Game Review: GTA V

Platform: PS3, XBOX 360, PC

Price Range £35.99 - £45

Age Rating: 18

Genre: RPG / Shoot and loot

Design:

One of this year's much anticipated games comes from Rockstar and they have not disappointed with the latest in the series of Grand Theft Auto games or GTA for short. The game follows 3 different criminals as they take on daring deeds and at times extreme ones too in order to get to the top of their respective crime trees. The game is full of action right from the start and Rockstar have done a good job by dropping you straight into a bank heist and basically saying 'here learn while you earn'.

It's clear that after the success of the past titles in the series that Rockstar want to bring GTA back with a bang and I feel that they have done that here. Customisation plays a part in the game but not so much that it over powers you it's just there in the background if you want a change of clothes or hairstyle using the money you earn from robbing banks, stealing cars and just being a general menace throughout Los Santos.

Gameplay:

Now I'll be honest I thought it was just going to be the same old thing with GTA V as it has been with all the previous titles and as such I didn't really get mega excited about it.... Looking back I am glad to say I was wrong, there is obviously an element of familiarity but that's because at heart it is still a GTA game but even so it's nice to see that Rockstar have pulled out all the stops in an attempt to make this the best GTA yet.

Aiming guns can be slightly annoying due to the strange controls that Rockstar have whacked on there, I won't spoil it too much but I'm sure you will see what I mean when you play the game, driving cars is also a bit of a pain too as you find yourself sliding all over the place and running at least ten old women over before your character can say the word 'nigger' and trust me that happens A LOT.

Missions can be found on the main map along with a host of other tasks and places to visit and there are a lot of them with a map that is absolutely sprawling with people to talk to and interact with you won't be caught short of things to do in Los Santos there is always somebody to murder in cold blood or a good car that needs torching or stealing.

Each individual character has skills that can be upgraded by taking part in activities in those skill areas, for example the 'Shooting' skill increases the more you fire a gun, the 'Driving' skill increases the more you drive a car and so on so depending on how good you want your character t o be at certain things you best put the time in to make him decent.

Presentation:

For me I feel that Rockstar always pride themselves in making graphically pleasing games and it's fair to say that they haven't disappointed here with a rich textured looking game and characters that look individually different in every kind of manner its hard to see where GTA V really goes wrong in the whole presentation part of things... UNTIL you hit the menu system, now don't get me wrong I know there are only so many controls on a game pad and that all the aspects of the game have to be mapped out somewhere and to be honest they have done a good job apart from the damn 'Wheel System' that so many games try and incorporate these days, by holding 'RB' it brings up the radio wheel and you can select a station, bit poor really but honestly it's the only real bad thing that I can pull out of the presentation as a whole.

GTA Online:

Unfortunately I can't review this at this time because it doesn't get released until October 1st 2013 but keep an eye on my YouTube Channel for more info on this section :)

Summary:

Overall I like it, I'm not going to say I love it at this point because I have only played two hours of it and i'd sound like a bit of a fan-boy for saying that but for now it has good promise and for any die hard GTA fan or for those of you new to the franchise it is definitely worth a play just for entertainment value more than anything. A MUST HAVE THIS CHRISTMAS

Design: 9.4

Gameplay: 9.6

Presentation: 9.1

Overall: 9.3