Grand Theft Auto V (PS4)

Developer/Publisher: Rockstar North/Rockstar Games
Release Date(s): Nov. 18, 2014
Genre(s): Open-world action-adventure
Platform(s): Xbox One, Playstation 4, Windows (Jan. 27, 2015), earlier version available for Xbox 360 and Playstation 3
Language(s): English; interface and subtitles for German, French, Italian, Spanish, Korean, Polish, Russian, Br. Portuguese, Chinese (trad.)
Pricing: $59.99 USD / €59,99 EUR / £42.99 GBP
Rating: M (ESRB), 18 (PEGI, USK)

When Grand Theft Auto V came out for Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 last year, many people were hoping for a version of the game to coincide with release of the new next-gen consoles that were not yet on the market. Unfortunately, fans of the series would have to wait patiently for one more year. Finally, on November 18, 2014, an enhanced version of the game arrived in stores all over the world. The developers at Rockstar used the extra time to make one of the best titles of its kind even better. 

Back in Town

Michael Townley is a criminal from the old school. He’s never even heard of Internet crime, and insurance fraud just doesn’t do it for him. He’s one of those tough guys who’ll walk into a bank with his weapon drawn, take out the guards, and relieve the credit institution of its deposits. But the kind of person who likes to take big risks should be aware that he can lose it all at any time. After a botched robbery, Michael was snatched up by the law, but due to his willingness to talk to the police, he was placed in a witness protection program. The rest of his team didn’t get off so easy, however. Though he still feels remorse for having betrayed his companions, his new villa in Los Santos does make it easier to forget the whole thing. 

Unfortunately, the world of the wealthy and the beautiful is not always so simple. After Michael catches his wife and her tennis instructor in the middle of an “intensive” private lesson, a series of events is set into motion from which there’s no turning back. In a fit of blinding rage, Michael destroys what he believes is the tennis instructor’s home, without stopping to find out for sure. It turns out that the hillside mansion he just destroyed belonged to a local drug lord, who is none too pleased with his property’s sudden decline in value. Surrounded by his armed thugs, the drug lord demands that Michael pay him two million dollars for the damage he’s done. Who could say no in such a situation, even if they’re actually broke?

Gameplay

In order to come up with the money, Michael ends up entering into an uneasy alliance with a young criminal and aspiring gangster named Franklin. Franklin has been trying to make it big in the gang scene, but until now has not been able to make the big money that goes with that. Early in the game he inadvertently crosses paths with the former bank robber, who soon takes him on with his crew as his apprentice. Also joining forces with Michael is Trevor, a former member of his team who was once in charge of coordinating their illegal activities. He now reprises his role and takes on the task of planning the new team’s jobs, because if you don’t want to end up behind bars, you’d better be well-prepared. Before robbing a jewelry store, you first have to carry out a recon mission, making sure to explore each and every possibility if you want to avoid the long arm of the law.  

Posing as a potential customer, you get a good view of the store’s general layout while at the same time checking out the security system and figuring out possible escape routes. Even the ventilation system has to be thoroughly examined. When you’ve done all your homework and gotten all the facts together, one question still remains – are you going to do this the hard way or the easy way? Are you going to go in brandishing assault rifles, take hostages, and shoot your way out in a wild firefight with the police, or are you going to proceed more discreetly and plunder the jewelry store without anyone even noticing? Not every mission is so complex, of course, but the fifth installment in the series once again manages to draw you in so deep that you forget the world around you.

The missions that make up the game’s 25-hour-log plot are really impressive, even if they do recycle some content every now and then. The excellent plot and production values, including several realistic and well-rounded characters, ensure that you will definitely want to keep playing. You’re not going to want to put the controller down because you’re going to be constantly wondering what’s going to happen next, even when it doesn’t concern the main storyline. 

For explorers, the city of Los Santos is a gamer’s dream come true. There’s something to see around every corner. If you take your time to explore the game’s vast map, you won’t be disappointed. The streets are full of shops that invite you to come in and spend your money – From new clothing to hairstyles, to tattoos and weapons, even store-bought love, pretty much everything the heart desires. You can get money from countless sources – illegal auto-racing, minor side missions, or boldly sticking your hand in the cash register, all of which will help you rack up the dollars. 

Of course, it’s no surprise that many of the profitable activities available in the game will attract the attention of the law. But for a veteran outlaw, serving a prison sentence is no option, which means that high-speed chases are part of your daily routine. Fleeing on foot turns out to be a pretty effective thanks to the game’s excellent controls, but it won’t keep you away from the numerically superior police forces for long. To get away fast, there’s no way around taking one of the many vehicles available in the game, whether it has two wheels or four. 

If you plan ahead wisely, you can have your escape vehicle souped up at a tuning shop before you go in and do your “work”. But enough talking about it, really – in the end, there’s just nothing more exciting than a good car chase, with everything that that entails. 

