the game is mind boggling. I’m sure I’ve missed out mentioning a lot of things. If you don’t play games, I think it’s time you start? I highly recommend getting your hands on GTA5. I am really considering being a video game tester now :P

Do check out all the trailers released for the games till date – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0gotQ06I8I