At the lowest alert level, the cops come off as pretty lazy, and will give up the pursuit rather easily. It’s often enough to simply disappear into one of the many side streets or to repaint your escape vehicle for them to lose interest in trying to find you. But if you’ve got a bit more dirt on you, or if you’ve gone so far as to exchange fire with the police, you can quickly become an enemy of the state and they will hunt you down mercilessly. Special units will support the ordinary cops on the ground, and helicopters will catch all your attempts to throw the law off your trail before you even try. After a few minutes, roadblocks and caltrops make the main routes inaccessible, and instead of shouting at you to surrender, the cops just open fire on sight. The time to make amends is over, and the car you loved so much is nothing but a hunk of metal with holes in it. Now it’s time to express your position a little more forcefully, with a little help from Ammu-Nation.

When you find yourself in these kinds of situations, this huge arsenal featuring weapons of all kinds, familiar from previous installments, will always be ready to sell you the gun you need. From pistols to assault rifles, to grenades and rocket launchers, Ammu-Nation will sell just about anything imaginable to customers who are willing to pay. More than that, they even sell accessories like laser sights and silencers. Armed to the teeth, it’s time for you to go on the offensive, and what was once your car becomes a convenient object to take cover behind as it absorbs all the bullets meant for your soft flesh. Press a button to take position behind it and keep the authorities from closing in on you. You find, however, that the kind of numbers they’re going to throw at you will quickly force you to make a tactical retreat. You see a car stopped at a nearby red light, and before the driver even knows what’s happening to him, he’s laid out on the pavement and you’re screeching away in his car like a bat out of hell. 

Practice makes perfect

As the challenges you face get more and more difficult, you’ll also get better and better at doing them – nothing new for a Grand Theft Auto game. Certain actions you perform will improve your attributes over time – riding a bike or running will increase your “Fitness” attribute, and using firearms will increase your “Shooting” attribute. Unfortunately, there isn’t any kind of experience system where you can unlock and use points how you wish, nor is there any kind of skill tree. So if you want to increase any of your attributes, you’d better get practicing.

Better Homes and Gardens

The save game system in Grand Theft Auto V hasn’t changed a bit in comparison to its predecessors. The game saves automatically after you complete each mission, but not between missions. So you’d better make sure you go back and spend time at home every now and then. You can save your game manually here, and you can also park cars you like and change your clothes, like in previous games. And so that you don’t have to spend minutes driving all over the map, this game also allows you to buy homes. From rustic barns to luxurious suites, there’s such a huge assortment of real estate on the market that it’s barely manageable. Some of these will even unlock new missions – for example, owning the local airfield will allow you to complete courier missions.

Graphics and sound

You’re probably going to spend your first few minutes in Los Santos simply blown away by the depiction of the world around you. The skyline looming in the distance looks like a photographic postcard, and at night neon signs and bright lights bring the city to life. Not even the constantly changing weather, including fog and rain effects, can detract from the overall impression, and in fact, only add to it.

From the very beginning of the game, you will feel at home in life-like Los Santos. The bustling city with its thousands of citizens comes across as utterly believable, and there’s something to discover on every corner. Even the interiors of the buildings you can access are worth checking out. Taking a sight-seeing tour in and around the city will reveal a picturesque landscape alive with detail. 

And right here is where you can see the most obvious changes when you compare this next-gen version to the 2013 version. Not having wasted any time after the release of the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions, Rockstar now presents us with a heavily enhanced version of Grand Theft Auto V, already a beautiful game. A 1,080p resolution (on the PS4) and improved visibility ensure that the action doesn’t end abruptly somewhere in the distance. This means that cars and people won’t pop into view so obviously. Otherwise, most of the graphical changes are in the finer details. Flat texture grass is now a thing of the past, and even the animals that appear in the game have been given a facelift. It’s an all-around well-done makeover, and only rarely do you have to deal with frame rate interruptions. The new first person perspective also deserves a mention here – at the touch of a button you can see the world through the eyes of one of the game’s three playable characters. And in order to enhance this experience, all the vehicles have been given detailed interiors and animations. Nevertheless, the game never really feels like a true FPS for a variety of reasons; the weapons in particular seem a bit off from the first-person perspective.  

They did a great job with the soundtrack, which boasts a ton of variety. Like in previous games, you can choose the radio station that suits your tastes, and the wide selection of songs ensures that there’s something for everyone. Sound effects like engine noises and explosions and some very well synchronized voice acting help to complete the overall picture. Conversations on cell phones and walkie-talkies now come out of the speaker built into the controller, almost making it feel like you’re actually on the phone. It’s a great new feature that is unfortunately only available on the PS4.   

Multiplayer

The game’s online multiplayer mode takes place in the same world as the single-player game, allowing up to 30 players to run wild through the city doing whatever they want, whether they want to spend their time racing, exploring the map, completing various jobs, or whatever. More than anything else, it’s a lot of fun to complete small missions in a small group. You gain reputation points from all this, which you can use to improve the attributes of your custom character, like his Fitness or Driving skills. Creative types can also design missions themselves and share them with friends. Unfortunately, even though you might be playing with players from all over the world, you can still feel a bit lost at times – the map is simply too big for the number of players it can accommodate. Still, despite this, multiplayer offers hours and hours of highly entertaining gameplay.